As Kenya Barris’ acclaimed “black-ish” franchise expanded to include “grown-ish” and “mixed-ish” — not to mention his creation and starring role in the semi-autobiographical Netflix series “#blackAF,” and his penning of the screenplay for the 2021 comedy “Coming 2 America,” a much publicized sequel to the 1988 film “Coming to America,” he’s steadily amassed a $15-plus-million-dollar portfolio of at least four homes across L.A.’s sprawling San Fernando Valley.
Nearly 16 years ago, not too long after he co-created the popular, frivolous and still-running-around-world reality series “America’s Next Top Model,” Barris and his Weho-based anesthesiologist wife, Dr. Rainbow Edwards-Barris, paid $839,000 for a newly built home in the not-so-long-ago unsung but nowadays up-and-coming Valley Village area. Then, in 2017, with a couple of Emmy nominations under his belt, the parents of six splashed out almost $3 million for a much larger 4,500-square-foot home set behind gates in the affluent foothills above Encino.
Over the summer of 2019, about a year after Barris signed a mountainous $100 million deal with Netflix, and just a few months before it was reported the Barrises planned to divorce after 20 years of marriage, the parents of six upgraded again, this time to $7.55 million contemporary showstopper of about 9,600 square feet, also in the foothills of Encino. The stylishly appointed wood and glass mansion served as a model for the home used in “#blackAF.”
It wasn’t long, however, before they snapped up another multimillion dollar house, a Studio City spread acquired in an off-market deal last year for $4.6 million. Unconfirmed word on the celebrity real estate street at the time was that the property had been acquired for Mrs. Barris. Then they called off the divorce.
Now, with their marriage back on track, the Barrises have opted to slim down their real estate load, slapping a $1.25 million price on their Valley Village starter home that is now listed with Shavonda Hill at RE/MAX One. Online records show this is not the first time the Barrises have attempted to sell the unpretentious home; In late 2014 it popped up for sale at $1.225 million, and the price fell to $1.05 million before it was taken off the market in the spring of 2015.