Courteney Cox’s Homes: Inside the Friends Star’s Stylish Real Estate Portfolio
Photo: Rodin Eckenroth/WireImage
Courteney Cox’s homes reflect her affinity for good design. Long before she rose to fame as Monica Geller on the hit NBC sitcom Friends, the actor attended Mount Vernon College in Washington, DC—now part of George Washington University—to study architecture. Though she dropped out to pursue a career in modeling and acting, she put her design skills to use when she renovated her beloved Malibu beachfront estate in the early 2000s. “First of all, the most important thing is to be comfortable,” she told luxury home decor business One Kings Lane in 2017. “But it also has to reflect your personality in some way.”
And much like the fictional neat freak Monica, keeping things tidy is part of Cox’s makeup. “I want to clean everyone’s house out,” Cox admitted to Architectural Digest in 2022. “I actually do go to my friends’ houses and say, ‘Let’s do this! You don’t need 75 of those.’ There’s just something that makes me feel lighter and not bogged down when there’s less of things, but just nice things. I like order and I like things to look really clean.” Here’s a look at Cox’s pristine real-estate portfolio.
Laurel Canyon “haunted” house
Photo of Carole KING
In 1988, the Scream star purchased a home for $795,000 located in LA’s Laurel Canyon neighborhood, according to the Los Angeles Times. Built in 1926, the 3,832-square-foot residence had famous owners before her, including burlesque icon Gypsy Rose Lee (whom the Tony Award–winning musical Gypsy is based on) and Grammy winner Carole King, who was photographed there for the cover art of her 1971 album Tapestry. The French Normandy-style home included five bedrooms and four and a half bathrooms, with a swimming pool and a cabana outside.
However, Cox claimed the “Beautiful” singer warned her the home was haunted. “Carole King came over to my house, and she said there had been a divorce that was really ugly, and there was a ghost in the house,” she told Jimmy Kimmel during a March 2022 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Though Cox didn’t believe it to be true, she joined King in a séance to rid the spirit from her home. One day, though, Cox told Kimmel, a UPS delivery driver rang the doorbell, and when Cox opened the door, he said, “Do you know this house is haunted? Because there is someone standing behind you.” She sold the home in 1991 for $1.3 million.
John Lautner–designed Holmby Hills beach house
Cox and then husband David Arquette paid nearly $10.2 million for a home in the Holmby Hills area of LA in the early 2000s, according to the LA Times, before putting it on the market in February 2007. Designed by famed architect John Lautner, the four-bedroom, five-bathroom home, with 80 feet of frontage on Carbon Beach, sold to Dodgers owners Frank and Jamie McCourt for close to the property’s $33.5 million asking price.
Built in 1979, the 5,500-square-foot house—known as the Segel residence—featured skylights, a curved roof line, and a pool, as well as ocean views from almost every room. While the estate was “the most amazing place I’ve ever lived in,” Cox told Elle Decor in 2011, it didn’t offer much privacy because it was level with a public beach. “I couldn’t take a walk without having my picture taken,” she said.
Beverly Hills home with David Arquette
The same month Cox and Arquette welcomed daughter Coco in June 2004, they purchased a five-bedroom, six-bathroom estate in Beverly Hills for $5.45 million, according to Trulia. Built in 1959 and designed by architect A. Quincy Jones, the 5,500-square-foot home, which sat on nearly an acre, was located in the affluent Trousdale Estates neighborhood in the foothills of the Santa Monica mountains. The property was restored by architect Cory Buckner in 2006, and the single-story home ??included a six-car garage and swimming pool.
About four months after Cox and Arquette finalized their divorce, they listed the property in September 2013 for $19.5 million (it was previously on the market as a pocket listing). Variety reported in June 2014 that the home was in escrow for around $18 million, and it was rumored that record producer Dr. Luke was the buyer.
Beachfront Malibu estate
Cox purchased her current primary residence in 2007. Located in Malibu, California, the two-acre property includes guest cottages, a saltwater swimming pool, a tennis house, and a screening room, as well as the main home. “This is a house I’ll never move from,” Cox told One Kings Lane. “It really is so special to me.”
The actress worked with architect Michael Kovac and interior designer Trip Haenisch to make the beachfront home her own. “When I got this house, my designer, Trip Haenisch, was able to bring in the pops of color and the interesting pieces I wouldn’t have necessarily gone for. We had a fantastic time doing it,” Cox explained of the home, which has white walls, wood floors and enviable views of the water. “??I wanted it to look like a modern barn,” she told Elle Decor.
The home’s main kitchen looks out over the pool and deck, which was painted in earth tones. “With the doors open, you feel like you’re completely outside,” Cox said. When she goes out back, Cox enjoys her coffee “everyday” at a banquette that surrounds a lava-rock firepit. The master bedroom has French doors that open to another deck overlooking the water. “Michael and Trip gave me everything I wanted,” she said. “This is exactly how I want to live.”
Sierra Towers condos in West Hollywood
Los Angeles Exteriors And Landmarks - 2020
For over a decade, Cox owned real estate in the celebrity-filled Sierra Towers high-rise building in West Hollywood. The actress purchased her first unit on the 25th floor in 2011 for $2.1 million and sold it 11 years later for $4.5 million. Because it was an off-market deal, details are scarce on the space’s interior. However, the two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit reportedly spanned 1,725 square feet and undoubtedly featured a picturesque view given its location in the 31-story building designed by midcentury-modern architect Jack A. Charney.
In 2014, Cox reportedly paid $2.5 million for her second 25th-floor Sierra Towers unit, adjacent to her first. The 1,315-square-foot unit included one bedroom and two bathrooms, and it was located on the north side of the building, which sits between Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. She sold the unit in 2020 for $2.9 million. Both purchases were made by Cox’s next-door neighbor, socialite Angelique Soave, who reportedly now owns half of the building’s 25th floor.
Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
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