Kelly Monaco, who played Sam McCall on General Hospital for more than two decades, lives in Sherman Oaks, as of the latest reports, a San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Los Angeles. That home made headlines on Friday, May 13, 2022, when a fire that started on the empty lot next door spread to the house and caused damage TMZ put at “hundreds of thousands of dollars.” She got out unhurt.
What the record does not include is a purchase price. No major outlet has reported when she bought the Sherman Oaks property or what she paid, so any figure attached to the Kelly Monaco house online is a guess.
Below is what has actually been reported about her homes, from the Pocono Mountains to a Las Vegas Strip penthouse to the Valley.
May 13, 2022
Sherman Oaks, CARuled accidental
The day a stray cigarette set the lot beside her home alight, and the flames reached the house.
The Kelly Monaco House in Sherman Oaks
The fire began on the morning of Friday the 13th. According to TMZ, she woke to flames in her front yard, outside her windows, and the fire quickly moved onto parts of the house. A short clip she later shared shows the blaze spreading across the yard, with her heard calling out that her house was on fire.
Arson investigators concluded the fire was not set on purpose. Their finding, as reported by TMZ and SheKnows Soaps, was that someone had tossed a lit cigarette butt onto the vacant lot beside her property. Video from the scene posted online that week showed several fire trucks and heavy smoke.
The house did not burn to the ground, but the damage was serious enough that she was not expected to be able to live there “for quite a while,” TMZ reported. Her takeaway was blunt: “Something as little as a cigarette butt can cause casualties and devastation,” she told the outlet.
Beyond the neighborhood, few details of the house itself are public. The List pointed to a 2019 Instagram video in which she was cleaning her pool and dropped her phone in the water, a rare look at her home life before the fire. No listing, floor plan, or square footage has been published, and no outlet has reported on the repairs or confirmed when she moved back in. For a sense of the area, Sherman Oaks is also where YouTuber David Dobrik bought his home.
The Las Vegas Penthouse at Planet Hollywood
In 2009, while she was starring alongside Mel B in the show Peepshow at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, Monaco lived in a penthouse at the property. TMZ reported that she was asleep there one night in late April when an intruder ransacked the living room. She stayed in the bedroom until he left and was not hurt.
A suspect was arrested soon after. SheKnows Soaps, citing TMZ, reported in September 2009 that Merrill Wetter was sentenced to 12 to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay her $5,000 in restitution. Reports differ slightly on the exact date, with Wikipedia giving April 25, 2009, the day TMZ’s first story ran.
Kelly Monaco’s homes on record
- 1976Born in Philadelphia; the family later moves to the Poconos
- 2009Living in a Planet Hollywood penthouse during her Peepshow run in Las Vegas
- 2022Fire damages her Sherman Oaks home
- 2024Exits General Hospital after 21 years as Sam McCall
Where She Grew Up
She was born in Philadelphia on May 23, 1976, to Albert and Carmina Monaco, according to Wikipedia. The family moved to the Pocono Mountains in northeastern Pennsylvania, where she went to Pocono Mountain High School and took her first acting classes. After graduating, she worked as a lifeguard at a local resort and studied at Northampton Community College for two years before modeling and TV work (Baywatch, then Port Charles) took her to Los Angeles.
Not her house: the Grace Kelly home in Philadelphia
Searches for her name and “house” often surface stories about Prince Albert II of Monaco buying his mother Grace Kelly’s childhood home in the East Falls section of Philadelphia in 2016. That house belongs to the Monaco royal family and has no connection to the actress, despite the shared Philadelphia roots.
Sources
- TMZ (May 2022): Sherman Oaks fire, cause, damage estimate, and her quote.
- SheKnows Soaps (May 2022): fire timeline, accidental ruling and scene video.
- The List (May 2022): fire coverage and the 2019 pool video.
- TMZ (April 2009): Planet Hollywood penthouse break-in during her Peepshow run.
- SheKnows Soaps (2009): arrest and sentencing of the burglar.
- Wikipedia: birthplace, Poconos upbringing, schooling, and General Hospital tenure.
