Stars Are Embracing Maximalist Holiday Decor This Year, and Other Celebrity Real Estate News

We’re fully entrenched in the holiday season, and the celebrities—Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Aniston, Jamie Foxx, and more—are in decoration publicity mode. (You will see Kim Kardashian’s Chanel-themed tree; it’s not worth trying to escape it.) Elsewhere, all Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz want for Christmas is to renovate their historic London townhouse without input from their angry neighbors, and Ariana Madix is asking Santa for the ability to sell the Valley Village, Los Angeles, home she shares with her dreaded ex Tom Sandoval. Let’s get into all of that and more of this week’s celebrity ho-ho-homeowner news.

• Can you believe we’re coming up on the one-year anniversary of "Scandoval," the Vanderpump Rules cheating drama that somehow dominated the news cycle for several weeks (months, really) in early 2023? Despite the many months that have passed since reality TV personalities Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix split up so publicly, the two are still cohabiting in the Valley Village home (a modern farmhouse, naturally) that they purchased together in 2019 for just over $2 million. During a recent appearance on Bravo’s late-night talk show Watch What Happens Live, Madix expressed her desire to not share it anymore. "I’m working on the situation with the ownership of the house," she said when a viewer called in to ask about her living situation. "I would love for that to be resolved quickly, so if [lawyer] Joel Weiner could really get back to my lawyer, that’d be great." Madix says she wants to sell the house and Sandoval does not. Why doesn’t he just buy her out? Host Andy Cohen asked the same thing, and Madix responded with an exaggerated shrug. I guess it’s because he sucks!

• Still, I can think of a bunch of people across the pond who might rather deal with Sandoval than their current sources of frustration: Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz. The married actors join the Beckhams in the not-so-coveted group of "celebrities who are pissing off their neighbors with renovation plans," as they plot an addition to their North London townhouse. The Grade II-listed terraced home dates back to 1840 and is located in a conservation area, making their proposed renovation—which includes knocking down a 20th-century conservatory, moving the kitchen, and replacing a first-floor window—a bit tricky. According to the Daily Mail, local conservation committee members lodged a complaint about their proposal, in part because the window they plan to replace uses a historic Victorian window pattern that is, as the complaint reads, "characteristic of the windows in houses of this date." I need a fainting couch just hearing about it. A decision on their application will reportedly be made later this month.

• If Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz are in renovation hell, they can take comfort knowing that, at least, Simone Biles is there with them. The Olympic gold medalist recently shared some difficulties she’s having with the construction of the home she and her husband, Green Bay Packers player Jonathan Owens, are building in Texas. "Yesterday I was here from 11am-5pm…," she captioned an update on Instagram Stories (with the "woozy face" emoji); an experience likely familiar to those who’ve undergone the construction of a new home. "I thought it was going to be a 30 minute thing bc I had no clue what I was walking into." Biles’s post showed the home’s high ceilings, but didn’t specify what the trouble was there; another clip showed yellow stains lining the grout of what seem to be bathroom tiles. "I cannot deal anymore," she wrote, alongside a bunch of those angry-looking, cursing emojis. I hope the New Year brings her construction-related peace.

• Once Biles is finished with her build, maybe she can get some design inspiration from quasi-famous reality star/Talentless founder Scott Disick (via Kim Kardashian). In an Instagram post last week, Disick showed off his pink Pierre Paulin Dune sofa, a couch that consists of several arched mix-and-match seating modules, each of which goes for thousands of dollars. If it looks familiar to you, that may be because Kardashian has the same one. (So does Frank Ocean.) Scott Disick, do you prefer "interior design victim" or "sofa-y challenged"? (That’s a Clueless reference.) (If you don’t get it, that’s your fault.)

• One thing Disick can never take from Kardashian is her Chanel-themed Christmas tree. The decorations enthusiast shared a peek at her home’s holiday exterior earlier this month, and has just started to release glimpses of what’s going on inside the sprawling Hidden Hills mansion. In a TikTok posted last week on the account she shares with her daughter North West, Kardashian showed off several trees in one of her kid’s bedrooms (which kid was unspecified), including one dressed in all black and white Chanel ornaments. The room also has a large display of cookies and other Christmas treats, Santas, angels, and a sign above the bed that says Welcome to the North Pole. It’s as if a Christmas truck came and dumped all of its contents. But if you’re worried the Skims founder didn’t save enough decorations for the rest of her monochromatic mansion, fear not; on Instagram, she shared a tour of her evergreen-lined bathroom, and the enormous tree in her living room (a room which also features that Pierre Paulin sofa).

• While Kardashian is undeniably the queen of Christmas excess, a few other celebrities are competing for a little bit of that holiday decoration attention. Brittany Mahomes, wife of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (and new friend of Taylor Swift) showed off the glitzy, silver decorations at the Kansas City mansion she shares with her husband. Included among her stockings and tree are two life-size nutcrackers—kind of reminiscent of the one Real Housewives of New York City veteran Dorinda Medley secured for then costar Bethenny Frankel, if that reference means anything to you. Over on TikTok, Paris Hilton is celebrating #Slivmas with a massive tree in her foyer (and plenty of pink and white decor); and on Instagram, Morning Show star Jennifer Aniston gave a peek at her comparatively demure wooden reindeer decorations. Meanwhile, another "morning show" star, Live with Kelly and Mark cohost Kelly Ripa, posted about the ornaments her family has been collecting for 34 years. Among them, a sparkling cupcake, a mini Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a ballerina, and a bunch of family photos. And in a much more maximal display of festivity, we have Jamie Foxx’s Agoura Hills, California, mansion, which is…well, you really just have to look at the photos. According to Page Six, the exterior display features thousands of decorations, including tons of Christmas lights (even on his roof), lighted trees lining his elongated entry road, and a large Frosty the Snowman adorning the fountain at the center of his horseshoe driveway. If that doesn’t inspire you to put up a few lights outside—well, I understand, because it looks completely exhausting. (And so festive!)

Top photos courtesy (from left): Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic; Presley Ann/Getty Images; Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Related Reading:

One Night in Palm Heights, the Internet-Crowned "It Girl" Getaway

They’re Obsessed With Eyes. So They Designed Their Home to Feature Them Everywhere