Sixteen years on, Brittany Murphy's Hollywood Hills home returns to spotlight as sale nears
The mansion Murphy bought from Britney Spears in 2003 heads toward an $18 million listing, decades after the actress and her husband died there.
Sixteen years to the day after Brittany Murphy died, renewed attention is focused on the Hollywood Hills mansion she bought from Britney Spears. Murphy died on December 20, 2009, at age 32, while living there with her husband Simon Monjack.
Murphy purchased the fully furnished 10,000-square-foot home in 2003 from pop star Britney Spears for about 3.85 million. The house provided the couple with a high profiles address in the Los Angeles hills, and it remained the site of their lives until tragedy struck within months of each other.
The deaths drew intense scrutiny over the residence. Murphy died of untreated pneumonia and severe anemia complicated by drug intoxication involving prescription and over-the-counter medications, according to the medical examiner. Monjack died five months later from pneumonia, with the same general health factors cited. The case file ultimately found no link to environmental factors such as mold, though a later statement from Monjack’s mother raised concerns about the premises.
Following Monjack’s death, his mother Linda Monjack told a UK tabloid in 2013 that she believed the home harbored severe mold. She said her son had experienced hallucinations and felt things were crawling on him before his death. Those claims were addressed by investigators at the time, and the medical examiner’s office did not attribute the deaths to mold or similar conditions in their determinations published in 2010.
Sharon Murphy, Brittanys mother, was the person who placed the 911 call the morning Brittany collapsed, reporting her daughter had fallen ill at about 8 am. Sharon also found Simon unresponsive five months later. Brittany and Simon had been married in the home in April 2007, a detail that cements the property as a focal point of the family tragedy.
Over the years, both Murphy and Spears are described in interviews and court filings as sensing something off about the mansion. The pop star’s former makeup artist, who spoke on a 2021 podcast, described an incident in which a guest opened a portal or sensed a malevolent energy, prompting Spears to retreat from the house and spend time at another hotel. The anecdote has circulated in media coverage of the property and its haunted lore, though no evidence substantiates supernatural claims.
In 2021, HBO Max released a documentary about Murphy titled What Happened, Brittany Murphy, which revisited the events surrounding the actress and her husband and their residence, underscoring how the house remains part of Hollywood lore.
After Murphy’s death, the property changed hands several times. Sharon Murphy listed the home for 2.7 million in July 2011 after an earlier attempt to sell it for 4.99 million, according to industry reporting. By December 2024 the house was again on the market, listed for nearly 18 million. The Zillow listing described the property as reborn after a complete metamorphosis, including a redesigned exterior and other updates. The sale is being handled by David Parnes of Carolwood Estates, with an asking price of 17,995,000.
The renewed attention to the mansion comes as historians, fans, and real estate watchers weigh the legacy of a property tied to two high-profile figures and a string of tragic events. While the house has changed hands and undergone renovations, its notoriety endures as a chapter in Hollywoods enduring fascination with fame, fortune, and the human costs that can accompany both.