Millionaires Who Live in Surprisingly Small, Modest Homes
84. Jay Leno
Net Worth: $450 million*
Purchased For: $55,000* (House Next Door)
Sq. Footage: 3,400-Square-Feet
Jay Leno is one of television’s most successful talk show hosts. He lives in a Los Angels compound that comprises two estates. It appears that, rather than own a massive home, Leno would rather save his money for his famous car collection, which you can see on the show Jay Leno’s Garage.
Leno purchased the property in 1987, and the first house was a five-bedroom property measuring 3,400 square feet. In the late nineties, after his career had reached its peak, Leno added another home, this one with a pool. Leno also bought the home next door to this L.A. compound in ’87 for $55,000.
85. Maggie Rogers
Net Worth: $3 million*
Purchased For: $1.29 million*
Sq. Footage: 1,034-Square-Feet
When singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers released her first single, “Alaska,” in 2016, she became a mega-star in the blink of an eye. Since then, she’s released other hit songs like “Light On,” “Love You For A Long Time,” Fallingwater,” and more. The Pharrell-Williams-backed singer still keeps things humble, living in a 1,034-square-foot house in Echo Park, Los Angeles.
The starter home is a far cry from other celebrity mansions, but it is humble and cute. Rogers bought the home in 2020, and it’s not necessarily what you’d expect from a Grammy-nominated, chart-topping artist. Rogers’ chic home is worth around $1.29 million, while the artist herself has a net worth of approximately $3 million.
86. Elon Musk
Net Worth: $181.3 billion*
Purchased For: $45,000*
Sq. Footage: 800-900-Square-Feet
Elon Musk is a unique guy, to say the least. The eccentric Tesla founder has a net worth in the hundreds of billions, and he is easily one of the top ten richest people in the world. Musk has chosen to slowly get rid of his earthly possessions, including property, as he looks to the future. He hopes that future will entail future colonization of Mars.
But, in the meantime, he has to live somewhere, and Musk says that he lives in a “very small” three-bedroom home in Boca Chica, South Texas. The $45,000 prefab property is only 800-900 square feet, and it is a far cry from the abodes of the world’s other mega-billionaires.
87. Adrian Peterson
Net Worth: $1 million*
Purchased For: $665,000*
Sq. Footage: 4,167-Square-Feet
Running back Adrian Peterson is one of the greatest running backs in NFL history, and his career earnings are in the millions. He played college football in Oklahoma, breaking records before he went to the NFL. The football star is thirty-seven, but he hasn’t retired yet, recently signing a deal with the Tennessee Titans.
Peterson owns a lot of properties, but this one might surprise you. He has held onto his five-bedroom, four-bathroom home in Minnesota. He bought it for $665,000 in 2007, and, at 4,167 square feet, it’s a small-ish size for a sports star. The house looks a lot like all the other properties in the suburbs, but Peterson has hung onto it, regardless.
88. Deion Sanders
Net Worth: $40 million*
Purchased For: $1.1 million*
Sq. Footage: Unknown
Football player and coach Deion Sanders had a long, successful career in professional sports before becoming a coach. Sanders has a net worth of $40 million, and he previously owned a massive, 112-acre estate in Texas called “Chateau Montclair.” When the property was auctioned off, it was the biggest home in the entire state.
Sanders has downsized, leaving the palatial $14.5 million mega-mansion for a $1.1 million abode in Canton, Mississippi. It’s a far cry from the 29,122-square-foot estate he once lived in, but, really, who needs all that space?
89. Tori Spelling
Net Worth: $1.5 million*
Purchased For: Unknown
Sq. Footage: Unknown
Tori Spelling, a businesswoman and actress who got her start in the nineties thanks to her time on Beverly Hills, 90210, owned a bungalow with her family that was both charming and surprisingly modest. There, she had her own little garden, in which she grew vegetables and fruits, and she even had a pet pig and chicken.
Eventually, she moved out of the bungalow with her husband, actor Dean McDermott, and the pair now live in the Hidden Hills in a 5,980-square-foot property. It’s not clear how much the bungalow cost her, but the Santa Monica property, located in a gated community, was $3.7 million.
90. Mark Wahlberg
Net Worth: $400 million*
Purchased For: $12 million*
Sq. Footage: 2,800-Square-Feet
Mark Wahlberg, star of many blockbuster comedies, dramas, and thrillers, owns a lot of property. He has a net worth of around $400 million, thanks to his acting and business skills. The former rapper doesn’t just have mega-mansions, he owns apartments, too. In Toronto, Wahlberg purchased a condominium in Toronto, Canada for $12 million.
Though steeply priced, the condo was only 2,800 square feet. Perhaps some of that massive price tag came from the fact that it had a lot of cool amenities, such as a wine cellar with twenty-one climate-controlled refrigerators, a tasting room, a private elevator and courtyard, and more.
91. John Krasinski
Net Worth: $80 million*
Purchased For: $1 million*
Sq. Footage: 1,279-Square-Feet
Actor John Krasinski has come a long way since his time as Jim on The Office. Krasinski has gone on to star in movies and films like A Quiet Place, Jack Ryan, 13 Hours, Doctor Strange, and more. He and his wife, actress Emily Blunt, have been married since 2010, and they have two kids together, Violet and Hazel.
But, once upon a time, John was a regular bachelor, and he owned this 1,279-square-foot starter house. He lived there while filming The Office, and he bought the home for $1 million. When it was time to offload it, he sold it at a loss for $945,000.
92. Elliot Page
Net Worth: $8 million*
Purchased For: $56,000*
Sq. Footage: 1,528-Square-Feet
Actor Elliott Page has starred in movies like Juno, The Umbrella Academy, Inception, Hard Candy, Flatliners, X-Men: The Last Stand, and more. He has been active in Hollywood since the late 1990s, raking in awards like an Oscar nomination, Emmy nominations, a Satellite, and two BAFTAs.
Elliott has a net worth of $8 million, but he used to live in a rather humble house before buying his current $1.9 million pad. He lived in a 1,528-square-foot home, built in 1955, that was cute, yet very, very small. His current home, which was previously owned by tennis star Venus Williams, is far more “Hollywood.”
93. Alycia Debnam-Carey
Net Worth: $3 million*
Purchased For: $1.24 million*
Sq. Footage: 1,055-Square-Feet
Aussie actress Alycia Debnam-Carey has starred in hit shows and movies like Fear The Walking Dead, The 100, Friend Request, Into the Storm, A Violent Separation, The Devil’s Hand, and more. Debnam-Carey is quickly becoming a “Scream Queen,” and she has a net worth of $3 million to prove it.
Still, Debnam-Carey isn’t living in a mega-mansion. She owns a very cute, airy, chic home in Los Angeles that is priced at around $1.24 million. The 1,055-square-foot, Spanish-style property has two bedrooms and one-and-a-half bathrooms. Built in the 1920s, this stylish cottage is just minutes from WeHo and Hollywood and all their trendy restaurants and shops.
94. Sheryl Crow
Net Worth: $70 million*
Purchased For: $1.2 million*
Sq. Footage: 4,500-Square-Feet
“If It Makes You Happy” singer Sheryl Crow has been rocking out since the nineties, and she has released over a dozen albums. The superstar singer has a net worth of $70 million, and she lives in a compound in the home of country music: Nashville, Tennessee.
The home sits on fifty acres, and, though the main house isn’t huge, the compound has everything Crow needs, including a bar, recording studio, saloon, and horse stables. Crow chose the property because, as a “single mom,” she needed to be able to “go to work just down [her] driveway.”
95. Melissa McCarthy
Net Worth: $90 million*
Purchased For: $780,000*
Sq. Footage: 2,167-Square-Feet
Funnywoman Melissa McCarthy is an actress, producer, fashion designer, and writer, and she has a net worth of $90 million. McCarthy spent twenty years trying to break into show business before finding success, and her persistence has paid off handily.
McCarthy lived in a chic, stylish, and rather unassuming bungalow in Los Angeles. It was built in the 1940s, and the actress paid $780,000 for it. She upgraded in 2020, as she and her husband, Ben Falcone, paid $2.4 million for a Valley Village home. They must have really loved the property, as they paid $200,000 above asking for it.
