Betty White’s beloved California home demolished one year after her death
Betty White’s home in California has been demolished.
The Golden Girls star and the longest-working personality in American television, died aged 99 on 31 December 2021.
White and her late husband and fellow American TV personality, Allen Ludden, bought the property in 1968.
On Sunday (11 December), the late actors’ assistant Kiersten Mikelas, who now runs White’s Instagram account, posted a photo announcing White’s home of more than 50 years has been torn down.
“This is such a busy time of year and coming up on the anniversary of Betty’s passing is hitting in ways I hadn’t anticipated,” she wrote of White. “Her Brentwood home is no more (save the fireplaces which will be gone in short order).”
Mikelas added: “I promise a wonderful tribute to our most wonderful lady very soon!!!!”
In the photo, bare earth on the ground is visible where the home previously stood, with construction machinery in the shot.
“This is terrible! Why demolish such a beautiful icons home not even a full year after her passing?!” wrote one Instagram user.
Another fan commented: “Unless this is being rebuilt into an animal rescue of some sort in honor of our Queen White ... WE DONT WANT IT!”
Pieces of the icon’s former residence have been rehomed. “So honored to have been able to buy the big yellow front door to this home,” comedian Chelcie Lynn commented on the post. “It’ll be used on the house I build.”
In June, the property in Brentwood, California sold for $10.6m (£8.5m) after just one month on the market, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The home, which was more than 3,000 square feet wide and had five bedrooms and six baths, was listed by Marlene Okulick of Sotheby’s International Realty. According to the listing, the property was sold for “land value,” which means that the building’s demolition was planned.
The former two-storey home included a sunroom, a swimming pool, a three-car garage and a guest house, according to WSJ.
“Betty White was a California girl through and through,” the star’s estate told WSJ. “Despite living in New York when she and Allen Ludden were first married, she longed to be ‘back home’ in Los Angeles where she grew up.”
The couple reportedly purchased the home in 1968 for its proximity to Hollywood studios and its private setting.
News that the home has been sold off and torn down comes almost one year after the Hollywood icon’s death on 31 December 2021.
White was weeks away from what would have been her 100th birthday.
In cover story for People Magazine in the US, the star shared her secrets to longevity. She said that she enjoyed “a quiet life” at home in California following her years in entertainment, playing crossword puzzles and card games, along with watching animal documentaries, golf and Jeopardy!
