All products featured on Architectural Digest are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Tom Hanks has led a long and storied career spanning nearly four decades, and in that time he and his wife, musician Rita Wilson, have built their real estate empire. The beloved actor, born and raised in Northern California, has long made Southern California his home base. Over the years, the couple has owned homes in Malibu and the Pacific Palisades, as well as in Sun Valley, Idaho, and in Greece. (Fun fact: Hanks and Wilson were so heavily involved in efforts to help the country recover from massive wildfires in 2018 that they were awarded honorary Greek citizenship the following year.) The Hollywood pair, though celebrated regulars on the red carpet, are notoriously quiet about their personal lives, so some details and photos of their properties are scant. Nevertheless, we’ve rounded up what we do know about the duo’s many beautiful homes below.
1988
.jpg)
Hanks and Wilson met in 1981 on the set of the actor’s sitcom Bosom Buddies and hit it off immediately—as friends. They began dating several years later after reuniting on the set of Volunteers, in which they played love interests. “Rita and I just looked at each other and—kaboing—that was that,” Hanks once told GQ. The couple got married in April 1988, and that same year, they bought their first home together, a $1.9 million house in the Pacific Palisades. The Spanish-style dwelling featured four bedrooms and five and a half bathrooms spread out across 6,289 square feet, plus a private interior courtyard. They sold it for $5.22 million in 2013.
1991
The couple next purchased a $2.95 million property in Malibu, this time an oceanfront pad in the coveted guard-gated Colony enclave, where other celebrity residents include Woody Harrelson, Tori Spelling, Bill Murray, and Bette Midler. The two-story house was originally built in 1928 but was substantially updated by the time Hanks and Wilson bought it from director John Frankenheimer. It boasts three bedrooms spread across 1,800 square feet, with unobstructed ocean views from the primary suite. A housekeeper’s room and a two-bedroom guest apartment with its own kitchen sits separate from the main structure. The couple still own this property.
1993
.jpeg)
In 1993, Hanks bought and customized a Model 34 Limited Excella trailer to better suit the demands of his busy filming schedule. “I got it in the days when movies moved slower,” he told Bonhams Magazine decades later. “I had spent too much time in regular trailers with ugly decor and horribly uncomfortable furniture, so I decided to buy a brand-new Airstream shell with an interior made to my own request.” At 33 feet long, it held a kitchen and a bathroom, as well as a bed, a couch, and a wooden table and chair set. There was even a faux fireplace for extra coziness. By the time Hanks put it up for auction in 2021, it had traveled to 18 locations across the country, including South Carolina for Forrest Gump and Seattle for Sleepless in Seattle, and it featured stickers on the window denoting each place. The Airstream ultimately sold for $235,200 at auction that August; it’s unknown how much the actor originally paid for it.
2002
In the early 2000s, the pair custom-built a residence in the small town of Ketchum, Idaho, likely meant to be a ski vacation home. They reportedly paid around $12 million for the villa at the time, but the property made headlines in subsequent years because of an ongoing dispute between them and the construction company that built it. In 2007, the couple reportedly sued the company for $3 million for shoddy construction that had impacted their ability to live in and enjoy the home. (Oregon Live reported that among the complaints was the fact that sliding snow from the roof damaged the kitchen windows and the roof itself just one year after construction.) Hanks and Wilson unfortunately lost the legal battle, and even had to pay the full cost of arbitration: $167,623. They still own this home.
2003
The couple expanded their footprint in the Pacific Palisades with the purchase of two neighboring properties, each situated on one-acre lots overlooking the sea. They first snapped up a four-bedroom Spanish Revival–style villa, originally built in 1933, which measured 4,000 square feet and featured beamed ceilings, a tiled staircase with iron rails, and a wood-paneled dining room. They next picked up a seven-bedroom English cottage-style mansion, this one measuring 7,260 square feet, with a screening room, eat-in kitchen, and a billiard room. The pair paid a total of $13.1 million for the two homes. The two homes were listed together for $18 million in 2016, and they were both picked up by the same buyer for a combined price of $17.5 million the following year.
2004
Years before they became honorary Greek citizens, Hanks and Wilson were big fans of family getaways to Greece. Specifically, the couple enjoyed the small island of Antiparos, where they would eventually purchase a plot of land to build a dream vacation home. Not much is known about the property—part of the draw of the location is the privacy that they are afforded there—but what is known is that the house itself spans a modest 1,476 square feet and is situated on about six acres of land.
2010
Perhaps Hanks and Wilson’s best-known home is their $26 million Pacific Palisades residence, a spacious mansion measuring 14,513 square feet, with four bedrooms and five bathrooms scattered throughout the property’s three stories. The home is perched atop a cliffside overlooking the ocean, and was originally built in 1996 but significantly updated in 2006. Amenities include things like a wine cellar, a cliffside swimming pool and deck area, and a tree-lined motor court. The couple still owns this Gwathmey Siegel–designed home and consider it their main residence.
2018
Hanks and Wilson adored their frequent vacations to Greece so much that they reportedly purchased a second home in the Skala area of Patmos Island. The seaside villa is reportedly built from stone in the Dodecanese architectural style, with an expansive terrace looking out over the sea.
