D
iane Keaton’s career has long been marked by reinvention. While she is best known for her roles in romantic comedies and her fashion statements, she quietly built a parallel legacy as one of Los Angeles’ most prolific home flippers. Over four decades, the Oscar‑winning actress restored and sold historic and architecturally significant properties, turning neglected houses into refined showcases that often attracted Hollywood’s elite.
Realtor.com praised her “keen talent for home flipping, especially when it comes to restoring neglected or abandoned properties.” Her work was not a vanity project; it became a lasting contribution to the real‑estate and design communities.
**The House That Pinterest Built – Sullivan Canyon**
Keaton’s most personal and ambitious project was the 9,219‑square‑foot brick estate in Sullivan Canyon, dubbed the “House That Pinterest Built.” Inspired by her childhood love of “The Three Little Pigs,” the home took 14 years to complete. She called it her “dream home,” a five‑bedroom, seven‑bathroom residence that included a guesthouse, a pool, reclaimed architectural elements, and interiors sourced from thousands of Pinterest pins—a habit encouraged by longtime collaborator Nancy Meyers. The house was finished in 2017 and featured in Keaton’s bestselling design book of the same name. She moved in with her two children and their golden retriever, Emma. In March 2025, she listed the property for $28.9 million; by May it had dropped to $27.5 million and was taken off the market just weeks before her death.
**Tucson, Arizona – Barrio Viejo Adobe**
In 2018, Keaton discovered a 1900s adobe home in Tucson’s Barrio Viejo district and offered the owners $1.5 million. After purchasing the four‑bedroom, four‑bathroom, 4,500‑square‑foot property, she added a dramatic pool and refined interiors that elevated the original renovation. Realtor.com described the result as “an Arizona oasis overflowing with Southwestern charm.” Keaton listed the home in 2020 for $2.6 million; it sold in October 2020 for $2.2 million.
**Rustic Canyon – Lloyd Wright Home**
Keaton restored a 1950 Lloyd Wright–designed house in Rustic Canyon, originally built for composer Alfred Newman. The 1.4‑acre estate featured five bedrooms, 3.5 baths, concrete floors, angular rooms, exposed brick fireplaces, and a glass‑walled lofted primary suite. She preserved key mid‑century elements while updating the kitchen and modernizing finishes. The property sold in 2020 for $9.25 million, returned to the market in 2025 for $12.88 million, was re‑listed at $11.5 million, and was eventually pulled after a final cut to $10.4 million.
**Beverly Hills – 820 N. Roxbury Drive**
Keaton’s most star‑studded flip was an 8,434‑square‑foot Spanish Colonial Revival home purchased for $8.1 million in 2007. Designed by Ralph Flewelling in 1927, the seven‑bedroom, nine‑bathroom house wrapped around a brick courtyard with a fountain and had once been featured in Architectural Digest. She worked with designer Stephen Shadley to restore ornate features—including five fireplaces, a wine cellar, a gym, a den, and a bold library inscription that reads, “The Eye Sees What The Mind Knows.” Originally listed in 2009 for $12.995 million, the home sold in 2010 to Ryan Murphy for $10 million. Murphy later described its “colorful tilework” in Architectural Digest, though he eventually traded it for a more minimal Brentwood home for $16.25 million.
**Los Feliz – Samuel‑Novarro House**
Keaton’s first notable flip came in the 1980s when she purchased the 1928 Lloyd Wright–designed Samuel‑Novarro House in Los Feliz. The 2,690‑square‑foot residence, known for its Mayan‑inspired geometry, had fallen into disrepair. Keaton meticulously restored the landmark, honoring Wright’s vision, before selling it five years later. The home later appeared on historic tours, cementing her reputation in preservation circles.
Keaton’s fascination with architecture began in the 1970s with her Beaux‑Arts apartment in New York. “There was a window on every side. Everything was wide open. That was the beginning of my true interest in architecture,” she told Wine Spectator. Over the years, she compiled design tomes, collaborated with architects, and elevated underappreciated styles such as Spanish Mission, adobe, and mid‑century modern. Her flips were rarely quick; she lived in many of these homes, worked closely on their remodels, and viewed each as a design experiment. “If you want to explore… if you love to see… this book is an example of a home made from the gifts of other people’s addictive yearnings for the perfect home,” she wrote in *The House That Pinterest Built*.
Keaton never called herself a professional designer, but her work spoke for itself. Her taste influenced not only other celebrity buyers but also a generation of stagers, stylists, and even TikTok trends like “coastal grandmother,” which drew inspiration from her breezy, lived‑in interiors. When she listed her Sullivan Canyon home in early 2025—months before her passing at age 79—many in the design world speculated whether something had changed. This was the house she said she’d never leave. Yet, as with many of her properties, it may simply have been time for someone else to carry the story forward.
