The sprawling New England-style mansion of Hollywood legend Rob Reiner and his wife Michele became a set in its own right today as police, media, friends and fans surrounded the property in the wake of the suspected double murder that happened overnight. The six-bedroom, six-bathroom house is in Brentwood, a leafy and affluent suburb within the Hollywood Hills and close to Sunset Boulevard. From this elevated position, the well-heeled neighbourhood has views overlooking the city. This pocket of western Los Angeles, with its village-like charm, is an easy sell for realtors (if the buyer has the funds). There's a farmer's market selling baked goods, fresh produce and artisanal crafts, and a country club of course. It is also a short walk to the beaches of Santa Monica.
The Reiner family home cost them $4.75 million back in the early '90s. Now the uber extravagant homes on sale here come with eye-wateringly high price tags such as a $49,500,000 tennis estate within the gated Brentwood Country Estates – on the market with Malibu Life real estate agency. In fact, former NFL star Tom Brady lived in a chateau on the estate before he sold the property to Dr Dre.
Brentwood is an area heaving with A-listers, top tier creatives and studio executives. Gwyneth Paltrow, LeBron James and Arnold Schwarzenegger have all owned there
The area is heaving with A-listers, top tier creatives and studio executives who appreciate the discretion of the neighbours and the fact that homes are often gated or designed to be invisible from the road. Gwyneth Paltrow, LeBron James and Arnold Schwarzenegger have all owned there along with the likes of Reese Witherspoon, George Clooney, Ben Affleck and Harrison Ford. And if the suburb sounds familiar, the double death of the Reiner's is not the first high profile and tragic crime to grip the Brentwood area. South Chadbourne Avenue is a quick car ride to Bundy Drive, famous as the scene of the fatal stabbing Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman outside her family home in 1994. Her ex-husband OJ Simpson was tried and acquitted for the murder but the event sparked a media circus and trial by conspiracy theorists continues even today. Marilyn Munroe was also found dead in her home in Brentwood in 1962, 12305 Fifth Helena Drive. This all reignites concerns of murder tourism in the sleepy suburb as the world reacts to the deaths of Rob and Michele Reiner.
The Reiners bought this house on South Chadbourne Avenue back in 1991 after he had made the psychological thriller Misery. They had been married two years earlier (1989) after a whirlwind romance having met when she was visiting the Harry Met Sally set. They had three children together and moved into their forever home in Brentwood. He had his eldest daughter Tracy (61) with his first wife Penny Marshall (divorced in 1981) and went on to have three children with Michele. Jake (34), Nick (32) and Romy (28) were all raised in the Brentwood house and Romy now lives over the road. It was Romy who discovered the bodies of her parents on Sunday night.
Today the property is ringing with sounds of sirens and sobbing, rather than children playing
Today the property is ringing with sounds of sirens and sobbing, rather than children playing. A neighbour reported that Billy Crystal and his wife Janice, close friends of the Reiners, visited the property shortly after they were found dead. The star of When Harry Met Sally and City Slickers was allowed inside the police cordon and was visibly upset. Reiner's pal and local Larry David has visited too. In fact, much of Curb your Enthusiasm – in which Reiner plays himself in one episode – is filmed in Brentwood. Fittingly, the Reiner residence was steeped in movie heritage. The couple bought the 10,000 sq ft house from Norman Lear – a producer and screenwriter who made ground-breaking shows such as All in the Family. This show launched Reiner's career. He starred as Michael "Meathead" Stivic in the programme that ran for nine series in the 1970s and won two Prime Time Emmy Awards for the part. Reiner went on to direct era-defining films such as When Harry Met Sally, Stand By Me and The Princess Bride. Lear, who died in 2023, had bought the house in 1972 and listed for $6.5 million nearly two-decades later, selling it to the Reiners for $4.75 million according to reports in the Los Angeles Times. Built in 1936, the property was also owned by Broadway and Hollywood actor Henry Fonda.
