Clandestine showings, sight-unseen transactions, virtual tours - it has indeed been a real estate's oddest year. However, the experts discuss where other people would want to move next. So, should they move to suburbia? One common preference amongst clients with lots of means has shown something obvious.
Whether they are buying estates by the beach, ranches located in a thousand acres in the West, or some apartments to incorporate into a vast urban skyscraper compound, the rich seem to prefer real estate compounds. This year the wealthiest have paid a considerable sum of money for space and, above everything, privacy.
The Richest of The Rich's Real Estate Compounds
Come, let's take a tour of the real estate compounds of the wealthy.
Gates Mansion (Del Mar, CA)
Bill and Melinda Gates purchased a six-bedroom, 5,800-square-foot beachfront property in San Diego County in April. The couple paid $43 million, which is the second most paid in that area. They purchased the real estate compound from Madeleine Pickens, the previous wife of the late Texas billionaire, T. Boone Pickens. The property comes with an outdoor swimming pool, a greenhouse, two guesthouses, a jacuzzi fit for ten people overlooking the fire pit.
Bezos Mansion (Beverly Hills)
During February, Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, bought a real estate compound that was 9 acres in Beverly Hills for $165 million from David Geffen, a record price for a Californian residential property. The 13,000-square-foot Georgian Revival property was made in the 1930s by Jack Warner, a Hollywood mogul, who has hired the famous designer William Haines to build the house's interior. David Geffen bought the house from Barbra Warner Howards, Jack Warner's daughter, in the 1990s.
Westlands Ranch (Rio Blanco County, Co.)
In May, after six weeks of ending his presidential campaign, Mike Bloomberg, the former New York City Mayor, purchased a 4,600-acre ranch from Henry Kravis, leveraged-buyout king, for $45 million. The ranch includes a four-ole golf course made by Greg Norman, a hunting and fishing grounds beside the White River, a heated outdoor swimming pool, a tennis court, and a helicopter hangar and helipad. The real estate compound's main house has five bedrooms, a library, a game room, and fireplace manuals from European castles. Kravis's estate, built in the year 1991, has two enormous guesthouses, a carriage house, stables, and separate staff houses.
Williams' Waterfront Property (Coral Gables)
Before Florida's stay-at-home policy, Pharrell Williams purchased a 17,025-square-foot waterfront property from Ray Rodriguez, former Univision executive, for $30 million. The real estate compound comes with nine bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, a 2,000 bottle wine cellar, and a separate wing for their staff. Outside the property, over 3.3 acres of land, there is a pool, and alfresco kitchen and dining area, a good pond, and a boathouse.
Alfred Taubman Estate (Palm Beach)
Alfred Taubman owned the real estate compound, a shopping mall magnate, which was sold in May to White Birch Farm. White Birch Farm is a company connected to billionaire Peter Brants, for about $46.8 million. The 3.3-acre estate, which overlooks the ocean on one side and overlooks the lake on the other side, the main house has five bedrooms, a guesthouse that has a similar size, tennis courts, two swimming pools, and a private tunnel way under the coastal highway to get to the beach.
Apartment by Stern (Midtown Manhattan)
In April, an anonymous buyer paid around $200 million to buy four adjacent apartments located at 220 Central Park South; Robert A.M. Stern designed the skyscraper on the brand new Billionaire's Row. In 2019, Ken Griffin made a record for being the highest to pay for a residence in the US when he purchased four floors in a building, which contains a residents-only restaurant managed by Jean-Georges Vongerichten, for $238 million.
Bezos Condo (Lower Manhattan)
In April, Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, purchased a three-bedroom worth $16 million condos located at 212 Fifth Avenues, right across Madison Square Park. It is near to three other units that he bought in the building as of last year, including the three-story 10,000-square-foot penthouse, paying around $89 million. The conjoined apartments, which the paper works have already filed to include some of the units, includes more than 20,000 square feet, and their exact scale price is the most paid for a residence below 42nd Street in Manhattan. Conveniences include wraparound balconies, 360-degree views, and a private elevator.
Oceanfront Compound (East Hampton)
An anonymous buyer in April purchased a 6.7-acre oceanfront East Hampton compound. The property was once owned by James Evans, the Chairman of Union Pacific. This real estate compound was eventually sold for $45 million. The compound contains five bedrooms in the main house, three bedrooms in the guesthouse, and a heated swimming pool.
Foothill Estate (Beverly Hills)
In June, Davide Geffen purchased a 3.5-acre Foothill Estate for $68 million from Casey Wasserman. Ms. Wasserman is the granddaughter of Hollywood's power broker, Lew Wasserman. David Geffen may have felt flush after selling another Beverly Hills property for $165 million to Jeff Bezos. The 18,000-square-foot glass, wood, and stone house, designed by Richard Meier, a Pritzker Prize-winning architect, was finished in 2015. This real estate compound has six bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, a private movie theatre, 35 parking spaces, a pool, a gym, and an art studio.
Meadow Lane Mansion (Southampton)
In February, Ken Griffin, fund founder of Citadel hedge, bought a real estate compound that was 7 acres on Meadow Lane for $100 million. The property's seller was Calvin Klein, who had repurchased the property in 2003 and had spent years renovating the house and then tore the house down and built a newer modern structure. The estate contains a separate guest wing connected by an underground tunnel way, and an outbuilding used purposely as a screening room. The property was owned previously by Leonard Holzer and his wife, Factory regular Jane, or commonly known as Baby Jane Holzer. Before they owned the estate, it was initially owned by Henry du Pont, a scion of the Dupont chemical family.
Kylie Jenner's Home (Holmby Hills, CA)
In Los Angeles, Kylie Jenner purchased a brand new "spec house" in April for about $36.5 million. The real estate compound has seven bedrooms, 14 bathrooms, a game room, a barroom, and an indoor gym. Outdoors, there is a basketball or sports court, a swimming pool, and a projection screen. The house also has four guest apartments, 29 parking spaces, and a separate guardhouse that is required with its kitchen and bathroom.
The Winter White House (Palm Beach)
In June, an anonymous buyer bought the bucolic waterside estate that was previously owned by the Kennedy family for $70 million. Joe Kennedy purchased the real estate compound near the property in 1933 and spent winter there with his family. The property was known as the Winter White House when John F. Kennedy became president, where he wrote Profiles I. Courage and later made his Cabinet after he was elected president.
The property's most recent owner is billionaire Jane Goldman, where she did an extensive renovation to the 11-bedroom, 17-bathroom Mediterranean estate in 2015, including a tennis court and making the pool larger.