They’re moving on up!

Prince William and his wife, Kate Middleton are planning to move into a much larger apartment in Kensington Palace after some serious updating and renovations take place. The move is anticipated to happen somewhere between late 2012 or mid 2013.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will leave their two-bedroom apartment and move to the 20 room dwelling which was the late Princess Margaret‘s until her death in 2002.

The home will need new plumbing, electrical and asbestos removal before being ready for the couple to take occupancy.

Apartment 1A (as it’s known) is managed by the Historic Royal Palaces and is used as offices, although there is a small area currently housing a public exhibition until September 2012.

The move was approved by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles. William and Kate, along with Prince Harry‘s staff will move their offices from St. James Palace to Kensington.

Harry is expected to relocate to the apartment that William and Kate vacate as well.

William and Harry grew up at Kensington Palace with their mother, Princess Diana, who lived their until her death in 1997.

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Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi give readers a glimpse of their super gorgeous home in the November issue of Architectural Digest.

The Beverly Hills home was recently put on the market for $49 million but DeGeneres and de Rossi opened the doors of the 9 bedroom mansion on 2.78 acres for AD before listing the property.

DeGeneres tells AD she has a hard time keeping track of the homes she’s owned – 7 in the last 7 years, one for each year of her relationship with de Rossi – but she mentions how her father dreamed of owning and not renting.

“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.”

DeGeneres & de Rossi purchased the home in 2007 from Will & Grace creator Max Mutchnick after he invited the couple over to watch American Idol. Previous owners of the 9,200 square foot home include Oscar nominated actor Laurence Harvey and Joan Collins.

[image: Roger Davies/Architectural Digest]

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Kate Winslet and her children were vacationing on Sir Richard Branson‘s private island when a fire broke out.

The 35 year-old actress and her daughter Mia, 10 and son Joe, 7 were among the guests staying at the Virgin Group mogul’s exclusive resort when the flames began.

Branson said that Winslet helped his 90 year-old mother get to safety as well.

“My mum is 90 and can walk, but it was more just to speed the process up than anything else. But anyway, she was great. She swept her up into her arms and got them out of the house as fast as possible,” Branson told The Telegraph.

Everyone was able to get out safe, including Branson’s mother Eve, daughter Holly Branson and about 20 more family members.

Branson also noted that he lost thousands of personal photographs and notebooks. He also said that while there is extensive damage, he wants to rebuild “something even better” and be able to keep the staff employed.

The cause of the blaze is believed to have been started by a lightning strike from Hurricane Irene.

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Hollywood stars live in some pretty amazing homes but Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith opened up the doors to their gorgeous home for the September issue of Architectural Digest.

The two stars are photographed with their children, Jaden and Willow, and Will’s son Trey from his first marriage, at their 25,000 square-foot estate in Calabasas, California showing the craftsmanship and intimacy of the house.

“For Will and me this home was always a spiritual endeavor,” Jada says. “We’re very earthy, organic people. We wanted to create a family retreat, something made by hand and as natural as possible, something that ties back to the land.”

Will said it was his costar, Gene Hackman, whose home in Arizona gave him the inspiration to go adobe.

“Gene loves Santa Fe,” Will says. “He has a house there, and he always talked about it. And then Wild Wild West came up, and we were shooting outside of Santa Fe. So I thought, Let me go see Gene’s house.” He admired what he saw. “I just loved that adobe flavor and feeling.”

Check out the photos of the family at home below.  (Read the article)

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It’s a sad Sunday for Trace Adkins and his family.

The country music superstar’s home in Brentwood, Tennesse (just outside of Nashville) was completely destroyed by fire Saturday, June 4th.

Rhonda Adkins, his wife of 14 years, had been in Atlanta and was less than 5 minutes from her home when a neighbor called her to tell her the bad news.

The couple’s two youngest children, ages 6 and 9, and the house guests watching them and the familiy’s pets, were at the residence at the time of the fire but everyone was able to get out safely.

“You can replace things, not people. I’m just glad that my children are safe,” she said.

Trace was on a plane heading for a concert in Alaska at the time of the home fire and would be met at the airport by security to tell him the news.

The entire fire department of Brentwood was called in to battle the blaze, including off duty personnel but it raged so fast, the house and all their possessions were completely lost.

“I’m just numb,” Rhonda said. “I’m sad because we lost irreplaceable things like all Trace’s awards and our family photos.”

The fire is thought to have started in the garage of the 5,000 square-foot mansion with a report of a possible dryer fire being the culprit, however Mrs. Adkins didn’t think that was likely as she said the dryer wasn’t used for over a week.

[image: Apega/WENN]

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Jennifer Lopez recently had her and Marc Anthony‘s ginormous (17,000 square feet!)  new house in her new gated community redecorated, and so pleased she was with the results, she invited Veranda in to gawk at the place.

J-Lo hired interior designer Michelle Workman to do the honors, and I bet you this woman never wants to work for her again.  Miss Diva made her do the job, which included the kitchen, living room, family room, bedrooms, and bathrooms, in just ten weeks!  Plus she changed her mind at the last minute:

“Workman had nearly completed a château-inspired house for Lopez when the singer-actress had a change of heart—she didn’t want to be locked into a classically French look.”

Can you not just picture it?  “Hi, I know you just did all this work, but I’m going to make you re-do it all, ‘k?  So get to it before I suck your life force out of you and put it in a jar on my dressing table.  Yes, right there next to Marc’s.   Now go – go go go!!!”

Bottom line is, though, the house is really gorgeous.  However, I can’t help but think that Marc hates it.  It’s incredibly feminine and everything is so… white.  A guy wants a home where he can relax a little and this is not a place to relax.  It’s a place to sit very still, very carefully, so you don’t spill or breathe on anything.  I feel sorry for him, and their kids too.   See what I mean – there’s lots of pictures after the jump. (Read the article)

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Drew Barrymore has bought herself a house fit for the Hollywood royalty she is – but she did it with thrift in mind nonetheless.  The actress’ new home is 72 years old, has six bedrooms and five bathrooms and sits on 3.5 acres of land in the exclusive Montecito area of Santa Barbara.  It was originally on the market for $8 million, but Drew paid just (just??!) $7 million for the property.

READ MORE ABOUT CELEBRITIES’ HOMES

Her new neighbors include Oprah Winfrey, Kirk Douglas, Billy Baldwin, John Cleese, Steve Martin and Rob Lowe.  Wonder who will be the first to knock on her door with a casserole to welcome her to the neighborhood?

[ Images by A. Miller/WENN.com ]

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Lady Gaga is in the market for real estate, and by that I do literally mean a REAL estate.  She’s been checking out properties in Scotland, and has reportedly signed papers for a particularly substantial property.   Yester House near Edinburgh is  a  “60 room, 17th century mansion set on 200 acres.”  It is valued at £8 million – over $12 million USD.

Locals would welcome her to the neighborhood – a bar owner nearby says that she’d be good for business!  Can you just imagine Gaga popping over to the local pub for a pint in her meat dress?

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[ Images by Will Alexander/WENN.com ]

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Derek Jeter is in the final year of his $189 million contract with the New York Yankees, but he’s looking to make just a little more cash on top of that.  Jeter has put his New York condo on the market for the small sum of $20 million.

You might, like me, have said, “What the hell?” when you read that.  However, we ARE talking Manhattan real estate prices here.  The listing describes

… a south-facing four-bedroom apartment with five and a half bathrooms. And through the 16-foot floor-to-ceiling windows…one can see the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, Central Park, and all the way out to the Atlantic Ocean.

Well, geeez.  Where do you find such an abode?  On the 88th floor of Trump World Tower, of course.

The New York Times suggests that this sale might be an indicator of Jeter’s plans to leave New York after his contract ends, but I am wondering if he’s getting ready to consolidate living arrangements with his fiancee Minka Kelly.  The couple is rumored to be getting married in November.

[ Images by PNP/WENN.com ]

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Demi Lovato celebrated her 18th birthday in a pretty special way:  instead of receiving a gift, she gave a gift instead.  The Disney star purchased a Mediterranean style house near Los Angeles for her family.   She said:

“For me to give [that] to my family on my birthday, that was the best present.  It’s got pretty much everything you could possibly imagine in it.  It’s the most beautiful, homey-feeling house. I love it.”

Demi plans to live in a smaller home at the back of the property.

Way to treat your family right, girl!  Happy Birthday!

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[ Images by Apega/WENN.com ]

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