Rod Stewart has put his Los Angeles mansion on the market for $80m, as he prepares to spend more time living at his UK residence.
“It’s just time,” estate agent Tomer Fridman told the New York Times, which first reported the listing. “The whole family lived there for 30 years. The children grew up there, and he’s got grandchildren already. He’s touring, and he lives in Europe a lot of the time.”
Stewart, 78, paid $12m in 1991 for the lot situated in the Beverly Park neighbourhood, and commissioned the 28,000 sq ft yellow-painted, nine-bedroom, 12-bathroom mansion from architect Richard Landry. It also features a 4,500 sq ft guesthouse: “That would be a main house anywhere else. But in Beverly Park, that’s a guesthouse,” Fridman said. Stewart originally put the property on sale in June, asking for $10m less.
The home features a football pitch and, until recently, housed Stewart’s cherished epic train set, entitled Grand Street and Three Rivers City and modelled on US railroads. “It took me 23 years to build,” he said in 2021. “It’s 60ft long by 25ft wide. Bigger than most people’s houses. It’s taken seven months to move [to the UK].”
Stewart is now set to live chiefly at his 10-bedroom, Grade II-listed mansion on the Hertfordshire and Essex border, near the village of Sawbridgeworth, which he moved into in 2016 with wife, Penny Lancaster. It features a second substantial train set, recreating the UK’s east coast mainline.
Former model Lancaster has since become a volunteer police officer – she was on duty in London for the coronation of King Charles III.
In 2022, Stewart filmed himself filling in potholes on the road near his UK residence. “The other day there was an ambulance with a burst tyre,” he said. “My Ferrari can’t get through here at all. So me and the boys thought we’d come and do it ourselves.” He was reprimanded by a representative for Essex county council, who said: “You can’t take matters into your own hands. People must always report potholes to the council and we will fix anything that’s dangerous.”
Stewart is gearing up to release Swing Fever, a collaborative album with Jools Holland, with the pair performing big band numbers including Ain’t Misbehavin’, Frankie and Johnny and Pennies from Heaven. The album is due to be released on 23 February, and the pair recently promoted it with an impromptu concert on the concourse of St Pancras International station.
In August 2024, Stewart will perform the last concerts in a 13-year Las Vegas residency entitled The Hits, at the Caesars Palace hotel and casino. Before that, he will tour North America, Japan and Europe.
