Ellen DeGeneres buys back Montecito estate from Tinder co-founder

With wife Portia de Rossi, talk show host paid $14M after selling it for less

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi with their Montecito ranch (Getty, Zillow)
Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi with their Montecito ranch (Getty, Zillow)

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi are seasoned luxury real estate buyers and sellers, but they appear to have a soft spot for a particular property in Montecito.

The couple just paid $14.3 million for a six-acre estate they had sold to Tinder co-founder Sean Rad three years ago for $11 million, according to Dirt.

DeGeneres and de Rossi bought Rancho San Leandro at 308 Ennisbrook Drive in September 2017 for $7.2 million. The property, which sits outside the Birnam Wood Golf Club, has multiple structures centered on an 1850s-era home that totals 3,100 square feet. The couple renovated the Rancho San Leandro and quickly listed it, as they have done with numerous other luxury Southern California estates and homes over the years.

Rad bought it in May 2018 then found it wasn’t quite a match, and relisted the property for $12.7 million a year later. He took it off the market early on in the pandemic.

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Now, with the SoCal housing market in overdrive, Rad closed on the sale, taking in 30 percent more than he paid.

For DeGeneres and de Rossi, the Rancho San Leandro deal marks their third trade in Montecito since the fall. The other two include the $49 million purchase of Dennis Miller’s estate, and the $33 million sale of a 9-acre property. Outside of Santa Barbara County, the pair sold Adam Levine’s former Beverly Hills mansion in April for $47 million.

[Dirt] — Dennis Lynch