Gene Simmons and his wife Shannon Lee Tweed Simmons recently gave Entertainment Tonight a tour of their Los Angeles mansion, which is on the market for $25 million.
Simmons has been very vocal about his desire to leave California for some time due to wanting a quieter lifestyle and to get away from being listed on celebrity maps or having to deal with Beverly Hills tour buses. He also said that part of the reason he and his wife listed the two-acre property in Benedict Canyon because the home had become too big for the both of them since their children had grown up.
“It’s a big property, and the kids were literally raised here,” he said. “Now they’ve moved on, and they both have their own homes next to each other in the Hollywood Hills. They borrow a cup of sugar and all that. They love each other and support each other like the best kids you could imagine.”
“They’ve got their own lives, and now we’ve got this big house. And if I want to talk to Shannon, I’ve got to hit an intercom because she’s at the other end of the house,” he continued. “It’s happy and it’s also sad. When you’re a kid and you live at home, you love your mom and dad, but at some point you’ve got to move out. It’s sad because you’re moving from home, but you’re also looking forward to the future, and we really hope the next family that lives here is going to get as much joy as we have from this place.”
Last fall, Simmons put the Beverly Hills house on the market for $22 million. He later relisted it for $25 million after it never sold and he reportedly invested a lot of money in making improvements.
“The taxes [in California] are just insurmountable,” Gene told KTLA 5 Morning News. “But for us, it’s a tug of the heart. We bought a four-acre property over [in Lake Tahoe]. There’s lots of land. There’s 96 acres next door that I wanna buy. Just sort of a change of page. Less of the hubbub. And no more traffic jams, no more earthquakes and no more fires. But, again, we love L.A. and love the home, but it’s time for a change.”
Gene, 71, and Shannon, 64, were married in 2011 after dating since 1975. They have two children, Nick, 32, and Sophie, 28.
Gene, Shannon and their kids all appeared on the reality TV series “Gene Simmons Family Jewels” from 2006 until 2012.
For the past few months, Gene has been vocal about people taking the COVID-19 outbreak seriously. He has also blasted Americans who are defiantly skeptical of mask wearing, saying that their refusal to follow the rules is putting all of our health at risk.
In its 48-year career, KISS has accumulated 23 gold and platinum albums — more than any other U.S. band.
