Buying an old house is one thing. Actually living inside its bones while you rebuild it is another. Drew Barrymore actually did both, and just two years later, she decided to sell it.Back in 2024, Drew Barrymore bought a six-bedroom, nine-bathroom estate in Harrison, New York, and the house dates back to the 1740s. She purchased it for $4.4 million and listed the property in March 2026 for $4.995 million with Sassower, according to Grazia Magazine.Initially, she thought that she would just freshen the place up a bit. Instead, it turned into a total overhaul, with almost every major system in the house getting redone.Barrymore put her heart and soul into the interior decoration, and this story is not just about the house but about how involved she was in the renovation itself.She didn’t hand the project off and wait for the reveal. She lived through the mess, made the design calls herself, and ended up comparing the whole experience to a well-known Hollywood cautionary tale about home renovation gone sideways.Here’s how the project turned out over time, and why she has already moved on from a house she once described as feeling almost fated.
Initially, she thought that it would just be some touch-up that ended up in a full-fledged project
While in conversation with The Wall Street Journal, she revealed feeling an instant spiritual connection with the house as soon as she stumbled upon the Colonial house in Harrison, New York.What began as a light touch-up spiraled into a “complete internal gut,” according to Barrymore. The team ended up replacing the home’s heating, plumbing, and air conditioning systems entirely, so it was like completely rebuilding the house’s infrastructure from the inside out, even though the estate dates back nearly three centuries.Walk through the house, and one can feel the mix of old and new. There are six bedrooms, a fully updated kitchen, a great room with soaring 30-foot ceilings, and even an octagonal sunroom.Wood-beamed ceilings and brick fireplaces keep the colonial character alive. Not only that, stepping outside reveals the nearly 12-acre property opens up into wooded areas, wildflower gardens, wide-open green views, a gunite pool, a pool house with its own kitchen and spa, and a separate guest cottage for visitors.
The kitchen that took a year to get right
One of the most demanding parts of the renovation was reworking the main level to let in more natural light, especially in the kitchen. Barrymore has said this single change alone “took a year of engineering to figure out,” explaining just how far the project drifted from a simple cosmetic job.Barrymore didn’t shy away from admitting how overwhelming the process got. And compared it to a classic movie about renovation chaos. She joked that her situation was similar to that of Anna, the character played by Shelley Long in The Money Pit, who discovers her dream home is quietly falling apart. It’s a comparison that says a lot about how deep the renovation rabbit hole went.
Why she’s already selling
Despite finishing the renovation after nearly 2 years, Barrymore chose to list the home because her family’s needs shifted during the lengthy project timeline. She has said the process simply took longer than expected, leaving her without the same use for a countryside retreat by the time it was finally ready.
Living through the “primitive” phase
Rather than waiting out the renovation from a hotel or another home, Barrymore actually lived on the property during its most unfinished stretch. “I lived in the house in the most primitive of scenarios,” she said. “It’s some of my favorite times and memories.” Before listing the property, she also hosted a birthday gathering there, grilling outdoors with friends bundled up in parkas despite the February cold.
