Portia and Ellen

The talk show host and her actress spouse spent $48 million assembling the huge estate - including buying the $30 million 9,500-square-foot single-story house and spending millions more on the surrounding properties – before beginning extensive renovation work but have now listed the compound for $49 million.

The home sits on 2.87 acres just off Coldwater Canyon - near the Santa Monica Mountains - behind gates on its own street and also includes two guesthouses totalling 15,000 square feet, a three bedroom house, and according to official listings "every conceivable amenity and state-of the-art security".

Portia revealed the pair fell in love with the property – which previously belonged at different times to Laurence Harvey, Joan Collins and 'Will & Grace' co-creator Max Mutchnick.

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She told Architectural Digest: "We'd heard how beautiful it was and then we came over to watch 'American Idol'. We pulled into the driveway and we just knew before we even walked through the gate."

The couple have recently sold a $16 million Hidden Valley compound and although Ellen can't remember how many homes she has bought and sold over the years, she says her love of renovation came from her father, who could never afford to buy his own home.

She said: "We never had a house when I was growing up. We always rented. But my father would dream, and we used to look at houses all the time. The first thing I did when I made money was buy a house."