Filed under: Famous Homes, Celebrity Homes, Cool Homes
Now that the superstar host is leaving prime time to run her own network, she needs a place in the New York area to call home -- or does she? Wait until you see this mega house.
Photo: AP
In addition to a checking out a house in chock full o' celebrities Sneden's Landing, New York, a caravan of cars with dark windows reportedly pulled into the hoity-toity and star-studded enclave of Alpine, New Jersey. Here, Winfrey and her entourage took a tour of a recently finished mega-mansion on the market at a bone shattering $68 million. Forbes magazine consistently ranks Alpine among the top three most expensive zip codes in the country.
The English manor style mansion, built and owned by real estate magnate Richard Kurtz, measures in at a boutique hotel sized 30,000+ square feet with a total of 12 bedrooms and 15 full and 4 half baths. One would think that it would be perfect for Oprah, her long-time man-friend Steadman and gal-pal Gail. (If she hasn't toured it, she apparently should.)
The lavish interiors include ballroom sized formal living and dining rooms, an actual ballroom, library, conservatory, wine cellar, movie theater and massage room. There's even an indoor basketball court. Six fireplaces warm the residence and besides the double height entry with its dramatic staircase there are three additional stair halls and an elevator. Smart House technology allows the heating, cooling and security systems as well as the lights and curtains to be operated from anywhere in the world by remote via an iPhone app.
The gated and sprawling grounds, carved out of the famous Frick estate, offer security and privacy, a carriage house, saline swimming pool and spa, pool house, tennis court, vast swathes of lawn, 300-year old trees and formal gardens. A 250-foot long heated driveway means Oprah would not ever have ask one of her live-in staff to shovel the drive.
If the retiring high-priestess of daytime talk shows opts to bite the real estate bullet and buy the decadent digs in Jersey, she'll count among her neighbors rich and famous folks like comedian Chris Rock, music tycoon Sean Combs, tweenage singing sensations The Jonas Brothers, music icon Stevie Wonder and that wacky Lil' Kim.
[Update: Curbed National broke the news that this may not be true at all. This morning, Oprah tweeted: "No truth to me looking for a house in Jersey. No idea who started that rumor. Been in Chicago all week working."
Darn! Because we're sort of in awe of the house.]
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-Julia Roberts Buys Second Manhattan Apartment