Tim Burton’s Homes: Inside the Director’s Real Estate Portfolio
Photo: Alessandra Benedetti - Corbis/Getty Images
Director Tim Burton’s homes fit his eccentric gothic style, and it seems it’s always been that way: The Burbank native’s childhood home was located just down the street from a cemetery, where a teenage Burton took frequent refuge. “It didn’t quite feel morbid, although people probably think it is,” the Nightmare Before Christmas director told Entertainment Weekly in 2012. “It felt more exciting and lonely and special and emotional. I guess it was a good place to think.”
Throughout the years, Burton’s homes have continued to echo the dark visual language that populates his work. “He’s got slime balls and dead Oompa-Loompas lying around, and skeletons and weird alien lights,” the filmmaker’s former partner, actor Helena Bonham Carter, once said of his decor choices. Below, we’ve rounded up what we know about the quirky places the filmmaker—whose movie Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the sequel to his classic 1988 film, hit theaters earlier this month—has called home over the years.
Where does Tim Burton live now?
Not much light has been shed on his Los Angeles properties, but at one point the director lived in Hollywood’s hilltop High Tower Court neighborhood—and befriended the mother of magician David Copperfield, who also lived there at the time. The exclusive enclave, which was also once home to Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain, has a unique feature: It is only accessible via a private elevator that dates to the ’20s (or a lengthy set of stairs).
As for his current home, facts about its specs or whereabouts within California aren’t publicly available, but Wednesday star Jenna Ortega did share some details about Burton’s spooky style in a recent interview with Vanity Fair. “You walk in and it’s the huge throne from Alice in Wonderland,” she said, referring to the ornate red-and-gold heart-shaped seat that belonged to the Queen of Hearts (played by Bonham Carter) in the filmmaker’s 2010 take on the Lewis Carroll tale. “There’s a jar of eyeballs in the bathroom,” Ortega also divulged. (We assume these are fake.)
Belsize Park marital home
Burton and Bonham Carter first met on the set of the director’s 2001 film, Planet of the Apes, which the British actor starred in. The pair became an item shortly after, and Burton bought the two units neighboring Bonham Carter’s 19th-century artist cottage in London’s Belsize Park neighborhood. The Harry Potter star kept her small unit, while Burton claimed one as his own space, and the third became the primary area for their two children, born in 2003 and 2007, to play with their nanny.
At some point the pair knocked down a wall separating their units, and in 2012, they adjoined the abodes with a cupola-topped walkway on the first floor. “He always visits, which is really touching. He’s always coming over,” Bonham Carter said in a 2010 interview with The Guardian. The Fight Club actor then explained that her and Burton’s sleeping habits—including the director’s snoring problem—were part of the reason why they each had their own dwellings and slept separately. “We see as much of each other as any couple, but our relationship is enhanced by knowing we have our personal space to retreat to,” Bonham Carter also said in 2010. Following their 2014 split, the London native kept the residences.
Oxfordshire country retreat
In 2006, Burton and Bonham Carter spent ￡2.9 million ($3.8 million) on a brick 18th-century English country home in Oxfordshire known as Mill House. The Grade II–listed eight-bedroom dwelling once belonged to Bonham Carter’s great-grandfather, former prime minister Herbert Henry Asquith. Burton decorated the estate’s eight-acre garden with an array of hand-painted dinosaur statues, including a 25-foot-tall T. rex. The Big Fish director retained the landmark home following his breakup with Bonham Carter.
New York City apartment
At some point during their 13-year relationship, Burton and Bonham Carter had a unit inside the iconic Art Deco–style building at One Fifth Avenue in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. The 1927-built structure, which stretches 27 stories and is two blocks from Washington Square Park, has long been a coveted address. Celebrities like Jessica Lange, Patti Smith, and Keith Richards have all called the tower home.
Primrose Hill retreat
While working on his live-action remake of Disney’s Dumbo between 2016 and 2019, Burton rented a 13,000-square-foot live/work space called Eglon House in London’s tony Primrose Hill neighborhood. The 2016-built four-story dwelling is composed of two connecting buildings and a central courtyard. Burton reportedly used one wing as his studio and personal living quarters, while the other accommodated members of his creative team and other film crew. The five-bedroom home, which was modeled after the Art Deco–style Maison de Verre in Paris, sits on the former site of Mayfair Recording Studios, which was used in the 1970s by an impressive list of musicians that includes David Bowie, Tina Turner, and Pink Floyd.
Some of the home’s most impressive features include floor-to-ceiling bronze windows, a 2,000-square-foot primary suite, a sauna and steam room, and a basement swimming pool that transforms into a movie theater at the push of a button. The exact amount that Burton paid is unconfirmed, but the abode was listed for $161,000 a month before the director’s tenancy. The unique property most recently sold in 2023 for $21.76 million.
London mansion
In 2018, the Corpse Bride director bought an ￡11 million ($14.43 million) Edwardian mansion from Scottish actor Tom Conti. Nestled in London’s desirable Hampstead Heath neighborhood, the five-bedroom house was designed in 1903 by Wlliam Garnett, a mathematician who reportedly took inspiration from Lewis Carroll’s nonsensical poem “Jabberwocky” when he named the home “The Wabe,” making it an especially appropriate home for the Alice in Wonderland director. The eclectic structure blends several architectural styles, including Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau, and Scottish Baronial. Spanning roughly 6,600 square feet, the house features a double-height ballroom and a rooftop garden. It seems Burton still owns the dwelling, and isn’t likely to leave London any time soon: “Growing up, I always felt like a foreigner. When I went to London…it was very strange. I felt it was foreign but I felt comfortable there,” the Edward Scissorhands filmmaker told The Independent in 2023. “People were more eccentric. I don’t know, there was something about it.”
Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
More Great Celebrity Style Stories From AD
Not a subscriber? Join AD for print and digital access now.
Browse the AD PRO Directory to find an AD-approved design expert for your next project.