‘White Lotus' star is considering ditching her New York retreat — due to soaring renovation costs

For nearly two decades, actress Parker Posey has cultivated an off-screen identity as a self-described 'lady of the land' in New York's affluent Hudson Valley, retreating from New York City to a 16-acre spread along the Hudson River.
But rising renovation costs may soon put an end to her upstate experiment.
Posey, 56, revealed on the 'Smartless' podcast — hosted by Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett — that she's contemplating selling the farmhouse she bought in 2007 for $650,000 and heading back to Los Angeles.
6 Actress Parker Posey is considering selling her rustic farmhouse in New York's Hudson Valley and returning to Los Angeles due to ballooning renovation costs.
HBO
'I don't know if I should say bye to the renovation, because it's so expensive, and if I should just sell it and move somewhere else,' she told the hosts.
The property, which includes a barn, a resort-style pool, a pond and a gazebo was meant to be a private, pastoral escape.
But its charm has come with a steep price tag.
Posey described her home as 'really crunchy granola' and said she's been overwhelmed by the costs and complexity of upgrading it.
'I am trying to renovate and get a new kitchen because there's the insulation, you know the pipes freeze and all that; and I love a project, but I don't look at my house and think it's mine,' she said.
6 Posey, 56, bought the 16-acre property in 2007 for $650,000 as a serene escape from city life.
Google Earth
The actress, known for her roles in 'Dazed and Confused,' 'The Daytrippers' and 'Party Girl,' noted that while she cherishes the rural setting, maintaining the home without the support of a city base has been difficult.
'I couldn't carry both the city and the country, so I got rid of the city and now I'm putting bird seed in the feeders,' she quipped.
Her current renovation dilemma has sparked some creative brainstorming. Posey floated the idea of filming her contractors for a television series.
6 In a recent interview on the 'Smartless' podcast, she described the home as 'crunchy granola' and revealed that necessary upgrades — like insulation and a new kitchen — have become financially overwhelming.
Instagram/itsparkerposey
'I would love to do a home improvement show,' she said, adding that she asked her contractors if she could film them on her phone.
Beyond her real estate concerns, Posey used the podcast to reflect on the arc of her acting career and how she struggled to transition from indie darling to mainstream star.
'I felt like right when I got exposed, and the whole indie movement got exposed, it also got co-opted by the studio system, and then it became this other thing,' she said.
6 Joking about her life feeding birds and stewarding the land, Posey admitted she no longer feels fully connected to the home and has even thought about turning the project into an HGTV-style reality show to help fund it.
Instagram/itsparkerposey
'All of a sudden, I wasn't viable to get a movie financed, and it was such a head trip because I would have to audition for Hollywood movies when I'd carried the lead in independent movies that were shot in 23 days.'
Posey said she often felt boxed in by perceptions of her as 'too indie' for major studio films.
'I felt like I was called a name, in a way,' she added.
Despite those challenges, 'The White Lotus' star continued working with acclaimed directors — often at the expense of larger paychecks.
6 The indie film icon also opened up about her early struggles in Hollywood, saying she felt 'gaslit' into thinking she wasn't fit for major studio roles after her breakout in 'The Daytrippers.'
HBO
6 In recent years, she's sold off several Manhattan properties, including apartments in the East Village, Greenwich Village and Chelsea, possibly signaling a broader shift in lifestyle.
Gregory Pace/Shutterstock
'Not getting paid a lot, but being able to work and fulfill my creativity,' she said.
In recent years, Posey has steadily divested from New York City real estate.
She sold her East Village loft in 2017 for $2.3 million, followed by a Greenwich Village apartment in 2016 for $1.45 million, and most recently, a Chelsea triplex in 2023 for $1.7 million.
Now, as she weighs whether to remain rooted in her upstate retreat or head back to Hollywood, Posey says she's still searching for her place — both in the community and in her own home.
'I just want to give it so much because it's an old farmhouse,' she said. 'So I guess what I am saying is I am trying to figure out where I land in the community.'

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CBS News

23 minutes ago

• CBS News

Patrick Schwarzenegger on his breakout "White Lotus" role

"Every time I'm out in, like, nature, that's kind of where I like to do my prayers or gratitude list," said Patrick Schwarzenegger. These days he is counting his blessings, even though the role he was recently blessed with is anything but reverent. He plays the much-talked-about (and much-hated) Saxon Ratliff, the eldest son of a wealthy family visiting Thailand, in the latest incarnation of HBO's "The White Lotus." Saxon is a chiseled car crash – a sex-obsessed, protein shake-chugging bro who is so irredeemably into his own masculinity, he offends even his own sister. How do you even audition for a part like that? Schwarzenegger says he was only given a short sentence describing Saxon's excitable personality: "The wording was that ''He flirted with anything.' So, I just took the first few seconds and just kind of, you know, stared at the camera in a loving way." Did he have any reservations? "Yes, I was worried," he said. "I didn't want him to come off as just this one-note character." And early on he didn't even know yet just how sexually awkward things were going to get. "When I was auditioning, they had said, 'Are you okay with, know, performing things sexually? Are you okay being nude at times?'" Schwarzenegger recalled. "So, I knew an idea of where it could go. I didn't know to what extent the show would go." To watch a trailer for Season 3 of "The White Lotus," click on the video player below: The series' creator, Mike White, has spent three seasons pushing the envelope, writing exotic whodunits that, along the way, skewer the rich and privileged vacationing at White Lotus resorts all around the world – a world he knew Patrick probably understood. Schwarzenegger said, "There was a joke because he was always like, 'You don't look like you're rich. You're not walking rich. Aren't you a Schwarzenegger? Aren't you a Kennedy? Aren't you rich in real life? You don't look like you're rich at all!'" The show's first season, set in Hawaii, debuted during the pandemic in 2021, and it hit Schwarzenegger and his family head-on. "It was me, Abby, my fiancée, and my mom," he said. "We lived together, us three, during the pandemic. So, you can imagine how fun that was! And then they were always like, 'You need to be in the show, you need to audition, this is perfect.'" His fiancée is fashion model Abby Champion; his mom is journalist and member of the Kennedy clan Maria Shriver; and his dad, well, that goes without saying. Arnold Schwarzenegger has said that he didn't recognize his son in the role. "It would be a little bit alarming if he did recognize a lot of those characteristics!" Patrick laughed. His best friends are his family. They're also his greatest fans. When he got the part, they were tears all around. Patrick Schwarzenegger has emerged from "The White Lotus," as a standout among standouts – the kind of breakout he hopes will put to rest any suspicions about nepotism. In a recent father-and-son chat on Variety's "Actors on Actors," Arnold Schwarzenegger said, "To me, the name Schwarzenegger always meant a big plus." Patrick revealed that he worried his name might get in the way: "There were times earlier in my career where I was wondering, Does it makes sense to go under some sort of alias? Does it make sense to go under a different name?" "Well, I'm glad that you kept the name, 'cause now I can take credit," Arnold said. "My son! The apple doesn't fall far from the tree." Patrick idolized his dad growing up, spending time on movie sets that became his playground. By the time he was 13, he was on his own sets, but he says he rarely brought up his dad. "I mean, I always know that there's, you know, my last name, there's connections, there's, you know, things that are gonna help me, but I wanted to try to take a different path than that." He did, however, follow his dad's path on matters of money – how to run a business, how to create a brand. "My dad put me in charge of his memorabilia when I was 10," said Patrick. "And so, I would take these different photos of him, you know, at Muscle Beach, and we would frame them. I took a replica of the Conan swords and get him to sign them, and I would sell them for $10,000 a pop. It was all for nonprofit. I didn't make any money, but it was to understand how to sell." He actually majored in business as USC, starting college just about a year after his parents had left the California Governor's office. Politics has been in his genes, after all – and so has the idea of public service. His grandfather, Sargent Shriver, was the founding director of the Peace Corps. His grandmother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founded the Special Olympics. Asked if he's thought about going into politics himself, Patrick replied, "I think it was instilled in us to find ways to give back at an early age. It doesn't have to be through public office, to find ways to give back." Through it all, his focus on acting remained pretty singular. He spent a decade in acting class, building a resume one part at a time, recently acting opposite Colin Firth in the HBO mini-series, "The Staircase." That, he said, "was the first time that the people in the industry were able to see me in a dramatic role. ... Before, people maybe didn't take me serious. They didn't know if I was really, you know, in it for the long haul, was I really working on my craft?" WATCH: "The White Lotus" clip: Saxon and Timothy In this scene, Saxon Ratliff (Patrick Schwarzenegger) demands to know from his dad, Timothy (Jason Isaacs) whether everything is OK at the office. [Spoiler alert: Everything is NOT OK at the office.] He hopes his next role will be a character with a few less character flaws than Saxon Ratliff. That said, Patrick Schwarzenegger would happily check back into the White Lotus anytime Mike White asks. "I said, if you don't hire me again, I'll come and be the head of craft services," he said. "I'll come and hire me as your scouting location guy because I just want to come in and be part of the journey." For more info: Story produced by Reid Orvedahl. Editor: Lauren Barnello. See also:

Business Insider

an hour ago

• Business Insider

11 historic mansions from HBO's 'The Gilded Age' that you can visit in real life

HBO's "The Gilded Age" films scenes in real historic mansions from the time period. Several mansions once owned by the Vanderbilt family in Newport, Rhode Island, appear in the show. Gilded Age mansions in Tarrytown and Sands Point, New York, also serve as film sets for the series. If you weren't an heiress, coal magnate, or railroad tycoon, you probably wouldn't have made the guest list at Gilded Age parties. Those gatherings were reserved for the wealthiest, most powerful members of society at the turn of the 20th century. However, visitors of all economic brackets can visit many of the historic opulent estates that serve as film sets for HBO's show " The Gilded Age." The show shoots at real mansions from the time period, many of which are now museums, to create authentic portrayals of the characters' exorbitant wealth. Season three of "The Gilded Age" premieres June 22 on HBO. Here are 11 Gilded Age mansions where the show filmed that offer tours of their magnificent properties. Rosecliff, a 30-room mansion in Newport, Rhode Island, was modeled after King Louis XIV's Grand Trianon palace in Versailles. Theresa "Tessie" Fair Oelrichs, whose family's silver fortune earned her the nickname "Bonanza Heiress," built Rosecliff in 1902 as her summer home. Admission to tours of the 28,800-square-foot property can be purchased through the Preservation Society of Newport County. Fans of "The Gilded Age" will recognize the ceiling of Rosecliff's ballroom from the show's opening credits. Rosecliff features the largest private ballroom in Newport, measuring 40 feet by 80 feet. Scenes from "The Great Gatsby," "27 Dresses," and "Amistad" have also been filmed there. One of the grandest Gilded Age mansions in Newport, the Breakers spans 138,300 square feet and belonged to one of the era's wealthiest families. Cornelius Vanderbilt II, heir to his grandfather's railroad fortune, built the Breakers as a summer home in 1895. The name "Breakers" comes from the sound of waves breaking against the shores of the Newport property. The Preservation Society of Newport County manages the mansion as a museum. Tours can be booked online. Several rooms in the Breakers were used as film sets for "The Gilded Age," including the music room and the billiard room. The billiard room features a wrought-iron and bronze lighting fixture so heavy that it had to be attached to the structural beams of the home. In a scene in "The Gilded Age," George Russell played a game of billiards in the room after a dinner party. The music room also served as a film set for "The Gilded Age," appearing as the Russells' ballroom where they hosted Gladys' debut ball at the end of season one. Marble House in Newport was a 39th birthday present from William K. Vanderbilt to his then-wife, Alva, in 1892. Marble House is named for the 500,000 cubic feet of marble featured throughout the home. When Alva Vanderbilt divorced her husband in 1895, she maintained ownership of Marble House and custody of their three children. She then married one of her neighbors, Oliver H.P. Belmont, in 1896, and became Alva Belmont. After his death, she leveraged her fortune to fund causes in the women's suffrage movement and hosted suffrage conventions at Marble House. The Preservation Society of Newport County operates tours of the property. In "The Gilded Age," scenes in George Russell's bedroom are filmed in the room that belonged to Alva and William's daughter, Consuelo Vanderbilt. ​​Chateau-sur-Mer in Newport was originally built by merchant William Shepard Wetmore in 1852, then remodeled by his son in the 1870s. George Wetmore, who inherited the Italianate-style villa when his father died in 1862, served as the governor of Rhode Island and as a US senator representing the state. Tours of the home are available through the Preservation Society of Newport County. Rooms at ​​Chateau-sur-Mer that appear in "The Gilded Age" include the stair hall and the dining room. Chateau-sur-Mer appears in the show as the home of Mamie Fish, who hosted a doll tea party in the first season. The stair hall is painted with the biblical Tree of Life, and the dining room walls are decorated with wallpaper made of Spanish leather covered in silver. Gilded Age coal magnate Edward Julius Berwind and his wife, Sarah Herminie Berwind, built The Elms in Newport in 1901. The Elms was modeled after the 18th-century French château, Château d'Asnières, and furnished with custom Louis XV-style furniture. The mansion sits on a 10-acre estate, where the Berwinds used to host lavish parties. The Preservation Society of Newport County operates tours of the lavish home. The show films in Sarah Herminie Berwind's bedroom and the mansion's main kitchen. Sarah Herminie Berwind's bedroom appears as Gladys Russell's room in "The Gilded Age," and the main kitchen serves as the Russell family's kitchen where servants gossip and prepare meals. Lyndhurst Mansion in Tarrytown, New York, was owned by three prominent Gilded Age families: the Pauldings, the Merritts, and the Goulds. Former New York City Mayor William Paulding and his wife, real-estate heiress Maria Rhinelander Paulding, built the mansion in 1842. Merchant George Merritt bought Lyndhurst Mansion in 1864 and built an addition onto the home, doubling its square footage to 14,000 square feet. Railroad tycoon Jay Gould then purchased it in 1880. In the world of "The Gilded Age," the mansion is home to the characters of Charles and Aurora Fane. "The Gilded Age" has filmed scenes in Lyndhurst Mansion's parlor, dining room, and art gallery. The show also uses the mansion's carriage house as the offices of The New York Globe newspaper and its 67-acre grounds as a stand-in for Central Park. The Hempstead House at Sands Point Preserve on Long Island was built in 1912 by financier Howard Gould. Howard Gould, son of the aforementioned Jay Gould, only lived at Hempstead House for a few years before selling it to Daniel and Florence Guggenheim in 1917. Daniel was the brother of Solomon Guggenheim, for whom the Manhattan museum is named, and Benjamin Guggenheim, who died on the Titanic. Hempstead House is located within Sands Point Preserve, which is open to the public and contains three mansions that can be toured. Tickets for a guided tour of Hempstead House can be purchased at the park's welcome center. You may recognize this room as George Russell's office. George Russell conducted many of his business dealings in this room at Hempstead House, now the home's library. "The Gilded Age" isn't the only project to have filmed here. You may also have seen Hempstead House in "Malcolm X," the 1998 adaptation of "Great Expectations," or "Scent of a Woman." Hunter House was originally built in 1748. Hunter House actually dates back to the colonial times, generations before the Gilded Age began. It even played a role in the Revolutionary War as the headquarters for the French fleet, per The Preservation Society of Newport County. Keeping Hunter House in good shape led to the creation of the Preservation Society in 1945, per the Society's website. There are guided tours held daily (excluding Sundays and Mondays) from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. On the show, one of the sitting rooms is used as lawyer Tom Raikes' office. In the show, Raikes' office is in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. It's one of the first non-New York City locations we see on the show. Belcourt was built in 1894 for the socialite Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont in Rhode Island. This 50,000-square-feet, 60-room summer home was modeled after King Louis XIII's hunting lodge at Versailles. The property was known for its extensive stables and carriage space, which makes sense: You may recognize his last name from the Belmont Stakes, the annual horse race in Elmont, New York, that was named for his father, August Belmont Sr. Belcourt is open for both guided tours during the day and candlelight walks and ghost tours in the evenings. The property doubles as the summer home of the Astors on "The Gilded Age." In a memorable moment in season one, Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon) ends up sneaking around Belcourt (Beechwood, in the show) to avoid a run-in with Mrs. Astor. Westbrook, home of New York attorney and real-estate developer William Bayard Cutting, is located in Oakdale, New York. Westbrook was built in 1886 in the Tudor Revival style. Inside, there are 60 rooms (and 20 fireplaces). Westbrook's main draw, though, is its gardens. The house is now located inside the Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park, which is home to 691 acres of plants, trails, and more. There are separate guided tours of the arboretum and Westbrook available seasonally. There's also the Hidden Oak Café, which is located inside Westbrook and offers the option to take "Victorian Tea," complete sandwiches, scones, and tea. It was used during season one of the show. The Cuttings were part of the famed "Four Hundred" list, which was published by The New York Times in the 1890s. It named the 400 most socially acceptable people living in New York City. So, even though only their house has popped up on the show, the real Cutting family could too. The Glenview Mansion was built in the 1870s in Yonkers, a city in Westchester County, New York. It was built for the financier John Bond Trevor, who was partners with James Boorman Colgate (yes, of those Colgates). After the Trevors sold the home to the city of Yonkers, it became part of the Hudson River Museum, which is still open today. The interior of Glenview was used as the interior of Mrs. Astor's home.

USA Today

3 hours ago

• USA Today

Connections hints, clues and answers on Sunday, June 22 2025

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