After leaving royal life for the celebrity haven of Montecito, California, two years ago, Meghan Markle has revealed that her new home has brought with it freedom, tranquillity and peace of mind.
Meghan and her husband, Prince Harry, bought the nine-bedroom, 16-bathroom home for a hefty $US 14.65 million ($AU 21.5 million) in 2020, becoming neighbours with the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres.
In an interview for The Cut, the 41-year-old Suits star detailed how her California home is “healing” and allows her to “feel free”, feelings that pushed her and Harry to snap it up when they could.
“We did everything we could to get this house,” she told writer Allison P. Davis. “Because you walk in and go … Joy. And exhale. And calm. It’s healing. You feel free.”
The couple bought the home – which comes complete with rose gardens, a tennis court, a tea house, and a two-bedroom guesthouse – shortly after leaving the royal family.
The 1700 square-metre home is reportedly the first both Harry and Meghan have owned, with the pair now embarking on renovations including the fixing of pipes.
With Harry and Meghan working on various projects through their company Archewell, they share a home office which includes two plush club chairs side-by-side in front of a desk.
In the sitting room, cozy chairs and rosewater candles are included along with a grand piano, gifted to the couple by actor and director Tyler Perry as a housewarming present after they spent the pandemic living in his multimillion-dollar mansion in Beverly Hills.
But, the couple initially resisted viewing the home when they were looking to establish themselves in the area, with Meghan revealing that it wasn’t within their means.
“We didn’t have jobs, so we just were not going to come and see this house. It wasn’t possible,” Meghan said.
When they did finally take a tour of the house, she said they had only seen the grounds when they told the realtor they had to have it.
“One of the first things my husband saw when we walked around the house was those two palm trees,” Meghan recalled.
“He goes, ‘My love, it’s us’.”
Image: @CampbellAddy (The Cut / Twitter)
This article first appeared on OverSixty.