Celebrity Homes

Melanie Griffith is learning that a home in the middle of nowhere might be hard to sell ... even if it’s posh Aspen, you know, where the beer flows like wine.

Griffith just lowered the price of her incredible Aspen retreat by a mil, after originally listing it for $9.9 million back in June.

We're told Melanie is ready to let go of the place now that all her kids are older and the massive home is not worth the hassle. She plans on staying at hotels when she visits.

She should find a buyer … the 7 bedroom pad has breathtaking 360 views of the Maroon Bells ... with a major bonus -- its own private ski run! It's also not too far from the lifts at Aspen Highlands and Ajax.

Kenya Moore just dropped $515k on a fixer upper that may be the most insecure place in the ATL ... because it didn't even have doors.

We're told Kenya paid cash and almost instantly began extensive remodeling. The house was actually under construction but was never completed because the owner ran out of money, so Kenya had her work cut out for her.

Kenya's realtor, Jeremy Smith, tells us she wanted a contemporary and there aren't a lot in the area so she settled on the partially built pad. He says the house when finished would easily go for $1.5 mil. She's spending around $400k on the remodel, so on paper it's a great investment.

The house is 15 minutes outside of Buckhead, which is where she wanted to be, but that's why God invented cars.

Kenya will do a big remodel reveal on her show.

Robbie Williams is pop royalty overseas, so to make himself at home in the U.S. he's looking for around 2 dozen thrones.

Williams just bought a new home in Beverly Hills and everything about it is HUGE. For starters, the place is 24,000 square feet with 10 bedrooms and 22 bathrooms.

There's a gym, tennis court and pool with an adjacent pool house that's big enough to be mistaken for the main residence.

Roy Black -- the powerhouse attorney who handled Justin Bieber's Miami DUI case -- is about to score a sweet deal for his Miami mansion.

Roy and his wife, ex 'Real Housewives of Miami' star Lea Black, just listed their palace on Star Island for $18 million -- an impressive price, considering they paid $7.5 million for it just 4 years ago.

The home was recently renovated and is huge -- 10,000 sq ft with 7 bedrooms and 7 baths, plus a guest house with 3 more rooms and 2 bathrooms.

Lea and Roy have options for a new primary residence -- they have another home in Miami, one in the Florida Keys, and one in L.A.

Nicki Minaj and Meek Mill are taking the ultimate plunge in their relationship ... well besides marriage, and kids, and maybe a dog -- they're buying a house in Cali.

Sources close to the couple tell us they've bid on a 9-bedroom home in the Hollywood Hills. It's still unclear if they'll get it, but the fact they even attempted is a sign they're on solid ground.

The timing is right -- we're told Nicki hasn't had a place to call home since the lease on her old L.A. pad with ex, Safaree Samuels ended in January. We're told Philly native Meek is also ready to move west, since it's better for biz ... and he thinks it'll keep him out of trouble.

Our source says they're definitely in love, and there's even talk of marriage -- but no proposal yet.

Kim Richards has taken at least one step in her 12 step recovery ... she found a place to live.

Kim was practically homeless -- living in her car -- when her family refused to take her in after she bailed on rehab. But now we're told she's living in a somewhat swanky Westwood condo.

Kim's new place is small -- 1 bedroom and 1 bath -- but the building has all sorts of amenities, including a gym. Rent in the building ranges from $3k-$5k a month.

No word on who's footing the bill, since Kim's out of work after getting the ax on "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills."

We're guessing it may be a really wealthy family.

Rick Ross is a forgiving boss ... 'cause even though LeBron James took his talents back to Cleveland, the rap superstar is making a royal gesture that proves he's still down with the king.

Ross is building a new basketball court in his Atlanta mega-mansion ... and when it was time to choose greats to grace his floor, he picked a usual suspect ... Michael Jordan ... and a wild card ... LeBron James.

Why is James a wild card? Ross is a HUGE Miami Heat fan ... so you might think he'd be done with LBJ being that LeBron spurned MIA to return to his Ohio home last year.

He ain't done ... so much so that when we spoke to Jay Mack -- the artist tasked with creating the LeBron and Jordan murals -- he told us Ross moved heaven and earth ... flying him down personally to do the arduous month long job of getting the hardwood homages done.

Next legends to grace the court? Jay says Kobe and Shaq.

The sale of Michael Jordan's insanely kick-ass Chicago mega mansion just took the most dramatic turn ever ... getting the Hollywood movie treatment in a full court press to finally get it sold.

"Million Dollar Listing" star Josh Flagg just made $1 million off his Beverly Hills fixer-upper without so much as laying down a single nail, and he has MySpace to thank for it.

Flagg sold the joint to the social networking site's co-founder Chris DeWolfe -- not the Tom guy -- for just under $6 million.

Flagg bought the house 4 months ago for around $5 mil with intentions of flipping it, but he quietly put the word out he'd sell if the right buyer came around and the price was right.

Fact is ... Flagg probably could have gotten more than $6 mil ... he planned to list it for triple the purchase price post-renovation, but who can turn down a hassle-free, easy million?

We reached out to Josh for comment, but calls were not returned.

Former 'Bachelorette' contestant Ed Swiderski says he got screwed out of his apartment security deposit because his landlord is blaming him for $12,000 worth of damage!

Ed and his wife Natalie moved out of the pad in Chicago's West Loop this past July, and he says they left it exactly the same way they found it -- minus reasonable wear and tear -- but never got back the $3,700 security deposit.

According to the lawsuit, Ed's landlord, Robert O'Bryan, tagged him for the following:

-$100 for missing chandelier crystals

-$60 for missing parking remotes

-$1,500 for fixing 5 doors with dog scratches on them

-$1,150 for a new carpet after he found dog feces and urine stains on the old one

-$4,950 in repainting costs ... all things the landlord says aren't "regular wear and tear."

Those are just the highlights, there's much more, but Ed says it's all BS since he cleaned the place, and a new tenant moved in the very same day he moved out.

O'Bryan tells TMZ the damage he found during inspection was "shocking," and thinks Ed is being ungrateful. He says he was willing to just take his deposit, and eat the rest of the damage ... which would have been more than $9k.

Ed and his wife are suing for $11,100 -- 3 times their deposit.

Giada De Laurentiis isn't crying after losing her home in her nasty divorce because she's purchasing a new pad that's bigger, better ... and just around the corner.

We're told De Laurentiis is ready to dish out $6 million on a 5 bedroom, 5.5 bath, 1920s Spanish-style estate in the Riviera area of Pacific Palisades.

The home has a bit of history ... it once belonged to swing legend Benny Goodman, and the guest house is even set up like a music studio.

No surprise ... the open kitchen's got all top-of-the-line appliances, so there won't be anything stopping Giada from cooking all the salty-sweet apple hand pies and chicken cacciatore she likes.

As we previously reported, Giada's ex-husband got to keep their old pad in the divorce ... but it was chump change in comparison.

"The Notebook" author Nicholas Sparks is a true romantic in real life ... when it comes to his beloved North Carolina mansion, anyway -- and now he's making sure he keeps it in the breakup with his wife.

According to docs obtained by TMZ ... Nicholas and Catherine Sparks both signed the deed for "Trent Acres" -- the massive family estate -- over to the Nicholas Sparks trust. As you'd expect ... the author runs his trust, so basically Catherine's given him her share of the 24,000 sq. ft. home.

The Sparks' announced they were separating in January after 25 years of marriage.

It's unclear from the docs what, if any, compensation Catherine's getting for forking over the deed ... but typically there is something called an equalization payment. She's already secured a $1.1 million mini-mansion, just a couple miles away from "Trent Acres."

Nicholas declared his love for his estate in a video every bit as sappy as "Nights in Rodanthe." Grab some tissues ...

If you want to know where Britney Spears' massive Las Vegas paychecks are going -- feast your eyes on the huge estate she just snatched up outside Los Angeles!

Brit closed on the 13,264 sq. ft. palace on Friday, according to our real estate sources, and she got it for an amazing $7.4 million. It's not often you hear that kinda price called "a steal," but we're told that's how it's being described in celeb housing circles.

Here's why -- besides the 5 beds and 7.5 baths ... Brit's new crib sits on 20.98 acres, has tennis courts, AND an infinity pool. She can also work on her golf game (if she's got one), since there's a 3-hole course on the grounds!

Brit's becoming a land baron -- she already owns another property in the area, but she's living in a rental right now.

Gigi Hadid isn't ready to share precious closet space with boyfriend Joe Jonas, because the couple isn't moving in together ... TMZ has learned.

Photos of G.i.-Joe gawking at a building in Manhattan's NoHo 'hood surfaced Friday, sparking rumors the couple of only 4 months was taking the leap.

We're told that's not the case, and Gigi is the only one shopping ... she even brought mom Yolanda along to see some of the spots. They checked out a boutique building on Bond Street where 2 and 3-bedrooms go for around $6.5 mil.

Good security has to be high on Gigi's list of amenities for a new home -- she had to sell her old place after a stalker got inside.

Jay Z and Beyonce got the last laugh after getting notice to leave the house they were renting ... because we've learned they got an even better house.

Our sources say Bey and Jay are now renting the $45 million Holmby Hills palace that was owned by ex-L.A. Dodgers owner Frank McCourt.

McCourt sold the house to a British billionaire last year for $45 million, but we're told the new owner was hardly in L.A. and it just sat vacant. So he recently decided to put it on the market for lease ... we're told for around $150k a month.

Our sources -- all of whom are people who were on hand this past weekend facilitating the move -- say Beyonce and Jay signed a 1-year lease.

As for the house ... it's 20,000 square feet, complete with an indoor Olympic-sized pool complex and an outdoor pool with a waterfall and formal gardens.

As we previously reported, Bey Z got the boot from their old rental in the same neighborhood after the owner decided to sell it.

Alfonso Ribeiro danced his way to a sprawling new home, and even though it's not in Bel-Air ... it's still pretty sick.

The "Dancing with the Stars" champ and "Unwrapped 2.0" host plunked down $2 million for the killer solar-powered pad in Granada Hills, about an hour north of the neighborhood that made him famous.

The home is huge ... 7,500 square feet with 8 bedrooms and 7 baths, so definitely Fresh Prince-ish.

The guest house alone is 1,500 square feet and the patio has a grotto-style pool, waterfall and swim-up bar connected to a full-service outdoor kitchen with a BBQ and Chicago brick pizza oven.

Most importantly ... tons of room to do 'The Carlton.'