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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry ’s new home certainly seems fit for royalty! It was revealed this week that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex secretly left Los Angeles and moved to Santa Barbara last month. The couple purchased their first abode for $14.65 million. The nearly 19,000 square foot property in Montecito features 9 bedrooms and 16 bathrooms. The Mediterranean-style estate, built in 2003, sits on 7.4 acres and boasts a home theater, arcade, gym, library, elevator, separate wet and dry saunas, wine cellar and five-car garage.
Should pal Serena Williams pop over for a visit, Meghan can play tennis with the Wimbledon champion on her private court. Meanwhile, the couple’s one-year-old son Archie Harrison can continue his swimming lessons, which were previously revealed in the new book Finding Freedom, in his family’s swimming pool. According to Variety, the Sussexes’ California home also includes a “tea house,” a “children’s cottage,” a children’s play set, perfect for Archie, a detached guesthouse with two bedrooms and bathrooms, as well as rose gardens, century-old olive trees, and tall Italian cypress trees.
The outlet reports that Meghan and Harry’s names do not appear on grant deeds related to the property, but records show the lavish estate was “sold in mid-June to a mysterious trust with a deliberately opaque name, though the trust happens to share a mailing address with the offices of Meghan Markle’s longtime Hollywood business manager.”
The Duke and Duchess, who are no longer working members of the royal family, took out a $9.5 million mortgage to purchase the mansion from Russian businessman Sergey Grishin, who acquired the residence in 2009 for $25.3 million. A rep for Meghan and Harry previously told HOLA! USA’s sister brand HELLO! that the royal couple has “settled into the quiet privacy of their community since their arrival and hope that this will be respected for their neighbours, as well as for them as a family.” A number of high-profile stars also have homes in the area, including Oprah, Ellen DeGeneres and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Prior to their move, the Duke and Duchess were reportedly staying at actor Tyler Perry’s $18 million mansion in Beverly Hills. A source told Page Six, “While it was a nice favor to them at a very difficult time, Tyler Perry’s house with 18 bedrooms isn’t Harry’s style. Yes, he grew up in royalty and the halls of Buckingham Palace, but he prefers more intimate homes with character.” The source noted that Meghan and Harry intend to “put down their roots” in their new house and “the quiet community.” The source added, “This is where they want to bring Archie up, where they hope he can have as normal a life as possible.”