The Hollywood lifestyle glitters with riches and fame, something we all would love to get our hands on. Who wouldn’t want a mansion (or ten), designer clothes, a garage full of luxury sports cars, and hordes of adoring fans?
As appealing as the glitz and glamour of Hollywood’s mystique is, it’s not without its downfalls. The rapid pace of a city like Los Angeles, with is paparazzi-laden streets and constant gossip is enough to tire even the brightest of movie stars, encouraging many of them to settle outside of La La Land. Celebrities shy away from the limelight for any number of reasons—to raise a family, move back to their hometowns, or experience somewhere exotic.
Most of those who do make their homes away from the limelight also have property in Los Angeles or New York—handy when they need to jet off to the big city for their latest roles! Yet, many are laidback people who value their privacy and space just like the rest of us, only that they can afford luxurious French villas or expansive ranches in Montana. Some just want a quiet life in a small town—perhaps you’ll even run into one of these silver screen stars on your next trip to the grocery store.
25 Jennifer Lawrence- Louisville, Kentucky
This Hollywood darling comes from thorough USA roots, from none other than Louisville, Kentucky. Jennifer Lawrence isn’t exactly the picture-perfect movie star, either—she could be your next-door neighbour.
You might have seen pictures of her sprawling L.A. mansion, but it’s the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky that she’ll always call home. She makes frequent trips back to spend time with her family and support local businesses. After being cast as the lead in the wildly successful Hunger Games franchise, she even organised a charity showing of the film in Louisville.
And of course, like any good Kentuckian, she attends the Kentucky Derby.
24 Ryan Reynolds & Blake Lively- Bedford, New York
One of Hollywood’s most beautiful power couples, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively are more down to earth than they may appear at first. You’ll find endless snapshots of the couple at Hollywood events, or video clips on celebrity news with cameras flashing erratically around them, but otherwise, they’re a quiet couple who live on a country estate in Bedford, New York.
A historic community long known for its prosperous residents, Bedford is a picturesque town with plenty of green fields and forests for the couple’s young daughters to grow up in.
Lively told Vogue that living in a small community carried meaning with it, something she sought after for years.
23 Meryl Streep- Salisbury, Connecticut
Meryl Streep has long dominated the film industry, and she shows no sign of stopping any time soon. She’s had a lengthy career spanning decades—and plenty of time to soak in all that Los Angeles has to offer.
After so long, you’d start to miss what you were brought up on, and Streep headed back to her native East Coast and settled in New England.
Salisbury, Connecticut offers her everything a multi-award-winning actress could want—expansive property, a quiet environment, and respectful neighbours.
Streep and her family initially moved to Connecticut in 1985 before moving back to L.A., eventually tiring of SoCal and purchasing their current estate in Salisbury.
22 Angelina Jolie- South Of France
Angelina Jolie’s love for world travel is well known, from her work as a Special Envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to her residences all around the globe—most famously the French chateau she shared with ex-husband Brad Pitt.
Although her marriage went sour, Jolie shows no sign of receding from the French countryside. The pair still own Chateau Miraval, located in Correns, and it’s unclear how they plan to settle ownership of the castle. In the meantime, Jolie makes frequent trips to France with her children, and guest lectures at the London School of Economics, so she’ll be spending a lot of time in Europe.
21 Tom Hardy- Saint-Remy-de-Provence, France
English actor Tom Hardy only landed his breakthrough role in 2010’s Inception, but that hasn’t stopped him from taking over Hollywood and growing his own empire since.
The action star has an apparent soft spot for the French way of life, especially in the idyllic southern part of the country. With famous neighbours like Johnny Depp and David Beckham, Hardy is in good company.
He secretly married Charlotte Riley at Chateau de Roussan in 2014, with a low-key ceremony surrounded by only their closest family and friends. Hardy may be married, but that doesn’t stop the tabloids from swooning when he speaks French.
20 Tom Hanks- Ketchum, Idaho
It's hard to picture Tom Hanks as anything but your average family man, which is why we expect him to live off the grid—on a ranch in Idaho, no less. The local townspeople can testify to Hanks’ friendliness, as he’s often seen about town and in restaurants.
Since earning recognition as the late-in-life homestead of Ernest Hemingway, the town of Ketchum has hosted a number of famous residents, and perhaps it’s the surrounding mountains or just the name Sun Valley that attracts new inhabitants, or the calm mountain town aura that makes you feel as though you’re living on a resort.
19 Daniel Day-Lewis- Roxbury, Connecticut And Wicklow, Ireland
Widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of his time, Daniel Day-Lewis doesn’t let his fame go to his head. Even at the height of his career, he’s maintained a low profile and kept his nose out of Hollywood gossip.
Holding both Irish and English citizenship, he’s called his father’s native land home for over 20 years. According to Irish Central, Day-Lewis is the proud owner of a 100-acre Georgian estate in the mountains of County Wicklow.
On the other side of the Atlantic, the actor owns property in Roxbury, Connecticut, whose only claim to fame is being the former home of Marilyn Monroe.
18 Johnny Depp- Kentucky, France, The Bahamas
Nothing seems to hold this Hollywood wild child down, and certainly not L.A. itself. Johnny Depp, possibly one of the most eclectic actors around today, has a collection of houses to match.
When he’s feeling a bit claustrophobic, he can jet off to his native Kentucky, where he owns a 42-acre horse farm, named Betty Sue’s Family Farm after his late mother. If he needs isolation to work on a new artistic project, he’s got an entire French village in his name.
To escape the world (as we all need sometimes), he can retreat to his private island in the Bahamas.
17 Julia Roberts- Taos, New Mexico
Julia Roberts has popularised living off the grid, since she’s been soaking in the fresh air of New Mexico since 1995.
After owning a small bit of land outside the town of Taos for a decade, Roberts and husband Danny Moder purchased a 32-acre ranch in the area. It’s still one of her most frequented homes, and locals often spot the actress and her family about town, The Taos News reports.
The mountain-desert town makes for a perfect retreat from the hustle and bustle of award ceremonies and movie premiers.
16 George Clooney- Lake Como, Italy
George Clooney’s Italian villa overlooking Lake Como is the most famous of celebrity holiday homes. The actor’s summer home comprises of 22 rooms and is artfully constructed in classic Italian architecture.
Tourism to Lake Como has surged in recent years, with eager fans hoping for a chance to catch the actor out for a swim on the lake, or those who want to mimic the lavish lifestyle of the Clooneys.
While you’ll likely not bump into any famous faces, Lake Como is a beautiful area, from its charming village to its turquoise waters.
15 Matthew McConaughey- Austin, Texas
Matthew McConaughey’s thick Texas accent is a constant reminder of his southern roots, and he usually keeps it in his film roles, or it’s only thinly veiled.
McConaughey reminds us that you can take a man out of Texas, but you can’t take Texas out of a man.
Except in McConaughey’s case, the man will go right back to Texas, where he owns a lovely mansion outside of Austin. The exterior of the house is Spanish-style architecture and spans nine acres, sitting at the edge of a secluded lake.
14 Sandra Bullock- New Orleans, Louisiana
Sandra Bullock’s imposing Gothic revival mansion is exactly the type of house you’d imagine New Orleans to create. The home was built in the late 19th century and has been kept in impeccable condition since—fit for a movie star. Located in the Garden District, the home is surrounded by similar historic properties and lush Louisiana foliage.
Bullock adopted her son, Louis, in 2010 as an infant born in New Orleans, though she had previous connections and philanthropic work in the area. Now, she frequents the residence often with her two adopted children.
13 Sarah Jessica Parker & Matthew Broderick- Co. Donegal, Ireland
Though we tend to think of Sarah Jessica Parker as a New York City type of girl, she splits her time between the Big Apple and a cottage in County Donegal, Ireland.
Her husband and fellow actor Matthew Broderick, of Irish descent, spent his childhood summers in the area and wanted to continue the tradition into adulthood.
The couple’s summer home is located near the tiny village of Kilcar, in the northwest of the island. Nestled in the vibrant green mountains, the pair and their three children spend a hefty amount of time at the cottage, being known even to brave the damp Irish winter on occasion.
12 Robert Redford- Sundance, Utah
Robert Redford has found the perfect place to retire—none other than in cheery Sundance, Utah (yes, the very same as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and the Sundance Film Festival). Aside from his own personal ranch and home, Redford is the proprietor of Sundance Mountain Resort, a ski resort that takes special care of the land and local heritage.
The 82-year-old has long been a Utah enthusiast with an honest appreciation for the land he lives on, and has been recognised for his contributions to the state with the naming of Salt Lake City’s airport after the actor.
11 Woody Harrelson- Maui, Hawai'i
If you were a movie star and wanted a beach resort in a more inconspicuous locale than Malibu, take a cue from Woody Harrelson and make your home in the untamed rainforests of Maui. As an environmental activist and kid at heart, Maui’s north shore is the perfect playground for Harrelson.
He makes his home on the volcano Haleakala with his wife, and hangs out with fellow north shore celebrities Owen Wilson and Willie Nelson, according to the New York Times.
His many famous neighbours in Maui include Oprah, Clint Eastwood, and Steven Tyler, among dozens of others.
10 Harrison Ford- Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Perhaps the reason Harrison Ford was so captivating in his roles as adventurers Han Solo and Indiana Jones is because his own personality was able to shine through the characters’.
Ford has that cowboy spirit and his home in Jackson Hole, Wyoming is proof of that.
Ford is extremely private about his life, which is the first reason why an actor of his scope would choose an unassuming town in the US' Wild West. He spends much of the year in the wide-open Wyoming country with his wife, Calista Flockhart, with his grown children often visiting.
9 Michael Keaton- McLeod, Montana
Though a handful of celebrities make their homes in Montana, none are so well-known as Michael Keaton, star of box office hits like Birdman and the cult classic Beetlejuice. Keaton owns a massive ranch in southern Montana, near the impossibly small town of McLeod.
As a self-proclaimed outdoorsman, Keaton has wide open prairies and mountains and can keep the actor entertained year-round, with everything from skiing to fishing. He's been dedicated to the ranch for 30 years, and it looks like he won’t be trading it for the lights of Hollywood any time soon.
8 Bruce Willis- Bedford, New York
As Hollywood’s go-to bad boy action star, Bruce Willis has spent much of the past 30-odd years in the city, shooting movie after movie. But he’s always felt more at home in the country where he could get away from the action hero persona, and for a long time called the little town of Hailey, Idaho home. He and wife Demi Moore settled there quietly to raise their family.
Willis has since sold his Idaho estate and relocated to Bedford, New York, purchasing a 22-acre site in the small town of Hollywood elite and other notable residents.
7 Demi Moore- Hailey, Idaho
Demi Moore was introduced to the community of Hailey, Idaho by her ex-husband Bruce Willis, and the two happily lived on a sprawling estate for years. However, after the split, Moore had been so long enchanted with the town, she purchased her own house in the area.
The actress spent a considerable amount of time in Idaho, later with then-boyfriend Ashton Kutcher. She still owns property in the area, and made local headlines in 2017, when, along with Willis, she donated Hailey’s Liberty Theatre to the town’s acting troupe, which the couple bought in the 1990s.
6 Nicole Kidman- Leipers Fork, Tennessee
When Nicole Kidman retreated to rural Tennessee, she did so in order to support husband Keith Urban’s country music career, and the couple settled outside Nashville. The Australian actress quickly settled into her adopted state, and has since become one of Tennessee’s most famous and beloved residents.
The home, quaint and anything but flashy, sits on 35 acres of rolling hills and pretty southern gardens. Southern Living reports that the couple has listed their home, but it’s unlikely that they’ll move far from the capital of country music and their quiet life in the country.