George Clooney is selling the Lake Como estate he bought for $21 million – for nearly $110 million.
George Clooney is selling the Lake Como estate he bought for $21 million – for nearly $110 million
The 62-year-old actor bought the 3,000 square metre Villa Oleandra from ketchup makers the Heinz family for $12.5 million in 2002 and purchased the neighbouring Villa Margherita for $8.5 million two years later – before he connected the properties with a bridge.
He is now said to be getting rid of it to escape the prying eyes of paparazzi after years of spending summers there with his human rights lawyer wife Amal Clooney, 45, and their six-year-old twins Ella and Alexander.
It was reported in recent weeks George had listed the estate for $107 million, with a source telling Page Six the actor was “conscious of the attention he gets when he’s in town”.
A leading property agent has now confirmed the rumours are true in a statement to weekly magazine Oggi.
Yasemin Baysal, a managing partner at Engel and Völkers real estate agency, said she was approached by an agency in Milan to sell Clooney’s home.
She added: “One client in particular is very interested: we have started all of the checks with a view to making an offer.”
The 18th century, 25-room villa is in Laglio – where George was made an honorary citizen in 2004.
It features a vegetable garden, cinema, gym, tennis and basketball courts, as well as a swimming pool, and grounds spread over 8,500 square metres.
Friends of the Clooneys who have stayed at the property have included the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Barack and Michelle Obama, Jennifer Aniston, and Matt Damon.
George said during a 2010 press conference to promote his hitman thriller ‘The American’: “What changed my life in a very pleasant and unexpected way was buying the villa in Laglio.
“I thought maybe I would spend a few weeks vacationing. But then I realized how beautiful life was in Italy and how it really helped calm me and not feel so pressured.”
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