Megan Fox has finally offloaded the Malibu mansion that made her life a "nightmarish living hell". After paying $3.3 million (£2.6m) for the four-bedroom home in May 2016, Fox quickly came to realise all was not right with her newly purchased property. In 2018, the Transformers star filed a lawsuit against the seller, Brad Pitt's longtime manager Cynthia Pett-Dante, claiming the house was infested with mould. It may come as a surprise, then, that the new buyer snapped up the property for $4.5 million (£3.5m) in June 2023. Click or scroll on to find out more...
In the lawsuit, Megan Fox claimed the mould caused her serious health issues, including chronic migraines and constant stress, which led to an overactive thyroid resulting in weight loss. The actress sought $5 million (£3.9m) in damages for this and other issues, but eventually settled for a $100,000 (£78.6k) olive branch from Pett-Dante in August 2021. Court documents obtained by the Daily Mail revealed that the judge absolved the celebrity manager of any blame as Fox's real estate lawyer had advised her against buying the pricey pad, calling it a "nightmarish, ill-advised and risky" purchase due to a "cavalcade of deficiencies".
Fox and her then-husband Brian Austin Green went ahead with the purchase, despite being informed about the mould, as well as septic tank issues and non-permitted structures on the property. The star admitted she hadn't read relevant emails or inspection reports. "I pay other people to read them and tell me what's in them and advise me on what I should do or not do," she argued. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles actor reportedly pushed through the sale as it was the only home in Malibu in her price range at the time and she wanted her children to attend the area's highly-regarded state elementary school.
Despite accepting the offered $100,000 (£78.6k), Megan claimed to have been quoted $500,000 (£393k) to repair everything that was wrong with the property, but that the details were "hazy" as she had given birth to her third child just three months after moving into the home. Despite the house being set up perfectly for kids, with an outdoor pool and basketball court, the family moved out of the luxurious but troublesome home in 2017.
As well as the more traditional amenities you might expect to find in the grounds of such an upmarket home, there are also some unusual additions. This photo shows just one of many animal enclosures Pett-Dante allegedly built without a permit at a cost of more than $800,000 (£628k). The pens are said to have housed rescued animals. "She had a bull when I saw the house," Fox revealed in the lawsuit. "She had goats, llamas, chickens, pigs, and all of that work had been done on that slope, and I had been led to believe that it was legal." Another issue cited by Fox was flooding, due to the house being built on a steep slope. The home is rated by FEMA as being situated in a 'most probable' flood zone, while Estately gives it a 10/10 flood factor, indicating a 100% chance of flooding over the next 30 years.
Megan and Beverly Hills, 90210 star Brian Austin Green separated in 2020 and finally divorced in October 2021, after almost 10 years of marriage. During their separation, Megan met musician Machine Gun Kelly on the set of crime thriller Midnight in the Switchgrass and the pair began dating. Megan has described the rapper, whose real name is Colson Baker, as her 'twin flame', meaning they're "two halves of the same soul." Despite ups and downs, the couple is said to be living together in a plush Airbnb rental in LA's upmarket Sherman Oaks neighbourhood. The property's rent comes in at a staggering $30,000 (£23.6k) per month. Fox will be appearing in the fourth installment of Sylvester Stallone's action franchise The Expendables later in 2023.
Read on to discover more celebrities who've lost their dream homes...
Like the best of us, celebrities aren't immune to a heavy dose of bad luck. Believe it or not, a slew of A-listers have had to bid farewell to their dream home, whether as a result of a relationship breakdown, financial hardship, natural disaster or any other horrendous scenario life has thrown at them. Click or scroll through the gallery to discover the stunning properties these unfortunate famous people had to let go of.
Kevin Costner waved goodbye to the Californian mansion he'd built from scratch in the 1994 divorce from his first wife, Cindy Silva. The couple met in 1975 when they were both students at California State University, Fullerton and married in 1978 – but after three children and 16 years of marriage, it all came to an end in 1994. The couple married before Costner started acting so a prenuptial agreement hadn't been necessary. However, by the time they divorced, Costner had become one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood, with credits including Dances with Wolves and The Bodyguard under his belt. The divorce would prove financially painful for the star.
The couple had this Italian-style villa built from scratch and completed in 1989, the year Costner starred in Field of Dreams. Tucked away in La Canada, Flintridge – close to movie studio-studded Burbank – the five-bedroom home was designed by San Juan Capistrano and John McInnes. The home included all the luxurious features you might expect, including a large outdoor pool, snooker room, library, gym, sports court, playground and separate 'connoisseur's retreat,' housing a spa room, aquarium, 1000-bottle wine cellar and tasting room.
The couple decorated their impressive 32,000-square-foot home lavishly, decking it out with large chandeliers, Spanish marble pillars, carved fireplaces, antique furniture and ceiling frescoes. As if that wasn't quite sumptuous enough, the entire mansion boasts handmade Murano glass windows, Venetian plasterwork and limestone floors throughout. But Costner had to say goodbye to the opulent pad when he and Cindy divorced. Although she never spoke publicly about the settlement, it was reported by People at the time that she was awarded $80 million (£62.9m), which would be around $164 million (£129m) today. Cindy kept the house, but parted with it in 1999 for $2.7 million (£2.1m), some $4.9 million (£3.8m) today.
Costner must have missed his tailormade mansion, but he has been determined ever since to hang onto his homes. In 2023, the Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves actor announced his divorce from his second wife, Christine Baumgartner, whom he married in 2004. In court records obtained by New York Post, Kevin had made it clear to Christine that he "would not marry again without clarity that his separate property residences would remain his to live in no matter what happened in their marriage,” as he had found himself homeless after his first marriage. Despite this, the actor claims Christine is refusing to move out of their $145 million (£114m) home in Carpinteria, California. Meanwhile, Christine is accusing the Hollywood heavyweight of attempting to leave her and their three children without a home. The saga continues...
Madonna is said to have handed over around $72 million (£56m) in money and assets to her estranged husband Guy Ritchie after the couple thrashed out the terms of their divorce back in 2008. As part of the settlement, the superstar singer, actress and director relinquished Ashcombe House, the historic home in the English countryside that she shared with her ex.
The couple bagged the Wiltshire manor in 2001, paying $11.2 million (£8.8m) for the privilege. The six-bedroom house, which dates from 1686 but was largely rebuilt during the Georgian era, sits on 1,134 acres of land and is considered one of England's finest sporting estates. The mansion was rented by society photographer Cecil Beaton during the 1930s and 1940s and hosted guests including Salvador Dali and Tallulah Bankhead.
Ritchie continues to live on the estate and his current wife, model Jacqui Ainsley Ritchie regularly posts pics on Instagram of the idyllic property. This evocative shot shows the drawing room, which is steeped in history and features a beautiful marble fireplace and sparkling crystal chandelier.
There's also a separate studio on the estate with seven bedrooms, a games room, a wine cellar and an 18th-century orangery that Ritchie converted into an indoor-outdoor dining and entertaining space (pictured here), that's since been removed due to planning issues. On top of losing the historic home, Madonna gave up the Mayfair pub, The Punchbowl, that the pair owned and provided Ritchie with the means to buy luxury homes in London and New York.
Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage fell on hard times in 2009 despite earning $40 million (£31.4m) that year. The spendthrift star was living well beyond his means and had reportedly acquired 15 luxury homes, including a storied Tudor-style mansion in LA's Bel Air neighbourhood that he snapped up in 1998 for $6.5 million (£5.1m), which would be about $12.1 million (£9.5m) today.
According to the LA Times, Cage ended up owing a whopping $18 million (£14m) on the six-bedroom, nine-bathroom property. Drowning in debt, which included a $14 million (£11m) outstanding tax bill, the property went into foreclosure. The former home of stars Dean Martin and Tom Jones, the Bel Air manse's interiors had been given an OTT makeover by Cage, which a local realtor described as 'frat house bordello'.
The rooms were painted in garish hues and boasted out-there touches such as sconces modelled from a cast of Cage's arm, a bright red dragon sculpture, an electric train that inexplicably chugged around the breakfast room and hundreds of framed comic book covers. Needless to say, the exuberant décor clearly put off prospective buyers.
When the house finally came up for auction in November 2010, it went under the hammer for $10.5 million (£8.2m), some $14.6m (£11.4m) today, well short of the $35 million (£27.5m) the home was previously listed at. Making matters even worse, the Hollywood actor saw several of his other homes repossessed around this time.
It's a story that reads like a Hollywood script: a villa filled with priceless art, a bitter inheritance dispute and the public eviction of a Texas-born princess onto the streets of Rome. When Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi, formerly Rita Jenrette, married her husband, Prince Nicolò Boncompagni Ludovisi in 2009 and made the historic Italian mansion her home, she likely never imagined it would end this way – escorted from the estate by the Carabinieri police on Thursday 20 April 2023. “I feel like I’m in a surreal movie, like Sartre’s No Exit,” the Princess told the Associated Press.
Known as Casino dell'Aurora, the villa was built in 1570 and has been the seat of the Ludovisi family since the early 1600s. Sprawling across 30,000 square feet, the regal residence is brimming with valuable artworks and artifacts. While the Italian royal family was officially abolished in 1946, the mansion still serves as a showpiece for the dynasty's wealth. The most significant feature in the house is this priceless mural, entitled 'Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto', by Renaissance Italian artist Caravaggio – the only known ceiling painting in existence by the master. Princess Rita, who had a career as an American actress and model before relocating to Italy, is pictured here gazing up at the nine-foot-wide mural.
Elsewhere in the building, this spectacular space features ceiling frescoes by a number of Italian artists, including Guercino and Domenichino. The villa's history is long and illustrious – during her tenure, Princess Rita reportedly digitised around 150,000 historic documents from the home's archive, including letters from Marie Antoinette. Yet, while the Princess has referred to herself as the 'custodian' of the mansion, not everyone agrees. Following the death of her husband, Prince Nicolo Boncompagni Ludovisi, in 2018, the Prince's children from his first marriage embarked on a bitter legal battle to secure ownership. They argued that their grandfather had intended for them to inherit the mansion, not Princess Rita.
Princess Rita is photographed here alongside a portrait of herself and the late Prince Nicolo. As part of the drawn-out dispute, authorities ordered that the villa be put up for auction in 2022. Staggeringly, the court appraised its value at €471 million ($513m/£403m), due in large part to the one-of-a-kind Caravaggio mural, making it among the world's most expensive homes – and likely the most expensive currently up for grabs. However, the mansion failed to find a buyer, even when the price tag was lowered by 20% in a subsequent auction. There are reportedly more auctions scheduled. While the Princess and her late husband are said to have taken an active role in the villa's restoration, the most recent legal action cites the building's concerning condition.
In January 2023, a Rome Judge issued an eviction order accusing the Princess of conducting tours of the house, violating a previous court order. While Princess Rita contested that the tours were necessary to fund the villa's maintenance, the judge also ruled that she had failed to keep the home in a "good state of conservation", after an exterior wall reportedly crumbled. One of the heirs, Prince Bante Boncompagni Ludovisi, was present at the eviction on 20 April 2023. He told reporters: “This house needs renovations. The pipelines of water need to be restored and the frescoes are in danger... This is a country: We have our police, we have our judges and you need to respect our country and our laws if you stay here.”
Following Princess Rita's unceremonious eviction, it's not clear who will now take on the mantle of the villa's caretaker. The restorations required to bring the historic home in line with local building regulations are said to cost €11 million (£9.4m/$12m). As the Princess departed Casino dell'Aurora, she told the Associated Press: “I love Italy and I’m so sorry to have such a brutal ending to what has been a labor of love for 20 years.” The Princess is publishing a book on the history of the villa and its priceless art, which is expected to be released at the end of 2023.
Tinseltown power couple Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas announced the end of their 18-year marriage in 2014 and the divorce was done and dusted the following year. Before parting ways, the A-list pair said goodbye to their love nest, the sprawling Isidor Eisner Estate in LA's Hancock Park neighbourhood. Designed by renowned architect Gordon Kaufmann, the property was built in 1925.
Given neither party wanted to hang on to the 15,000-square-foot mansion, which features seven bedrooms and seven-and-a-half bathrooms, the couple opted to let it go. Having purchased the estate in 1999 for $4.2 million (£3.3m), around $7.7m (£6m) today, Griffith and Banderas decorated the mansion lavishly in keeping with its Italian Revival design.
As you can see from this shot of the medieval-style galleried banquet hall, the pair plumped for decadent fixtures and furnishings to complement the room's grandeur. Think shaded chandeliers, lush leather sofas and chairs, richly patterned carpets and sumptuous velvet curtains. Other highlights of the home include the panelled library, glam primary suite, state-of-the-art recording studio and gorgeous pool.
According to Variety, the property's many selling points soon attracted two willing buyers – former US ambassador to the Bahamas, Nicole Avant and her husband, Netflix exec Ted Sarandos – who paid $15.9 million (£12.5m) for it. While a shade below the asking price of $16.1 million (£12.6m), the sale nonetheless smashed local records.
The 1990s hip-hop star who was as famous for his non-stop spending as he was for his harem pants and running man dance, MC Hammer squandered his $70 million (£55m) fortune within the space of a few years. In 1991, the 'U Can't Touch This' rapper built a spectacular six-bedroom mansion in the Fremont hills overlooking San Francisco Bay.
The décor was suitably extravagant, and the hip-hop legend filled the glitzy rooms with everything from marble statues of himself to a gold hot tub priced at $70,000 (£55k). His spending way out of control, the rapper had a staff of 200 and dropped millions on supercars, racehorses, two helicopters, a private jet and more.
The party was most definitely over by 1996. Completely broke, Hammer filed for bankruptcy with debts of nearly $14 million (£11m), which is around $27 million (£21.2m) today, and had to give up his beloved trophy mansion. It was sold in 1997 to a TV producer from Singapore for a paltry $5.3 million, or $10 million (£7.8m) in today's money, which is significantly less than what it was worth at the time.
A veritable jewel by celebrated architecture firm Buff & Hensman, the so-called Wong House in LA's Los Feliz hills was the home of Ryan Reynolds and Scarlett Johansson shortly before their marriage hit the rocks. The pair bought the 1960s-era property in 2010 for $2.9 million (£2.3m) and went on to pull off a meticulous renovation and eco refurb of the mid-century modern manse.
Alas, the couple separated mere months after they acquired their dream home and divorced in 2011. As part of the division of their assets, the duo's two-bedroom, three-bathroom LA property went on the market in 2012, a year after the split was finalised, with an asking price of $3.7 million (£2.9m).
Spanning 2,835 square feet, the pared-down mansion is a masterclass in restrained mid-century modern design. In addition to the two bedrooms and three bathrooms, it features a living room, library, den and dining room with fabulous floor-to-ceiling windows, not to mention an oversized swimming pool set within a manicured hilltop garden.
The property is also privately gated and kitted out with a CCTV security system. The understated elegance of the mansion combined with the eco and security features enticed plenty of serious buyers and the home sold not long after it was listed for $3.5 million (£2.7m), according to Zillow.
When natural disasters strike, even the wealthiest celebrities can lose their homes as one-time couple Liam Hemsworth and Miley Cyrus discovered in November 2018 when their neighbouring Malibu mansions fell victim to the Woolsey wildfires that swept through the star-studded SoCal beach city. According to Variety, the 'Wrecking Ball' hitmaker purchased her four-bedroom, three-and-a-half bathroom ranch-style residence in 2016 for $2.5 million (£2m).
Located in a super-secure gated community, the contemporary house, which was painted in a fetching turquoise hue, must have seemed as safe as could be for Miley Cyrus. The former couple reportedly used the property as a guest house and studio, and were living at Liam's neighbouring $6.8 million (£5.3m) property when the blaze approached and they were forced to evacuate.
Miley's pad boasted open-concept living spaces, characterful beamed ceilings and a calming garden, though unusually for a celebrity home in LA, the ranch-inspired house lacked a swimming pool, although Liam's property did have one. Fortunately, the duo managed to save their pet dogs, but their properties weren't quite so lucky. When the former couple returned to their homes once the flames had died down, they were met with a scene of devastation.
Little more than a shell remained of what was once their Malibu escape. "It’s been a heartbreaking few days," Hemsworth captioned this picture on Instagram. "This is what’s left of my house. Love. Many people in Malibu and surrounding areas in California have lost their homes also and my heart goes out to everyone who was affected by these fires." The couple also donated $500,000 (£392k) to help others affected by the fire. Liam sold on his fire-ravaged home in 2019 for $3.6 million (£2.8m) while Miley went on to sell hers, which fared slightly better, in January 2020 for $1.7 million (£1.3m), just days before finalising her divorce from Liam.
Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth weren't the only stars affected by the Woolsey wildfires. In fact, a shocking number of celebrity homes went up in smoke, including the mansion Robin Thicke shared with his then-pregnant girlfriend April Love Geary. The 'Blurred Lines' singer splurged just under $2.4 million (£1.9m) on the equestrian estate back in 2015.
The kitchen-diner and living space was airy and open-plan with plenty of rustic beams, hardwood flooring and extra-large windows that bathed the interiors in light. The mansion had two fireplaces, a cutting-edge surround sound system and other desirable features, while the grounds housed a stable, tack room and full-sized riding area.
Lamentably, the inferno absolutely ravaged the couple's home, which was more or less burned to a cinder. Only smouldering ruins remained. The pair were understandably devastated but thankful they got out in time. Other celebrities who lost homes in the Woolsey wildfires include Gerard Butler, Shannen Doherty and Neil Young.
The breakout star of Robin Thicke's 'Blurred Lines' video has also lost a home, but in totally different and rather shady circumstances. Together with her moneyed ex-husband Sebastian Bear-McClard, supermodel Emily Ratajkowski was sued by their former landlord who alleged that they misused a local property law that allows impoverished artists to live rent-free. They reportedly didn't pay rent for two years on their amazing apartment in New York's NoHo.
Antoni Ghosh, the landlord of the Bleecker Street loft apartment, filed a lawsuit against the pair, seeking damages for the unpaid rent. Ghosh complained he had to pay tens of thousands of dollars to the building's owners to cover the missed payments and alleged the couple were nightmare tenants, playing loud music and hosting parties around the clock.
According to Ghosh, Ratajkowski and her then-husband dodged shelling out $160,000 (£126k) in rent and were actually paid by the landlord to leave the loft apartment for good in 2019. Not long after, they sought a new home on the west coast, buying a $2 million (£1.6m) mansion in LA's Echo Park neighbourhood. Ratajkowski later filed for divorce from Bear-McClard in 2022.
Singer Toni Braxton has been plagued with financial difficulties throughout much of her later career and has filed for bankruptcy not just once but twice, according to TMZ. The 'UnBreak My Heart' songstress had a particularly heartbreaking time during the early 2010s, losing two of her prized homes.
Despite having secured a lucrative reality show deal, Braxton was unable to hold on to her home in Nevada, which was lost to foreclosure in 2010. The Grammy Award-winning recording artist tried her best to keep her six-bedroom, six-bathroom pad in Duluth, Georgia as well, but to no avail. Braxton took a $1.5 million (£1.2m) mortgage out on the property in 2004, around $2.4 million (£1.9m) today, but missed a number of repayments.
Besides the six bedrooms and bathrooms, the mansion features a chef's kitchen, library and hot tub, and sits on an acre of land. The bank didn't look too kindly on the mortgage defaults and seized the property in 2012, a year after Braxton filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time. It was listed for $1.1 million (£863k).
Despite losing her Georgia mansion, the story has a happy ending. The chart-topping star emerged from bankruptcy and purchased a fabulous estate in Calabasas, California in 2014. Braxton went on to sell the property in 2016, making a tidy profit, and is now estimated to be worth a very respectable $3 million (£2.4m).
The late star David Cassidy was also driven to the edge of bankruptcy. The 1970s teen heartthrob was unable to save his mansion in Fort Lauderdale, Florida when he went broke in 2015 and blamed his atrocious personal finances on poor health coupled with a litany of bad investments in the Bahamas and the collapse of his marriage.
The Partridge Family star and Celebrity Apprentice contestant was forced to sell up. Dubbed Casa De Mayan, the six-bedroom mansion impresses with a decent array of celebrity-worthy features such as two roomy primary suites, a swimming pool and hot tub, an exercise room and even an automatic boat lift.
The property was bought by couple Thomas White and Scott Watkins for $1.9 million (£1.5m). The pair refreshed the house but were careful to retain furniture that belonged to Cassidy along with some memorabilia pieces, including a collection of pillows emblazoned with the Cassidy family crest.
The duo put the house on the market in 2018 with an asking price of $3.9 million (£3m), almost double what they paid for it two years prior. As for its unlucky former owner, Cassidy sadly passed away in 2017, effectively dying a pauper after blowing through his once-sizeable personal fortune.
Richard Branson bought Necker Island in the Caribbean for a bargain $120,000 (£94k), or $503,000 (£395k) in today's money, way back in 1979 and made the island his permanent residence not long after. As well as constructing an uber-exclusive private resort, the billionaire tycoon built the Great House, an 11-bedroom Balinese-style home.
Perched high on a hill in a prime position on the paradise island, the indoor-outdoor property, which was constructed with local stone and Brazilian hardwood, was simply divine. Each of the bedrooms benefitted from an open wall, providing the most amazing 360-degree views of the glittering ocean.
Branson packed his enviable home with bamboo furniture, textiles and artworks imported from Bali, Asian antiques, Indian rugs and other treasures from around the world. Over the years has hosted a plethora of famous guests, from Princess Diana and Nelson Mandela to Mariah Carey and Kate Winslet. It's not all been fun and games though, far from it...
Branson has actually lost his dream home twice. The Great House was gutted in 2011 by a fire that was sparked by lightning during Tropical Storm Irene. It was then pretty much flattened by Hurricane Irma, which battered Necker Island in September 2017. Following both disasters, the property was rebuilt at great cost. Here's hoping it can get through the next few years without suffering a major calamity.
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