Meryl Streep has spent decades playing characters of extraordinary complexity on screen. Off screen, her real estate choices tell a quieter but equally revealing story. Across Connecticut, New York City, and California, Streep has assembled a portfolio of homes defined by architectural integrity, long-term ownership, and privacy over spectacle.
This is a full rundown of Meryl Streep’s houses — every major property she has owned, sold, or currently holds, including purchase prices, design details, and what each home says about how she actually lives.
The Connecticut Estate: Where She Raised Her Family
In 1985, about a decade after graduating from the Yale School of Drama, Streep and her then-husband, sculptor Don Gummer, paid $1.8 million for an estate in Salisbury, Connecticut. The town sits in Litchfield County, a rural stretch of the state that had almost no celebrity footprint at the time.
The property includes a former sheep farm and a 47-acre lake — reportedly one of the largest privately owned bodies of water east of the Mississippi. The main house is a gray contemporary structure, deliberately unassuming from the outside, set behind high stone walls with several smaller buildings around it: a pair of barns, a caretaker’s cottage, and a dedicated art studio built for Gummer’s sculptural work.
The couple reportedly poured several hundred thousand dollars into renovations after the purchase and raised all four of their children there. Streep still owns the estate today, making it the longest-held asset in her portfolio and the closest thing she has to a permanent home base. Though she and Gummer have lived apart for years, reports suggest they continue to share this property.
The Greenwich Village Townhouse: A Historic Landmark in Private Hands
In 1995, Streep and Gummer paid $2.2 million for a five-story redbrick townhouse at 19 West 12th Street in Greenwich Village. The building was constructed in 1845 in the Greek Revival style, meaning it was already a century and a half old when they bought it.
The scale is substantial: 6,585 square feet across five floors, with six bedrooms and six fireplaces. The kitchen was built for serious use — two ovens, two dishwashers, a wine cooler, and warming drawers — and the dining room could seat up to 16 people.
The architectural high point is the fifth floor, which functions entirely as the primary suite and is capped by a 25-foot skylight running the width of the space. The primary bathroom, at 450 square feet, is finished in Italian Calacatta marble.
Streep reportedly renovated the interior while keeping the building’s original structure and street-facing character intact — notable stewardship for a mid-19th-century home. The 12-foot ceilings and floor-to-ceiling French windows stayed as core features rather than being stripped out for convenience.
Streep and Gummer held the townhouse a full decade. In 2005, they sold it for $9.1 million to Johnson & Johnson heiress Elizabeth “Libet” Johnson — a strong return on the original $2.2 million, though hardly a flip. The property resold again in 2021 for $17.25 million, underscoring how well it held its value.
The Tribeca Penthouse: Her Most Talked-About New York Property
Shortly after selling the Greenwich Village townhouse, Streep and Gummer paid $10.3 million for a penthouse on Laight Street in Tribeca, inside the River Lofts building, around 2006.
The unit spans 3,944 square feet on a single floor, with four bedrooms and four and a half bathrooms, accessible only by private elevator. Three sides open onto a 10-foot-wide landscaped terrace, with floor-to-ceiling windows framing views of the Hudson River.
The interior is restrained and modern: white walls, white kitchen cabinetry, a butcher-block island, and Brazilian walnut floors throughout. The living and dining area centers on a wood-burning, freestanding fireplace — an unusual detail for a high-floor urban penthouse. There’s also a media room and access to an outdoor kitchen on the terrace.
In 2018, they listed the unit for $24.6 million. After several price reductions, it sold in early 2020 for $15.8 million. The gap between ask and sale reflects a softer luxury Manhattan market at the time, not any shortcoming in the property itself.
The Hollywood Hills Research House: An Architectural Footnote
Streep’s first California purchase came in 2013, when she paid $4.5 million for a 3,700-square-foot home in the Hollywood Hills, just above the Sunset Strip. Built in 1954, it carries a specific architectural pedigree: the Honnold & Rex Research House.
The firm of Honnold and Rex designed the home as part of a program sponsored by Architectural Products magazine, which commissioned architects to build showcase homes using experimental materials. The result was a structure built almost entirely from concrete, wood, and glass, chosen for their relationship to natural light and indoor-outdoor flow.
The plan is open, with double-height ceilings in the main living area and a two-story stone wall anchoring the central fireplace. Floor-to-ceiling glass walls look out onto fountains and walled courtyards, and the four bedrooms and four bathrooms all face trees and sky.
Streep didn’t hold this one long. In 2014, about a year after buying it, she sold it to former MLB player Alex Rodriguez for $4.8 million. The property sold again in 2019 for $4.4 million, suggesting the market had cooled relative to what Rodriguez paid.
The Pasadena Home: Her Current California Base
In 2017, Streep bought a 3,087-square-foot home in Pasadena for $3.6 million — roughly $500,000 below asking, a notable outcome in a high-demand market.
The house was designed by architects Whitney Smith and Wayne Williams, a South Pasadena firm that worked primarily in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Before Streep bought it, the home hadn’t changed hands in nearly 50 years.
Built around 1959, it has three bedrooms and three bathrooms, with exposed cinder block walls, terrazzo and wood flooring, a raised-hearth fireplace, skylights throughout, and a common area enclosed by two full glass walls. The property frames views of the San Gabriel Mountains from most rooms.
Outside, a swimming pool sits behind natural boulders, giving it the look of a lagoon rather than a typical suburban pool. There’s also a detached studio — a fitting detail, since her separation from sculptor Don Gummer would later become public knowledge around this same period, though the couple had reportedly been living apart since 2017.
As of the most recent available information, Streep still owns this property.
What Her Real Estate Choices Actually Tell You
Most celebrity real estate coverage treats properties as status symbols. Streep’s portfolio resists that framing.
She buys for architecture, not address
The Greenwich Village townhouse was a protected 19th-century building. The Hollywood Hills property was a magazine-sponsored research project. The Pasadena home is a relatively obscure example of late-1950s California modernism by architects who never reached wide name recognition. None of these were purchased for prestige alone.
She holds for years
The Connecticut estate has been hers since 1985. The Greenwich Village townhouse lasted a decade. The Tribeca penthouse stayed in her portfolio for roughly 14 years. In a market where wealthy buyers often flip properties within two or three years, her hold periods stand out.
She prioritizes privacy structurally
Stone walls in Salisbury, a private elevator in Tribeca, distance from the road in Pasadena — in each case, the layout itself creates separation from public visibility. That’s a design preference, not an accident.
She values natural light above nearly everything else
Skylights, floor-to-ceiling glass, open plans oriented toward views — across all five properties, the most consistent thread is the relationship between interior space and available light.
Current Properties: What She Still Owns
Based on publicly available transaction records:
- The Salisbury, Connecticut estate (purchased 1985 for $1.8 million) — still in her possession
- The Pasadena, California home (purchased 2017 for $3.6 million) — still in her possession
The Greenwich Village townhouse sold in 2005. The Tribeca penthouse sold in 2020. The Hollywood Hills Research House sold in 2014.
Meryl Streep’s real estate history is notable for what it doesn’t include: speculation, rapid flipping, or the kind of trophy-property buying common among celebrities at her level of fame. Instead, the pattern maps cleanly onto her stated values — privacy, a genuine interest in architectural history, and a willingness to hold onto something of quality long after the initial excitement fades.
That approach has paid off financially, too. The Greenwich Village townhouse, bought for $2.2 million, sold for $9.1 million a decade later. The Tribeca penthouse, even at a reduced sale price, returned more than $5 million above its original cost. Her real estate record, like her career, looks built on patience and judgment rather than spectacle.
FAQs
Where does Meryl Streep currently live?
Streep owns two properties — a long-held estate in Salisbury, Connecticut, purchased in 1985, and a mid-century modern home in Pasadena, California, purchased in 2017. Both are confirmed to still be in her possession based on public transaction records.
How much is Meryl Streep’s house worth?
Her Pasadena home was purchased for $3.6 million in 2017 and, given California’s real estate appreciation since then, is likely worth considerably more today. The Connecticut estate was bought for $1.8 million in 1985 and includes 47 acres and a private lake — its current market value would be substantially higher, though no public appraisal is available.
Did Meryl Streep sell her New York penthouse?
Yes. Streep and Don Gummer listed their Tribeca penthouse on Laight Street for $24.6 million in 2018 and sold it in early 2020 for $15.8 million, well below the original ask, reflecting a softer luxury Manhattan market at the time.
Who designed Meryl Streep’s Pasadena home?
Architects Whitney Smith and Wayne Williams, a South Pasadena firm active mainly in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The home was built around 1959 and hadn’t changed ownership for nearly 50 years before Streep bought it.
How many homes has Meryl Streep owned in total?
At least five documented properties: the Connecticut estate in Salisbury, a Greek Revival townhouse in Greenwich Village, a penthouse in Tribeca, the Honnold & Rex Research House in the Hollywood Hills, and her current Pasadena home. She sold the Greenwich Village, Tribeca, and Hollywood Hills properties, and retains the Connecticut and Pasadena homes.
