Celebrities' paychecks might be huge, but that doesn't mean their homes have to be. Some stars forgo the glitz of the Hollywood Hills and lead frugal, modest lives. Others may live (or travel) large, but many of them come from humble beginnings and prefer to keep it that way. Whether it's a rags-to-riches story, or a billionaire-in-a-modest-house story, check out our list of 33 celebrity homes regular people can afford.
Chicago
Sold in 2018 for $375,000
Oprah Winfrey may have a net worth of $3 billion, but the media mogul put her cozy little home in Chicago's Elmwood Park neighborhood on the market for less than $400,000 last summer. Bought in 2001 for $298,000, it's her last owned property in the Windy City.
Liverpool, England
Sold for $231,000 in 2015
Paul McCartney's legendary music career has earned him a fortune of nearly $1 billion, but he comes from humble roots. From age 4 to 10, McCartney lived in this three-bedroom house in a working-class neighborhood in Liverpool.
Nutley, New Jersey
Estimated market price: $457,000
Built in 1930, Martha Stewart grew up in this three-bedroom, 1,936-square-foot home in a quiet suburb of New Jersey. In 2014, Stewart blogged about how she returned to the home after a film shoot so she could "could reminisce about the people and places of my youth. So much has changed, yet many things were just as I remembered."
Kingsland, Arkansas
National Register of Historic Places
In May 2018, the home where the legendary Man in Black grew up was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Arkansas State University reportedly spent $575,000 to buy and restore the five-room house, which was featured in the film "Walk the Line."
Lancaster, California
Last known asking price: $550,000
The Garland family moved to California in 1926 so Judy's father could buy a theater. They settled into this home, which has eight bedrooms — and a back house with another five bedrooms (and at some point after early 2017 came off the market). You could say there's no place like it.
Omaha
Sold for $230,000 in May 2017
The childhood home of the eight-time-Oscar-winning Marlon Brando was at one point offered for a cool quarter-million. Built in 1900, the home boasts five bedrooms and a third floor that's been converted into a master suite. It still sold for $20,000 under the asking price, though.
St. Louis
Sold for $159,000 in 2017
The late poet Maya Angelou spent her first three years in this simple two-story home just southwest of downtown St. Louis. The home, which has been given landmark status, was described as "super nice and cute," according to a property listing.
Omaha
Estimated value: $650,000
Investor Warren Buffett, known as the "Oracle of Omaha," is one of the richest people in the world. So it might be surprising to learn that he lives in a relatively modest five-bedroom house in a quiet suburb of Omaha. Bought for $31,500 in 1958, he considers it the third-best investment of his life.
Liverpool, England
Sold for $250,000 in 2014
Harrison once said of his childhood home outside of Liverpool: "Our little house was just two rooms up and two rooms down, but, except for a short period when our father was away at sea, we always knew the comfort and security of a very close-knit home life." After the house was auctioned to a Beatles fan in 2014, Andrew Brown, a director at Countrywide Property Auctions, said: "There was interest in the property before the auction from potential buyers who lived in the UK and internationally. We are delighted to have sold such an iconic piece of the Beatles and Liverpool's history."
Los Angeles
Asking price: $1.89 million
The priciest home on the list and probably the most familiar, this home isn’t famous for who lived there. Instead, this home is genuinely famous in its own right: It was used for the exterior shots of the popular “The Brady Bunch” sit-com from 1969 to 1974. A classic split-level home with three bedrooms and three baths, it is said to be the second-most photographed home in America, after the White House. The nearly 2,500 square-foot residence in the Studio City area of Los Angeles was on the market in 2018 for the first time in nearly five decades when it was purchased by HGTV for $3.5 million — way over the asking price. The popular home improvement network recently finished renovating the house for "A Very Brady Renovation," which will air later this year. Rumor has it HGTV will eventually give the house to a superfan.
Saugerties, New York
Sold for $116,000 in 2014
When Jimmy Fallon's modest, 1,780-square-foot childhood home went on the market in 2012, the late-night host pitched the listing to his fans with a tweet that read: "Please someone cool buy it! Great place to grow up." But it would be another two years before someone (cool?) bought the house, which came with a guest cottage and a built-in keg, according to Zillow.
Port Arthur, Texas
Asking price: $200,000 in 2017
The Joplin family moved to this five-bedroom home after a previous home burned down. A historic Texas landmark, the home in a modest section of town is photographed frequently by fans of the singer. Janis' childhood signature is still visible in a cement slab inside the garage. The house had originally been listed for $500,000 in 2016, but the listing has recently been taken down.
Indianapolis
Estimated market price: $920,000
Legendary author Kurt Vonnegut, who penned books like "Slaughterhouse Five" and "Cat's Cradle," grew up in this 5,907-square-foot, four-bedroom brick home, which was designed by his architect father. About his hometown of Indianapolis, Vonnegut once said: "All my jokes are Indianapolis. All my attitudes are Indianapolis. My adenoids are Indianapolis. If I ever severed myself from Indianapolis, I would be out of business. What people like about me is Indianapolis."
Rochester Hills, Michigan
Sold for $411,000 in 2017
Madonna splits her time between homes in New York City and London, but grew up in this two-story Colonial home about 30 minutes outside of Detroit. She shared it with her parents and seven siblings.
Detroit
Asking price:$132,500
The songstress' family left this four-bedroom North End home behind in 1958, so it's not too surprising the real estate broker who bought it in May — for $1,800 — didn't even know its history. The price didn't leap 7,233 percent because Ross lived there, but because the broker improved it throughout, the Detroit Free Press said. Since being listed, however, it's been on and off the market, both for sale and more recently for rent.
Gary, Indiana
Estimated market price: $43,700
Michael Jackson, the eighth of 10 children, had to share this 672-square-foot home with his siblings and parents until they all moved to Los Angeles in 1969 to pursue a record deal. The tiny size of the home, which fittingly sits on Jackson Street, attracts many tourists, one of whom told the Chicago Tribune: "I just wonder how did they fit all of those kids in there."
Midland, Texas
Sold for $296,000 in 2017
Before moving into the White House in 2001, the former first lady lived in this simple three-bedroom ranch. Bush once described the small city of Midland as "a place of ice cream sundaes ... and Saturday morning pony rides." It sold for more than $100,000 less than the original 2017 asking price of $425,000.
Reading, Pennsylvania
Sold for $700,000 in 2013
Before relocating to Nashville so Taylor could pursue a career in music, the Swift family lived in this six-bedroom home. The current owners didn't know Swift had lived there until fans started showing up to take pictures outside.
New York
Estimated market price: $580,000
Singer, songwriter, and actress Jennifer Lopez might spend most of her time in L.A., but she grew up in this modest two-family home in the Bronx, a home where she "can remember dancing and singing in front of the mirror in my bedroom," Lopez told W magazine. The singer added that she got "all the strength that I needed for life" from growing up in the Bronx.
Aberdeen, Washington
Sold for $190,000 in 2018
Cobain spent much of his youth in this little four-bedroom home in suburban Washington. The house was originally listed at $400,000 — a high price compared to nearby homes that have recently sold for about $50,000 — but its price was reduced several times before it ultimately sold for $190,000 in 2018.
Ada, Oklahoma
Sold for $156,000 in 2018
Before becoming a chart-topping country musician, Blake Shelton grew up in this modest ranch-style home in Ada, a small town that's sometimes featured in Shelton's music videos. Its sale price was nearly $100,000 less than its original asking price of $250,000.
Katy, Texas
Sold for $317,499 in 2016
Renée Zellweger is now well known for starring in movies like "Chicago" and "Jerry Maguire," but in high school she was known as a "Dream Date" to her fellow classmates, who gave her the title in a homecoming contest. She spent her childhood in this four-bedroom, ranch-style home located in Katy, just outside of Houston. She later moved to Los Angeles, but returned to her hometown in 2016 to attend her high school reunion.
Orlando, Florida
Sold for $240,000 in 2014
A TMZ report once indicated that Shaquille O'Neal, who took up an interest in real estate following a successful NBA career, sold this suburban Orlando home for just $10. That was wrong, of course, and it turned out that O'Neal had simply paid $10 as a recording fee to the county appraisal office. In any case, O'Neal sold this home in 2014 for about $5,000 more than he paid for it. But that probably doesn't matter to the retired center whose net worth is estimated to be upward of $400 million.
Austin, Texas
Bought for $1 million in 2012
"Lord of the Rings" star Elijah Wood exchanged his Santa Monica, California, property for this large Victorian mansion in the hip Bouldin Creek neighborhood of Austin. Priced on the high side for most folks and checking in at 3,285 square feet, it's not exactly a hobbit house.
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Bought for $510,000
Designed by American modernist architect George Nelson, this home was bought sight-unseen in 2017 by musician Jack White. He considers himself a custodian of the home, as he told the New Yorker: "I'm a believer in nobody owns anything … If you could take care of it and pass it along, it's good."
New Orleans
Sold for $345,000 in 2019
Filmmaker Tyler Perry grew up in this little shotgun home in New Orleans. Two blocks north were mansions; two blocks south were housing projects. Perry once told The New York Times that living between the two "became my metaphor for life."
Los Angeles
Sold for $880,000 in 2011
Purchased in 2008 for $1,050,000, John Krasinski, perhaps best known for his role as Jim on "The Office," took a loss when he sold this three-bedroom "Country English" home in West Hollywood. But Krasinski and his wife, film star Emily Blunt, probably aren't sweating it — the couple later moved into a spectacular Mid-Century home in the Hollywood Hills.
Eden Prairie, Minnesota
Sold for $539,000 in February 2018
Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson put his five-bedroom home on the market over the summer and saw it sell — for $156,000 under the original asking price. It was a relatively cheap home for an NFL MVP, but got cheaper.
Cleveland
Sold for $510,000 in August 2017
Chef Michael Symon, cohost of ABC's "The Chew," parted with this 1920s Tudor in Cleveland Heights for below the asking price of $549,000. Accessible by footbridge, the rustic-chic home boasts three stories, a wine room, and (of course) an incredible kitchen.
Hampton, Georgia
Bought for $149,000
Mama June bought this four-bedroom suburban home in 2015 with the intention of keeping it clean — she reportedly established strict chore rules for her daughters to follow in the new home.
Blytheville, Arkansas
Asking Price: $119,900
George Hamilton, a Golden Globe-winning actor whose style was once described by Cigar Aficionado as "Cary Grant meets Pat Riley," spent his boyhood in this charming four-bedroom home in Arkansas. Hamilton is fond of his hometown, as he once told the (Memphis) Commercial Appeal: "It's where I will be buried, and it's where I come from. I buried my mother there, my brother there, my grandfather, my grandmother — it's the very earth where I'm going to be."
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Sold for $299,900 in 2017
After moving to a $1.25 million home in Alexandria, Virginia, the former White House chief of staff looked to sell his three-bedroom Cape Cod-style home just outside of Milwaukee. It sold about as fast as it took the White House to oust Priebus, and whoever bought it didn't stay long: It sold again in 2019 for $325,000.
Los Angeles
Sold for $795,000 in 2012
Just outside of L.A.'s Koreatown, this 2,569-square-foot, five-bedroom home once belonged to Simon Helberg, aka Howard Wolowitz on "The Big Bang Theory." The star apparently had difficulty selling the home, as he ultimately sold it for about $150,000 less than he paid.
