Located north of Sunset Boulevard, the Hollywood Regency mansion featured four bedrooms and five bathrooms across the 5,066-square-foot property. The 0.7-acre estate, guarded by a privacy wall and iron gates, also included an expansive brick driveway with a patio deck and a pool out back as well as a hot tub, a cabana, and a sunken tennis court with seating for six. Built in 1954 by architect John Elgin Woolf, the single-level home featured high ceilings, tall windows, and skylights, with amenities including a library, a bar, a formal dining room, a breakfast room, and fireplaces in the living room and primary bedroom. Collins lived in the home during quarantine with McDowell before purchasing their dream home in Pasadena, California.
Pasadena Case Study house purchased from Kristen Wiig
The Emmy Award nominee made one of her most notable purchases when she obtained a historic home in Pasadena in 2021 for $3.9 million from Kristen Wiig. The Saturday Night Live alum paid $2.96 million in 2017 for the estate, which was part of the Case Study House program, launched in 1945 by Arts + Architecture magazine, that commissioned top architects of the time to design and construct inexpensive model homes for the housing boom at the end of World War II.
The midcentury house, surrounded by sycamore trees, was built in 1947 by father-son architecture team Kemper Nomland and Kemper Nomland Jr. and includes four bedrooms and four bathrooms. When Collins and McDowell first scoped out the property, “We looked at each other, and it was just this overwhelming emotional experience where we didn’t need to say more,” the actress told Vogue.
With the help of interior designer Emily Farnham, the couple renovated the 3,425-square-foot home to incorporate a style Collins described as “midcentury California meets Scandinavian,” a nod to the couple’s penchant for Nordic life. “We designed this house before we really started putting roots down in Scandinavia,” said Collins, who, along with McDowell, purchased two homes in Copenhagen in 2023. “It was almost ahead of our time because we didn’t realize we’d actually be immersed in it years later.”
The single-floor home, which sits on a 15,989-square-foot lot, has floor-to-ceiling windows and concrete flooring, and warm earth tones throughout the space give it a modern feel. A pool and spa were reportedly added in 2014, and a guesthouse accounts for a bed and a bathroom.
