It was a long, nearly five-year slog, but “Saturday Night Live” alum, radio personality and conservative-minded political commentator Dennis Miller has finally unloaded an elegant estate in the low-key but terrifically swanky Glen Oaks enclave in fancy-pants Montecito, Calif., for $11.5 million.
The acerbic Emmy winner and his former model wife, Carolyn ‘Ali’ Espley, purchased the 3.76-acre property in 1993 for an unknown amount and, as best as we can figure, first put the renovated, restored and painstakingly maintained spread out for sale in mid-2010 with an in-hindsight rose-tinted $17.5 million asking price. After a handful of price cuts, the property was last listed at $11.9 million.
The sprawling homestead, which has three gated entrances, vast lawns and extensive gardens, centers on a comfortable but sumptuously appointed, 9,000-plus-square foot mansion originally designed by Gilded Age architect Stanford White, and built in 1895. Digital marketing materials show there are eight bedrooms and nine full and three half bathrooms in the main house plus another three bedrooms and two baths in a second guest/staff residence that was built in 1917. The back of the mansion opens to a resort-worthy complex with swimming pool, spa, stacked stone outdoor fireplace and a poolside cabana equipped with kitchen, bar, barbecue and bathroom. The property also has a tennis court, sunken trampoline and a tree house.
Our research indicates the Millers still own quite a bit of real estate in and around Montecito, including a large residence directly across the street from the estate they just sold that was originally built as the carriage house to the White mansion, and was unsuccessfully put up for sale in 2013 for $5 million. Property records suggest the Millers also own a 4.3-acre Montecito compound purchased in 2006 for an undisclosed sum, as well as a 6,063-square-foot, Nantucket-inspired residence on the beach in Carpinteria that they scooped up in 2003 for $11.75 million, and floated on the market in December, amid much publicity and ballyhoo, with a fat, $22.5 million pricetag.
listing photos: Village Properties
