(Photos of Ashton Kutcher’s house via Realtor.com)There’s a certain kind of luxury real estate in Los Angeles that passes from celebrity to celebrity. Perhaps its most valuable amenity: privacy. L.A. has ordinances that prevent new construction of high walls and hedges, which means there’s a limited inventory of homes that can keep prying eyes at a distance. The glitterati tend to trade them among one another.

“The No. 1 feature celebrities need in a house is that it’s ‘stoparazzi,’ ” says Billy Rose, president of The Agency, a Los Angeles-area luxury real estate firm he co-founded with Mauricio Umansky, husband of reality TV star Kyle Richards of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. He says it’s not uncommon to drive a house-hunting celeb around L.A. with paparazzi in tow. His clients tend to like homes quietly tucked behind long, gated driveways, outfitted with extensive security systems and guard houses.

Read more about the homes of powerful stars and see many more pictures of the celebrities’ homes at Forbes.com:

Forbes’ Celebrity 100 list ranks America’s most powerful stars. With the help of Realtor.com, Trulia.com and others, Forbes investigated where these actors, singers and personalities bed down for the night. We included homes bought and sold in the past year or so as well as a few long-term nests of the stars. Perhaps not surprisingly, most are nestled in and around the Los Angeles area.
Ashton Kutcher
Celebrity 100 rank: 51; made $24 million
Home: Arrowhead Drive, Los Angeles, CA
List Price: $10.8 million
Final Sales Price: $8.45 million 

Kutcher was renting the 9,400-square-foot Hollywood Hills home pictured here, but he reportedly decided to buy it after fellow Celebrity 100 list maker Justin Bieber expressed interest in a purchase. The house has floor-to-ceiling windows and cantilevered rooms and balconies overlooking Lake Hollywood.

NEXT: What Justin Bieber bought instead.