‘So You Think You Can Dance’s’ Nigel Lythgoe Chassés Into Brand-New Toluca Lake Home

He may not have been asked to return as a judge for the 17th season of the popular televised dance competition reality series “So You Think You Can Dance,” which he co-created with Simon Fuller, executive produced and served as a judge for the first 16 seasons, but that didn’t deter Nigel Lythgoe from dropping some dimes for a new house in one of L.A.’s most celebrity-packed neighborhoods.

Tax records show the long-ago-divorced Englishman and long-time L.A. resident, a former multi-genre professional dancer and choreographer who apparently likes to remind people he once dated both Raquel Welch and Priscilla Presley, has splashed out $4.7 million for a brand-new residence along a tree-lined street of well-kept homes in leafy, manicured Toluca Lake.

Popular partly due to its geographic convenience to the Burbank and Hollywood studios, not to mention the Sunset Strip and Beverly Hills, Lythgoe joins a blizzard of high-wattage showbiz bigwigs who make their home (or one of their homes!) in Toluca Lake: Steve Carrell, Melissa McCarthy, Octavia Spencer, Jean Smart, Kenya Barris, Kelly Clarkson, Linda Lavin, Patricia Heaton, Julie Bowen, who bought Meghan Trainor’s place a couple years ago, and Macaulay Culkin, who bought his lush .6-acre spread last year from Kiefer Sutherland.

Designed and built by Arzuman Brothers, Lythgoe’s new digs blend elements of the hyper-trendy modern farmhouse style with a warm California contemporary vibe; steel-grey board-and-batten siding and reclaimed wood cladding soften the crisp angles of the boxy house. Dispersed throughout the home’s 5,300 square feet are four bedrooms — a main-floor study with private bath is easily converted to a fifth — and a total of six bathrooms and two powder rooms.

The front door opens to a long entrance gallery where the wide plank white oak floorboards continue clear up to the ceiling on one of the walls. Past the steel and wood staircase that connects all three floors, the great room offers a wine display wall in the dining area, a gas fireplace in the living room and a sleekly appointed U-shaped kitchen with a long snack bar counter.

Following the trend to dig down to add more square footage than building codes will otherwise allow aboveground, Nasty Nigel’s new house has an huge finished basement. Most of the space is taken up by leisure and entertaining spaces, such as a lounge with fireplace, a billiards area, a screening room, and a powder room. But, perfect for live-in domestic staff or long-term guests, there’s also an en-suite bedroom.

The fully fenced and landscaped backyard was designed for quiet repose and group entertaining. A dining loggia just outside the kitchen looks over a long swimming pool with an inset spa, while an outdoor fireplace anchors a sunny patio with an outdoor fireplace. There’s also a built-in grill and an open-air poolside cabana complete with wet bar, pool bath and outdoor shower.

The property was listed with Andrius Vaitkevicius and Arman Arzuman of Arzuman Brothers; Lythgoe was represented in the transaction by Kevin Dees and Sebastian Spader at The Agency.

Lythgoe has changed up his portfolio quite a bit over the last couple of years. In 2021, he lost a small fortune on the sale of a home in Las Vegas and pocketed a small fortune on the sale of a pedigreed mansion in a particularly posh pocket of L.A.’s Bel Air neighborhood. His holdings still include a West Hollywood condo, purchased some 17 years ago for $750,000 and though it’s now for sale at $22 million, the Villa San-Juliette vineyard, winery, and vacation retreat, in Paso Robles, Calif., which he co-owns with fellow “American Idol” producer Ken Warwick.