Celebrity Style

7 Castle Homes With Famous Owners

These stunning structures range from historic relics to modern interpretations
Actress Jane Seymour previously owned St. Catherines Court a manor home in Avon England.
Actress Jane Seymour previously owned St. Catherine’s Court, a manor home in Avon, England.Photo: Peter Kredenser

As if house hunting weren’t an enormous task on its own, imagine shopping for real-life castle homes. In the most traditional sense, a castle is a fortified dwelling. There’s usually a large central building surrounded by tall walls, observation towers, and a protective moat. Yes, it may sound like the stuff of fairy tales, but across the globe, an array of castles remain operational, and they have—perhaps unsurprisingly—attracted the attention of celebrities who are searching for homes with a truly regal legacy.

Actor Dominic West, for instance, restored a castle in Ireland that had been the family home of his wife, Catherine Fitzgerald. Meanwhile, Kit Harington and Rose Leslie tied the knot in a Scottish castle that the actress’s family has owned for nine centuries. Keep reading to learn more about celebrity-owned castles—and castle-esque properties—that are bringing an air of enchantment to the modern age.

Jeremy Irons

Kilcoe Castle in County Cork, Ireland.

Photo: Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

In 1998, Jeremy Irons began restoration efforts on Kilcoe Castle, a 15th-century castle off the Irish coast. The entire process took six years. The British actor worked with many locals to complete the project, telling Vanity Fair in 2017 that practically anyone who wanted a job could get one. Today, the castle sleeps 13, and the master suite features an arching wood roof inspired by the attic in an old French farmhouse that he frequented while filming The Man in the Iron Mask. The main living area, called the “solar,” is where Irons displays artwork and mementos.

Dominic West and Catherine Fitzgerald

Glin Castle in County Limerick, Ireland.

Photo: RDImages/Epics/Getty Images

Keeping it in the family was a priority for actor Dominic West and his wife, designer Catherine Fitzgerald, whose ancestral home, Glin Castle, was briefly put on the market a couple years ago. That is, until the couple decided to purchase the 20,000-square-foot behemoth of a building along with Fitzgerald’s two sisters. Located along the Irish coast, it’s now a retreat for family and friends, and celebrities like Taylor Swift and Mick Jagger have been among its list of notable guests. “Very little has changed,” West told Architectural Digest in 2019. “We’ve just replaced carpets and curtains, but the furniture is pretty much as my father-in-law left it. He was a collector of Irish furniture, and a lot of the furniture was made for the house, so it’s been here for decades or centuries.”

Kit Harington and Rose Leslie

The main entrance to Wardhill Castle in Aberdeenshire.

Photo: Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images

It’s hard to deny that the 2018 marriage of Kit Harington and Rose Leslie wasn’t something straight out of Game of Thrones, the HBO epic that they both starred in. The couple was married in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, at Wardhill Castle, which has been owned by Leslie’s family for nine centuries. Constructed in the 1100s, the castle conveys an authentic Middle Ages feel amid its collection of towers and turrets. It has eight bedrooms, as well as a rustic one-bedroom cabin, and is available to rent for private events at the cost of around £2,500 per night.

Tommy Hilfiger and Dee Hilfiger

Tommy Hilfiger’s former Connecticut home.

Photo: Oberto Gili 

The fashion designer and his wife channeled English manor charm in their former Greenwich, Connecticut home, known as Round Hill. Originally called Château Paterno, architect Greville Rickard designed the property in 1939 for real estate scion Charles Vincent Paterno. Now, decades later, the cozy home blends the styles of both Hilfigers, though Dee admits she quickly fell for the castle-like locale the minute they first came up the driveway, despite it needing some upgrades. “The house was in disrepair, and we knew it needed a lot of work, but we also knew that this would be our home,” she told AD in 2017. The couple parted ways with the place last year.

Derek Jeter

In upstate New York, Derek Jeter has a sprawling estate anchored by a castle-like building on a hill and a smaller guesthouse right on the water. Both are made of gray stone, feature turrets and low stone walls, and span across four acres. In total, there’s 12,600 square feet of living space, with 6 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, and 4 kitchens. Jeter has previously attempted to sell the multimillion-dollar property after restoring it, but hasn’t had much success.

Jane Seymour

The orangery at the former home of Jane Seymour and her former husband David Flynn.

Photo: Peter Kredenser

Jane Seymour knew the moment she laid eyes on St. Catherine’s Court back in 1982, it was something special. Though not a traditional castle, the English manor still retained its own church, tithe barn, and cottages. She initially split time between St. Catherine’s Court and her family’s main home in California, noting to AD in 1991 that, “Sometimes I go for a walk, pick some wildflowers, and then I sit down here with the children and sketch.” In November 2007, Seymour sold the property to an unknown buyer, and it’s now available to rent for special events and weddings.

Norman Reedus and Diane Kruger

After living in it for two years, Norman Reedus and Diane Kruger decided to sell their castle-like home in Los Angeles. Built in the mid-1920s, the 7,732-square-foot mansion rests on a cliff with sweeping views of the city and nearby Laurel Canyon. With four bedrooms and seven bathrooms, the home had plenty of living space, in addition to a kitchenette, a screening room, a music studio, a game room, and a gym. The couple also shares a New York City town house in the West Village.