Oprah Buys $50 Million Home In California

Jet, July 2, 2001

Oprah Winfrey recently closed escrow on a 42-acre home near Santa Barbara, CA, for an estimated $50 million, according to reports.

The Hot Property section of the Los Angeles Times reported that the sale is one of the highest ever paid for a private residence in the country. The 23,000-square-foot Georgian-style house in Montecito was being refurbished by its owners and hadn't been completed, but Winfrey, who was in the area for a photo shoot, fell in love with it and made the owners an offer, the paper reported. Several projects on the large property are months away from completion, but Winfrey wanted it all anyway.

The home, owned by a Southern California industrialist and his wife, has ocean and mountain views. The property also has a barn, gardens, an orchard, two ponds and a lake. The owners purchased it for $14 million in 1998.

Winfrey, whose worth has been estimated by Forbes Magazine at $800 million, has a penthouse in Chicago and a 160-acre farm in nearby Indiana.