Inside Whoopi Goldberg’s Historic Real Estate Portfolio

Whoopi Goldberg was born and raised in Manhattan, and by all accounts will always consider herself a New Yorker. However, the multihyphenate has spent a considerable amount of time in California, and she’s owned some rather luxurious residences on both coasts over the past few decades. Goldberg (whose real name is Caryn Elaine Johnson) grew up in the Chelsea-Elliott Houses in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, which is where she lived until she moved to California after getting married in 1973 when she was just 18. 

“My room was in the back, just a bed and a bureau and windows,” she previously told Vulture of her childhood pad. “It’s a great place to grow up, because we were outside 98% of the time, winter and summer. We all were poor, and we all knew it, but it somehow didn’t really stop us from doing anything.” Since making it big on movie screens, TV, and Broadway (Goldberg holds a coveted EGOT title for winning awards at the Emmys, Grammys, Oscars, and Tonys), she’s turned that anything-is-possible attitude into a revered career, and her extravagant homes are proof of her ongoing success. Here, we’ve rounded up some of Goldberg’s most noteworthy properties to date.

1985

When Goldberg moved to Berkeley in the ’70s, she worked a number of odd jobs while trying to get her comedy and acting career off the ground: bank teller, bricklayer, and even a mortuary cosmetologist. She hit it big with her one-woman show, The Spook Show, in the early ’80s. Shortly afterwards she purchased her first home, a restored 1890 Victorian-style house, for $335,000. The residence measured approximately 1,455 square feet and included a two-story barn that was illegally converted into a cottage-style guest house measuring an additional 1,635 square feet. The home featured New Orleans–style architecture, with a large front porch and gingerbread-style overhangs and columns. Goldberg hung onto the pad for 30 years before finally selling it for $2 million in 2015.

1993

In the ’90s, Goldberg made her way down to the Pacific Palisades and snapped up a $2.5-million Art Deco–style home with quite the pedigree. Originally built in the 1930s for Austrian author Vicki Baum, the five-bedroom and seven-bathroom Streamline Moderne mansion was also previously owned by late English actor David Niven (Casino Royale and 1963’s The Pink Panther). Goldberg’s new abode measured 7,039 square feet and retained many original features, including crown moldings, fireplaces, and black-and-white marble checkerboard flooring in the foyer. The sprawling residence also featured a library, a swimming pool, and a guesthouse with its own fireplace and kitchen. The veteran TV host maintained the pad for 25 years before ultimately selling it for $8.8 million in 2018. More recently, the place was sold by Benjamin Bacal and Lolita Bagramyan of Revel Real Estate for $10.5 million.

2003

Goldberg continued her historic home streak with the purchase of a charming Vermont getaway that was built in 1790. She paid $950,000 for the 6,100-square-foot Colonial-style pad, which sat on 745 acres. The house boasted hardwood floors, with an old brick double-sided fireplace and beehive oven commanding attention in the main living spaces. There were four bedrooms and three full and two half bathrooms; a two-bedroom bunkhouse offered up additional lodging for guests. Goldberg reportedly completely renovated the home in 2004, stripping it down to its bare bones and rebuilding it with modern conveniences in mind. Other features on the grounds included an indoor riding arena, multiple pole barns, a heated horse barn, and a two-story cement barn used as a woodworking studio. The actor ultimately let go of the sprawling property in November 2012 for $1.5 million.

2007

The talk show host returned to her Manhattan roots with her next purchase, picking up a full-floor loft in SoHo for a reported $4 million. The 3,800-square-foot pad boasted high ceilings, exposed brick, and cast-iron columns, as well as chevron-patterned marble floors and a fully outfitted chef’s kitchen. Goldberg sold the two bedroom apartment to venture capitalist Ben Lerer for just under $3 million in 2010. 

2009

After being badly hounded by fans, Goldberg admitted to New York magazine that she was feeling “a bit besieged” and sought more privacy in her home life. “I lived in the city and had no way of sitting outside,” she told the magazine. “Because every time I go sit outside, 50 people would come and hang out.” At the suggestion of her business partner, Tom Leonardis, she somewhat reluctantly agreed to give New Jersey a try. The result was the purchase of her luxurious $2.8-million mansion in the gated community of Llewellyn Park, which she currently calls home. The eight-bedroom Colonial-style property measures 9,486 square feet and was originally built in 1927. Goldberg has offered small glimpses into her home on social media in recent months due to the pandemic, including her collection of artwork, which she told New York was inspired in large part by Elizabeth Taylor. “The periods kind of clash all over the house, which is great for me—it feels like you can hang out,” she said. “It’s formal, and yet it doesn’t give a [expletive].”