Picture: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Instagram
When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle decided to decamp from L.A. to Montecito, they did so because they wanted to “integrate into the community while having some distance and privacy that is hard to come by in the Los Angeles area,” a friend close to the family told Vogue. Now, another pair of famous faces are following suit: Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom.
Multiple reports say the couple purchased a $14 million home in the hillside enclave for, well, the exact same reason the Sussexes did: “Katy grew up in Santa Barbara and always loved it there. Orlando has come to love it as well,” a source told People. He always enjoyed Malibu, but finds Montecito even better since it's much more private. "
It’s said the couple’s home, built in 1934, sits on just under nine acres and has a stunning view of the ocean. Sounds idyllic—as does Harry and Meghan’s abode, which has a tennis court, a pool, a guest house, rose gardens, and cypress and olive trees.
Both duos are also in similar stages of life: The Sussexes have a one-year-old son, Archie, whereas Perry and Bloom just welcomed their first child together, a daughter named Daisy Dove. They each chose Montecito, it seems, because it was a quiet place to raise their young family without being too remote—it’s still an hour-and-a-half drive from Los Angeles. As Harry and Meghan begin their work for Netflix, and Katy and Orlando continue their careers in the entertainment industry, many trips to Los Angeles are surely on their horizon.
The recent high-profile arrivals of not one, but two, celebrity couples is shining a bright spotlight on the serene California community. Sure, they’re no stranger to famous residents—Oprah has a compound there, as does Ellen DeGeneres (although she recently put hers up for sale). Yet they aren’t quite the paparazzi targets that the Sussexes and their new neighbors, who regularly have their day-to-day activities and social-media movies dissected in the tabloids. (It was news, for example, that the Sussexes went to a local steakhouse with David Foster and Katherine McPhee.) Montecito, it seems, may be becoming the next Malibu.
Written by Elise Taylor.
This article originally appeared on House & Garden UK.
