Meghan and Harry's new home in Santa Barbara

[Wishingstarr]

Well I've seen the news articles and their new home looks absolutely beautiful and a dream SB pad with the ivy clad walls, pool, tennis court etc. SB has gorgeous homes although very expensive and pretty unaffordable for the humble hoi pilloi. I think Meg has played a blinder. I truly hope their marriage lasts but if not she is in possession of some prime real estate and a neighbor of Oprah. It's also where so many politicians come through fundraising at private events, so if she is politically ambitious she is well situated.

However with 9 bedrooms and 16 bathrooms 😄 I really think they CANNOT lecture the world on cutting back and making do to save the environment in anyway!

I am sure DM readers will explode with jealousy and a collective gnashing of teeth. But they wanted her gone, and she has, to a beautiful ocean facing estate with year round sunshine. Good on yer Megs!

Please post a link to where Meghan has “lectured” anyone about environmentalism, or talked about only having two children, because I’m pretty sure that was an off the cuff comment Harry made in an interview Meghan wasn’t involved in.

No criticism of William and Kate who have literally won awards for their work “raising awareness of environmentalism”, yet own a mansion that costs more than twice what Harry and Meghan’s home costs?

To be fair any celeb preaching about others not doing something that they do is annoying, not restricted to Harry and Meghan. It seems she did a lot of philanthropy stuff at school, I reckon she is genuinely trying to make a difference. Harry has the power to say no to things he doesn't want to do as well, I'm sure there are worse things than living in a multimillion pound mansion for him.

Harry on the other hand looks miserable as sin.

What are you judging that on, considering Harry hasn’t done any interviews or public appearances or barely been seen at all for months, except for brief Zoom charity appearances?

If you can genuinely tell someone’s mental state from a two minute Zoom video, you should sell your skills as a therapist.

I’m not a psychiatrist but he doesn’t look all that miserable to me.

(Of course the whole “he’s miserable and a helpless man child / she’s an evil manipulator” is said about literally every single famous man married to or dating a woman his fans don’t like. It’s so predictable and misogynistic.)

I don’t recall saying it’s all MM’s doing?

All I’m saying is that I assumed they’d be living a modest lifestyle, rather than a luxurious one. Nothing wrong with luxury, of course.

If I was Harry I would be worried. Various media outlets have attempted to estimate the running costs of the mansion and it isn't cheap whoever's figures you use. Daily Mail reckoned total living expenses to be not far shy of £4m a year. Remember they have to pay income tax too.

I thought their total net worth was about £45m but PH's share of money from his Grandmother and a Princess Diana is about £9m adjusted for presumably being invested and then added to £2m settlement from PC for buggering off to about £12m now (so he hasn't spent anything then?). Meghan bumps this up to about £16m. That's only 4 years of living costs. Apparently he won't get £2m from PC every year but even if he did it's not enough to support them. Plus PC chipped in for the house deposit.

It seems to me that all this reaching out and zoom calls isn't generating a helluva lot. PH's deal with Netflix will be subject to income tax and let's face it he's not the star and people won't be flocking to watch it. Especially when the novelty wears off. Edward and Sophie made a spectacular farce of trying to be self sufficient and ended up almost bankrupt.

I predict this won't end well. Financially speaking.....

It might be cheaper to run if they get desperate for people to stay: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8631063/Hollywood-Apocalypse-rich-famous-fleeing-droves.html

I'm from Ojai, not far from SB. It's heaven on earth where they've moved to. Absolutely gorgeous.

@thevanguardsix is there house big even by montecito standards? Is it possible to buy a house with five million dollars?
Would their house be near the sea at that price do you think?

@Bumlooksbig I know, how can they afford this year after year?

They would have been better off buying a mere five million pound house outright.

Could they have got anything habitable in that area for a palty five million I wonder?

I do think as well that many people forget MM grew up in Cali. To her it is home, even though she has lived elsewhere in between. A lot seem to just think they want to be around celebs so she has uprooted his life for that, but really plenty of people move to where one or the other grew up.

She grew up in Santa monica or near it and has moved to santa barbara (or near it). Who was it was saying there are more old people in santa barbara?! janet street porter i think

Anyone got a link of house as it just goes to 404 everytime.

yeh, they did that!

<a class="break-all" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170909142317/luxatic.com/the-chateau-of-riven-rock-is-a-true-montecito-wonder/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">web.archive.org/web/20170909142317/luxatic.com/the-chateau-of-riven-rock-is-a-true-montecito-wonder/

@FelicityPike

Yawn. They need to give back Frogmore and pay back the refurb costs.

^ This

They were only ever tenants so nothing to “give back.”

Why should former tenants have to pay for essential structural repair for a home they briefly occupied, especially when the “landlord” receives government money and is legally obligated to keep it in a good condition?

If they don’t earn their own money and in all honesty, I struggle to see how they will for the amount they need. They are going to be very heavily reliant on the financial generosity of someone in their seventies. I hope they have savings to cover this. After all, it’s not just the upkeep and the mortgage costs to cover but also the rent and repayment of Frogmore Cottage and (to genuinely be financially independent)security, travel etc...

@boltzmannbrains

They were only ever tenants so nothing to “give back.”

Why should former tenants have to pay for essential structural repair for a home they briefly occupied, especially when the “landlord” receives government money and is legally obligated to keep it in a good condition?

Their repayment isn’t for the structural repairs though (the taxpayer paid that - and arguably paid more than necessary to convert into one property rather than continuing as several employee cottages) but for the interior work that was done specifically to their requests and taste.

Many bedrooms have two en-suites ‘his and hers’/‘his and his’/‘hers and hers’. At the price point of this mansion it would be expected that bathrooms wouldn’t be shared.

I am confused as part of their new law suit it was reported that Archie hadn't been in Santa Barbara at all even though the paps had puctures labelled as such and had only been at Tyler Perry's?

Their repayment isn’t for the structural repairs though (the taxpayer paid that - and arguably paid more than necessary to convert into one property rather than continuing as several employee cottages) but for the interior work that was done specifically to their requests and taste.

They paid for all the interior and design work themselves, including all the carpets, curtains, furnishings, bathroom fixtures, kitchen, etc.

The tax payer only paid for the structural work. Which would have cost far less if the RF hadn’t neglected it so badly. Still, it cost far less than the £4.5 million William and Kate spent on renovating their already-perfect £30million home (which had recently been renovated and was in top top condition) doing things like moving their tennis court a few feet to one side so the view would be nicer, ripping out a brand new kitchen, and re-painting the house twice in a row because Kate couldn’t decide what colour she liked.

They are paying £18k per month towards Frogmore but this includes a monthly rent. So I wonder how much is going towards the rent and how much is on the repayment?

^And it’s the essential structural work (including “defective ceiling beams, broken floor joists, outdated electrical systems, gas and water supply issues and ineffective heating systems”) that they are being expected to pay back.

They aren’t being asked to pay back any of the design costs, since they paid all that themselves upfront.