A small - by Hollywood standards - home on Lago Vista Place, in Beverly Hills, has been bought for a reported $5.5 million by Ellen DeGeneres (pictured) and Portia di Rossi.

Modest property purchasers? Quite the opposite: the acquisition of this home is said to secure the privacy of their triple-house complex on Cabrillo Drive, thought to be worth $40 million, which backs onto Lago Vista Place. In 2007 the pair snapped up the three Cabrillo Drive homes in quick succession: the first cost $29 million and had been recently built by the creator of Will and Grace, the second cost $8.5 million and was soon demolished and remodelled, the third was believed by Hollywood estate agents to be a tactical purchase that would enable the couple to apply for permission to gate part of the street. This latest addition continues their quest to escape the paparazzi.

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