The Day Adele Knocked Out ‘Rocky’
In the middle of one of Los Angeles’s most exclusive enclaves, an algae-green pool circles a lone bronze fighter, fist frozen in victory. Everything that once surrounded Sylvester Stallone’s former Mediterranean fantasy has been ripped away.
The only thing still standing from the Hollywood icon’s reign is that famous “Rocky” statue by the water. The rest has been claimed by Adele’s ruthless, sky-high vision of home.
The Grammy-winning superstar bought the Beverly Park estate from Stallone in January 2022. Since then she has not just renovated it, she has erased almost every trace of the action legend’s life there and replaced it with a glassy, ultra-modern fortress that experts believe could cost her another $50 million to finish.
‘Rocky’ Glory to Raw Construction Site
Once upon a time, this was peak old-school Hollywood opulence. Stallone’s mansion was a sprawling Mediterranean-style showpiece with terracotta roofing and a crystal clear, resort-style pool anchored by his “Rocky” alter ego, fist in the air, forever mid-victory lap.
Exclusive construction photos now tell a very different story. The estate Adele inherited is barely recognizable. The Mediterranean arches, warm stucco, and old-world romance are gone, stripped back to a raw skeleton as the main residence is rebuilt within the original footprint of the site.
The pool that once shimmered Beverly Hills blue has turned a murky, algae-like green. Around it, the clean lines and landscaping of Stallone’s era have disappeared into a maze of scaffolding, exposed framing, and temporary fencing. The statue is still there, watching over chaos, a lone relic of a different Hollywood.
From above, the contrast is brutal. Stallone’s Mediterranean fantasy is history. Adele’s monument to modern luxury is rising in its place.
Adele’s Ultra Modern Fortress in the Hills
Where Stallone embraced warm, European-inspired glamour, Adele is going full future. The new house is ultra-modern and appears set to feature top-to-bottom windows wrapping the property, a glass box of privacy made possible only by Beverly Park’s extreme seclusion and tight security.
The scale is staggering. At least a dozen vehicles and scores of workers flood the site on a typical day, with builders creating what has effectively become a semi-permanent camp as the project stretches on for years.
Luxury construction firm Valle Reinis, a go-to name in high-end Los Angeles builds, is handling what insiders describe as a decade-long transformation. The massive job is no quick flip. It is a total reimagining of what a celebrity mansion in the hills can look like.
Now that the new structure is under roof, the real indulgence begins. As one expert notes, “Fitting a home of this size and caliber is never rushed.” For Adele, the finishes will likely be as meticulous as her music.
The Price Tag of Reinvention
Rebuilding a star’s mansion from the ground up does not come cheap, even for one of the biggest vocalists on the planet.
Luxury renovation expert Leigh Ann Raines, owner of Chic By Design, has been closely following the scope of Adele’s project and believes the bill will soar.
“When it’s all said and done, it’s reasonable to expect the investment for the finished and furnished home could be equivalent to what she paid for it, upwards of $50 million,” Raines said.
She also warned that the long wait is far from over. “It may be another five years, easily another three, from completion,” she added, underscoring just how ambitious the rebuild really is.
According to Raines, projects of this complexity rarely behave themselves. “Having worked on complex renovations, it’s fair to say that they often take longer and end up being more expensive than buying a new building.” In other words, Adele is choosing the harder, pricier path for the sake of a home that feels truly one-of-one.
Fire Risk, Delays, and a High-Stakes Address
As if a multi-year, multi-million-dollar celebrity rebuild were not enough, Adele’s dream home sits in one of the most precarious parts of Los Angeles.
The property is in a “very high” fire hazard severity zone and needs special cool roof materials. That alone adds cost, engineering, and time to a project already running at an elite scale.
Raines notes that the recent disaster has only tightened the screws. “The January 2025 fires in the Pacific Palisades destroyed thousands of properties and likely contributed to some unexpected delays on Adele’s home this year – that affluent community is vying for scarce specialized labor resources after the major disaster,” she said.
In a city where ultra-wealthy homeowners are all chasing the same niche contractors, that competition can be brutal. Even for Adele, money cannot always speed up codes, safety standards, and the reality of a region on constant wildfire alert.
The Power Team Building Adele’s Mansion
A project of this magnitude requires a serious behind-the-scenes cast, and Adele has assembled one.
Architect Sylvia Kuhle, a partner at Standard Architecture, is leading design. Her resume stretches far beyond celebrity homes. She has led teams that designed the Phare Tower in Paris, the Children’s Museum in Los Angeles, and the Forest Knoll Residence, which sold in 2021 for $23.225 million.
On the structural side is engineer Derek Wavering, known for his expertise in building luxury custom-made houses in Beverly Hills. His work is what makes walls of glass and daring hillside builds actually stand up to earthquakes, winds and the realities of California terrain.
Raines says the careful collaboration across this design-build team is key. “The design-build team, including Valle Reinis, will be meticulous in carefully curating exactly what the couple wants,” she explained. “This project is a major undertaking. Within the original footprint of the site, they have completely rebuilt the main home.”
Behind every set of paparazzi shots showing hard hats and concrete trucks is a small army of high-end specialists turning Adele’s wish list into something that can survive gravity, fire codes, and a lifetime of scrutiny.
From Stallone’s Statue to Adele’s Sanctuary
For now, the most emotional image on the property is still that “Rocky” statue, stranded beside a neglected pool while a new house rises behind it.
It is a snapshot of Hollywood in transition. Stallone’s era of Mediterranean swagger giving way to Adele’s world of glass, privacy, and quiet, curated power. Old-school action hero lore colliding with the taste of a generational ballad queen.
Whether the statue survives the final design is still an open question. It might end up as a wink to the estate’s past or disappear once the last nail is in and the last pane of glass is polished.
Either way, the message is already clear. Adele is not just moving into a legend’s house. She is wiping the slate, spending a fortune, and patiently enduring years of upheaval to build a place that screams her name, not his.
In a city obsessed with reinvention, there may be no bigger flex than turning a Hollywood icon’s mansion into your own private sanctuary and leaving his greatest triumph standing by the pool as a reminder of who owned the hill before you.
