Brad Pitt Let 105-Year-Old Neighbor Live in His Los Angeles Mansion for Years, Rent Free

Brad Pitt‘s Los Angeles mansion was home to more occupants than expected. The 59-year-old Oscar winner, who bought the 1.9-acre property in 1994 for $1.7 million from Elvira, Mistress of the Dark star Cassandra Peterson, held onto it for nearly 30 years before finally selling it for $40 million in March. Peterson spoke about selling her property to Pitt, becoming his neighbor, and how Pitt ended up with an unexpected elderly tenant in an interview with People. A slow expansion of the estate caused the situation. “I think there were like 22 houses that were contiguous to the edge of the property. And every time they came up he bought one,” the actress explained to People. An older man in his early nineties owned one of the properties, so Pitt negotiated a deal to allow him to remain in his house.

“He was very, very kind to the husband. His wife passed away, and the husband, John, lived there,” Peterson said. “I know that Brad allowed him to live there without paying anything until he died.” Even though the arrangement lasted longer than it might have, she notes, “It was kind of funny because John lived to be 105.” She joked that John “just kept living forever,” saying, “I imagine Brad was thinking well, you know, he can live there till he dies, which might be any minute now.”

Peterson, who has been Pitt’s neighbor since she sold him her property, and purchased a house right next door to where she used to live, recalled her interactions with Pitt throughout the years. She described him as “always kind and sweet.” On one occasion, Peterson came across him in the process of preparing for the 1999 movie Fight Club. She recalled that while walking her dogs, “I go past Brad’s garage and he’s in there wearing only sweatpants. He’s got on boxing gloves and he is punching a bag. I swear I almost fainted. “I remember he goes, ‘Hey, how are you?’ and I’m like, ‘Huh?’ I couldn’t talk. I was turning red. I felt like I was fainting,” she added. “He’s just so stunningly, stunningly handsome — and nice, to top it off.” The home, sold off-market for an undisclosed amount, was where Pitt and his ex-wife Angelina Jolie, 47, raised their six children Maddox, 21, Pax, 19, Zahara, 18, Shiloh, 16, as well as 14-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne. Pitt and Jolie split in 2016.