Escape from LA: Kiss’ Gene Simmons lists Beverly Hills mansion

Frontman and his wife moving leaving because of California taxes

Gene Simmons of Kiss (Credit: Per Ole Hagen/Redferns via Getty Images)
Gene Simmons of Kiss (Credit: Per Ole Hagen/Redferns via Getty Images)

Kiss frontman Gene Simmons and his wife are selling their Beverly Hills mansion and leaving the state.

Simmons and Shannon Tweed listed their longtime Benedict Canyon property for $22 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.

They bought the property in 1984 for $1.35 million and in the 1990s built a sprawling 16,000-square-foot mansion. Simmons estimates they put about $12 million into the property, according to the Journal.

Everything from the kitchen to the living room to the 30-foot-tall windows is supersized. The estate includes a billiards room, wine cellar, library, and a pool. There are numerous terraces that overlook gardens on the property.

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Simmons reserved three rooms in the house for memorabilia from his “Rock and Roll All Nite”-playing band, including guitars, pinball machines, caskets, and condoms. None of that comes with the house, sadly.

So why is the coupling leaving? Taxes. They are moving to a 24-acre estate in Washington.

“California and Beverly Hills have been treating folks that create jobs badly, and the tax rates are unacceptable,” Simmons told the Journal. “I work hard and pay my taxes and I don’t want to cry the Beverly Hills blues but enough is enough,” he said. [WSJ]Dennis Lynch