This week in celebrity real estate, reports surfaced that singer Taylor Swift sold the home she recently bought by the Kennedy Compound and Zsa Zsa Gabor finally sold her home.
Report: Taylor Swift sells house near Kennedy Compound
As soon as it was confirmed that country-pop star Taylor Swift did indeed buy a mansion near the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port, Mass., it was also confirmed that she recently sold it.
Swift was featured in this month’s Vanity Fair, where she addressed the gossip that follows many of her relationship moves. Although she did not speak to the magazine specifically about buying the home, the publication affirmed the Cape Cod Times report that the house was sold in November 2012 for $4.8 million. Although she did buy in November, according to sources who spoke with both Vanity Fair and E! News, Swift sold the home for a profit just two weeks ago.
Property records have yet to reflect the sale, but Barnstable real estate agent Bob Kinlin told E! News that Swift sold the home for $5.675 million to a couple who were previously interested in the property.
Not a bad turnaround for someone who plays the guitar more often than the real estate market.
Swift bought the home after dating Conor Kennedy this past summer. Although it was rumored that her relationship ended after September, she apparently decided it was worth going through with the home purchase.
Swift’s new place had been on the market for some time. First listed at $13.5 million in 2010, the home’s price tag dropped several times before Swift snagged it for $4.8 million, a more than 60 percent discount.
The home is just a stone’s throw from the Kennedy Compound and overlooks Nantucket Sound. It includes a guesthouse as well as a private beach on its 1.1 acres. Built in 1928, the home only had one owner prior to Swift.
Zsa Zsa Gabor’s home, featured in “Argo,” finally snags a buyer
Zsa Zsa Gabor, 96, can probably thank the Academy for helping her sell her home. “Argo,” which recently snagged the Oscar for Best Picture, was partially filmed on the grounds of Gabor’s estate. The listing for the home at 1001 Bel Air Road, Los Angeles, Calif. 90077 was recently updated to reflect a pending sale.
Gabor’s Bel Air home has been on and off the market for years, listed between $12 million and $15 million. Most recently, the home was for sale for $14.9 million. We’ll see if Gabor was able to snag an offer that high.
In addition to being the site for “Argo,” Gabor’s home was also used for the upcoming HBO film “Behind the Candelabra.” The Steven Soderbergh film documents the life of vocalist Liberace and stars Michael Douglas, Rob Lowe and Matt Damon.
Why all the film action at the Gabor home? Simple: Gabor’s husband, Frederic Prinz von Anhalt, has taken out reverse mortgages on the property to pay for Gabor’s care, and the two are in need of cash. According to the L.A. Times, von Anhalt has not been making payments on the home for some time.
At one point, facing foreclosure, von Anhalt reportedly took to Facebook in desperation to ask for a loan. Getting cash from Hollywood studios seems like a better way to go. According to ReelScout, a home can earn around $1,000 to $2,000 a day when it is being set up and as much as $3,500 a day once filming begins.
The Bel Air home has a lot going for it besides a hefty amount of screen time. Built in 1955, the home was rented out to millionaire recluse Howard Hughes for most of the 1960s. Gabor bought it in 1974, and through the years hosted celebrity and political bigwigs ranging from Frank Sinatra and Elizabeth Taylor to President Ronald Reagan and both former Presidents Bush.
Related in celebrity listings:
Katherine Heigl’s home sells for $2.622 million