Celebs Embrace The Add-On, Buyers Don’t Care
It’s a common story: celebrities are so rich that they literally have more money than they know what to do with. One thing that celebs tend to do with their filthy lucre is go all out on their homes. There comes a point, though, when you simply can’t add any more bedrooms or bathrooms to your square footage, but your home just isn’t grand and “you” enough for your taste. That’s when famous people start with the add-ons: the golf courses, the basketball courts, the miniature shopping malls in the basement (we’re looking at you, Barbara Streisand), the screening rooms large enough to host a modest Hollywood film premiere… you get the point. If you read this or any other real estate blog with celeb stories, you know that many homes of the rich and famous come loaded with these vanity spaces.
I couldn’t find a picture of Marky Mark’s putting green, so his outta-sight swimming pool will have to do.
Here’s the interesting thing about unique home add-ons, though – buyers tend to be indifferent to them. Turns out that, even when it comes to palatial homes worth tens of millions of dollars, buyers are still looking primarily for the same things as us Average Joes – square footage, layout, bargain value, etc. After all, not everyone wants a putting green or the upkeep involved with it. And quirky add-ons like six-figure candy walls or mini amusement parks aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. Experts say that, when it comes to celebrity homes, buyers are more likely to be wooed by the name power of the seller than the out-there bonuses that come with the home in question.
And how out there they are! According to reports, aging Hollywood actress Shirley MacLaine had a stone labyrinth built for meditation purposes. Bill Gates has a massive library with an oculus. Mark Wahlberg has one of those aforementioned putting greens, and Full House creator Jeff Franklin’s home boasts a master suite raised forty feet in the air. Must be nice to have enough cash to go absolutely bonkers, right?
