Ellen DeGeneres Buys Adam Levine's Mansion for $45 Million

Adam Levine spent barely a year transforming a historic Beverly Hills mansion into a polished celebrity showplace. His reward was a familiar buyer with an equally serious addiction to luxury real estate: Ellen DeGeneres.

In May 2019, Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi paid a reported $45 million for the sprawling Beverly Hills estate owned by Adam Levine and his wife, Behati Prinsloo.

The sale came just weeks after Levine listed the mansion for $47.5 million. Although accepting $2.5 million below the asking price may sound like a concession, Levine still sold the property for approximately $11 million more than he had paid barely a year earlier.

That did not necessarily translate into an $11 million profit.

Levine and Prinsloo acquired the estate from "Will & Grace" co-creator Max Mutchnick and entertainment attorney Erik Hyman in an off-market transaction for approximately $34 million. They then reportedly spent another $7 million completing an extensive renovation. After factoring in construction costs, commissions, taxes and other expenses, Levine's actual return was likely much more modest.

Still, unloading a $45 million mansion after roughly one year of ownership is an impressive transaction—especially when the buyer is another celebrity known for moving through expensive homes at an extraordinary pace.

A Mansion With A Celebrity Pedigree

The home sits behind gates on more than an acre in Beverly Hills. Built in the 1930s, the Traditional-style mansion had already passed through several notable owners before Levine arrived.

Tennis legend Pete Sampras once owned the property and reportedly used its full-size championship tennis court during the height of his career. Mutchnick later acquired the estate and completed a substantial renovation before selling it to Levine.

Levine and Prinsloo then hired designer Clements Design to give the mansion another major makeover. The result blended the home's traditional exterior with a warmer, more contemporary interior built around natural materials, neutral colors and expansive indoor-outdoor living spaces.

The main residence spans more than 10,000 square feet and includes five bedrooms and as many as 12 bathrooms. The primary suite alone reportedly occupies around 2,000 square feet, making it larger than the average American home.

Other amenities include two kitchens, a gym, a spa, a professional-grade screening room and large living spaces that open onto the grounds.

Outside, the estate features the tennis court, a resort-style swimming pool, a putting green, landscaped gardens and a separate guesthouse. Mature trees and high hedges provide privacy despite the home's central Beverly Hills location.

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Two Celebrity House-Flippers Trade Places

The transaction was particularly appropriate because both Levine and Ellen had developed reputations as prolific celebrity real estate investors.

Levine had already bought and sold several multimillion-dollar Los Angeles homes. Around the time he sold the Beverly Hills mansion to Ellen, he and Prinsloo paid $32 million for a Pacific Palisades compound previously owned by Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner.

Ellen and Portia were even more active. By 2019, they had spent years cycling through estates in Beverly Hills, Malibu, Montecito and the Hollywood Hills. Their previous buyers included Ryan Seacrest and Napster co-founder Sean Parker, while their purchases included homes formerly owned by Brad Pitt and other celebrities.

The couple had also recently placed another Beverly Hills property on the market for nearly $18 million, making the Levine estate their latest stop rather than the beginning of a growing collection.

Ellen Eventually Sold It For Around $47 Million

As usual, Ellen and Portia did not stay forever.

In 2021, they listed the mansion for $53.5 million after less than two years of ownership. The property ultimately sold for approximately $47 million.

Compared with their reported $45 million purchase price, that represented a gross increase of around $2 million. Once commissions, carrying costs and any additional improvements were considered, Ellen may have made little or no actual profit on the deal.

But profit is not always the sole point of an Ellen DeGeneres real estate transaction. She has repeatedly explained that she buys homes because she loves architecture, furniture and interior design—and sells them when she becomes interested in a different style or property.

For approximately two years, that interest took the form of a 10,000-square-foot Beverly Hills mansion renovated by Adam Levine, previously owned by Pete Sampras and equipped with nearly every amenity a Hollywood multimillionaire could want.

Then, as both Levine and Ellen had done many times before, she handed the keys to the next owner and moved on.