French Montana, a rapper and songwriter of Moroccan-American descent, paid slightly over $8.4 million to L.A. Clipper Paul “PG-13” George for a nearly 16,000-square-foot mansion in the guard-gated, celebrity-studded Hidden Hills enclave less than three years ago. Numerous Kardashians and athletes are among his many celebrity neighbors.
Presently, the “Unforgettable” singer, who has amassed an astounding 1.5 billion YouTube views and is nominated for three Grammys, has listed his sprawling suburban Los Angeles home for sale at nearly three times the price he paid for it. His objective is to expand his real estate holdings to other regions in the United States and around the world. The California ranch house meets Spanish hacienda, constructed in the late 1980s, has been recently listed with Tomer Fridman at Compass for $22.75 million. (College of Mike Kelley photographs provided by The Fridman Group.)
Montana acquired a seven-bedroom, nine-bathroom estate situated on nearly 1.5 acres in the prestigious, equestrian-friendly Ashley Ridge section of the neighborhood. The property has remained largely unchanged since then. The chairs encircling the dining table, the purple tufted bed in the multi-room master suite, and the wood and steel desk in the mahogany-paneled study were all visible in the listing photographs of the property during its previous listing.
Extensive walls of windows and enormous, operable skylights guarantee that the residence is flooded with natural light. The living room is a generous space, accommodating a minimum of three seating areas. It features a recessed bar, a marble fireplace, and an indoor planter brimming with verdant tropical plants, which effectively introduce the outdoors inside. The master bedroom features a kitchenette and an expansive walk-in closet, in addition to a five-car garage and a breakfast nook by the fireplace, in addition to a U-shaped island and breakfast nook in the kitchen.
A stone-paved terrace with a swimming pool, outdoor kitchen, covered lounge with fireplace and television, and a deck with tree-framed mountain views over the neighboring mansions encircles three sides of the residence.
Should the subsequent owner wish to modernize and enhance the property, Montana collaborated with the Ukrainian design firm Iqosa for two years to develop plans to transform and enlarge the existing residence to approximately 19,000 square feet, including nine bedrooms, two service quarters, a home theater, fitness and spa facilities, a glam room, and a stainless steel prep kitchen. The marketing materials indicate that the homeowner association and the city of Hidden Hills have granted their approval for the interior redesign plans.
Although Miami and Paris remain as viable options, this is not the first time that Montana has acquired a property in the Calabasas area from a celebrity: he purchased a gated estate from Selena Gomez for $3.3 million in 2016 and resold it for $5 million in the summer of 2021.