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How Much Would It Cost To Live in the Homes of These Old Hollywood Celebrities Today?

Photo Credit: Bettmann / Getty Images and Buyenlarge / Getty Images
Photo Credit: Bettmann / Getty Images and Buyenlarge / Getty Images

It’s no secret that the housing market is absolutely insane right now. Prices are sky high and at the moment, pretty unaffordable for a lot of people. As such, it’s nice to take a trip down memory lane and remember a time when housing prices weren’t so steep. Even the houses of the rich and famous seem cheap compared to the cost of buying a “regular” home today!

Clark Gable and Carole Lombard’s Home

Postcard depicting the home of Clark Gable
Postcard from 1938 depicting the home of Clark Gable. (Photo Credit: Nextrecord Archives/ Getty Images)

In 1939, actor Clark Gable and his wife, actress Carole Lombard, bought a 20-acre ranch in the San Fernando Valley town of Encino. The house was built in 1933, and consisted of 7 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms. Gable and Lombard originally bought the house for $50,000.

Clark Gable sitting in the garden of his home in Encino
Portrait of actor Clark Gable sitting in the garden of his home, in Encino, California, circa 1951. (Photo Credit: Pictorial Parade/ Getty Images)

The famous couple lived happily at their ranch home until 1942, when Carole Lombard tragically died in a plane crash. After his wife’s death, Gable had a difficult time returning to the ranch home they once shared. Though he never sold it during his lifetime, he rarely visited it. The home was last sold in October 1977 to financier Michael Milken, who bought the property for $587,500. It appears that Milken still owns Gable and Lombard’s beautiful old ranch home.

Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks

Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks at home
Vintage souvenir postcard published in 1927 from the Homes of Movie Stars in California series. Here is a view of the mansion and grounds of ‘Pickfair,’ the Beverly Hills property of Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, pictured in a canoe on the pond (Photo Credit: Nextrecord Archives / Getty Images)

Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks were the “it” couple during the silent film era. This property was originally a hunting lodge, which was purchased by Douglas Fairbanks in 1919 for $35,000. The couple then transformed the home into a massive 22-room mansion that was later revamped to include a total of 42 rooms. The “Pickfair Estate” was known for its lavish parties.

Pickfair estates
View from the driveway of “Pickfair”, home of actress Mary Pickford, circa 1936. (Photo Credit: Bettmann/ Getty Images)

The couple eventually divorced, but Mary Pickford lived in the mansion until her death in 1979. A year after Pickford’s death, the home was sold for $5.3 million. In 1990, the original structure was torn down because of extensive damages. Another stunning home was built in its place. In 2008, the new home sitting on the original property was listed for $60 million.

Errol Flynn

vintage postcard of Errol Flynn's home
Vintage souvenir postcard published in 1940 from series depicting movie star homes of Hollywood, here with portrait of actor Errol Flynn and his sprawling white mansion, Beverly Hills, California (Photo Credit: Nextrecord Archives / Getty Images)

Actor Errol Flynn built his two-story home off of Mulholland Drive in 1941. It was nicknamed “Mulholland Farm,” and the actor hosted many extravagant parties here throughout the 1940s.

Errol Flynn at home
Errol Flynn at home, circa 1940s. (Photo Credit: George Rinhart/ Getty Images)

Errol Flynn died in 1959. Shortly after his death, his home was sold for the first time. In 1980, singer Ricky Nelson bought Flynn’s home. Nelson lived here until his death in 1985. The home then sat vacant until 1988, when a developer subdivided the original 11-acres it sat on. The house was torn down, and the land was split into seven different lots, all with extravagant homes sitting on them. In 2013, one of these mansions sold for $7.9 million.

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe's backyard
Backyard of Marilyn Monroe’s Brentwood home in 2010. (Photo Credit: Anne Cusack/ Getty Images)

Throughout her life, actress Marilyn Monroe lived in many different places. However, her home located at 12305 5th Helena Drive in Brentwood, California, is by far her most famous abode.

Marilyn Monroe Brentwood home
Aerial view of Marilyn Monroe’s home in Brentwood, California. (Photo Credit: Mel Bouzad/ Getty Images)

Monroe bought this home in February 1962 after divorcing playwright Arthur Miller. Some sources state the home was bought for $77,500, while others claim the selling price was closer to $90,000. In 2017, Marilyn’s Brentwood home went up for sale. The home was listed at $6.9 million, but sold for $7.25 million.

Judy Garland

postcard depicting Judy Garland's Bel Air home
Vintage souvenir postcard published ca 1938 from the Movie Star Homes series, depicting Judy Garland’s Bel Air home. (Photo Credit: Nextrecord Archives / Getty Images)

Judy Garland’s Bel Air home was first built in 1938 – the same year the late actress was cast as Dorothy in The Wizard Of Oz. Garland and her mother moved into the five-bedroom home in 1939, where she remained for nearly a decade. The house was later rented to Quincy Jones and Marvin Gaye.

In 2011, Judy Garland’s Bel Air home was sold for $5.2 million. The home was then renovated and updated, and resold in 2012 for $6.7 million.

Joan Crawford

Postcard of Joan Crawford's house
Vintage souvenir postcard published in 1956 from series depicting Hollywood movie star homes. Here is a portrait of celebrity actress Joan Crawford and her Brentwood, California home (Photo Credit: Nextrecord Archives / Getty Images)

Actress Joan Crawford bought her 10-room house in 1928 for $57,500. This house, located on Bristol Avenue in Brentwood, California, would be Crawford’s primary residence for the next 29 years. She renovated the home numerous times during the years she lived there.

Joan Crawford inside her Brentwood Home
Joan Crawford in the living room of her Brentwood home, circa 1949. (Photo Credit: Bettmann/ Getty Images)

In January 1996, Crawford’s home was sold to the current owners for $1.5 million. However, the home has been extensively remodeled and is hardly recognizable from the days when the iconic actress lived there.

Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra Palm Spring home
Frank Sinatra Twin Palms Estate in the heart of Palm Springs, California (Photo Credit: Buyenlarge/ Getty Images)

After hitting it big, Frank Sinatra hired architect E. Stewart Williams to design a home in Palm Springs, which became known as Twin Palms. Sinatra paid $150,000 for the desert home. The Twin Palms residence was also home to both Nancy Sinatra and Ava Gardner.

Twin Palms backyard
The backyard of Frank Sinatra’s Twin Palms, circa 1950s. (Photo Credit: Gene Lester/ Getty Images)

Today, Sinatra’s Palm Springs home is available to rent for a number of different events – including private vacations, corporate events, retreats, and dinner parties.

Jayne Mansfield

Jayne Mansfield's Pink Palace
The home that was once Jayne Mansfield’s ‘Pink Palace,’ circa 1989. (Photo Credit: Paul Harris/ Getty Images)

Before her tragic death, Jayne Mansfield famously lived in a “Pink Palace.” This sprawling Mediterranean home was originally built in 1929 for Rudy Vallee. Mansfield and her husband, Mickey Hargitay, paid $76,000 for it in 1957. The home was dubbed the Pink Palace because the interior was decked out in all different shades of pink.

Heart shaped pool in Jayne Mansfield's backyard
Jayne Mansfield and the heart-shaped pool in the backyard of her ‘Pink Palace,’ circa 1961. (Photo Credit: Bettmann/ Getty Images)

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In 2002, Engelbert Humperdinck sold the property to his neighbor Roland Arnall for $30 million. The home has since been demolished and the area is now a parking lot.

Madeline Hiltz

Maddy Hiltz is someone who loves all things history. She received her Bachelors of Arts in history and her Master’s of Arts degree in history both from the University of Western Ontario in Canada. Her thesis examined menstrual education in Victorian England. She is passionate about Princess Diana, the Titanic, the Romanovs, and Egypt amongst other things.

In her spare time, Maddy loves playing volleyball, running, walking, and biking, although when she wants to be lazy she loves to read a good thriller. She loves spending quality time with her friends, family, and puppy Luna!

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