Original article published by Dirt
Good times never seemed so good in Beverly Hills, where Neil Diamond is apparently feeling flusher than ever. And this time he’s reaching out and touching more than just “Sweet Caroline,” as the octogenarian music legend has grabbed and gobbled up his next door neighbor’s home — records show Diamond paid $12 million for that property in an off-market, all-cash deal.
Since 1997, when he bought it for $4.6 million, Diamond’s main residence has been an 11,000-square-foot mansion on a 1.6-acre lot directly adjacent to the iconic Beverly Hills Hotel. With the addition of his neighbor’s smaller home, that estate has swollen to more than 2.1 acres of ultra-prime 90210 territory.
Given that it was never on the market, details on the home next door are somewhat thin. But tax records and aerial views show that the half-acre lot includes a mostly unassuming ranch-style structure, originally built in 1956. The single-story residence offers five bedrooms and five bathrooms in just under 4,000 square feet, plus a backyard swimming pool and big concrete patio.
Sited on a knoll well above street level, the house is mostly invisible from public view behind a collection of overgrown shrubbery. From the road, a long driveway leads uphill before emptying into a motorcourt, which can accommodate 10 or more cars.
Tax records also show that the house last sold in 1970 for an almost unbelievable $185,000, a testament to both the surge in value of Beverly Hills real estate and the strength of inflation. The property was sold to Diamond by an elderly widow who had occupied the home for most of the last 50 years with her late husband, an orthopedic surgeon and world traveler. Rochelle Maize of Nourmand and Associates held the listing.
Diamond, 81, has sold more than 120 million records worldwide. Though the New York City native has been semi-retired since 2018, since shortly after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, Diamond still occasionally gives rare performances, including this year at Fenway Park.
In addition to his newly expanded Beverly Hills compound, Diamond also owns an ocean-view Malibu vacation home, acquired a few years ago for north of $7 million. He and wife Katie McNeil also reportedly maintain a second vacation getaway in the Colorado town of Basalt, just outside Aspen, but we don’t have many details of that property.
