It’s a new decade, a new chapter, and James Charles is officially turning the page. The beauty guru is leaving the highly-publicized dramatics of 2019 in the rearview mirror, sister scrubbing off that bad energy by sister sliding into a brand-new Los Angeles mansion. And this time, he holds the deed.
YouTube’s 20-year-old wunderkind has been renting a luxury home in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Encino for the past year or two, paying $15,000 per month for his stay, according to records. But now he’s shelled out exactly $7 million in an off-market deal for a larger, brand-new mansion that lies in an even more exclusive pocket of town.
Despite his youth, it’s no surprise that Charles can afford a house of this stature. He sports more than 16 million subscribers on YouTube, 16 million followers on Instagram, and his Sisters Apparel merch line is one of social media’s biggest success stories. And in 2018, Morphe cosmetics co-founders Chris and Linda Tawil partnered with him to release the James Charles eyeshadow palette, which has since become a global top seller. According to Charles’ onetime mentor-turned-sworn enemy, fellow beauty YouTuber Tati Westbrook, the Tawil/Morphe partnership alone deposited “millions of dollars” into his already swollen bank account.
Of course, one can’t reference Charles and Westbrook without mentioning cancel culture and their infamous catfight, since titled Dramageddon 2.0. In May 2019, Westbrook uploaded a 43-minute-long YouTube video titled “BYE SISTER” in which she spilled the proverbial tea on Charles, mainly focusing on his alleged endorsement deal with a company called Sugar Bear Hair — a partnership that Westbrook felt was a slap in the face to her — but also involved allegations of sexual harassment and other bad behavior.
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Following “BYE SISTER,” Charles almost immediately lost more than three million subscribers. A flurry of tit-for-tat response videos from both him and Westbrook followed, fellow influencer Jeffree Star got involved in the brawl, and the drama eventually leaked its way out to every media outlet on the planet. It was enough to make Charles one of Time’s most influential people on the internet.
The dust has long since settled, Westbrook eventually deleted her original video and Charles quickly regained all of his lost subscribers. (But the scars remain — former friends Charles, Westbrook and Star reportedly no longer speak to one another.)
Because Charles’ new Encino mansion is brand-new and was never publicly listed for sale, photographs and exact details are slim to nonexistent. However, tax records show the house sits on a half-acre flat lot, on a quiet and tree-lined street.
For decades, this property played host to a modest midcentury house. But two years ago, the lot was purchased for $2.3 million by a local developer and subsequently demolished. In its place, the trendy modern farmhouse-style new build has a two-tone charcoal-and-cream paint job, a double-height foyer, a neutral interior color palette and three full levels of living space, including a full basement floor with an indoor spa and sauna, games room/lounge, wine cellar, movie theater and a mirror-walled gym.
The nearly 10,000 sq. ft. house also offers six bedrooms, four of them on the uppermost level — all with ensuite bathrooms — one guest room on the basement level, and maid’s quarters on the main floor. The upstairs master retreat has a private balcony and two walk-in closets, while the downstairs living room is equipped with a fireplace, plus large windows allowing plentiful natural light.
Towards the structure’s rear, a large open kitchen sports quartz countertops, high-end Thermador appliances and two giant islands, one of them with bar-style seating for casual meals. There’s also a formal dining room, a family room that opens directly to the backyard, and a front-facing three car garage plus a large motorcourt for guests.
Out back, there’s a pool house/cabana with a bathroom and changing facilities, a negative-edge swimming pool with inset spa, and a half-court sports court with a basketball hoop. Naturally, the entire lot is walled, gated and surrounded by a tall hedge and mature trees for celeb-style privacy. There’s also a high-tech surveillance system with cameras and alarms for security, plus a sophisticated indoor/outdoor sound system controlled via smartphone.
Once the red-headed stepchild of L.A.’s luxury neighborhoods, Encino has recently seen a rapid rise in popularity with famous and non-famous rich folks alike. Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra recently shattered the neighborhood record with their $20 million mega-mansion purchase, and most new spec homes are selling as quickly as the developers can build them.
For Charles, some of the famous faces within sugar-borrowing distance include “Black-ish” star Anthony Anderson, Slash of Guns N’ Roses, “Friends” star Matt LeBlanc and Maria Menounos. And one of his very nearest new neighbors is fellow YouTuber Logan Paul, whose $6.6 million Encino manse lies right around the corner, quite literally.