Why You Can’t See Kim and Kanye’s Home on Google Street View
Why You Can’t See Kim and Kanye’s Home on Google Street View
Ernesto Ruscio/Getty Images; Peter Meißner/ullstein bild via Getty Images
Who doesn’t like snooping, in a nonstalker way, on the rich and fabulous—and maybe an ex-flame or two—through photos of their real estate? God bless you, Google Street View! It allows anyone with a reliable internet connection and an address to zoom in on the curbside views of properties. It’s almost like standing right in front of them—and taking a stroll in their hood!
Except, as it turns out, not every home in purportedly “covered areas” of large U.S. cities is viewable on this free service of Google Maps. Not one of the 648 homes in the appropriately named, swanky community of Hidden Hills—a Los Angeles enclave of A-list celebrities and the one-percenters—appears on Google Street View, according to a recent Financial Times article. Not one!
Inhabitants of these multimillion-dollar homes reportedly include the likes of Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, and Jennifer Lopez. The median list price of a home in the gated community is a cool $1.9 million, according to realtor.com®.
And Hidden Hills is far from the only pricey community that’s photographically MIA. Bradbury, CA, also in Los Angeles, and Bell Canyon, CA, about an hour outside of the city, aren’t on Street View either. And apparently the more you look for cool panoramic views of some of the nation’s truly exclusive über-priced real estate, the more you might come up with nothing but internet static
That’s because these communities have reportedly banned Google’s distinctive photography vehicles from entering their gates, according to the Times. Most of the Street View pictures come from Google’s tricked-out cars, but the company reportedly also uses pedestrians, bikes, boats, and even snowmobiles to get its shots.
All of those have probably been banned, too.
Those intent on eyeballing the luxe mansions in such communities can still check out the “God’s eye view” aerial shots of Google Earth. But if you want to check out what kind of front door knobs are favored by Kimye, you’re straight out of luck.
The anti-Street View measures are purportedly taken to protect the privacy of these communities’ affluent residents. It helps keep crazed fans and paparazzi at bay—as well as potential criminals. Anyone remember the Bling Ring, a group of young adults who broke into the homes of celebrities like Paris Hilton and stole their stuff?
“Out of sight [means] out of mind—and out of the reach of burglars,” Geoff Manaugh, author of “A Burglar’s Guide to the City,” told the Times.
But that could make selling one of the luxury properties in such communities a bit harder. Buyers, for example, can’t get a street-side view of the Hidden Hills six-bedroom home with a chef’s kitchen and pizza oven, dog kennel, and pools with cascading waterfalls for sale at $6,895,000. Or the $4,890,000, four-bedroom, French estate that comes with a wine room, outdoor kitchen and pavilion, and fruit orchard.
Many wealthy individuals are so worried about unwanted attention that they use shell companies and other methods to buy property to make it harder to trace the purchases back to them. They’re also spending more on security.
“There are always people who want what’s known as curb appeal, but there are many others who don’t want anyone to know where they live. They want to be discreet,” David Forbes, head of private office at estate agent Savills, told the Times.
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