Once a top earner in Hollywood and worth around $150 million (£120m), Nicolas Cage is said to have blown his fortune on a string of lavish and somewhat unique properties, including two castles, an island in the Bahamas and one of the most haunted houses in America. Some of his more eccentric buys even include 'shrunken' heads and a pyramid mausoleum. He was on the brink of bankruptcy in 2009 and at one point owed the US treasury $14 million (£11m) in unpaid taxes. And that’s before we even touch on his five marriages, including one to the late Lisa Marie Presley. Are you ready to take a tour of Cage's intriguing property portfolio?
At the height of his real estate spree, Nicolas Cage was said to own 15 residences in America and Europe, but to Cage’s credit, he's worked tirelessly to pay off his debts. Since his money troubles began, he has signed up to more than 46 films, many of which were direct-to-digital releases, to avoid declaring bankruptcy. But the tides appear to be turning for the star, who's in the midst of a major comeback. His performance in 2021's critically acclaimed drama Pig garnered him Oscar buzz and his upcoming film A24's Dream Scenario looks to follow suit. He married for the fifth time, to Riko Shibata, in 2021, and the couple live with their baby daughter, August, in Las Vegas. But let’s go back to the beginning…
Nicolas Cage was born on 7 January 1964 in Long Beach, California to Joy Vogelsang, a dancer and choreographer who passed away in 2021, and August Coppola, a professor of literature who died in 2009. He has two older brothers, Marc and Christopher. His uncle is Francis Ford Coppola, director of the Godfather trilogy, meaning his cousin is film director Sofia Coppola.
Cage dropped out of Beverly Hills High School to pursue his dream of becoming an actor, enrolling at the prestigious UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in Los Angeles where fellow alumni include Ben Stiller, Jim Morrison and Steve Martin. He changed his last name to Cage, after the Marvel comics superhero Luke Cage and composer John Cage, because he didn’t want to be accused of nepotism.
Cage got his start in teenage comedies like Fast Times at Ridgemont High but hit the big time when he starred opposite Cher in Moonstruck in 1987, the same year he met his first wife, Patricia Arquette. He went on to star in such critically acclaimed films as Raising Arizona, Wild at Heart and Birdy, and received an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for his role in 1995’s Leaving Las Vegas. He and Arquette married in 1995, but they divorced six years later.
Superstardom followed, as Cage made a series of action thrillers, including The Rock, Con Air and Face/Off, which starred Cage opposite John Travolta and turned him into one of the highest-earning actors in Hollywood. He was reportedly paid $20 million (£16m) for 2000's Gone In 60 Seconds, so no wonder he was starting to spend, spend, spend. The first in a series of luxurious residences was this 11,817-square-foot Bel Air mansion he bought in 1998 for $6.5 million (£5.2m).
Boasting six bedrooms, nine bathrooms, a theatre, a library and a wine cellar, Cage listed the impressive property for $35 million (£28m) in 2010, which is when his money problems first began. Drowning in debt, the property went into foreclosure a few years later and ultimately sold for just $10.5 million (£8.4m), less than a third of Cage's asking price, according to the LA Times.
The former home of Dean Martin and Tom Jones, the Bel Air manse's interiors had been given an exuberant makeover by Cage, which a local realtor described as 'frat house bordello' in the interview with the LA Times. The rooms were painted in garish hues and featured touches such as sconces modelled from a cast of Cage's arm, a bright red dragon sculpture and an electric train which chugged around the breakfast room. Could these have put off prospective buyers?
As well as the lavish interior the estate boasted an Olympic-size pool, but Cage was probably pleased to get shot of the property in the end. Despite being ranked as the fifth-highest-paid actor in the US, with earnings of $40 million (£32m), he had borrowed against the property to the tune of $18 million (£14.4m). To make matters worse, several of the Hollywood actor's other homes were repossessed around this time.
Before the storm, however, Cage was able to enjoy a period of calm, and even some wedded bliss. The most high-profile of his five marriages was to the late Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley. The couple married in Hawaii in August 2002 on the 25th anniversary of her father’s death, reported The Mirror. The couple filed for divorce just three months later and were divorced by 2004, the same year Cage married his third wife Alice Kim, with whom he had a son, Kal-El, who was born in 2005. Cage already had a son Weston, born in 1990, from his relationship with Christina Fulton.
It wasn’t all bad financial decisions in the early days. Cage actually made a huge profit on this classic Newport Bay property he owned from 2005 to 2007, according to Yahoo! News. The celebrity actor bought the waterfront residence for $25 million (£20m), then sold it at the height of the market for $35 million (£28m).
The 8,355-foot residence has four bedrooms, six bathrooms and oversized terraces with tropical gardens and lawns running to the water’s edge. The finest house in the bay, it features outstanding private dock facilities and could accommodate a single yacht of up to 156 feet in length. It's also located next door to John Wayne's former home.
It's an impressive, classically modern residence with grand entertaining rooms and a detached guesthouse. The actor decided to move on in 2007, however, after encountering an intruder inside his home, according to reports. He is said to have relocated to the Bel Air mansion mentioned above and sold the Newport Beach property to Jerry Herbst, who owns gas stations across America.
At one stage, the actor owned 15 multi-million-dollar properties around the world, including this 14,000-square-foot mansion in Las Vegas, which he bought in 2006 for $8.5 million (£6.8m). According to records on Realtor, Cage attempted to sell it in 2008 for $9.9 million (£7.9m), after it became clear he had bitten off more than he could chew in terms of property acquisition. He later lowered the price to $9.5 million (£7.6m) but had no success.
One year later, in 2009, the bank foreclosed on the mansion amid revelations that Cage owed $14 million (£11m) in unpaid taxes, according to reports by the New York Post. The home was almost immediately snapped up by a buyer for just $4.95 million (£4m) – and no wonder; aside from being a bargain, the property has seven bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, a 10-car garage and jaw-dropping views of the glittering Las Vegas skyline.
The home’s open floor plan was clearly designed for entertaining A-listers, with flawlessly connected living, dining and kitchen spaces, not to mention a commercial elevator for staff and deliveries. A state-of-the-art media room provides the perfect setting for home screenings, while downstairs the finished basement includes a game room, kitchenette, staff quarters and plenty of storage space.
Also according to the New York Post, Cage considered buying back the property, which boasts this infinity pool, when it was placed on the market again for $6 million (£4.8m) in 2021, but these plans never came to fruition. He obviously has a soft spot for Sin City, however, as he moved back there in the summer of 2022 to start a new life with his fifth wife, Riko Shibata, who gave birth to the couple's daughter that September.
Fresh from his hit National Treasure, Cage was really splashing the cash in 2006. He bought several properties that year, including this stunning Gothic mansion in San Francisco. Built in 1914, the four-storey property boasts some stunning exterior features, including stained glass windows, a stone arch and an iron gate, while its views over the San Francisco Bay area and Alcatraz are truly enviable.
Inside, the house has undergone a comprehensive refurbishment but retains many of its period details, including wood-burning fireplaces and original millwork. The characterful open-plan ground floor includes a large foyer with a classic gothic staircase, formal living area, dining room and library, as well as access to an attached two-door garage.
Meanwhile, the kitchen, with its sleek grey marble-effect cabinetry and worktops, offers a more modern feel. The actor reportedly bought the 6,305-square-foot home for $9.4 million (£7.5m) and sold it at a loss in 2008 for $7.7 million (£6.2m) while in the depths of his financial woes. He isn’t the only Coppola to buy property in the city. His uncle Francis Ford Coppola’s production company is based at the city’s historic Columbus Tower, also known as the Sentinel.
The master bedroom comes complete with two dressing rooms, a freestanding bath and a bar, while two ensuite bedrooms on the top floor feature dramatic vaulted ceilings. The historic property, which was originally built for celebrated sculptor Haig Patigian and has its own gym and wine cellar, returned to the market in 2021 with an asking price of $10.9 million (£8.7m).
Unfortunately, Cage’s slice of paradise was one of the first things to go when the tax authorities came knocking. He listed it for $7 million (£5.6m) in a bid to pay off his debts and, according to reports, it was snapped up by a German Shepherd named Gunther the Vl, who inherited nearly half a billion dollars from a German countess. Sounds too weird to be true? That's because it is. The shaggy dog story features in the Netflix documentary Gunther’s Millions which reveals the real mastermind was an Italian tycoon. In fact, the island is still for sale with Private Islands Online for $19.9 million (£15.8m).
From dogs to vampires, and while his character Dracula from the 2023 film Renfield might have approved, Cage ultimately had to let go of his spooky castle in Bavaria. The actor bought the 16th-century Schloss Neidstein in Etzelwang, Germany for $2.3 million (£1.8m) in 2006, but was forced to sell the estate in 2009 due to his mounting debts. He said in an interview that he was inspired to buy the castle because his mother, Joy Vogelsang, was of German-Polish descent.
The 9,688-square-foot castle, which comes with 400 acres of fields and forest, has 28 rooms, including 10 bedrooms and five bathrooms. Cage had already invested a great deal of money in renovating the castle when he was forced to sell because of the “difficult economic situation”, but told German weekly Bunte: "It will always have a firm place in my memory."
Luckily, Cage still had another castle waiting in the wings. The Ghost Rider star reportedly spent $6.3 million (£5m) on the 18th-century Midford Castle in Somerset in 2007. The Gothic folly was built in 1775 for Henry Disney Roebuck and is located two miles south of Bath, in the shadow of Combe Down. Built in the shape of the ace of clubs, the Grade l listed property sits on 35 acres of parkland and 12 acres of woodland.
The actor had hoped to totally renovate the property and set up home there with his wife Alice Kim and son Kal-El. Apparently, the star had even looked at schools and agreed to turn on the Christmas lights in the area but he was forced to part with the castle after he had a tax lien placed on him by the US authorities in 2009, forcing him to sell several of his properties.
Cage is said to have halted all renovation works when he was offered a figure close to the guide price of $4.5 million (£3.5m), even though it was below what he paid for the castle. It is understood that the loss was a huge blow to the actor, who had been looking forward to a simple life as king of the castle. Sadly, the actor bought many of his homes at the top of the property bubble and didn’t get out in time.
All was not lost, however. Cage sold Midford Castle in 2009 to Scott Adams, the owner of wellness company Nutrisport, who completed Cage’s renovations and has turned the property into a family home. He has converted the outbuildings, including the stables, the chapel and the castle vaults, into charming holiday lets, which are heated through sustainable, carbon-neutral biomass and solar power.
Cage was also once the owner of the infamous LaLaurie Mansion in New Orleans, said to be one of the most haunted houses in America. It was previously the home of Madame Delphine LaLaurie, a 19th-century socialite and serial killer who was notorious for the torture and murder of enslaved people. Cage purchased the fabled property for $3.4 million (£2.7m) in 2007.
The story goes that Delphine took her frustrations out on the enslaved people in her house after her third husband Louie left her in 1834. When a fire started the same year, rescuers discovered their mutilated bodies and Delphine fled the city that night, never to return (or not physically, at least). The hauntings are said to have started when the house became a school in the late 1800s and female pupils discovered mysterious bloody scratches on their arms. The property is considered one of the most paranormally active houses in America.
Kathy Bates played Delphine in the television series American Horror Story: Coven and Cage said in an interview he was so fascinated by its ghostly past that he thought it would be "a good place in which to write the great American horror novel". The tome never materialised and Cage eventually lost the house to foreclosure in 2009, reports Forbes.
Less spooky but no less historical, Cage’s other New Orleans house in the city's Garden district also went to foreclosure in 2009 for $2.2 million ($1.8m), although it was appraised at $3.3 million (£2.6m), according to CNN. The 13,000-square-foot French colonial home includes a shrine and is known as Our Mother of Perpetual Help Chapel, though she clearly wasn't offering assistance of the financial variety.
The storied Greek Revival-Italianate house was built as a private residence, but over its 165 years, it has also served as a Catholic chapel, an all-girls’ school and as the personal home of novelist Anne Rice, whose novel Interview With A Vampire, was made into a film starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. Maybe Cage should have attempted his great American horror novel here!
The Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans have long run tours of the house, designed by architect Henry Howard and built in 1856 for wealthy coffee importer Henry T. Daily Lonsdale, and the current owners are said to be in the midst of a substantial restoration of the elegant property. "Very little of the original home remains," the current owner said.
The owners have gone some way to restoring the house to its former glory and are reported to have discovered some of the furnishings left behind from when Cage owned the house, including a bar imported from Europe and a pool table that once belonged to Dean Martin.
Cage did his best to offload properties before they plummeted in value at the time of the housing crisis in the late 2000s. Still raking in the millions in 2007, he bought this New England, Rhode Island mansion for $15.7 million (£12.6m) and listed it the following year for $15.9 million (£12.7m), but didn’t manage to sell it off until 2011 for $6.5 million (£5.2m), a fraction of what he paid for it.
Known as Gray Craig, the 24,000-square-foot stone manor house, located near Sachuest Beach in Middletown, has 12 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms and many elegant reception rooms, including a library and this traditional living room.
Cage might have enjoyed entertaining friends in this stunning dining room, but he didn’t have long to enjoy the trappings of Rhode Island life. "I was overinvested in real estate… The real estate market crashed and I couldn’t get out in time," he later reflected in an interview for 60 Minutes.
He must have been sad to bid farewell to the home’s lovely pool and 27 acres. "Everybody makes mistakes, it’s part of being human," he told Good Morning America. He also blamed his former manager, who he sued in 2009, for allegedly leading him "down a path toward financial ruin", according to an interview in GQ. The manager countered with a suit about the actor’s excessive spending. Both suits were reportedly dismissed the following year.
At one stage Cage owned four superyachts, including the Sarita, which he purchased in 2009 and boasts 12 master bedrooms, an onboard jacuzzi and a lower deck restaurant. The yacht is estimated to have cost him a hefty $20 million (£16m), but like most of his other assets, he was eventually forced to sell the yacht to pay his debts.
Cage had this nine-foot-high white pyramid tomb constructed in 2010 for $20,000 (£16k) after his finances started going downhill the previous year and following his father’s death the previous year. The tomb is located in the historic St. Louis Cemetery No.1, also the resting place of Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans. The Inscription in Latin reads 'Omnia Ab Uno', which translates as 'Everything from one'.
Cage confirmed in his 2022 interview with GQ that he had settled his debts and is now estimated to be worth around $25 million (£20m). Although he was briefly married to make-up artist Erika Koike in 2019, he made a fresh start with his fifth wife Riko Shibata in 2021. The couple live in a gated community in Las Vegas, which was glimpsed during his interview for 60 Minutes.
Leaning towards his taste for the Gothic, the home boasts a huge stone fireplace, above which a charcoal drawing of his late father takes pride of place. Suspended from the ceiling is a dazzling crystal chandelier, while mighty bronze dragons guard the entrance hall. Cage moved back to Las Vegas in 2021 but first settled here in 2006, originally to avoid state taxes.
The home tour also revealed a menagerie of exotic pets, including a sea turtle in an aquarium, a crow called Huginn and a "black dragon" monitor lizard that Cage says “is like having a real dinosaur in your house”. Fans will recall that Cage once paid $270,000 (£216k) for a 67-million-year-old skull of a Tarbosaurus bataar, outbidding fellow auction enthusiast Leonardo DiCaprio.
With his money worries (hopefully) behind him and his new-found wealth and success following a spate of high-profile movies including The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, in which he plays himself, his fortunes are on the up. We wonder whether the actor might be pondering another flirtation with the property market in the near future… It's sure to be interesting!
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