Welcome, brave readers, to a spine-tingling journey through the hidden mysteries of Hollywood and beyond! As we dive into the eerie world of haunted celebrity homes! Ever wondered what goes bump in the night at the abodes of the rich and famous? Prepare to be thrilled and chilled as we reveal the ghostly encounters and unexplained phenomena that have sent shivers down the spines of your favorite celebrities. From phantom pianos to restless spirits that just can’t seem to leave the limelight, these supernatural stories are sure to get you into the spooky spirit of Halloween. So, grab your favorite pumpkin-spiced goodies, get cozy, and embark on a journey that will leave you wondering what lurks in the shadows of your own home. Read on for the full scoop on these celebrity haunted houses – if you dare!
Courtney Cox House Laurel Canyon (Former)
Nicolas Cage House New Orleans (Former)
Octavia Spencer House Toluca Lake (Current)
Britney Spears House Hollywood Hills (Former)
Adele House West Sussex (Former Rental)
Loretta Lynn House Hurricane Mills TN (Former)
Joan Rivers Apartment New York City (Former)
Cate Blanchett House England (Current)
Salma Hayek House London (Current)
Courtney Cox House Laurel Canyon (Former)
During a March 2022 interview with Jimmy Kimmel, actress Courtney Cox revealed that she believed her former home in Laurel Canyon was hosting a supernatural roommate. Courtney purchased the 5 bedroom and 4.5 bathroom French Normandy home for $795,000 in 1988.
The spine-tingling saga began with a chilling warning from none other than music legend Carole King, the previous owner of the house, built in 1926. According to Cox, King had cryptically mentioned an unsettling divorce and an enigmatic house ghost. At the time, Courtney dismissed the notion with a nonchalant “Yeah, whatever.”
Yet, as time passed, her skepticism began to waver. Friends who stayed over reported unsettling encounters with a spectral presence, particularly a mysterious woman perched on the edge of the bed. Cox, ever the skeptic, brushed aside their unsettling accounts.
However, the supernatural plot thickened when a casual visit from a UPS delivery person took an eerie twist. The delivery driver, seemingly unprompted, inquired, “Do you know this house is haunted?” Cox, taken aback, queried, “Why do you think that?” His spine-tingling reply was enough to give Courtney the chills: “Because there is someone standing behind you.”
With that hair-raising encounter, Cox admitted with a hint of humor that she was more than ready to part ways with her haunted abode, selling it in 1991 for $1.3 million. Hollywood, it seems, has its own share of ghost stories, even in the homes of the stars.
Nicolas Cage House New Orleans (Former)
Nicolas Cage’s foray into the supernatural led him to purchase New Orleans’ infamous LaLaurie Mansion for $3.4 million in 2006. This macabre abode, once the dwelling of the sadistic Madame Delphine LaLaurie, bore witness to unspeakable atrocities during the 19th century.
Madame LaLaurie’s heinous acts of cruelty towards her enslaved individuals became the stuff of nightmares. Chained, starved, and subjected to horrifying experiments, these unfortunate souls suffered immeasurably.
The home was converted into an apartment building at one point, but residents who called the place home reported haunting experiences, including chilling moans, cries, and inexplicable footsteps. The landlord’s gruesome murder on the property only deepened the mansion’s sinister reputation, earning it the moniker “the haunted house on Royal Street.”
Nicolas Cage, with a penchant for the paranormal, purchased the mansion but spent only one night within its walls. He was reportedly so unnerved by the ghostly sounds that he ended up renting the place across the street and letting his friends host a party in his newly acquired mansion.
Cage’s ownership was short-lived, as financial troubles resulted in him losing the estate to foreclosure in 2009. It currently remains under private ownership, shrouded in the echoes of its disturbing past and closed off to the curious public.
Octavia Spencer House Toluca Lake (Current)
Octavia Spencer spilled the beans on her unique supernatural cohabitant during a December 2021 chat with Ellen DeGeneres, shedding light on her charmingly eerie connection with her home.
It turns out, the award-winning actress has a spectral roommate in her 1927 Spanish-style Toluca Lake house, which she purchased back in 2013 for $841,500. The catch? This ghost isn’t just any specter; he’s her “protector.” Octavia explained, “I love him because he kind of sorts out the bad people that shouldn’t be there, runs them out.”
What’s fascinating is how this spectral guardian operates as a filter for houseguests. As Octavia revealed, if someone doesn’t belong, her ghostly companion gives them the heebie-jeebies, ensuring they won’t be returning. On the other hand, if you’re a welcome guest, her home is a warm and inviting haven.
But Octavia’s ghostly friend can be a bit temperamental. When she’s away for extended periods, he gets a bit “shady,” playing tricks with lights and doors.
She humorously expressed her fondness for her ghost but drew the line at unwanted spectral guests. “I don’t want anybody’s ghost thinking they can be friends with my ghost,” she quipped. It seems even in the spirit world, boundaries are important!
Britney Spears House Hollywood Hills (Former)
Brittany Spears purchased this Spanish-inspired estate back in 2000 for $2.995 million. According to her makeup artist at the time, Julianne Kaye, Spears had experienced paranormal activity on the property.
After a reiki healing session at the house, Britney claimed that her friend had unwittingly opened a spirit portal, allowing malevolent spirits to infiltrate the premises. These entities allegedly tried to harm her, which prompted Britney to flee the house and seek refuge at the Casa del Mar hotel, leaving behind an eerie tale of supernatural occurrences.
Spears would go on to sell the home fully furnished in 2003 to actress, Brittany Murphy, for $3.85 million. While Murphy herself never reported any ghostly encounters, she did confide in her husband about an unsettling feeling of something being “off” about the house.
Tragically, both Brittany and her husband, Simon Monjack, passed away in the house. Brittany’s cause of death was attributed to untreated pneumonia, combined with anemia and drug intoxication, while Simon also succumbed to acute pneumonia and severe anemia.
The property’s ominous history, combined with its celebrity connections, made it difficult to find buyers. Eventually, the house was torn down in 2013. Sold multiple times and with a significant price drop, it was last purchased in December 2020 for $11.59 million.
Adele House West Sussex (Former Rental)
As Adele’s star was rapidly ascending in 2011, she sought refuge from the relentless media attention in a red brick West Sussex, England rental property, known as Lock House. This grand 10-bedroom mansion, nestled on over 25 acres with two pools, provided the ideal escape from the paparazzi encamped outside her London residence.
The property featured breathtaking views of South Downs National Park, 1930s-inspired Art Deco decor, and modern amenities, including a helicopter pad, tennis courts, and an indoor pool. Adele, however, reportedly paid a monthly rent of around $20,000, a sum befitting a Grammy-winning artist.
Yet, this idyllic hideaway held more than met the eye. Adele sensed eerie occurrences within its century-old walls. The mansion, which had previously served as a convent, had undergone renovations. However, strange events disturbed Adele during her stay. She described parts of the house as “quite scary” in a 2012 interview with Anderson Cooper, adding that she refused to be alone there. Her unease led her to employ a 24/7 in-house bodyguard and two additional guards for the property.
In less than a year, Adele vacated Lock House, subsequently acquiring her own properties, leaving behind a country rental with a reportedly haunted reputation.
Loretta Lynn House Hurricane Mills TN (Former)
Loretta Lynn’s iconic ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, is not just a haven for country music enthusiasts but also a hotbed of alleged paranormal activity. The sprawling estate, nestled over an hour from Nashville, was Loretta’s home since the 1960s and has a storied history of ghostly encounters.
Renowned for her openness about psychic abilities, Loretta Lynn shared her numerous paranormal experiences on the ranch. The 1800s plantation home is steeped in history, and the spirits seemed to have taken up residence alongside the country music legend while she lived there.
The haunting tales include apparitions of deceased Confederate soldiers, a grieving woman mourning her child, and even the ghostly presence of a former landowner. The Civil War battle fought on the property’s grounds left over eighteen Confederate soldiers reportedly buried there. Stories from prior occupants of the mansion have only added to the eerie atmosphere.
The Lynn family’s own experiences with the supernatural are chilling. Loretta’s daughters recall seeing Confederate soldiers within the house, and her eldest son vividly remembers an encounter in the infamous “Brown Room.” Even Loretta’s grandson has his own paranormal stories, such as unexplainable electrical phenomena.
Loretta herself witnessed a mourning woman named Beula Anderson wandering the property and the graveyard, a spirit from over a century ago. She held séances and even communicated with an angry spirit known as ‘Anderson,’ who broke the séance table in frustration. Surprisingly, James Anderson, the founder and builder of the Hurricane Mills Plantation, and his family are believed to haunt the house to this day.
The mansion inspired Loretta Lynn to write “This Haunted House,” giving us a peek into the eerie happenings that have unfolded within its walls:
“Sometimes I hear you walk across the floor, and my arms reach out to hold you like before; I live for all the things we used to do; in this haunted house, I filled with love for you. This haunted house I’m living in is killing me, and the ghost of your love won’t set me free, each morning finds me crying, and alone, in this haunted house we used to call our home, each morning finds me crying, and alone, in this haunted house we used to call our home.”
Tours of the ranch are available courtesy of the Lynn family, but visitors are wisely kept away from certain rooms, like the one where two of Loretta’s sons encountered a Civil War soldier pulling at their boots. Strange noises from the closet also continue to puzzle staff, adding to the aura of mystery and mystique surrounding Loretta Lynn’s allegedly haunted ranch.
Joan Rivers Apartment New York City (Former)
The vivacious Joan Rivers found herself in an unexpected and supernatural situation when she acquired a New York City apartment in 1988. Located at the Spencer Condominiums on 1 East 62nd Street in Manhattan, this apartment came with an unforeseen tenant: the ghostly presence of Mrs. Spencer, the niece of J.P. Morgan.
Joan Rivers, already dealing with personal setbacks, soon discovered the spectral quirks of her new residence. In the beginning, her dog was actually too terrified to enter the unit, and appliances would switch on and off at random with no known cause. Neighbors were also reporting apparitions in the stairwell at the time. #spooky
In an attempt to appease the resident ghost, Rivers made some changes. She adorned the apartment with Mrs. Spencer’s portrait, which she found in the basement, and arranged fresh flowers in the ballroom. Gradually, the hauntings transformed into a more amiable coexistence.
However, with Joan Rivers’ passing and a new owner, a Saudi prince, who bought the four-bedroom apartment for $28 million, it remains uncertain how Mrs. Spencer feels about the changes in her ethereal home. The prince chose to completely remodel the penthouse, marking a new chapter in the unit’s otherworldly history.
Cate Blanchett House England (Current)
Cate Blanchett’s journey into renovating her allegedly haunted brick mansion in Crowborough, East Sussex, England, was filled with unexpected challenges. Originally known as Potters Manor and Steep Park, the property, now called Highwell House, was in serious disrepair when it was purchased for $6.7 million and extensively restored in 2015.
In the late 1950s, the home was owned by the “W” family, though much isn’t known about them other than they abandoned the home, leaving their possessions behind. It’s rumored that after her husband, James W, passed away, Muriel W went to live in a care home, though this isn’t confirmed.
The grand Victorian estate, built in 1890, had faced neglect and abandonment, even earning a spot on The Sun’s list of Britain’s 15 creepiest abandoned places.
Cate’s plans to create a garden office, studio, and meditation room on the estate hit a hiccup when surveyors discovered a colony of rare bats residing in a dilapidated building.
Despite the setback, she obtained planning permission to proceed with her renovation, provided she safely rehomed the winged inhabitants. A European Protected Species license from Natural England is required before any buildings containing a roost can be demolished.
The history of the house is as intriguing as its hauntings. The property was once the home of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the famous author of Sherlock Holmes novels. Left abandoned for years, it attracted “urban explorers” who documented its eerie state and mysterious symbols painted on the floors.
The mansion’s transformation into Highwell House has been accompanied by efforts to preserve and enhance its unique history, despite the presence of bats and ghostly tales. Cate Blanchett, her husband Andrew Upton, and their four children now call this English countryside estate home, continuing to add their chapter to its fascinating story.
Salma Hayek House London (Current)
Salma Hayek’s brick estate in London has a history of mysterious and paranormal occurrences, which prompted her to seek professional help in addressing the phenomena. The actress shared her experiences during an appearance on The Ellen Show, explaining that the house was once haunted, but not anymore…at least not that much!
Strange incidents included the piano playing by itself, lights turning on and off, and doors and windows opening and closing, creating an eerie atmosphere that affected not only Salma but also her staff. Some of her employees nearly quit due to the unnerving experiences in the estate.
Salma’s young daughter, Valentina, had particularly vivid encounters with the ghosts, making her feel as though she got it “the worst.”
Though Hayek’s husband, François-Henri Pinault, initially dismissed the phenomena as nonsense, Salma decided to bring in an expert to help put the matter to rest. The professional identified the presence of numerous spirits, including an old lady and a child, causing even more distress among the household.
While most of the spirits were successfully encouraged to depart, one entity, believed to be a nun, refused to leave. The expert explained that the nun had good vibes and had been in the house longer than Salma, indicating that she was not the source of negative energy. This revelation left Salma and her family with a unique coexistence with the friendly spirit.
The London estate was previously rented by Justin Bieber in 2016 and has been in Salma Hayek’s possession since 2017, where she and her family continue to share their home with the friendly ghostly presence.
Sources
https://people.com/home/celebrities-who-lived-in-haunted-houses/
https://www.housedigest.com/788126/these-celebrities-lived-in-haunted-houses/
https://www.sussexlive.co.uk/news/property/eerie-last-pictures-cate-blanchetts-4885546
https://assets.savills.com/properties/GBHHRSHYS200118/HYS200118_HYS20002672.PDF
https://nashvilleghosts.com/loretta-lynn-ranch/
https://www.sussexlive.co.uk/news/property/eerie-last-pictures-cate-blanchetts-4885546