For many, living in the former VIP home of a Hollywood star would be a dream come true. Not everyone can allow themselves this luxury, however. In fact, often when celebrities put their extravagant luxury homes on the market, years pass before an interested buyer closes the deal. And it’s not hard to see why, these dream homes have disproportionately high price tags that often verge on the absurd. Thus, lately, many stars have conceded to lowering the asking price significantly in order to seal the deal. Singer Robbie Williams, for example, the owner of a splendid eighteenth century villa immersed in the lush greenery of the English countryside, had to settle for ‘only’ 6.8 million to rid himself of the magnificent palace of Wiltshire. Small change, considering that five years earlier he acquired the property for 11 million. It seems he was anxious to sell the palace, even at a loss, marvelously enchanting but too close to a landfill.
Actor Robin Williams was compelled to do the same, a few months before his unexpected death. Having accepted that no one would shell out the requested 35 million to buy his ‘Villa of Smiles’, a mega villa in the heart of Napa Valley, California, he took it off the market momentarily before lowering the asking price to just under 30 million. Despite this generous reduction, the extraordinary paradise not far from San Francisco is still uninhabited.
Then there are those with no intentions of compromising. Bestselling author Danielle Steel, after the success of many novels, treated herself to a beautiful ocean front villa in Stinson Beach, California. For this property she insists on the original asking price and will accept no less than 9 million, given that the sea view home is of new construction and from all luxury materials. Neither is Jimmy Kimmel open to compromise, at least not at the moment: The American actor wants 2.3 million for his downtown Los Angeles home, not particularly large but without a doubt luxurious. With 15 TVs, a recording studio and a five-star kitchen with numerous high end ovens. Yet Kimmel has not succeeded in selling.
Bruce Willis, meanwhile, has finally relented after a year of negotiations, to sell his Beverly Hills luxury villa for 16.5 million dollars; 5 million less than he had planned. Things went well however for Meryl Streep, who secured a profit on her handsome property nestled in the Hollywood Hills. Purchased for four million, she sold it for a profit of 300,000 dollars.
