Elton John Drops Millions on the Beverly Hills House Next Door

Looks as though the COVID-19 pandemic had Sir Elton John singing the quarantine-induced real estate blues. While many Americans upgraded their homes by adding a fresh coat of paint or some new furniture, John has taken it a step further — as only the very wealthy can do. Records reveal he’s paid $8.5 million to acquire the home immediately next door to his longtime Beverly Hills digs, which will give him plenty of extra breathing room. Instead of just half an acre of land, he’s now got nearly a full acre of peace.

Since this was an off-market deal, and the neighbor’s house was never publicly listed for sale, you’ll have to use your imagination to picture the interiors. But like many homes in the area, the single-story midcentury modern was built in the 1960s, and appears to have been modified over the years. Now painted a rather ungainly shade of mustard yellow, the place is walled and gated for security. There’s a substantial motorcourt with space for several cars.

The home’s landscaping appears a bit raggedy, at least in comparison to other properties on the same street. Records show the house was sold to John and husband David Furnish by a non-famous family who’d owned it for decades and faced foreclosure more than once, though they managed to hold on until Sir Elton came knocking.

Tax records say the sprawling house has five bedrooms and four bathrooms in about 5,300 square feet of living space. Out back, there’s a reasonably spacious swath of grassy lawn, plus a swimming pool. Tall hedges surround the mini-estate, imbuing it with additional privacy.

Most of the acquisition’s $8.5 million purchase price was undoubtedly due its location on one of the best streets in Trousdale Estates, a particularly coveted neighborhood pocket of Beverly Hills. John and Furnish have lived next door for nearly a full decade, since they bought their 4,300-square-foot house for $7.3 million in early 2012. (The couple has since redecorated and upgraded their home, which is now awash in vibrant color and was photographed for Architectural Digest in 2016.)

John, 74, and Furnish, 58, boast a huge property portfolio that includes assets spread halfway around the globe. While their two-house Beverly Hills compound is reportedly the couple’s main residence, they’ve also got a vast estate in the U.K., plus lavish homes in the south of France and in Venice, Italy. And they’ve long owned a mansion-sized condo in a prestigious building near the epicenter of Atlanta, Georgia.

Before moving to Beverly Hills, John and Furnish lived in the fabled Sierra Towers skyscraper, looming directly over L.A.’s Sunset Strip. The pair owned two side-by-side apartments, which were photographed for Architectural Digest before being sold off to two different buyers — one is now in the hands of a woman from Mainland China, while the other is owned by the CEO of Accenture, one of the world’s largest IT services companies.

(Below, photos of Sir Elton’s very colorful L.A. home, as featured in Architectural Digest.)