The house that Ace Ventura: Pet Detective bought may soon no longer be owned by that smash hit comedy’s megastar, whose rumored retirement from acting may have already begun.
Beloved actor Jim Carrey purchased his Brentwood ranch-style 12,700-square foot, five-bedroom, six-bath spread (with a brick exterior and plenty of foliage) in 1994, right around the time his star-making movie opened in theaters nationwide. And the onetime highest-paid actor in Hollywood hasn’t gone anywhere since—but it seems he will soon, as the property’s now listed for $28.9, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
And Carrey let potential buyers know that this is the place where his comic (and sometimes acting) genius flourished, releasing a statement indicating that the property has been “a place of enchantment and inspiration” for over “30 very creative and prosperous years” for him.
“Every night the owls sang me lullabies and every morning I sipped my cup of joe with the hawks and hummingbirds, under a giant grandfather pine,” he wrote.
And this spacious and comfortable living space was hard-won after an unenviable adolescence. Carrey grew up in Toronto, where the future Golden Globe winner joined his dad working in a tire factory when he was 14; after they quit that work, the two took off in a Volkswagen van, which they lived in together for a period. His mother, who he described as “lovely” and assured a reporter was “always there for me…in the house,” was addicted to painkillers, he revealed to The Hollywood Reporter in a 2018 interview. “I know it sounds sad,” he told THR. “We lived in campgrounds or we lived on my sister’s lawn… but in a weird way, it was a much happier time.”
The spoils of his massive career success certainly show that he reversed his early misfortune. Starting with the outside of his longtime home, you’ll take in a waterfall pool, outdoor yoga and meditation platform, gazebo, spa, pool house with a sauna and steam room, gym, and tennis court. While traipsing the grounds, you’ll spy a “rock-lined swimming pool and a vegetable garden,” according to Dirt.
Inside the property, there are four fireplaces—one each in the living room, dining room, bedroom, and the masculine, wood-paneled primary bathroom. In Living Color fans can only wonder what fan-favorite Carrey character Fire Marshall Bill would say.
Carrey’s home boasts an art deco-style home theater that seats at least eight and the decor features costumes from some of his movie roles. The living room’s stunning white-painted pitched ceilings are a highlight of the property. And throughout the house, colorful art abounds—some of it by Carrey himself, who works in sculpture and mixed media.
In his statement, Carrey explains that he’s selling the house because a significant amount of his time is spent elsewhere these days. In fact, it seems to be a time of transformation for the actor. Even though he was seen in the popular Sonic: the Hedgehog movies recently, right now he has no upcoming projects listed.
Carrey made news in 2022 when he told Access Hollywood that he might stop acting altogether.
“Well, I’m retiring,” he told the show. “Yeah, probably. I’m being fairly serious. It depends. If the angels bring some sort of script that’s written in gold ink that says to me that it’s going to be really important for people to see, I might continue down the road, but I’m taking a break.”
“I have enough,” he concluded. “I’ve done enough.”
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