Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi sold their upscale country retreat in Santa Barbara County this week. The duo accepted an offer of just under $7 million to hand over the keys. The home had been listed at $7.995 million prior to the sale, but even that price represented a considerable reduction over the $9 million initial ask.

The property may not be waterfront, but it is a dream of a retreat. With ten acres to give it an unusual degree of privacy—and define the living style as luxuriously languorous—the property makes a convincing argument. It is crowned by a 1917-built farmhouse that has seen an overhaul or two, and currently comes off as inventive, authentic, and poised neatly between cerebral and incredibly inviting.

The house extends to about 6,000 square feet. The shared living spaces are very open, and designed in a particularly effective manner, packing in tastefully eccentric angles, layout decisions and material choices that give it a high degree of individuality. Skylights, cathedral ceilings, and a blazing treatment overall lend the home a sense of optimism.

There are three bedrooms and 3.5 baths in the house; the step-down master is gorgeous, and features French doors that open onto a private deck. But the combo solarium/ screen porch and the converted barn studio are the most evocative spaces, establishing a unique, casual, and creative living style that stands entirely on its own merits.

The buyer was Hollywood director Brian Robbins. Robbins is best known for directing ‘Norbit’ and, before that, ‘The Shaggy Dog’.