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Some celebrity houses are in great shape when they go on the market for sale. Others have seen some better days.

Tom Petty’s former home on Encino Avenue falls into the latter category, which is something you would expect from a rocker who frequently sang about smoking marijuana in his songs.

Tom Petty performing on stage
Tom Petty | Samir Hussein/Getty Images

The home finally sold in 2020 after a much-needed facelift.

Tom Petty died way too young, but his partying lifestyle likely hastened his death

Petty was a classic rocker. He eschewed playing electric guitar and insisted on acoustic instruments on his albums and on tour. 

His net worth was around $95 million at the time of his death in 2017 at age 66, according to Celebrity Net Worth. His music career spanned more than 40 years with a dozen studio albums as part of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. And he loved to party.

Tom Petty’s former Encino home has a new celebrity owner

Despite Petty’s former home being in a primo location on Encino Avenue, it wasn’t an automatic seller for someone to live in following the rocker’s death in 2017. It sold for $2.6 million five years ago, according to Zillow.

The property was lost to foreclosure when Jane Benyo, Petty’s ex-wife, got the home as part of the divorce settlement. The value of the home rose to $4.5 million in 2018 before a musical celebrity purchased it.

Elle reports Selena Gomez bought the Los Angeles mansion for $4.9 million in 2020. What did she get when Gomez bought the home?

An impressive six bedrooms, 8.5 bathrooms, 11,500 square feet along with high, arched ceilings, two outdoor pools surrounded by palm trees, a huge workout room with table tennis, an outdoor kitchen adjacent to the pools, a personal massage room, home music studio (of course), wine cellar, loft spaces, piano room, and a sauna.

This beautiful home deserves an owner. The hillside views are stunning, and the home looks gorgeous. Realtor.com says the current value of the home is $6 million, but it was not always so.

Tom Petty’s house had seen better days

Petty’s former home was sold three times in four years, with its value increasing each time, until the “Lose You to Love Me” songstress purchased it. 

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Realtor.com states Petty moved into the home in the 1980s, and it was completely rebuilt in 1987 after an arsonist set fire to the wooden structure. No one was hurt, but the entire house was destroyed except for the recording studio in the basement (whew).

The home also saw divorce, bankruptcy, foreclosure, nightmare tenants, and a SWAT team invasion, according to Realtor.com. It was rented out as a professional party venue while the fate of the home was left up to the court system when it was foreclosed upon.

The tenant often held illegal parties there and resisted eviction by posting threatening signs that the authorities would come under military law and having guard dogs patrol the premises. The owner and the bank finally had enough. Police stormed the property with a SWAT team and helicopters. The tenant hid in one of the house’s many nooks and corners, and was sent to jail.

All the illicit partying left the home dilapidated. But renovations clearly made a huge impact. Gomez wouldn’t move into such a run-down home with her net worth. The megastar, who is worth $95 million, needs a peaceful oasis to relax after a grueling recording and touring schedule.

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