10 Celebrities Who Chose to Live in Surprisingly Modest Homes

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates kicks back in comfort at a 66,000-square foot Seattle-area lakefront estate complete with spa, 60-foot pool, gym paneled with stone from a Pacific Northwest mountain peak, and even a trampoline room. The home’s beach, on Lake Washington, features sand imported from Hawaii. It’s the kind of home many people dream about when they imagine founding a company, winning the lottery, writing a best-seller or inventing a better mousetrap.

But surprisingly, a recent report from StorageCafe, a nationwide storage-space marketplace, reveals that not all celebrities have homes you could get lost in with glitz to rival Buckingham Palace.

According to the report, some major celebs live in homes that run about 3,300 square feet or smaller. That’s hardly a small home for many of us — the median U.S. home covers 1,838 square feet, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. But it’s relatively modest for those whose bank balances run into the seven-plus figures.

Of course, celebrities often own multiple properties. The StorageCafe report is based on the size of the stars’ primary residences, as best as could be determined.

Here are the celebrities with the smallest homes, according to the report.

10. Jack Nicholson

• The size of this celebrity’s primary residence: 3,303 square feet
• This celebrity’s estimated net worth: $400 million as of 2023

It’s no surprise that Oscar- and Grammy-winning actor and filmmaker Jack Nicholson lives in Beverly Hills, California, the legendary location of so many of the rich and famous. And sure, it may be surprising that his home there is reported to be 3,303 square feet, but it’s also said that there are at least four properties on that compound, so he’s never going to be pinched for space. Nicholson reportedly owns several other California homes, has an oceanfront home in Hawaii and sold a 5,800-square-foot Aspen, Colorado, mansion for $11 million a decade ago.

9. Mark Edward Fischbach (aka Markiplier)

• The size of this celebrity’s primary residence: 3,279 square feet
• This celebrity’s estimated net worth: $45 million as of 2023

Yes, YouTuber is a real job title, and it can make the right people millions of dollars. Mark Edward Fischbach, known as Markiplier to his online fans, has more than 36 million subscribers to his YouTube channel. Markiplier grew up in Ohio, but in 2021, he bought his 3,279-square-foot Los Angeles home from entertainer Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino. Built in the 1950s, the home reportedly has panoramic views of the Angeles National Forest.

8. Taylor Swift

• The size of this celebrity’s primary residence: 3,240 square feet
• This celebrity’s estimated net worth: $900 million as of 2023

Of course, multiple-Grammy-Award winning singer-songwriter Taylor Swift has multiple homes, although Business Insider notes she’s “quietly downsized” to just one private jet. But her first home, purchased in 2009 before she was even 21, is a 3,240-square-foot corner-unit penthouse on Nashville’s Music Row.

According to Elle Decor, Swift also has multiple homes in New York City, has owned three in Beverly Hills, California, another sprawling home in Nashville and a seaside home in Rhode Island where she famously throws Independence Day parties.

7. Jimmy Donaldson (aka Mr. Beast)

• The size of this celebrity’s primary residence: 3,000 square feet
• This celebrity’s estimated net worth: $100 million as of 2023

You may not know Jimmy Donaldson by that name, but if you’re a YouTube fan, you’ll likely know him by his online name, Mr. Beast. As of 2022, Guinness World Records said he held the world record for the most YouTube subscribers for an individual male, with more than 112 million subscribers and, at the time, 18.5 million views. (His numbers have only gone up.)

Davidson grew up in Greenville, North Carolina, and still lives there, in a four-bed, four-bath home. But the New York Post reports that he’s been slowly buying up surrounding homes for his family and employees.

6. Dhani Harrison

• The size of this celebrity’s primary residence: 2,826 square feet
• This celebrity’s estimated net worth: $275 million as of 2023

Like his famous dad, the late Beatle George Harrison, Dhani Harrison has made music his life. If he takes inspiration from water, he picked the right home. StorageCafe says Harrison lives in a “relatively modest” home located on the famed canals of Venice, California. However, the glamorous home was listed for sale for $4 million back in 2019, and Harrison reportedly moved back into his father’s home in England.

5. Clint Eastwood

• The size of this celebrity’s primary residence: 2,781 square feet
• This celebrity’s estimated net worth: $375 million as of 2023

Oscar-winning actor Clint Eastwood doesn’t just live in the seaside community of Carmel-By-The-Sea, California, he also was once its mayor. He spent two years in the elected post, earning just $200 a month — a pittance compared with his Hollywood earnings. In 1986, Eastwood bought a historic pioneer-built farmhouse in Carmel’s Mission Ranch. Whether or not he spends much time in the original home, Eastwood has options. He also owns the Mission Ranch Hotel and Restaurant, which features 31 hotel rooms spread across several buildings.

4. Robert De Niro

• The size of this celebrity’s primary residence: 2,222 square feet
• This celebrity’s estimated net worth: $500 million as of 2023

Legendary actor Robert De Niro reportedly built a 2,222-square-foot home in the small town of Gardiner, New York, on the spot where an 18th-century farmhouse once stood. But if that sounds like a small home for a star, never fear. De Niro has not only renovated the home, he converted the barn to a 14,000 square-foot recreation center containing a gym, boxing room, game room, pool and sauna, basketball court and even a film studio. Want to stay overnight? Architectural Digest reports there are two guest houses on the property.

3. Dave Matthews

• The size of this celebrity’s primary residence: 2,180 square feet
• This celebrity’s estimated net worth: $300 million as of 2023

Dave Matthews, lead vocalist for The Dave Matthews Band, was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, but now lives in Seattle. Unlike his fellow Seattle-area denizen, Bill Gates, the singer doesn’t live in a sprawling mansion, but in a 2,180-square-foot residence in the lively Wallingford neighborhood, StorageCafe says. (Although according to one Seattle-area Realtor, Matthews still owns that home, but now lives in a different home in the nearby Green Lake neighborhood.)

2. Brad Pitt

• The size of this celebrity’s primary residence: 2,000 square feet
• This celebrity’s estimated net worth: $400 million as of 2023

Oscar-winning actor Brad Pitt’s birth name is William Bradley Pitt, but he’s become famous as Brad. His home, too, in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles, goes by a nickname. The 1960s-built midcentury gem has been dubbed “The Steel House” due to the fact that it’s built predominantly of steel and glass, a minimalist aesthetic that was central to the architecture of the period.

1. Jimmy Kimmel

• The size of this celebrity’s primary residence: 1,962 square feet
• This celebrity’s estimated net worth: $50 million as of 2023

Emmy Award-winning comedian and talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel comes into viewers’ homes at night thanks to his ABC talk show, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” But when he goes back to his own Hollywood Hills home, it’s a three-bed, three-bath residence he bought for $1.1 million, StorageCafe reports. But according to VelvetRopes.com, Kimmel and family also own a Hermosa Beach, California, beach house.