Where Does Tom Hanks Live? Let’s Explore the Actor’s International Property Portfolio
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Where does Tom Hanks live? Throughout his storied career, which spans nearly four decades, the actor and his wife—actress, singer, and producer Rita Wilson—have built an international real estate empire, while maintaining a base in their home state of California.
The couple’s main home in the Pacific Palisades has recently been in the news for narrowly surviving the Palisades fire that broke out on January 7. Viral photos show that Hanks’s contemporary-style mansion appears unscathed, standing just outside the scorched path of the flames—while a house next door looks to be nearly destroyed. The home’s construction may have something to do with its survival: “Reports suggest [Hanks’s] home features reinforced concrete and a fire-resistant roof, both of which are highly effective against embers and heat,” a fire safety expert told the New York Post.
Though the Here actor hasn’t yet made a public statement on the wildfires, his son Chet posted about the disaster in an Instagram story. “The neighborhood I grew up in is burning to the ground rn,” he wrote on January 7. “Pray for the Palisades.” Three days later, an anonymous inside source alleged to the Daily Mail that Hanks has “survivor’s guilt” from the tragedy. “He knows that he still isn’t out of the woods, and he feels terrible about all his neighbors and friends who have lost everything while his place is still standing,” the source said. “[Hanks and Wilson] feel blessed that their home is still standing but they haven’t decided what they are going to do next. It would be very weird to stay once all the dust settles in a place surrounded by nobody, but those decisions will be made in the weeks and months to come.” The couple also maintain a Malibu residence, but it’s unclear at this time if that dwelling has been damaged by the fires.
This is not the first time that Hanks and Wilson have lived in an area tragically affected by wildfires; since 2004, the pair have owned property in Greece, where a 2018 wildfire outside of Athens killed more than 100 people. For aiding in relief efforts and bringing global attention to the issue, the couple were awarded honorary Greek citizenship the following year.
Hanks and Wilson have also owned a pad in Sun Valley, Idaho. The Hollywood pair, though celebrated regulars on the red carpet, are notoriously quiet about their personal lives, which means some details and photos of their properties are difficult to find. Occasionally, Wilson will offers a small but enticing sneak peek into one of their homes on her Instagram, posting things such as a wood-paneled living room and this birthday tribute to Hanks that reveals that he owns an extensive record collection that he keeps in a spacious wood cabinet. Below, we’ve rounded up what we do know about the duo’s many beautiful homes.
Newlywed home in the Pacific Palisades
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Hanks and Wilson met in 1981 on the set of the actor’s sitcom Bosom Buddies and hit it off immediately—as friends. They began dating several years later after reuniting on the set of Volunteers, in which they played love interests. “Rita and I just looked at each other and—kaboing—that was that,” Hanks once told GQ. The couple got married in April 1988, and that same year, they bought their first home together, a $1.9 million house in the Pacific Palisades. The Spanish-style dwelling featured four bedrooms and five-and-a-half bathrooms spread out across 6,289 square feet, plus a private interior courtyard. Design highlights included archways, frescoed ceilings, a skylit kitchen, and a fireplace-warmed living room that spilled out to a backyard loggia and gardens. The couple sold the 1929-built villa after 25 years of ownership for roughly $5 million in 2013.
Malibu beach house
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In 1991, the pair paid $2.95 million for a Malibu dwelling. The oceanfront pad is nestled in the coveted guard-gated Colony enclave, where Woody Harrelson, Tori Spelling, Bill Murray, and Bette Midler have also all owned properties. The two-story house was originally built in 1928 but was substantially updated by the time Hanks and Wilson bought it from director John Frankenheimer. It boasts three bedrooms spread across 1,800 square feet, with unobstructed ocean views from the primary suite. A housekeeper’s room and a two-bedroom guest apartment with its own kitchen sit separate from the main structure. It appears the couple maintain this residence, per listing records.
Customized Airstream trailer
In 1993, Hanks bought and customized a Model 34 Limited Excella trailer to better suit the demands of his busy filming schedule. “I got it in the days when movies moved slower,” he told Bonhams Magazine decades later. “I had spent too much time in regular trailers with ugly decor and horribly uncomfortable furniture, so I decided to buy a brand-new Airstream shell with an interior made to my own request.” At 33 feet long, it held a kitchen, a bathroom, a bed, a couch, and a wooden table and chair set. There was even a faux fireplace for extra coziness. By the time Hanks put it up for auction in 2021, it had traveled to 18 locations across the country—including South Carolina for Forrest Gump and Seattle for Sleepless in Seattle—and it featured stickers on the window denoting each place. The Airstream ultimately sold for $235,200 at auction that August; it’s unknown how much the actor originally paid for it.
Idaho vacation home
In the early 2000s, Hanks and Wilson custom-built a residence in the small town of Ketchum, Idaho, likely meant to be a ski vacation home. They reportedly paid around $12 million for the villa, which made headlines in subsequent years because of an ongoing dispute between the couple and the construction company that built the abode. In 2007, Hanks and Wilson reportedly sued the company for $3 million for shoddy construction that had impacted their ability to live in and enjoy the home. (Oregon Live reported that among the complaints was the fact that sliding snow from the roof damaged the kitchen windows and the roof itself just one year after construction.) Hanks and Wilson unfortunately lost the legal battle and even had to pay the full cost of arbitration: $167,623. They still own this home.
Neighboring Pacific Palisades pads
Next, the duo expanded their footprint in the Pacific Palisades with the purchase of two neighboring properties, each situated on one-acre lots overlooking the sea. First, in 2003, they snapped up a 1930s Spanish Revival–style villa formerly owned by Dog Day Afternoon screenwriter Frank Pierson. The abode measured 4,000 square feet and featured four bedrooms, four and a half baths, beamed ceilings, a tiled staircase with iron rails, a library, and a wood-paneled dining room.
Four years later, Hanks and Wilson expanded their estate with the purchase of the seven-bedroom English cottage–style mansion next door. It spanned 7,260 square feet and boasted a screening room, an eat-in kitchen, and a billiard room with a fireplace and a pub. The pair paid a total of $13.1 million in separate off-market transactions for the two homes, which were listed together for $18 million in 2016. They were both picked up by the same buyer for a combined price of $17.5 million the following year.
Greek getaway
Years before they became honorary Greek citizens, Hanks and Wilson (the latter has Greek ancestry) were big fans of family getaways to the picturesque nation. Specifically, the couple enjoyed the small island of Antiparos, where they bought a plot of land to build a dream vacation home in 2004. Not much is known about the property—part of the draw of the location is the privacy that they are afforded there—but what is known is that the house is a stone villa that spans a modest 1,476 square feet and is situated on about six acres of land.
Pacific Palisades primary residence
Perhaps Hanks and Wilson’s best-known home is their $26 million Pacific Palisades residence—the one that recently went viral for surviving the Palisades fire. The contemporary-style mansion clocks in at 14,513 square feet, with four bedrooms and five bathrooms scattered throughout its three stories. The home, which the couple bought in 2010 from the Sixth Sense film producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, was originally built in 1996 but significantly updated in 2006. Amenities found on the 1.5-acre property include a two-level limestone pavilion, a wine cellar, a cliffside swimming pool and deck area overlooking downtown Los Angeles, and a tree-lined motor court. The couple still owns this Gwathmey Siegel–designed home and consider it their main residence.
A second villa in Greece
Hanks and Wilson adored their frequent vacations to Greece so much that they reportedly purchased a second home in the Skala area of Patmos Island in 2018. The seaside villa is reportedly built from stone in the Dodecanese architectural style, with an expansive terrace looking out over the sea. “Greece is a haven,” Hanks proclaimed in 2020. “The land, the sky, the water, it’s good for the soul, it’s a healing place. Particularly if you get into that fabulous Greek schedule of sleeping until noon, staying up until 3 o’clock in the morning and arguing in a taverna until 3:00 am. It’s just the best life one can have.”
Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
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