Farewell, Oliver’s

Oliver’s, the Coast Village Road vegetarian restaurant that took five years to transform from the old Peabody’s space under owner cell phone billionaire Craig McCaw, 70, has been sold, says my mole with the martini.

McCaw, who has moved back to Seattle, has been divesting himself of his properties in our rarefied enclave, including his estate on Park Lane and his beach house.

He is currently working on developing his 780 acre James Island near Vancouver, British Columbia, which he bought in 1994 for $19 million, with Arizona-based housing developer, the Discovery Land Company, into around 100 building sites of two to five acres.

The island, which currently features a 4,500 sq. ft. house, six guest homes, a private airstrip and an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course, was listed for sale for $75 million several years ago.

In July, 2019, the island was valued at $56,747,000.

E-mails to McCaw went without response. Stay tuned…

Friends in High Places

Former TV talk show titan Oprah Winfrey, Montecito’s most famous resident, has had a pivotal role in the move by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex from Canada to Los Angeles.

Prince Harry, 35, and former actress wife Meghan Markle, 38, are now living in an $18 million eight-bedroom, 12-bathroom Tuscan-style home on 22 acres in the oh-so exclusive Beverly Ridge Estates gated community, and also has its own security team.

The mega Beverly Hills property is owned by Tyler Perry, 50, actor, writer and director friend of Oprah’s, who has been listed by Forbes as the highest paid man in entertainment, raking in more than $130 million annually.

The tony twosome were flown to Los Angeles in Perry’s $150 million Embraer E190 jet, according to reports, and are now a short drive from Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, who visited Oprah’s East Valley Road estate last year, and celebrities like Samuel L. Jackson, Cameron Diaz and Katy Perry.

Last week the couple, who have dumped royal duties, were filmed at the house, which would rent for $200,000 a month, according to real estate professionals, celebrating the first birthday of their son Archie, with Meghan reading Duck! Rabbit! for Save the Children’s Save With Stories campaign, with the book featuring an Archie’s Book Club sticker clearly on the cover.

Now a resurfaced video has revealed how Oprah, 66, who attended the duo’s wedding at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, two years ago, often gifts friend’s children with a set of “100 essential stories” featuring her personalized stickers.

Having covered the Royal Family since 1974, it is to be hoped the royal couple do not become the new version of the late Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

Flip It

Montecito TV talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, who earlier this year bought an historic Tudor-style home, The Porter House, built from a pair of English barns dating to the 1700s, has put the Miramar Avenue property on the market for $6.9 million.

The two-bedroom, two-bathroom 5,500 sq. ft. house on 1.35 acres, was bought by the multi Emmy winner and her actress wife, Portia de Rossi, four months ago for $3.6 million, but has undergone extensive renovations with a new kitchen and bathrooms.

There is also an octagonal study with 28-pane casement windows.

Riskin Partners in Montecito is dealing with the sale.