Fans know that Rick Ross’s house in Georgia is almost as famous as the rapper himself. The 109-room estate in Fayetteville previously belonged to boxing heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield. Once known as Villa Vittoriosa, Ross now fittingly calls it the Promise Land. He’s hosted lavish pool parties there, and it has even appeared on the big screen. But the massive dwelling isn’t the “Diced Pineapples” rapper’s only luxe estate.
When Ross was just starting to build his career in the music industry, his mother gave him sage advice for how to best protect his growing fortune. In a 2021 interview with Forbes, Ross (whose real name is William Leonard Roberts II) explained that his mother, a registered nurse who worked two to three jobs at a time, believed deeply in the transformative power of real estate. “She would just keep buying houses,” he said, adding that her philosophy was simple: “…when you buy something, make sure you can touch it.” The artist and music executive has made good on his mother’s advice, picking up several extravagant properties over the past decade and reveling in the joy of decorating them to suit his particular taste. Below, we’re sharing a glimpse into several of Ross’s most impressive pads.
2008
Ross released his debut album Port of Miami in 2006, while he was still living in Florida, where he grew up (after being born in Mississippi). Before the release of his second album, Trilla, he moved to Georgia, picking up a house not far from Holyfield’s iconic Fayetteville estate. While not much is known about the rapper’s first property in the Peach State, Ross shared that he purchased it in part so that he could ride by Holyfield’s home on a daily basis. “I looked at every curve and every up and downhill on the lawn. I was looking at the geese as I rolled by. I did that for years until one day, I saw the red for-sale sign on the gate and made a U-turn,” he told Forbes.
2014
The rapper wasted no time putting in his bid for Holyfield’s large estate, ultimately purchasing it for $5.8 million. He would later buy another 87 acres adjacent to the property five years later for $1 million, expanding upon the already majestic grounds that he dubbed The Promise Land. The main mansion, originally built in 1994, measures 45,000 square feet and famously features 109 rooms, including 12 bedrooms and 21 bathrooms. Its dining room can accommodate 100 guests, and a 350,000-gallon pool out back further makes it an ideal home for hosting big shindigs and gatherings. In fact, the mega producer hosts a car show and pool party that are open to the public every summer.
Additionally, Ross capitalized well on the mansion’s eye-catching white stone exterior, dramatic foyer, and over-the-top grandeur by offering his estate to serve as the fictional Zamunda Palace in Eddie Murphy’s 2021 film Coming 2 America, the sequel to the original 1988 hit. And, as Ross explains it, he’s taken great pride in caring for and curating the residence, even mowing his own lawn from time to time. “I bought a tractor that is enclosed and has air-conditioning and a radio,” he told Forbes. “…when I get in the tractor, it’s a whole other level of peace, a whole other level of connecting with the estate and the animals and the birds and the wildlife.” Ross reportedly owns two buffaloes, four horses, and a bull; he has received complaints from neighbors about the buffaloes in particular.
2021
Several years later, Ross’s mother and sister were helping him look for property in the Miami Beach area when they saw a stunning resort-style estate in Southwest Ranches, Florida, up for sale. In the Forbes interview, the rapper explained that his mother knew his taste very well, and so it was an easy yes as soon as she sent over the link. He saw the property shortly thereafter and promptly told his agent, “This is my house.” Ross paid $3.5 million in cash for the 2.3-acre property, which turned out to be owned by Ross’s friend, NBA All-Star Amar’e Stoudemire (the athlete had owned the single-story residence for about a decade at that point). The pad measures 8,600 square feet and features high ceilings throughout—necessary, given Stoudemire’s six-foot-ten stature—with six bedrooms, seven bathrooms, two home offices, an indoor theater, a gym, and a pool with a waterfall. Ross still owns this home.
2023
In early 2023, Ross revealed that he’d purchased real estate in Houston with an Instagram post signed “Rodeo Rick,” showing off several snapshots from the outside of his new home. The rapper paid $3.5 million for the property, which he shared a bit of in a video tour of the home. “While others was buying Dogecoin and all that, man, I was buying real estate,” he says in the video, panning to an incredible pool, adding, “To be honest, I don’t know how deep this pool go.” In the clip, Ross also shows off the front gate, emblazoned with his initials RR (“Rep your brand,” he says), before showing off all the palm trees in his yard, which he claims he brought over from Miami. “This house go all the way around, man,” he says as he walks around the front of the property. “This s–t huge.” Exact details of the home are not readily available, but glimpses from Ross’s video tour reveal pristine white walls and bespoke artwork.
Just about a week after Ross shared his Houston acquisition with fans, news broke that he’d paid $4.2 million cash to fellow rapper and friend Meek Mill for his Atlanta-area estate. Mill had reportedly been trying to offload the mansion for nearly two years through a realtor before finally getting fed up and posting about the eight-bedroom, nine-and-a-half-bathroom residence himself. (He shared an aerial video of the property that was later taken down.) Ross snapped up the unfurnished three-story property, with its tennis court, media room, two-car garage, sauna, and pool; he still owns this place.
A few months later, Ross picked up his third major property in a row, putting down $37 million for a waterfront home on guard-gated Star Island off the coast of Miami. The A-list community consists of just 30 residences, with neighbors that include Jennifer Lopez, Ken Griffin, and Gloria Estefan. “Star Island is the ultimate goal in Miami,” ONE Sotheby’s International Realty global real estate advisor Kimberly Knausz told AD. “It’s so exclusive…[Ross] said it’s like the missing piece to the puzzle of his real estate portfolio. It’s a big accomplishment for him, as someone who grew up in Miami.” The mansion measures 12,374 square feet and features six bedrooms and eight-and-a-half bathrooms. There’s a bay-facing primary suite and plenty of outdoor amenities for hosting sunny fetes and celebrations, as well as a 40-foot dock leading directly to the bay and ocean beyond it.
