WHO LIVES IN A HOUSE LIKE THIS? NOT US!
WITH its sweeping vistas over the Pacific Ocean, majestic oak ceiling and impeccably designed interior, it is undoubtedly a house fit for royalty.
And viewers of Harry and Meghan’s Netflix series might be forgiven for assuming the couple had been filmed inside their £11million mansion in Montecito, California.
But the MoS can reveal that the luxurious setting was, in fact, a magnificent property even more expensive than their own – a £27.3million, 13,599sq ft, six-bedroom ‘iconic’ Montecito estate mansion, which is currently up for sale.
According to the estate agent’s gushing description of 888 Lilac Lane – a nine-minute drive from the Sussexes’ real home, which they bought in 2020 – the mansion used for filming boasts a Wimbledon-quality lawn, pool, spa, private gym and pebbled walkways. It belongs to wealthy businessman and eco-activist Mark Schulhof.
While the couple never actually claimed the house in the Netflix show was theirs, its interior, with its crystal chandeliers, lofty 24ft-high ceilings and private cinema, attracted much comment.
Prestigious Architectural Digest magazine praised the mansion’s ‘great room’, ‘which is flooded with light from the double-height arched windows that line the back of the house’.
But others criticised the couple for being ‘tone deaf’ for being filmed inside such a lavish home amid a global cost of living crisis. A Hollywood producer said: ‘It struck me as a little tone deaf to shoot in such opulent surroundings when there is so much suffering in the real world.’
While the ‘location house’ has its own chicken coop, as Meghan and Harry’s home does, it does not match the Sussexes’ mansion in one respect. It has 16 bathrooms, while Lilac Lane boasts only six.