What do Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom, Cameron Diaz and Benji Madden, Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes and possibly Jennifer Aniston all have in common? Aside from an extremely healthy bank balance and a famously recognisable face, they are all residents of ‘the new Malibu’ otherwise known as Montecito, California.

Sat next to Santa Barbara two hours north of Los Angeles, Montecito is becoming a leafy, coastal playground for A-listers. Is it any wonder, then, that Aniston has decided to relocate to a $14.8 million (£11.6 million) mansion in the area?

‘There’s a big contingent of A-listers that live in Montecito and Santa Barbara, and more seem to be moving all the time,’ an insider close to the Friends star tells Grazia. ‘Jennifer is very social and loves the idea of being able to have gatherings with her neighbours. She also loves that it’s a lot more laid back there, so when she does want to get away, she can genuinely get some privacy.’

‘It’s a little like Malibu 30 years ago,’ the source continues, ‘she’s excited to make a new life there and maybe even do some dating.’

Aniston purchased her new sprawling home in 2022 from Winfrey herself. The chat show host reportedly purchased it in 2021 before splitting it into two properties. Aniston now owns one and the other was sold for $2.3 million to personal trainer, Bob Greene. Almost three years later, Aniston’s renovations are close to complete. According to reports, she has almost entirely demolished the garden of her new 4,320 square foot home to make way for an inground infinity pool, where she will no doubt make the most of the panoramic ocean views.

While she is still fine tuning the interiors in her new place, a quick glance at some of Aniston’s previous homes and it’s clear she is a fan of a mid-century modern aesthetic. She has worked with the interior designer Stephen Shadley multiple times in the past and it’s more than possible that the pair are collaborating again in Montecito. ‘Jen is drawn to wood, stone and bronze, materials that have real substance and depth,’ he previously said. ‘No matter how beautiful or glamorous something is, it has to be warm and inviting.’

As a keen fitness and pilates fanatic, there is no doubt Aniston’s new pad will be kitted out with a state of the art home gym as well. She regularly shares photos and videos of her extensive work outs on Instagram shot from her home gym in Bel Air. Fitted with sliding glass doors and matt grey equipment, Aniston won’t be sparing any costs in her new development either.

‘Jen had been contemplating a move to Santa Barbara or the surrounding area for several years and in the end it all fell into place because Oprah had this beautiful compound on the market,’ adds the insider. ‘It’s a perfect location and Jen is currently fine tuning the interiors and working with landscapers.’

As well as hosting Montecito’s most famous residents in her new home, Aniston is likely to brush shoulders with Prince Harry and Markle, who moved to the area in 2020 after stepping down as senior working members of the royal family. Markle has made her presence in Montecito well known, even adding the name into the original branding of her lifestyle company, American Riviera Orchard (which is now called As Ever).

This is something that did not go down well with the locals at the time, according to Vanity Fair’s January cover story on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. ‘It’s such a kind of hucksterism,’ one resident told the reporter. ‘It’s just finding every way she can to monetise something. I still think they’re the most entitled, disingenuous people on the planet,’ they added. ‘They moved away from England to get away from the scrutiny of the press, and all they do is try and get in the press in the United States.’ They’re probably not vying for an invite to an A-list barbecue then…

Perhaps Aniston will have better luck – especially if she avoids launching a brand of Montecito-themed ‘fruit preserves’. Luckily for any sceptical residents tired of celebrities raising the rent prices, Aniston is in no rush to move and is reportedly holding on to her Bel Air home for now too.

In the past few years, she has needed to spend most of it not all her time in LA because of her starring role in The Morning Show, her first recurring TV role since Friends ended in 2004. Aniston works on the show as a producer and has starred as Alex Levy opposite Reese Witherspoon since 2019. She won a Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance in the series in 2020 and has also been nominated for an Emmy and two Golden Globes.

She might be attached to her LA home with good reason, but she’s excited to put her own stamp on the new Montecito property too. Rumour has it Aniston first took an interest in interior design during her marriage to Brad Pitt, which lasted from 2000 to 2005, when they lived together in their $44.5 million (£35 million) home in LA. She then moved into her current $21 million (£16.5 million) Bel Air property in 2011 and turned it into her ‘home of dreams’ with her second husband Justin Theroux, who she was married to between 2015 and 2018.

The Montecito chapter, then, is entirely her own. With an assortment of A-list residents and average house prices towering at $7.5 million, it is clearly the new place to see or be seen. It might be a quiet enclave or LA-alternative for now, but at this rate not for long…