6 Celebrities Who Bought Back Their Childhood Homes After Becoming Famous

While some stars upgrade and expand their real estate portfolios when they become famous, others prefer to stay a little closer to home.

Late country music star Dolly Parton, for example, purchased and restored the one-bedroom log cabin she grew up in with her parents and 11 siblings after she became famous. Kate Hudson, meanwhile, lives in the 1930s house where she spent part of her childhood.

“My very, very foundational memories were in that house, with my grandma, my grandpa, all of my mom’s aunts and uncles, Kurt [Russell] — my pa’s — parents,” Hudson told Architectural Digest in October 2025. “When I walked back into that house, I just had this overwhelming wave of nostalgia.”

Here are six celebrities who bought back their childhood homes after becoming famous.

01 of 06

Dolly Parton

Parton grew up in a one-bedroom log cabin in Tennessee with no electricity or running water.

“We didn’t have anything,” she recalled to Rolling Stone in January 2026. “Mama used to sew all of our quilts and curtains for the windows, remake our clothes, and make clothes out of feed sacks or scraps.”

Despite growing up in poverty, the late country music star told PEOPLE in November 2025 that she “felt like a star when I would stand on the front porch, put the tobacco stick down the crack on the porch back home on Locust Ridge and sing my little heart out.”

Parton found fame and fortune in Nashville, and her family eventually sold the home. Years later, she bought it back and restored it with the help of her brother, Bobby.

“My brother, Bobby, is a great carpenter,” she explained during a September 2010 appearance on The Nate Berkus Show, per The Boot. “He worked on it and restored it. What we tried to do was make it look like it did when we lived there, but we wanted it to be functional. So I spent a couple million dollars making it look like I spent $50 on it!”

Though the cabin is not open to the public, a replica of it exists at Parton’s namesake theme park, Dollywood.

02 of 06

Kate Hudson

Hudson lives in the four-bedroom Pacific Palisades, Calif., house where she spent part of her childhood. The Running Point actress toured it when she was pregnant with her son, Ryder, and experienced an “overwhelming wave of nostalgia” when she stepped inside, per Architectural Digest.

“I’m excited to honor the architecture and I think that it will always feel like the same house,” she told the publication in October 2025.

03 of 06

J. Cole

J. Cole immortalized his childhood home with his third album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive, which features a photo of the rapper sitting on the property’s roof. In 2014, he bought back the Fayetteville, N.C., home with plans to rent it “very close to rent-free” to a new local family every two years, per Complex.

“The love that was in this house, from my family … their forever, authentic love, is in places like this,” he told the publication in November 2014. “So that’s what buying this house represented for me. It was validation, it was vindication for them foreclosing this place for my mom and it was also just a symbol for me, like, okay, I know what’s important.”

04 of 06

Susan Boyle

Susan Boyle shot to fame after competing on season 3 of Britain’s Got Talent in 2009. The Scottish singer’s first album, I Dreamed a Dream, later became the fastest-selling debut album ever in the U.K., per The Guardian.

Amid her newfound fame, Boyle opted to remain in her hometown of Blackburn, Scotland, and eventually purchased the house she grew up in — along with the property next door.

“It’s best to be grounded and with your roots,” she explained to OK! Magazine in January 2023.

05 of 06

Joshua Jackson

Joshua Jackson was inspired to buy back his childhood home by his daughter, Juno, whom he shares with his ex-wife, Jodie Turner-Smith.

“I bought this house for my daughter,” he told his Dawson’s Creek costar Sasha Alexander on her Instagram Live in September 2024.

He added, “What I’ve realized in this last year is I never got to experience the love of a father. And I’m getting to experience it now. And that’s what this house is for.”

Jackson’s home was later destroyed in the January 2025 Los Angeles County wildfires. In September 2026, he told PEOPLE that he was still waiting on getting his permits to rebuild. The actor joined Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles for the Pacific Palisades Community Build on Sept. 24 to help other local families return home.

“For me personally, it’s kind of therapy … It feels nice to be able to make some positive impact on my community,” he said.

06 of 06

Ciara Miller

Ciara Miller revealed on a March 2026 episode of Summer House that she purchased her grandparents’ home in North Carolina.

She explained that while she lived in “probably five different houses” during her childhood, her grandparents’ home was “definitely the house that raised me.” 

“To think I have the opportunity to keep it in the family, which is something I believe that my grandfather would have wanted, it’s just really special,” she said. “I can’t believe that I have saved my money and been responsible enough — and also paid my taxes — that I can buy this house and [have] it remain in our family.”