Living Next Door to Madonna

Madonna buys a new home in central London for £ 6 million, and is now the owner of at least 6 super rich properties in the city.

Whoa! There she goes, the first lady of pop music. Lady Madonna is on a spending spree again, and this time, not for her eternal image makeover, but as an investment in a piece of land. ANOTHER piece of land.

For £ 6 million, Madonna is said to have bought a house next door to her sprawling eight bed-room home in London. This, besides the fact that she already owns at least five such properties in London. With this annexure in her investment portfolio, Madonna joins in the list of celebrities who have famously linked homes in London.

It looks like Madonna’s move to buy this property is not without thought. Last year, she bought another property from designer Paul Davies, when speculations were rife that prices would rise when Paul Davies moved into that area.

According to sources, Madonna was not the only contender for this property. Photographer Mario Testino and comedienne Jennifer Saunders were also in the running. The queen of pop beat competition to become the proud owner of her sixth house.

Madonna now has two more cottages near Marylebone. These cottages house her staff. Two other properties in London are used by the Kabbalah sect. In 2001, Richie and Madonna bought a 1,200 acre estate formerly owned by Cecil Seaton for £ 9 million.

At present, Madonna lives at her Marylebone home with her husband, Guy Ritchie, and their kids Lourdes, Rocco and David Banda.

Will she? Won’t she link?

Whether Madonna is planning to link up her two homes remains to be seen. If the general trend among the rockers and rollers of London is anything to go by, she will do it. Like the Mr. Trout Pout Mick Jagger, who has links with his next door neighbour, Jerry Hall. Now that’s what one could call a Hallway. Or Helena Bonham Carter, who has a chartered link to director Tim Burton’s house next door.

That brings me to a thought of grave bearing on the powers that be in Indian entertainment, though at the cost of digressing here a little. Will our desi brand of celebs follow suit in aamchi Mumbai? Will our coffee chatterati have a linked estate to Mannat?

Why does she do it?

Madonna seems to be a sharp investor. When she is not singing, she knows how to keep the greens rolling. Apparently, she anticipated the prices of properties in the area to go up once Paul Davies moved in the vicinity. Madonna had been keenly pursuing this investment for the past eight months.

Because she is Madonna, she can do it. What with the music business being erratic, she sure knows how to maintain the status she has achieved – the Diva, the Humanitarian, the A-lister of Entertainment.

Do type in your comments below!