LOS ANGELES _ Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres and wife Portia de Rossi have made a quiet exit from their Montecito estate, selling the romantic weekend retreat in an off-market deal for $34 million.
The couple bought the 16.88-acre spread in 2013 for $26.5 million and spent about four years restoring, updating and expanding the property. They had asked as much as $45 million for the estate when they put it up for sale last year.
At the heart of the gated and forested estate is an Italian villa-style house designed by architect Wallace Frost. Built in the 1930s, the home features a cobblestone motor court, creeping vines and decorative ironwork that give it an air of Old Hollywood glamour.
Entered through a custom front door, the 10,500-square-foot house opens to a tiled hallway that ends in a beamed-ceiling living room.
The living room, with custom built-ins and curated artwork, has one of nine fireplaces. Contemporary pieces and fixtures create visual interest against the home's solid stone walls.
Accompanying the main house is an indoor-outdoor pool house that was built by DeGeneres and De Rossi during their ownership. Stone excavated from the property was used to build the secondary structure, named Jordan Hall, which has a sunroom, an outdoor kitchen and a wet bar.
A sunken tennis court, a badminton court, a lap swimming pool and a Roman-style plunge pool complete the setting.
DeGeneres, 60, has won multiple Emmys for "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," which premiered in 2003. Last year she co-created and produced the show "Little Big Shots" with Steve Harvey.
De Rossi, 45, has television credits that include the legal drama "Ally McBeal" and the sitcom "Arrested Development." She currently appears on the series "Scandal."
The buyer, according to public records, is a trust associated with Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos.
