Katy Perry Emerges as Champion in Saga Over $15 Million Montecito Home
Courtesy of Realtor.com
He’s gonna hear her roar.
After years of battling the octogenarian entrepreneur Carl Westcott in court over a California home, pop star Katy Perry is finally the owner of the secluded Montecito estate.
In a nod to her daughter, Daisy Dove Bloom, Perry used the limited liability company DDoveB to take title to the Santa Barbara County estate on May 17, property records show. The deed was filed just two days before Perry’s final episode as a judge on “American Idol” after seven seasons.
For four years, the “Dark Horse” singer has fought to wrest control of the gated estate from Westcott, a car-dealership and communications-business mogul. In July 2020, in the midst of the frenzied pandemic real-estate market, Westcott signed a contract to sell the home for $15 million to Bernie Gudvi, Perry’s business manager, who was acting on her behalf. A few days later, Westcott informed Perry’s team that he didn’t want to sell.
Both sides sued, leading to a protracted legal battle that raised questions about mental capacity and showcased the lengths to which the wealthy will go to lay claim to coveted homes in a tight housing market.
In December 2023, Judge Joseph Lipner ruled in Perry’s favor in Los Angeles County Superior Court, ordering that the sales contract be respected. Perry is expected to testify at a second phase of the trial in July, which will determine damages in the case.
Pop star Katy Perry took ownership of this home in Santa Barbara County, Calif., after a yearslong legal dispute. (NATASHA LEE FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
Perry has paid $9 million for the estate so far, according to property records. The remaining balance will be paid once the damages owed by Westcott—which may be up to $6 million—are determined in the second phase of the trial.
Perry’s team is asking for damages for lost fair-market rental value, deferred maintenance and repairs needed for water damage and a tree falling, according to court documents.
Chart Westcott, one of Carl Westcott’s sons, said in an email that Perry’s “Hollywood hypocrisy and fake empathy knows no bounds. Her continuing to seek damages, which will be paid in effect by my father’s grandchildren, is totally heartless.”
Perry couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
With a pool and two guesthouses, the property is surrounded by towering hedges and sits on more than 2 acres in the heart of Montecito, an affluent enclave.
The primary bathroom (NATASHA LEE FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
Hedges and mature trees offer privacy. (NATASHA LEE FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
Westcott, who had long vacationed in Santa Barbara from Dallas, bought the house in May 2020 for $11.25 million.
Perry, who grew up in Santa Barbara County, agreed via Gudvi to buy it a few weeks later after outbidding TV journalist Maria Shriver. At the time, Perry and her partner, the actor Orlando Bloom, were expecting a child.
Katy Perry and partner Orlando Bloom (Lester Cohen/Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize)
But Westcott’s team quickly attempted to pull out of the deal. In the ensuing legal battle, Westcott’s lawyers claimed that the contract was invalid because he was mentally incapacitated by the degenerative illness Huntington’s disease and by the pain pills he was taking after a back surgery. Perry’s side argued that he had simply changed his mind after failing to find a suitable replacement home in Montecito’s tight market.
While the legal battle dragged on, Westcott moved into a residential managed-care mental-health facility, his family said.
It isn’t clear when and if Perry and Bloom plan to move into the home. Their daughter was born in August 2020, and in October of that year, the pop star paid $14.2 million for another Montecito home on 9 acres with ocean views. It isn’t clear if she plans to put that property on the market.
