In 1993, Hanks bought and customized a Model 34 Limited Excella trailer to better suit the demands of his busy filming schedule. “I got it in the days when movies moved slower,” he told Bonhams Magazine decades later. “I had spent too much time in regular trailers with ugly decor and horribly uncomfortable furniture, so I decided to buy a brand-new Airstream shell with an interior made to my own request.” At 33 feet long, it held a kitchen, a bathroom, a bed, a couch, and a wooden table and chair set. There was even a faux fireplace for extra coziness. By the time Hanks put it up for auction in 2021, it had traveled to 18 locations across the country—including South Carolina for Forrest Gump and Seattle for Sleepless in Seattle—and it featured stickers on the window denoting each place. The Airstream ultimately sold for $235,200 at auction that August; it’s unknown how much the actor originally paid for it.
Idaho vacation home
In the early 2000s, Hanks and Wilson custom-built a residence in the small town of Ketchum, Idaho, likely meant to be a ski vacation home. They reportedly paid around $12 million for the villa, which made headlines in subsequent years because of an ongoing dispute between the couple and the construction company that built the abode. In 2007, Hanks and Wilson reportedly sued the company for $3 million for shoddy construction that had impacted their ability to live in and enjoy the home. (Oregon Live reported that among the complaints was the fact that sliding snow from the roof damaged the kitchen windows and the roof itself just one year after construction.) Hanks and Wilson unfortunately lost the legal battle and even had to pay the full cost of arbitration: $167,623. They still own this home.
Neighboring Pacific Palisades pads
Next, the duo expanded their footprint in the Pacific Palisades with the purchase of two neighboring properties, each situated on one-acre lots overlooking the sea. First, in 2003, they snapped up a 1930s Spanish Revival–style villa that was formerly owned by Dog Day Afternoon screenwriter Frank Pierson. The abode measured 4,000 square feet and featured four bedrooms, four and a half baths, beamed ceilings, a tiled staircase with iron rails, a library, and a wood-paneled dining room.
Four years later, Hanks and Wilson picked up the seven-bedroom English cottage-style mansion next door. It spanned 7,260 square feet and boasted a screening room, eat-in kitchen, and a billiard room with a fireplace and a pub. The pair paid a total of $13.1 million in separate off-market transactions for the two homes, which were listed together for $18 million in 2016. They were both picked up by the same buyer for a combined price of $17.5 million the following year.
Greek getaway
Years before they became honorary Greek citizens, Hanks and Wilson (the latter has Greek ancestry) were big fans of family getaways to the picturesque nation. Specifically, the couple enjoyed the small island of Antiparos, where they bought a plot of land to build a dream vacation home in 2004. Not much is known about the property—part of the draw of the location is the privacy that they are afforded there—but what is known is that the house itself spans a modest 1,476 square feet and is situated on about six acres of land.
Pacific Palisades primary residence
Perhaps Hanks and Wilson’s best-known home is their $26 million Pacific Palisades residence, a spacious mansion measuring 14,513 square feet, with four bedrooms and five bathrooms scattered throughout the property’s three stories. The contemporary-style home, which the couple bought in 2010 from The Sixth Sense film producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, is perched atop a cliffside overlooking the ocean, and was originally built in 1996 but significantly updated in 2006. Amenities include a two-level limestone pavilion, a wine cellar, a cliffside swimming pool and deck area, and a tree-lined motor court. The couple still owns this Gwathmey Siegel–designed home and consider it their main residence.
A second villa in Greece
Hanks and Wilson adored their frequent vacations to Greece so much that they reportedly purchased a second home in the Skala area of Patmos Island in 2018. The seaside villa is reportedly built from stone in the Dodecanese architectural style, with an expansive terrace looking out over the sea. “Greece is a haven,” Hanks proclaimed in 2020. “The land, the sky, the water, it’s good for the soul, it’s a healing place. Particularly if you get into that fabulous Greek schedule of sleeping until noon, staying up until 3 o’clock in the morning and arguing in a taverna until 3:00 am. It’s just the best life one can have.”
