Since acquiring the home where he now lives with his wife Amal and their twins in 2002, the actor has been an active part of the local community.
After 21 years, George Clooney is apparently selling his Lake Como house.
According to the Italian weekly magazine Oggi, the Oceans 11 actor’s home, Villa Oleandra, is presently for sale. On Wednesday, Yasemin Baysal of Engel & Volkers in Como informed the publication that, despite earlier reports of a sale, “this time it’s true” and that the transaction is being handled by an unnamed Milan agency.
PEOPLE reached out to Baysal and Engel & Volkers in Como and Milan, but neither firm responded promptly.
A local Italian source, however, tells PEOPLE that the deal is “real.”
Property estimates for the actor, who married lawyer Amal Clooney in 2014 and delivered twins Alexander and Ella in June 2017, are currently as high as $100 million.
The insider tells PEOPLE, “It must be said that, aside from being a very good actor and investor, he’s also an extremely shrewd investor, given that he bought the villa for 10 million euros.”
According to The Washington Post, the actor purchased Villa Oleandra from the Heinz family in 2002 for around $10 million. The actor’s entrance into Lake Como apparently triggered a real estate bubble in which asking prices quadrupled, according to the mayor of Laglio.
Clooney eventually bought a neighboring property, transforming it into “one of the largest private homes in the area,” according to The Wall Street Journal. According to the publication, the 25-room home will be worth more than $100 million in 2022.
Lake Como had a particular significance for the actor: it was there in 2013 that he first met his wife Amal, 45, as he revealed in a 2017 interview with The Hollywood Reporter. Amal attended a group meal at George’s house while traveling through Lake Como on her way to Cannes, France. “I thought she was beautiful, funny, and obviously smart,” he said to THR.
George described their first meeting on a 2018 episode of David Letterman’s Netflix show My Next Guest Needs No Introduction. “I got a call from my agent, and she said, ‘I met this woman who is coming to your house, who you’re going to marry,'” he explained. “It really worked out in that way.” Later, in 2014, the pair married at the Aman Canal Grande resort in Venice.
Lake Como has naturally been the venue for many romantic date nights for the pair, most notably one in July at the Grand Hotel Tremezzo.
George has already welcomed several celebrity guests to his house throughout the years.
The actors of Ocean’s Twelve, which starred George, paid a visit to the property in 2004. Then Jennifer Aniston stayed on the resort in 2018 while filming her comedy Murder Mystery. In 2010, Emily Blunt and John Krasinkski married there. Krasinski told Elle in 2016 that George donated his land to the newlyweds on the fourth ask: “Only on the fourth ask did I say yes.” Because the first three times, he thought, “There’s no way he’s serious.”
During the devastating summer of 2021 when there was a lot of rain and landslides, George helped the area. According to the Evening Standard, 60 residents were evacuated at the time. George went on to see the damage and assist people with cleanup operations. “It’s much worse than I thought,” he remarked of the damage. I’ve spoken with the mayor; there will be a lot of work and millions of dollars will be required, but this city is strong. It will react and respond more effectively than previously. This is an extremely tough city.”
Local mayor Roberto Pozzi told the UK Times that the actor “came straight to the town hall to see what had happened, and we took a tour of the damage.”
The actor was previously involved in Lake Como politics in 2007, when he asked his neighbors to sign a petition opposing plans for a parking facility and pontoon bridge, according to The New York Times. “The building work is only being done because I live here,” he claimed during a protest committee gathering. And until it stops, I’ll have to relocate.”
In 2019, George collaborated with the fundraising firm Omaze to hold a contest in which one lucky couple may meet the Clooneys at their property. The Clooney Foundation for Justice received donations from the campaign, and the package included lunch with George and Amal, round-trip travel, and 4-star hotel accommodations. In a written speech for the ad, the actor stated, “Just picture it: you and Amal, wine in your hand, discussing current affairs while her husband quietly serves lunch.”
The Clooneys also owns a number of other properties throughout the world, notably in France, the United Kingdom, and Los Angeles.