For many a celebrity, having an abundance of money on hand leads to a logical conclusion: namely, that it’s time to buy a luxury home. And if their work, investments or inheritance continues to increase in value, there’s a next step that an increasingly large group of big names — including Jeff Bezos, Adele and Anthony Hopkins — are taking: buying the luxury home next to the one they already own.
What’s the thinking behind this? A new article at The Hollywood Reporter offers some analysis on the trend in question — and, more specifically, the Los Angeles laws that may have made it more desirable for those with the resources to take advantage of it.
In 2017, the city passed a new Baseline Mansionization Ordinance, which had the effect of reducing the maximum size of a single-family home relative to the plot of land that it was built on. For some home buyers, buying and then combining two plots of land creates a more valuable property; for others, it allows for the creation of a sprawling estate.
The article also cites the desire for increased privacy and security, both of which can also help explain this trend in high-end real estate.
Los Angeles is far from the only place where this phenomenon has occurred. Mark Zuckerberg’s real estate purchases in Hawaii can also be seen as emblematic of this, as is Jeff Bezos’s penchant for buying multiple apartments in the same New York building. It’s a new wrinkle in the world of luxury real estate.
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