everything under my sun: home of the stars - -

Residential compounds are nothing out of the ordinary in Beverly Hills, where privacy, security, and exclusivity are the sine qua nons of daily life. But even in this more-is-more city, there can’t be too many properties that take up the better part of a street. The lane in question proceeds through a series of forbidding gates and winds steeply up a dramatic hill before arriving at the main house—a modern pile with stucco walls and a steel pitched roof. Given the approach, a visitor can be forgiven for expecting an armed reception committee or a pack of snarling Dobermans. Instead one is greeted by Mabel, a self-possessed black standard poodle, and Wolf, a shy white rescue dog, accompanied by their owner Ellen DeGeneres.

Dressed in a button-down shirt and shorts, the comedian-cum–talk show host leads the way through her lofty living room to the kitchen, where her wife, actor Portia de Rossi, has been preparing a vegan casserole to take to the couple’s 26-acre farm north of Los Angeles. It’s hard to imagine a place more enticing than their three-acre base, but De Rossi, an avid dressage rider, keeps her German warmbloods in the country, and for DeGeneres the second home provides an extra outlet for what can safely be described as an obsession with real estate and interior design.

“We never had a house when I was growing up,” DeGeneres explains, settling into an armchair on one of several terraces with panoramic views of L.A. “We always rented. But my father would dream, and we used to look at houses all the time. I’d pick out which bedroom would be mine and get all excited.” Born in Metairie, Louisiana, she dropped out of college and worked as a housepainter and a bartender before developing a stand-up act that launched a rather more durable career in the entertainment industry. (The Ellen DeGeneres Show, recipient of 36 daytime Emmy awards, began its ninth season this fall.) “The first thing I did when I made money was buy a house. And then—”

“Another one,” De Rossi says. “And another one and another one and another one...”

Portia de Rossi and Ellen DeGeneres at their Beverly Hills house, which was designed by architects Buff & Hensman and later expanded by decorator Melinda Ritz. In a sitting area adjacent to the kitchen, an 18th-century French worktable is paired with a suite of vintage bent-plywood chairs by Gerald Summers; the large painting is an Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat collaboration, and the drawing to its left is by Bill Traylor. The cocktail table is 19th-century Belgian, the torchère is by Waldo’s Designs, and the Kirman rug is antique.

A Ping-Pong table by Argentine artist Rirkrit Tiravanija makes a playful statement in the entrance hall, which features a Spanish Colonial bench from Lief and a Serge Mouille chandelier; the 19th-century Agra carpet is from the Melrose Project.

In the living room, a pair of slipcovered sofas and a cocktail table, all by Kathleen Clements Design, are grouped with Louis XVI bergères; the Avalon blanket is by Hermès, and the fringed throw is an antique textile. A mixed-media sculpture by Catherine Willis takes pride of place over the hearth; to its left are a Roman bust and works by Mark Grotjahn and Ed Ruscha. A Ruth Asawa sculpture hangs to the right of the fireplace.