Among Brad Pitt’s many accomplishments – seven Academy Award nominations, a successful wine label, the title of People’s Sexiest Man Alive – is his ability to invest in some truly trophy real estate. The F1 and Heart of the Beast actor has spoken before about his affinity for all things architecture and interior design, telling Oprah Winfrey in 2004, ‘I love that architecture is this huge art piece you can be inside. I believe it lifts your soul and affects your mindset.’ In late 2012, he collaborated on a collection with furniture maker Frank Pollaro, and in 2020, narrated a documentary about Frank Lloyd Wright. So it is no surprise that he has selected some impressive homes, and made them even more so with his time, investment, and attention to detail.
Over the years, the actor and producer has owned residences in Hollywood, the south of France, Mallorca, New York City, and New Orleans, with a rumoured property in the Lake of the Ozarks region of his native Missouri – though unfortunately, for fans in the Show-Me State, there are no public records of this. Below, we’ve rounded up some of Pitt’s most prominent houses, some of which he still owns – and continues to expand upon – today.
1994: Los Feliz, California
Three years after he stole the screen as a charismatic hitchhiker in Thelma & Louise, Pitt paid $1.7 million for a mansion in Los Feliz, purchased directly from Cassandra Peterson, better known by her alter ego, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Over the next few years, the actor picked up two contiguous properties to expand the compound, and then purchased two more after coupling up with ex-wife Angelina Jolie, in 2005. According to Variety, the multi-structure, 1.9-acre property cost a total of nearly $5 million. Today, it includes a 6,692-square-foot Craftsman main house, large outdoor swimming pool, private tennis pavilion, and skate park, and is what Pitt called his kids’ ‘childhood home’ in a 2017 interview with GQ. (It is also where Jimi Hendrix reportedly wrote ‘May This Be Love’.)
1998: Hollywood Hills, California
Pitt then enlisted the German architecture firm Graft to construct a Zen Hollywood Hills getaway. The actor served as his own interior designer for the modernist stone and glass oasis, telling the L.A.-based style magazine Flaunt, ‘I learned that you have to let go of a lot of great ideas for the sake of harmony.’ The pad features hidden shelves and cupboards to maximize storage while minimizing clutter. Mica stone walls, pine flooring, and copious skylights help to add texture and character to the pristine space. It appears that Pitt still owns this home.
2000: Santa Barbara, California
Shortly after marrying Jennifer Aniston, Pitt splashed out $4 million for an oceanfront, 11-acre vacation property near Santa Barbara. The home, located near Gaviota State Park, is still in his possession today. When he and Jolie were together, they used it as a vacation retreat for themselves and the kids, horseback riding and enjoying time out on the beach.
2001: Beverly Hills, California
When Aniston and Pitt purchased their main marital home together, they opted for an impressive 11,173-square-foot mansion in Beverly Hills, designed by Wallace Neff. The couple spent three years renovating the French Normandy Revival-style residence, which was originally built in 1934 for actor Fredric March and his wife Florence Eldridge. Improvements included heated marble floors, a bar with wood floors from a 200-year-old French chateau, and a brand-new screening room. When the couple split, in 2005, they put the property on the market and ultimately sold it for $28 million the following year.
.jpg)
2005: Malibu, California
You might be sensing a theme here: another year, another house in California. Pitt then spent $8.4 million on a midcentury-modern bachelor pad in Malibu, situated between Point Mugu State Park and the sea. The four-bedroom, four-bathroom dwelling, which featured three fireplaces, a tennis court, and access to a private cove, measured 4,088 square feet. The architecture buff reportedly spent millions renovating the 1962 property before listing it in early 2009. Fellow real estate enthusiast Ellen DeGeneres snapped it up for $12 million, in 2011, and flipped it for a $1 million profit a year later.
2006: New Orleans, Louisiana
The following year, Pitt and Jolie bought a property in New Orleans’s French Quarter as they focused on charity work in the city after Hurricane Katrina. (Pitt started a nonprofit called the Make It Right Foundation, in 2007, to help rebuild housing in the area, though it was plagued with issues and controversy.) They paid $3.5 million for the brick, traditional-style 7,650-square-foot house, which was originally built in the 1830s and featured Venetian-plastered walls, custom marble mantles, and original crown moldings. The then separated couple put it on the market and sold it a decade later for $4.9 million.
2007: New York City, New York
Pitt and Jolie set down roots in New York City with the purchase of a residence at the famed Waldorf Astoria hotel. While it’s unknown how much they paid for the luxury unit, it’s rumoured that the hotel held particular significance for them as one of the first places that they stayed together as a couple. It’s unclear whether or not Pitt or Jolie still own this home.
2011: Provence, France
The couple set its sights on international real estate over the next few years, first renting, and then buying, a villa in the French countryside. Named Château Miraval, the $60 million estate includes both a château and a winery, the latter of which the pair used to create an eponymous wine brand, best known for its rosé. Pitt and Jolie even tied the knot on the grounds, in 2014. After their split and subsequent divorce, however, it was Pitt who primarily maintained involvement with the brand—they are currently embroiled in a lawsuit over the fact that Jolie sold her stake. In late 2021, the actor began working with French producer Damien Quintard to restore a recording studio on the property.
2016: Mallorca, Spain
While Pitt shot his World War II drama Allied amid rumors of his impending divorce, he and Jolie reportedly paid $3.9 million for a private villa, in Mallorca, Spain. Not much is known about the property, except that it measures 9,687 square feet and boasts eight bedrooms and a swimming pool overlooking the Balearic Sea. Local media reported that Pitt and Jolie were often spotted around town together. It is unclear whether Pitt still owns this home.
That same year, the Jolie-Pitt family was reportedly renting an eight-bedroom home in Surrey along the River Thames, for £15,500 a month, while Pitt filmed World War Z and Jolie worked on humanitarian projects in the U.K. The residence included an indoor pool and gym – ideal given the more blustery weather there. The plan was for the clan to live there for six months, and the couple split not long after that.
2022: Carmel, California
Per Robb Report, in July 2022, Pitt bought a house known as ‘Seaward’ in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, the boho town about halfway up the state’s coastline where Clint Eastwood was once mayor. Seaward was built around 1918 by the architect Charles Sumner Greene over 3,000 square feet as a masterclass in Arts & Crafts design. It sits atop a bluff overlooking the Pacific and was built into the cliffside over four years for the businessman and writer D.L. James. Built out of locally sourced granite and sandstone – as opposed to the timber typically used in Carmel homes – it almost looks like it has appeared naturally on the side of the rock face.
In the house, arched windows and a stone façade combine with a Mediterranean-style tiled roof, while marble details show native flora and fauna. The main house only spans one level, but also has a basement-level library, a sheltered courtyard and a dedicated staff wing. Pitt is believed to have paid around $40 million for the house off-market, making it one of the area’s most expensive ever sales.
2023: Los Feliz, California
Another off-market deal saw Brad Pitt buy a mid-century house in Los Feliz in L.A. from the oil heiress Aileen Getty in March 2023. This time, he supposedly paid $5.5million for the 2,100-square-foot house, while selling his own much larger compound (that one bought in 1994, as detailed above) to Getty in a reverse deal, for $33 million.
Known as The Steel House, the Los Feliz residence counts a modest three bedrooms and two bathrooms and was designed in 1960 by Neil M. Johnson, an architect reportedly influenced by the Case Study House programme. As such, it has all the SoCal hallmarks of that era, including a flat, cantilevered roof, terrazzo floors and floor-to-ceiling glass, every inch the sleekly modern residence. The L-shaped house occupies a small lot of 0.29 acres, hugging a central pool and patio which is further enclosed by lush, tropical landscaping.
It was supposedly previously owned by James Valentine, the guitarist of Maroon 5, who took pains to restore many of the house’s original details like a redwood hot tub, a freestanding sauna, beamed ceilings and a double fireplace which opens onto both the living and dining rooms. While any insight into Pitt’s motivation is essentially speculation, such a house would certainly be to the tastes of anyone who had a penchant for architecturally notable buildings.
