It was a big week for royal real estate. The onetime English country retreat of Queen Elizabeth’s sister, Princess Margaret, and her husband, Lord Snowdon, hit the market for $5.3 million. Dubbed Old House, the charming property still features one upstairs room sheathed in newspaper clippings and photographs of the royal family installed by Snowdon himself.
Across the pond, two houses tied to American royalty—the Kennedys—are for sale. And to top it off, HGTV stars Chip and Joanna Gaines are parting with a Texas castle that they bought in 2019 when it was crumbling. They have since restored it to its former glory. Check them all out below.
Cottonland Castle
Chip and Joanna Gaines revamped Cottonland Castle on their show, Fixer Upper.
Completed in 1915, Cottonland Castle ranks among the most distinctive landmarks in Waco, Texas. Inspired by a small German castle along the Rhine, the four-bedroom residence features a crenellated tower and an array of imported materials, including French Caen stone, Italian Carrara marble, and Honduran mahogany paneling. More than a century after it was built, however, the 6,200-square-foot home slipped into serious disrepair. That changed in 2019, when HGTV stars Chip and Joanna Gaines purchased the property and embarked on a painstaking restoration, documenting the transformation on their hit series Fixer Upper: The Castle. Now, the fairytale residence is on the market with Amanda Nesbitt of Magnolia Realty for $2.7 million.
Princess Margaret’s Country Home
Old House in rural England once belonged to Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon.
A centuries-old English country home once presided over by Queen Elizabeth’s younger sister, Princess Margaret, has hit the market for the first time, asking roughly $5.28 million. Covered in ivy and surrounded by manicured gardens, the Tudor-meets-Georgian residence sits on 5.5 acres in rural Staplefield, West Sussex, about 40 miles south of London. Known as Old House, the estate has roots stretching back to 1481. It was a wedding gift to Princess Margaret from designer Oliver Messel, the uncle of her new husband, photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones, better known as Lord Snowdon.
Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera’s San Francisco Apartment
The San Francisco building where famed artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera lived.
For the first time in decades, a storied Telegraph Hill apartment building tied to Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera is on the market for $8 million. The 11-unit property at 36–52 Calhoun Terrace was completed in 1938. Originally known as the Hoeffler Building, it steps down the eastern slope of the hill in a Swiss village–style cascade of balconies, decks, and picture windows overlooking the bay. —Julia Cancilla
Albert Hadley’s Florida Cottage
The Florida retreat once owned by decorator Albert Hadley.
The late Albert Hadley is revered in decorating circles as one-half of pioneering interior design firm Parish-Hadley, which conceived spaces for the likes of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Brooke Astor, and Oscar de la Renta. In the late 1990s, Hadley was house-hunting in Naples, Florida, when he came upon a diminutive 1929 cottage tucked behind a ficus hedge—he was immediately smitten. Once it was his, Hadley decorated the four-bedroom house with a casually elegant mix of choice antiques and rattan furnishings, as shown in the June 2000 issue of House Beautiful. Now recently updated, the 2,300-square-foot home—which comes with a pool and guest cottage—just hit the market for $5.99 million with Coldwell Banker.
Stevie Wonder’s Former Home
Stevie Wonder shared this home with ex-wife Kai Milla-Morris.
Stevie Wonder’s ex-wife, fashion designer Kai Milla-Morris, has once again listed her Calabasas estate, this time for $9.7 million. She first put the Mediterranean-style residence on the market last year for $15 million before ultimately pulling the listing. Spanning more than 11,100 square feet, the six-bedroom home was purchased by the former couple in 2000—reportedly for its exceptional acoustics—and remained their shared residence until Wonder moved out during their 2012 divorce. Set behind gates on 2.6 acres, the estate also features a pool and spa, along with manicured gardens dotted with pomegranate trees.
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend’s Cape Cod Home
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend’s Cape Cod retreat.
A slice of Camelot is up for grabs once again. A pending offer fell through on the Cape Cod beach house owned by Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the eldest daughter of former United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, per Realtor.com. Kennedy Townsend—the first woman to serve as lieutenant governor of Maryland—initially put the five-bedroom retreat on the market in May 2026 for $1.59 million. Less than a week later, she accepted an offer on the Hyannis Port property, which comes with a rear garden designed for entertaining and deeded access to the nearby beach.
Geoffrey Montes is an associate editor at ELLE Decor with a serious love for all things real estate and design. Before that, he worked at Architectural Digest, Galerie, and Preservation magazines, covering everything from jaw-dropping listings to world-famous architects and design events like Salone del Mobile and Homo Faber.
