Kevin Costner has admitted to mortgaging his 10-acre Santa Barbara, California home in order to fund his $100 million movie franchise that has been 30 years in the making.
In an interview with Deadline, the 68-year-old “Yellowstone” star said he had planned to build a new family home on the plot of prime undeveloped coastline in Carpinteria worth an estimated $145 million.
“I’ve mortgaged 10 acres on the water in Santa Barbara where I was going to build my last house,” he told the outlet. “But I did it without a thought. It has thrown my accountant into a f–king conniption fit. But it’s my life, and I believe in the idea and the story.”
This would align with rumors as to why his 18-year marriage came to an end this year. A flurry of speculation was that his wife, Christine Baumgartner, had grown tired of his obsessive commitment to his work.
Not only was his relationship destroyed for his work supposedly, but he also put one of his most prized properties on the line as well.
The decision to do so was that the two-time Academy Award winner would be able to finance the development of his forthcoming Western movie franchise, “Horizon.”
Costner has been desperately trying to bring the four-part movie series to life for more than 30 years, and is thought to have personally raised up to $50 million of the film’s $100 million budget.
But at what cost?
“I’ll tell you what. I’m never gonna do this again. I’m never putting my f–king money in another movie after these four,” Costner said.
The actor has a dense real estate portfolio in addition to this parcel.
He has another Carpinteria home, which was a 17-acre parcel of land, complete with a modest two-bedroom, two-bathroom ranch. Costner purchased the estate in 2006 for $28.5 million after jogging past one day and seeing a for sale sign, later adding other structures onto the land.
In 2007, he sold 7 acres to a neighbor, but combined his homes to create one seamless estate. In 2017, he briefly listed the compound for $60 million, but later took it off the market.
The home became a source of contention, when it prevented him from accepting his Golden Globes win in January as he hunkered down there while storms ravaging California hammered the area.
His family’s primary residence was in Ventura, California, 30 miles south of Santa Barbara. That’s in addition to the 160-acre estate that Costner owns in Aspen, where he married Baumgartner, 49, in 2004.
The ranch, known as The Dunbar, has rooms which can be rented on the property for as much as $36,000 per night, The Post previously reported.
Costner has a number of other real estate investments, including apartments in Los Angeles.
On May 1, his wife, a fashion designer, filed for divorce citing “irreconcilable differences.”
A representative for Costner asked for privacy while adding that “circumstances beyond his control have transpired which have resulted in Mr. Costner having to participate in a dissolution of marriage action” with Baumgartner.
The couple share three children, 12, 14 and 15, and both have filed for joint custody.