Inside Shonda Rhimes’s Bicoastal Real Estate Portfolio

Elizabeth Stamp, Joyce Chen
·6 min read
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Photo: Marleen Moise/WireImage/Getty Images

Shonda Rhimes’s homes are undeniably as glamorous as the regal interiors on her show Bridgerton. The mega writer and producer has made her mark on Hollywood with an empire of hits over the past two decades, like Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, Inventing Anna, and Queen Charlotte. Next, she’s set to release a series for Netflix called The Residence, starring Uzo Aduba, a murder mystery inspired by a nonfiction book about the lives of White House staff members. Throughout her rise to fame, Rhimes has also cultivated an impressive real estate portfolio. The Chicago native began her career in the late ’90s, writing films including Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, and Crossroads, but became a household name in 2005 with the success of her TV show Grey’s Anatomy, the longest running primetime series in ABC history. Not long after Grey’s became a phenomenon, Rhimes began snapping up real estate in Los Angeles, and as her list of shows grew, so did her square footage on both coasts.

Spanish-style duplex

Following the success of Grey’s Anatomy, Shonda Rhimes created Private Practice, a spinoff of the series set in Los Angeles, which premiered in 2007. That same year, Rhimes purchased a Spanish-style duplex west of Los Angeles’s Hancock Park neighborhood for $1.66 million. According to Realtor.com, the 1920s property has two three-bedroom units and a pool. It appears that she still owns this home.

Hancock Park mansions

Three years later, in 2010, Rhimes purchased another Los Angeles property, this time in Hancock Park proper. She snapped up the 1920s mansion, which boasted six bedrooms and six full and three half bathrooms, for $5.6 million from the musician Beck, who sold it at a $1.15 million loss. The 8,298-square-foot house was set on nearly a half-acre hedge-lined corner lot and featured a pool, cabana/entertainment lounge, and a large backyard. (Beck had previously used the entertainment lounge as a recording studio.) Juliet balconies on the second floor overlooked the yard, and French doors connected the living spaces to the manicured outdoor areas. The primary suite occupied its own wing with an office, sitting area, two bathrooms, and two walk-in closets.

Rhimes put the home back on the market in 2018 for $9.995 million. She reduced the price to $8.5 million in May of the following year and sold it for $7.166 million in September.

Following the success of Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder, which premiered in 2012 and 2014, respectively, Rhimes added another Hancock Park home to her portfolio. She purchased the 8,400-square-foot home—built by architect Elmer Grey, who also designed the Beverly Hills hotel—from actress Patricia Heaton for $8.8 million. “My first thought was that it was ugly. And wrong,” she told Architectural Digest in 2019. So Rhimes dedicated considerable time and resources to make it right. The showrunner worked with architect Bill Baldwin of HartmanBaldwin and designer Michael S. Smith to restore and renovate the 1923 home. “I very much wanted a home that not only felt like a home for real family life but functioned like one as well,” Rhimes told AD in 2019. I thought, What is the point of a house my kids can’t be themselves in? Following the renovations, the now 12,000-square-foot home contained seven bedrooms, ten bathrooms, two kitchens, a movie theater, and a guest house with a hair salon. Rhimes put the home on the market for $25 million in the summer of 2021, dropping the price to $23 million by October. She sold it for $21 million in January of 2022, setting a sales record for the neighborhood.

In 2017, Rhimes moved from ABC to Netflix, where she signed a multiyear deal. That same year, she set her sights on another property in Hancock Park, buying an English Manor–style home for $4.6 million. The 4,895-square-foot, five-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bath brick home was built in 1924 and sat on a nearly half-acre lot, complete with a fountain, pool, gardens, and a guesthouse. Rhimes made several major changes to modernize the home while retaining its cozy manor feel, including replacing marble flooring in the foyer with light-colored stone tiles. She also added a patio to the backyard. After renovating the home, Rhimes put it up for sale in August 2022 for $6.5 million and sold the property for $5.957 million the following January.

NYC penthouse

The Year of Yes author went bicoastal in 2018 with the purchase of an $11.75 million penthouse in a Rosario Candela–designed 1927 building on Park Avenue in Lenox Hill. The five-room apartment has two bedrooms and two-and-a-half bathrooms. “I read too many books, I spend too much time living inside of books, so I envisioned a grand New York apartment,” she told AD in 2022. “I knew that I would know it when I saw it, and then I literally walked into this apartment. It was smaller than some of the places that I looked at, but I knew immediately. It has this wraparound terrace, and the light coming in was incredible. It felt like a place where, even though you’re in the middle of a city, you feel like you’re in your own little refuge.” Rhimes once again called upon her go-to designer, Michael S. Smith, to transform the home into a metropolitan sanctuary. Smith added plenty of spots for the writer to create, including “wonderful little nooks” on either side of the fireplace in the living room and a double-sided desk for her to work whilst staring out the window. Fans will be delighted to know that Rhimes’s NYC getaway includes elements of Bridgerton-inspired romanticism, including elegant chinoiserie wallpaper and gilt-wood mirrors. The showrunner still owns this home.

Connecticut estate

The latest addition to Shondaland is a Connecticut estate, which Rhimes purchased in October of 2022 for $15.175 million. The sellers of the Westport home were Melissa and Doug Berstein, founders of the toy company Melissa & Doug, who hired architecture firm Michael Greenberg & Associates to build the sprawling New England Colonial–style house in 2008. Located five miles north of the Long Island Sound, the approximately 38,000-square-foot home has 11 bedrooms, 12 full baths, and three half-baths. The compound sits on 7.5 acres and includes a movie theater, bowling alleys, basketball court, tennis court, pool with a waterslide and spa, an arcade, and an ice cream parlor—features Rhimes’s three daughters will no doubt enjoy. An attached one-bedroom in-law residence and a 770-square-foot guest house offer plenty of space for friends and family visiting Rhimes’s picturesque residence.

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

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