Selena Gomez Bought Tom Petty's $4.9 Million Mansion

This house has a crazy history that includes raging parties, SWAT teams and attempted murder.

Selena Gomez Bought Tom Petty's $4.9 Million Mansion

Social media superstar, singer and actress Selena Gomez now lives in a rambling hillside mansion that the late Tom Petty once owned.

Located in Encino, California, Gomez picked up the heartbreakingly beautiful estate for $4.9 million — and the house looks to be worth every penny. It has been fully renovated and features some stunning amenities, like an incredible second-floor master suite, a chic-looking she shed and a resort-style backyard.

Want to see inside? Come and take a look at the "Come and Get It" singer's newest home, and learn all about its seedy past, which includes an attempt on Petty's life.

One Morning in 1987...

The 9,100-square-foot mansion features six bedrooms, eight full bathrooms and two half-baths.

Petty and his family lived here in the 1980s. Everything was going fine until the morning of May 29, 1987.

The House Caught Fire

Petty, his wife (that would be Jane Benyo at this time) and his 5-year-old daughter were eating breakfast inside.

Someone smelled something different in the air. It wasn't eggs or bacon or pancakes or whatever it was the Pettys were eating that day. It was the odor of smoke. His daughter was the first one to see the flames.

A fire was quickly spreading, incinerating everything in its wake.

It Burned Down to the Ground

Petty evacuated with his family, unharmed.

Their maid suffered minor injuries and burned hair.

"I saw my housekeeper go up in flames, hair catching fire," Petty recalled.

And Had a Lot of Damage

The house, though, was a total loss.

Almost the entire mansion burned down, causing $400,000 in losses, which must have been the cost of the entire house.

About $600,000 worth of the Pettys' belongings were destroyed.

Crawling Below the Smoke

Petty had to crawl on his hands and knees to avoid the blanket of smoke which was filling the house, leaving only a few feet of clean air near the floor.

Outside, he grabbed a hose and attempted to fight the fire, but it melted underneath the heat.

Someone Tried to Kill Him

Ten fire companies and over 40 firefighters arrived at the scene. When the fire was out, only Petty's recording studio remained.

Within hours, firefighters had located the source of the blaze.

It was set intentionally.

Left With Nothing

Someone had lit a can of lighter fluid on fire and hurled it at a wall outside. The home, which was mostly wood, easily caught fire.

Petty sent his family to a hotel. When he arrived at their room, he was wearing a shirt, a pair of jeans and no shoes. Everything was gone, save for some guitars and records.

To this day, the case hasn't been solved.

He Wouldn't Back Down

"Somebody burned my house down and tried to kill me," Petty said. "I mean, I don't know if you've had anyone try to kill you, but it's a really weird feeling."

Petty's attitude toward the attempt on his life was defiance. He wrote the classic song, "I Won't Back Down" in response to the fire.

"I'm sure it had a great effect on the music I did, because I came back with this very positive, happy kind of music, that I didn't want to go into any dark corner or anything like that," Petty told NPR in 2006. "I was just so glad to be alive and to have escaped something like that. ... It was also really traumatic and terrible, but part of it made me really be extra glad to just be alive."

Petty's First Wife Took the Home During Their Divorce

Over the next few years, the Pettys rebuilt the house and made it even bigger.

Described as having an "eclectic" style "with secret passageways and nooks, ladders and lofts" by realtor.com, the house remained the rocker's homestead until he and Jane divorced in the 1990s.

The divorce settlement awarded Jane the home in 1996.

It Went Into Foreclosure

Jane put the house up for sale for $3.58 million in 2013. However, it was priced too high and failed to sell.

Additionally, Jane owed more on the house than $3.58 million — meaning the house had liens against it — and no one was wiling to take those on top of the already high price.

The home went into foreclosure.

There Were Wild Parties

After Jane declared bankruptcy, the home remained tangled up in court. The house was then rented out.

Except the person who rented the home threw wild parties, charging admission at the door and throwing out invites on social media.

'We're Not Sure What Happened at Those Parties'

"We're not quite sure what went on at those parties," the home's previous listing agent Christian Stevens told realtor.com. "But we did find photos of pole dancers in the drawers in various rooms with names like Tiffany and Cartier."

That sounds pretty self-explanatory.

A Place to Cook

Taking a brief pause from this home's awesome history, here is the kitchen where Selena Gomez can be seen cooking for her new cooking show "Selena + Chef" on HBO Max. She posted this photo to her Instagram.

Gomez is 5-foot-5, so you can get a good idea of how tall that massive brickwork range is.

Cooking with Style

This view from the ceiling via HBO Max shows how the kitchen looks when it's fully functional, and not staged for photos.

The double kitchen island, with its inset cooking area, looks like a really useful feature.

It's also rather unusual.

Evicting the Tenant Wasn't Easy

OK, back to the home's history.

Eventually, the banks had to evict the tenant. But the tenant refused and slapped a sign on the gate saying something about military law and threatened anyone who might come onto the property.

This was not a smart move.

SWAT Swarmed the Property

Helicopters, police vans and a SWAT team descended onto the property, according to realtor.com.

The man was found hiding inside one of the house's many nooks and corners.

He did not, in fact, enact military law on the officers.

The House Was in Bad Shape

Eventually, the house sold in 2017 for $2.575 million.

As you might imagine, it wasn't in the best shape. The old house was almost entirely of wood — wooden floors, wooden walls, wooden ceilings, wooden staircases, wooden walkways.

And it badly needed an update.

Finding a New Buyer

Seeing an investment, property developers bought the home and renovated it for modern buyers. For instance, the sunken area here used to be a performance area for guitar players.

But before he died, Petty had not lived here for 20 years.

So what's with all the guitars and framed records?

Begin the Bidding War

After renovating the home, the developers popped it on the market for $5 million. After six months, they dropped the price to $4.55 million, but it ended up selling for $4.85 million.

Music executive Randy Spendlove won the bidding war. The music producer won a Best Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture Grammy for "Chicago" and is the president of Motion Picture Music at Paramount Pictures.

Good Deals All Around

Spendlove only spent two years in the house, buying it in October 2018 and putting it on the market in 2019 for $5 million.

Selena Gomez picked it up in March 2020 for just $50,000 more than Spendlove paid for it.

That's not a bad flip for Spendlove, nor was it a bad deal for Gomez.

The Yoga Room

The mansion is pretty dang impressive, and there are two master suites, one on the main floor and another on the second story.

Given the stylings of the upper floor, which includes this yoga/Pilates room, we think the top floor has the best master bedroom.

The Second-Floor Master Suite

The wood-beamed celling has been stained from a reddish brown to this pleasing, modern gray tone.

The fireplace mantle has been refitted into a more modern design as well.

Wall Storage

The far corner wall has been outfitted with built-in drawers that have been built into the wall.

A lounge and sitting area occupies the corner.

Fully Renovated

The master bedroom has a set of French doors that open up to an outdoor deck.

Outdoor Seating

The outdoor railings feature starburst patterns that are original to the home.

They've been stained a grayish blue, which is complemented by the outdoor furniture.

What It Used to Look Like

For perspective, this is what the bedroom used to look like.

The bones of the house were good, so most of the rooms did not need to be gutted.

But it was sorely outdated.

The New Master Bathroom

The master bathroom also has been completely redone.

It now features a built-in, distressed wood vanity where a bathtub used to be, and a soaking tub is now where the old vanity used to be.

Old Master Bathroom

Check out what the old master bathroom used to look like. The tub is completely outdated, and the glass block shower certainly needed to go.

And check out the leopard print carpet!

Several Guest Bedrooms

The home features many guest bedrooms with loft areas for storage.

It's certainly a nice house for Gomez, who is worth an estimated $75 million.

If reports are true, she can pay off the cost of this house in 10 sponsored posts on Instagram, which can net her $500,000 to $800,000 per post.

Adding Wallpaper

Gomez has owned the home since March 2020, so she has had a good amount of time to put her personal touches on it.

In this bedroom, she has plastered the walls with dark, flowered wallpaper.

"Things I’ve been doing in quarantine- settling into my new house and guitar lessons," the singer wrote on Instagram.

So Many Places to Go

The home has so many little closets and stairs. It's an imaginative layout.

It used to have hidden passageways — including a room hidden behind a swinging bookshelf — but we're not sure if they remain.

Loft Areas

The loft area in one of the home's four guest bedrooms has been carpeted and transformed into a small hangout area that's perfect for a teenager.

We're not sure what Gomez is doing with it. She has not said she plans to have kids anytime soon, and Justin Bieber's plans to make babies with her didn't work out.

The Studio

The ground level features the recording studio. This is possibly where Petty's studio once stood, although it's impossible to tell.

His ex-wife, at one point, converted the entire ground floor into an apartment.

The Second Kitchen

Which is why this level has a whole other kitchen.

We know Gomez loves to cook, but this might be a bit much.

The Massage Area

Also included on the lowest level is a small workout area and massage room.

Outdoor Barbecuing

The lower level leads out to the poolside patio, which includes a barbecue grilling area.

There are places to cook something for anyone at anytime almost everywhere in this house.

Cooking, Cooking, Cooking

The area is lit with recessed lighting and features large stone tiles.

Gomez began her cooking series not long after she moved in. Her move coincided with the lockdown, which gave birth to her new HBO Max series.

She hasn't yet left the main kitchen on that show, but if she does, maybe she should do some barbecuing over here.

The Garage

The garage has been transformed into an entertainment area. This is Spendlove's stuff, but it might have come with the house if he didn't feel like moving it.

The Pool

Out back is a resort-style pool area with gnarled oak trees giving shade to a freeform swimming pool.

Baby palm trees are growing at one end of the pool, although no more privacy is required.

The house is situated on a hill and blocked by rows of trees, and the driveway is gated.

The Spa

Adjacent to the pool is a spa area.

The grounds have been decorated with smooth stones, giving it a resort-style feel.

The She Shed

On these pebble-strewn grounds is a she shed. What's a she shed, you ask? It's a man cave for women.

Also located here is a pergola with an electric chandelier.

The Old Stairs and Iron Doors

If there is one criticism we have, it's that this ironwork door appears to have been removed from the wraparound decks (maybe it's been repurposed somewhere else?).

The staircase has also been removed, which is kind of disappointing. Those features really gave this property a unique look.

Thankfully, the railings are all still there.

Working from Home

There's more than enough space in the mansion for all of Gomez's work-from-home needs.

She released the chart-topping album, "Rare," in early 2020, so she might not be working too seriously on an album just yet.

"Selena + Chef" was recently renewed by HBO so we know we'll be seeing more of her cooking in that awesome kitchen.