Here’s How These 15 Celebrities Lived Before They Got Famous And Bought Mansions

There’s a very strong stereotype about celebrities that’s making it hard to think of them as regular people. Their achievements, lifestyle, wealth, and a number of other factors indicate that they are definitely on a different level of things, but at the end of the day, they’re all very real and very human.

So, it also shouldn’t come as a surprise that many celebs had relatively humble beginnings before they became famous. It’s safe to say that none of them lived in mansions, but rather suburban family houses or inner city apartments, or some had it rough and lived in vans or with friends.

Bored Panda has compiled a then and now list of celebrity homes—their childhood homes and the houses they live in today, or have lived for a significant chunk of their lives. Scroll through the entire list below, and while you’re at it, why not vote and comment on the ones you like the most?

#1 Selena Gomez

The young singer, actress, and producer was born in Grand Prairie, Texas and began her career when she was just 10 years old by appearing on the children's television series Barney & Friends. Before coming into greatness, she lived in a modest single-story house that didn’t look out of the ordinary in a suburban Texas neighborhood.

But just like Taylor Swift, Gomez too is very much into housing. In the last 6 years, Selena has made at least 4 acquisitions, three of which were put back on the market on average 2 years after purchase.

At the moment, Gomez seems to be living in her 4.9-million-dollar mansion that used to previously be owned by American singer and songwriter Tom Petty. Also known as the Musical Mansion, the 9,000-square-foot home is suited for musicians as it has a recording studio and a vocal booth. Besides that, there are 6 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms, a wine cellar, a massage room, and a stylish sunken living room, among many other luxurious things.

Image credits: zillow

#2 Eminem

American rapper Eminem spent much of his youth living in a working-class, predominantly black, Detroit neighborhood. In fact, his childhood home was featured as the cover of his 2000 and 2013 Marshall Mathers LP studio albums. The house is now unfortunately in a dilapidated state.

He now resides in a 15,129-square-foot mansion in Rochester Hills, Detroit. The mansion includes 6 bedrooms, 9.5 bathrooms, 21 rooms, a tennis court, a lake, a pool, a launch dock, and a five-car garage. Eminem purchased this property back in 2003 for 4.75 million US dollars

Image credits: Unknown

#3 Rihanna

Singer and actress Rihanna grew up in a relatively small bungalow in Saint Michael, Barbados together with her parents and two brothers, Rorrey and Rajad.

Since rising to worldwide fame, Rihanna got a hold of a mansion worth 6.8 million dollars in Los Angeles that includes six bedrooms and eight bathrooms across 7,130 square feet.

However, as it turns out, she has been reportedly living in London for the past several years and her Los Angeles mansion, after an unsuccessful attempt to sell it, has been rented out for 35,000 dollars per month.

Image credits: zillow

#4 Beyoncé

Beyoncé is a singer and songwriter (among many other spectacular things) who was born and raised in Houston, Texas. She used to live in a relatively modest but still rather impressive two-story red brick family home.

In 2017, she moved into a mansion (designed by architect Paul McClean) together with her spouse Jay-Z in Los Angeles, California, which they bought for 90 million dollars. The property is reportedly 30,000 square feet in size and includes a 15-car garage, four pool areas, a basketball court, bulletproof glass, and more.

Image credits: virtualglobetrotting

#5 Michael Jackson

This one’s a two-in-one as it’s not only the childhood home of Michael Jackson, but also of the entire Jackson Five. The family of 11 started off in a single-floor two-bedroom and one-bathroom home in Gary, Indiana.

The family lived there until the Jackson 5 became a huge success, after which the family decided to move to Hollywood. They bought a two-acre estate there in the early 1970s.

In 1988, Michael Jackson moved to his own place, the infamous Neverland Ranch, an approximately 2,700-acre piece of land with a 13,000-square-foot main house that was speculated to cost between 19.5 and 30 million dollars for Jackson. It’s said Jackson lived here until 2005 and then ended up renting a simpler establishment until his death in 2009.

Besides it being a small amusement park with actual amusement park rides, the property included an arcade, 3 railroads, and served as a place for several huge events, like Michael Jackson’s interview in 1993 with Oprah and the wedding of Elizabeth Taylor and Larry Fortensky in 1991.

Image credits: maps.roadtrippers

#6 Chris Pratt

A bit of a unique entry in this list as Chris Pratt traces his beginnings to a home in Lake Stevens, Washington state, where he moved together with his family when he was just 7 years old. Ten years later, he decided to go on an adventure and moved to Maui, Hawaii to wait tables and to live out of his van.

Since becoming a huge movie star, Chris Pratt lived for five years in his 3.3-million-dollar Hollywood Hills home together with his now-former spouse Anna Faris. The 4,500-square-foot house featured 4.5 bathrooms, a saltwater swimming pool, a spa, a gym, and a tennis court, among many other luxurious things.

However, the two split back in 2018 and the house has been recently sold off for 4.75 million dollars. Chris Pratt is now reportedly building a mansion in an unfinished property that he bought for 15.6 million dollars to live in with his now wife Katherine Schwarzenegger.

Image credits: forrent

#7 Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift is known to have a number of houses—so many, in fact, that it’s hard to keep track, but she considers Nashville, TN her hometown as she’s been living there since she was 10.

Before making it big in the world, she lived with her family in a 3-story house that wasn’t all too shabby—spacious, elegant, and certainly comfortable.

Now, back in 2009, she bought a penthouse in Nashville. The 2-million dollar home is a 2-story penthouse with 3 bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms. Whenever she’s in Nashville, she stays here and mostly spends time watching movies and chilling with her cats.

Image credits: wikipedia

#8 Arnold Schwarzenegger

The legendary actor, former governor, and retired bodybuilder was born and grew up in Austria, and his childhood home—a humble yellow two-story house in Thal, near Graz—is no longer a home per se, but rather a museum dedicated to Arnold’s life and all of his achievements.

Today, Arnold lives in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California in his 7-bedroom and 10-bathroom 14,500-square-foot mansion bought back in the early 2000s that also includes a pool, a tennis court, a gym (duh!), a luxurious home office, and much more.

Image credits: pinterest

#9 Ariana Grande

Grande is one of the younger successes on this list who seems to have always been well-off. Having been born to business-owning parents, Grande grew up in a rather luxurious house in Boca Raton, Florida that was not only modern and spacious, but also had a swimming pool.

But there is certainly an upgrade here as, since her rise to stardom, Grande bought a modern mansion in the Hollywood Hills for nearly 14 million dollars (reportedly) with a swimming pool, a fitness studio, a wine cellar for 300 bottles of wine, and a panoramic view of Los Angeles.

Image credits: celebritydetective

#10 Lebron James

Lebron James is a prime example of hard work and perseverance as the famous basketball player, now considered the best of the best, had a rough childhood. According to LA Times, between ages 3 and 17, LeBron never really had a permanent home and he slept on a lot of couches. His most permanent home during that time was a modest two-floor house in Akron, Ohio where he lived off and on with his football coach.

The NBA player came a long way since then as he now owns multiple mansions, with his 23-million-dollar mansion in Brentwood, LA seemingly being his primary place of residence. The 8-bedroom and 11-bathroom estate includes a gated driveway, custom chef’s kitchen, showroom-like closets, and a private patio, a rooftop terrace, a home theater, wine cellar, a gym, and a pool and spa area, as well as a sizable garage.

Image credits: virtualglobetrotting

#11 Jimmy Fallon

Born in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, Fallon went on to become one of the most well-known late-night hosts and comedians of the times. But before he bought his 5.7-million-dollar 3,500-square-foot home in Sagaponack, Long Island, New York, which includes a pool, horse stables, and a number of other luxuries, Fallon used to live in his parents’ modest two-story suburban home in Saugerties, New York.

Image credits: forrent

#12 John Travolta

John Travolta is an American actor who, fun fact, is also a singer. Don’t believe me? Give his songs a listen on YouTube. Anyway, Travolta grew up in a three-story (actually, 2 plus the attic) family house in Englewood, New Jersey together with his entire family of 8, with Travolta being the youngest of the bunch.

Later on in life, he and Kelly Preston moved into a house in the “Fly-In” community in the Jumbolair Aviation Estates residential airpark with a private-use airport in Anthony, Florida. Their estate is estimated to be worth about 5 million dollars and includes driveways and docks for Travolta’s planes. As a licensed pilot, he owns a total of five of them, including a Boeing 707 named “Jett Clipper Ella.”

Image credits: zillow

#13 Angelina Jolie

Being born in Los Angeles, California into a family of actors, Angelina’s childhood home is a pretty spacious affair, boasting 4 bedrooms and two private acres of land in Snedens Landing, New York.

But ever since becoming one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood, she has since moved on to purchase a number of homes, with her main place of residence being the former Cecil B. DeMille estate in Los Feliz, LA.

The house cost her 24.5 million dollars and comes with 6 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, a pool house, self-contained guest house and studio, a library, entertainment spaces, and other luxuries spread across a total of ~11,000 square feet.

Image credits: 6sqft

#14 Miley Cyrus

The Tennessee-born singer, songwriter, and record producer grew up in a family farmhouse just outside Nashville. Being the daughter of country music star Billy Ray Cyrus, you would expect Miley to live in a very nice house. But when she became a music star, she one-upped her residential conditions.

Miley now lives in her 4.95-million-dollar home in the Hidden Hills, which she got back in 2018. The house spans about 6,000 square feet with 6 beds and 6.5 bathrooms. Besides the essentials, like a luxurious living room with a terrace right outside and a huge gourmet kitchen, the house also features a home theater, a pool area, outdoor fireplace and patio, and a fenced-off hillside area that’s undeveloped, but could be turned into a location to keep her beloved horses in.

Image credits: zillow

#15 Zac Efron

Zac Efron was born in California in the quaint town of San Luis Obispo and was raised in the nearby city of Arroyo Grande. His childhood home wasn’t looking all too shabby, as it looks like your typical single-floor Californian suburban home with a garage and a couple of cars, a spacious driveway, and surrounded by greenery.

Now, Efron didn’t move very far away from home. Just under 200 miles away, he now lives in Los Files, in his almost 4-million-dollar mansion that he moved into back in 2013. The 5,640-square-meter house features five beds, five bathrooms, an indoor pond, a games room with a billiards table, full home gym, a wine cellar, and last but not least, a spectacular view of Los Angeles seen from the balcony and pool area.

Image credits: virtualglobetrotting