Oprah's home looks way different than you think

It may come as no surprise to you that Oprah Winfrey has owned (and still owns) some pretty epic properties. From her former dual Chicago condos — one with 4,607 square feet of space and the other 9,625 — to her gorgeous Hawaiian farmhouse, few homes compare to Winfrey's. Her most extraordinary property, however, is her Montecito, California estate.


At 23,000 square feet, the Neo-Georgian mansion is not only gargantuan but also undeniably beautiful, as one would expect. However, the talk show queen's home and surrounding property look quite a bit different than you're probably imagining. We did some digging and found pictures to give give you a sneak peek into her not-so-humble abode. Winfrey has shown to be quite the private person when it comes to her personal space, so where we couldn't find pictures, we dug up detailed descriptions so you can imagine yourself right there with Ms. Winfrey herself.


It's in a small town

Winfrey's house is not small by any stretch of the imagination but, it is located in the relatively small town of Montecito, California. Part of Santa Barbara, Montecito features long stretches of coastline, great restaurants, and boutique shops. Oh, and a spectacular handful of celebrities including Jeff Bridges, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Rob Lowe, Ellen Degeneres, and, of course, Winfrey.

Degeneres even termed the town "the greatest community." That's pretty exciting. Though, if you decide to visit, Santa Barbara's tourism site advises, "don't make a fuss if you see a famous face." Imagine coming face-to-face with the Oprah Winfrey and not making a scene. Surely easier said than done.

It's symbolic of freedom

Winfrey may have the pleasure of living in a great community, but privacy is no doubt still important to the media mogul. Her huge private property is just the place to unwind and relax in silence. It is also quite symbolic to Winfrey. According to an interview with Vogue, Winfrey's Montecito estate is set on 65 landscaped acres of land that she calls the Promised Land. Why the biblical name?

She had been looking to buy a Southern plantation when she stumbled upon the property in California. Although about as far from the southeast as you can get, the home had the plantation look and feel. "I was calling it Tara II," Winfrey explained the property's original name to Vogue. Tara was the name of the O'Hara Planatation in Gone With the Wind. Her mind was changed one day when walking the property with her fitness guru and friend, Bob Greene. He explained to Winfrey that Scarlett O'Hara's plantation paled in comparison and, because of that, Winfrey should come up with a better and more-fitting name.

He told her, "The fact that you are an African-American woman from Mississippi and you get to have this … it's deep." Just then, the ideal name came to him. He exclaimed, "It's a promise! It's the Promised Land!" And so, the Promised Land estate was born.

"I feel that every day," she told Vogue, "… just absolute joyful contentment."


It's home to the Apostles

Keeping with the biblical theme, Winfrey also made room on her property to house the 12 apostles. If you're scratching your head wondering how that's possible, the 12 apostles in Winfrey's Promised Land are actually a grove of trees — 12 giant mature oaks — that Winfrey symbolically named "the Apostles," according to Vogue.

Fittingly, Winfrey also named the path leading to to the trees "Hallelujah Lane." The branches of the mega "Apostles" intertwine above and beside the path forming a "gorgeous, spooky tangle." Winfrey even has her favorite oak — Mark, Matthew, John? — and shared a photo of it on her personal Instagram, encouraging fans to post pictures of their favorite trees as well.

Although Winfrey's home is rich with spiritual metaphors, that's far from its only features.


There's a New York Times room

The Bible is not the only sacred text in Winfrey's household, it seems. Vogue detailed the open-air stone teahouse Winfrey had built on the property to serve as a quiet space to read The New York Times and drink tea. Now that is living the dream.

"I wanted it to be intimate and to feel like a hug," she told Nate Berkus in a sneak peek for Us Weekly. What you won't find is a bathroom in Winfrey's embrace-like structure. "You don't want to even be here in this small space and hear somebody else flushing the toilet," she told Berkus. She clarified by saying she can turn on fountains surrounding the teahouse if one wants the sound of running water but the two concurred the sound of a toilet flushing was not exactly peaceful.

According to Oprah magazine, Winfrey first planned the building to be a cutting room for flowers, but decided as it was being built that she wanted a space for herself. After it was built, Ellie Cullman, Winfrey's interior designer, added green wicker furnishings. She may only visit her teahouse several times a year, but just knowing it exists makes her happy. "It's my dream, having a place like this," she said. When people question why she needs more space, she tells them, "I need it to restore myself." Amen.

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