Helen Mirren, fresh off her Oscar victory for “The Queen,” has acquired a yearning for royal living. Mirren and her husband, filmmaker Taylor Hackford, purchased a castle on a 500-year-old estate in Tiggiani, Italy, Us Weekly reported. The $1.4 million castle is a bit of fixer-upper apparently; it includes a dungeon, a moat and no electricity or running water.
Christie Brinkley is about to end her fourth marriage and has put her four-bedroom beach house in the Hamptons up for sale for nearly $8 million, her rep confirmed for the New York Daily News. Brinkley is mired in a nasty divorce from architect Peter Cook, who cheated on her with his teenage assistant. Brinkley and Cook also own several fancy East End properties. The oceanfront home on Flying Point Road is in Brinkley’s name, her rep said. The former supermodel and ex-wife to rocker Billy Joel bought the home in 2005 for a reported $4.9 million.
Rap and clothing mogul Russell Simmons is unloading the Saddle River, N.J., mansion he and his estranged wife shared. Simmons and his wife Kimora Lee split more than a year ago and have placed their 35,000-square-feet estate on the market for $23.8 million, tmz.com reports. The home, listed on Sotheby’s website, sits on 4 acres, features 10 bedrooms and eight bathrooms.
Avril Lavigne and her hubby, fellow rocker and Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley, bought a Bel-Air home for about $9.5 million, the Los Angeles Times reported. The three-story, 12,000-square-foot Tuscan-style gated home has eight bedrooms and 10½ bathrooms. Set on an acre of land, the home has an office, high-tech kitchen, 10-car garage, steam shower, sauna and pool. Lavigne’s third album, “The Best Damn Thing,” will be released Tuesday. Let’s hope the CD goes platinum.
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-People compiled by Greg Henry from wire and Internet reports
