Kelly Clarkson Breaks Away from Encino Mansion

After nearly a year on and off the market with a far too aggressive initial asking price of just under $10 million, Kelly Clarkson has sold her Encino, Calif., mansion for $8.24 million.

Lucky for the three-time Grammy winner (and 15-time nominee) that she rakes in about $1.9 million a month from her role as a judge on “The Voice” and the daytime chat host of “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” because the very first “American Idol” winner, newly divorced from talent manager Brandon Blackstock — he’s Reba McEntire’s ex-stepson, purchased the then brand-new house a bit more than three years ago for $8.5 million. That means she’s taken a $260,000 loss on the property, not counting improvement expenses and real estate fees.

Set behind a low wall, a high hedge and secured entry gates in the prestigious Royal Oaks neighborhood, the many-gabled taupe-stucco house is partly clad in reclaimed wood strips that give it a slightly “country” feel. The interiors were also given the rustic-luxe treatment with wood-trimmed doorways and a combination of antique brick and wide-plank wood flooring, the latter often applied in an over-scaled chevron-patterned. Great folds of teal velvet drapes add colorful flair to the huge expanses of nearly floor-to-ceiling windows that disappear into the walls for an effortless transition to the backyard.

Between the main house and the two-story guesthouse there are a total of eight en-suite bedrooms and eight bathrooms, plus two well-placed powder rooms, each with its own unique tile treatment. Formal living and dining rooms are complimented by less formal family spaces that include a spacious great room with gourmet kitchen, a billiards nook, and a state-of-the art screening room. Of particular note is the sprawling primary bedroom, which includes a fireplace in the bedroom, a separate sitting room, a private patio, and an immense walk-in closet.

In the backyard, high hedges and dense foliage ensure privacy from the neighbors and the swimming pool area is surrounded by an almost invisible frameless-glass safety fence. There’s also a wide swatch of fake grass and a full outdoor kitchen complete with pizza oven.

The property was listed with Chris Corkum and Lisa Brende of Compass; The buyer, a clearly very successful TV executive, was represented in the deal by Craig Knizek at The Agency.

Even before she and Blackstock split, Clarkson has been shaking up her cross-country real estate portfolio. In 2019 she and Blackstock bought a big rustic spread in Montana, near Georgetown Lake about an hour’s drive outside Butte, which Clarkson would apparently like to sell, and last year she quietly unloaded a 295-acre rural retreat about 30 miles from Nashville for exactly $3 million, a profitable amount over the $1.96 million paid in 2014.

Then, earlier this year, right around the same time she scooped up a vintage Toluca Lake estate for $5.4 million, she sold her massive lakefront mansion in Hendersonville, Tenn., about 45 minutes from Nashville, for $6.3 million, well below the pie-in-the-sky first ask of $8.75 million but still more than double the $2.86 million paid in 2012.