After years of legal battles with the octogenarian entrepreneur Carl Westcott over a California home, pop star Katy Perry has finally secured ownership of the secluded Montecito estate.
Hedges and mature trees offer privacy.
In a tribute 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, according to property records. 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 battled to gain control of the gated estate from Carl Westcott, a mogul in the car-dealership and communications business. In July 2020, amid the frenzied pandemic real-estate market, Westcott signed a contract to sell the home for $15 million to Bernie Gudvi, Perry’s business manager, acting on her behalf. However, a few days later, Westcott informed Perry’s team that he no longer wanted to sell.
The primary bedroom opens to the pool area.
Both parties sued, leading to a protracted legal battle that raised questions about mental capacity and highlighted the lengths to which the wealthy will go to claim coveted homes in a tight housing market.
An outdoor entertaining space includes a kitchen, fireplace and swimming pool.
In December 2023, Judge Joseph Lipner ruled in Perry’s favor in Los Angeles County Superior Court, ordering that the sales contract be upheld. Perry is expected to testify in the second phase of the trial in July, which will determine the damages owed in the case.
According to property records, Perry has paid $9 million for the estate so far. The remaining balance will be settled once the damages owed by Westcott—which could be up to $6 million—are determined in the second phase of the trial.
The primary bathroom
Perry’s team is seeking damages for lost fair-market rental value, deferred maintenance, and repairs needed for water damage and a fallen tree, according to court documents.
Carl Westcott bought the Montecito house in May 2020 for $11.25 million. Many rooms have direct access to the outdoors.
Chart Westcott, one of Carl Westcott’s sons, stated in an email that Perry’s “Hollywood hypocrisy and fake empathy know no bounds. Her continuing to seek damages, which will effectively be paid by my father’s grandchildren, is totally heartless.”
Perry and partner, Orlando Bloom, in April
Perry couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
The property, featuring a pool and two guesthouses, is surrounded by towering hedges and sits on more than 2 acres in the heart of Montecito, an affluent enclave.
Westcott, who had long vacationed in Santa Barbara from Dallas, purchased the house in May 2020 for $11.25 million.
Perry recently wrapped up her seventh and final season on ‘American Idol.’
Perry, who grew up in Santa Barbara County, agreed to buy the property via Gudvi a few weeks later, outbidding TV journalist Maria Shriver. At the time, Perry and her partner, actor Orlando Bloom, were expecting a child.
However, Westcott’s team quickly attempted to withdraw from the deal. In the subsequent legal battle, Westcott’s lawyers claimed the contract was invalid because he was mentally incapacitated due to Huntington’s disease and the pain medication he was taking after 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.
As the legal battle dragged on, Westcott moved into a residential managed-care mental-health facility, according to his family.
It remains unclear when or 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 is not yet known if she plans to put that property on the market.
This isn’t Perry’s first protracted legal battle over a California home. In the mid-2010s, a group of Los Angeles nuns vehemently objected when the archdiocese accepted Perry’s offer of $14.5 million for their former convent in Los Feliz. When the sisters instead signed the deed over to another buyer for $15.5 million, a highly public legal dispute ensued. In 2016, a judge ruled that the archdiocese, not the nuns, had the right to sell the property. Perry and the archdiocese were awarded $15 million in damages and legal fees.