Forget the cramped West Wing halls — Rob Lowe has 10,000 square feet of waterfront elegance in California’s sought-after Santa Barbara County. On Friday, however, Sotheby’s International Realty announced the actor, 54, and wife Sheryl Lowe, 57, are preparing to part with their fairytale estate, which is now on the market for $47 million.
Located in Montecito — the exclusive enclave of architectural gems where Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, former Vice President Al Gore and more hang their hats — this Georgian masterpiece boasts 20 rooms and 3.4 acres overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
So why are the actor and his jewelry designer wife handing over the keys? “With our boys now out of the house,” Rob told Sotheby’s, “we’re looking forward to our next real estate adventure.”
After walking through the dramatic, column-framed front door at Oakview (as the estate has been named), potential buyers will find six bedrooms, eight full bathrooms, nine interior and two exterior fireplaces, formal living and dining rooms, a piano bar, family and commercial kitchens, a “West Wing” home office, a screening room, a wine cellar and numerous terraces, verandas and loggias, according to Sotheby’s.
The grounds have something for everyone, including a reflecting pool, koi pond, rose and vegetable gardens, an outdoor kitchen featuring a wood-burning pizza oven, a swimming pool and spa and tennis and sports courts.
The now-empty nesters put their personal touch on the home, working with architect Don Nulty, interior designer Kyle Irwin, landscape architect Mark Rios and feng shui master David Cho to capture the tranquil Virginia countryside vibes of Rob’s childhood.
“I’ve always been drawn to a historic, east coast American aesthetic,” Rob told Architectural Digest for its November 2010 cover story on the home. “But a house also has to be comfortable, able to withstand the simultaneous traffic of teenagers playing football on the lawn, barbecuing on the patio, me slipping off to write.”
Rob added: “Our challenge was extrapolating our views on how to live our lives and raise our children into what we need in a home.”
“Rob and Sheryl have achieved the impossible, creating a home that lives with the conveniences of new constriction but with character that rivals one of Santa Barbara’s most architecturally significant historic estates,” the listing agent, Suzanne Perkins, told Sotheby’s. “Oakview shows equal appreciation for history and modernity.”
The Lowes’ decision to sell their estate comes about six months after the Southern California mudslides caused by torrential rain in January killed 21 people and caused more than $177 million in damage. Rob and Sheryl’s home was not damaged in the natural disaster — interior designer David Phoenix told PEOPLE the home was protected by its “higher altitude” — but the family was on high alert throughout the crisis.
RELATED VIDEO: Rob Lowe Says He Sleeps Better Apart from His Wife: ‘I Love Her Enough to Speak the Truth’
“Praying for all our friends and neighbors,” Rob tweeted on Jan. 9. “Very bad situation in Montecito.”
He added later that day: “Mourning the dead in our little town tonight. Praying for the survivors and preparing for whatever may come.”
“Montecito is one of the crown jewels of Southern California, nestled in on the coast,” Phoenix shared with PEOPLE at the time. “It has a charming small-town feeling like the town I grew up in, in New England. There is a wonderful sense of community here, which has been critical to helping victims cope with the tragedy.”