Live a Golden Life in Betty White’s Waterfront Carmel Home
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Who doesn’t love a love story, especially when it stars an American sweetheart?
The Carmel estate of Betty White — everyone’s favorite Golden Girl who passed away earlier this year just shy of her 100th birthday — just hit the market for $7.95 million.
The beloved actress had a special affinity for the oceanfront property. She bought the .28-acre parcel of land in 1978 for $170,000 with her late husband (and love of her life) Allen Ludden.
For at-home care reasons, White spent the last years of her life at her Los Angeles residence.
“If she had it her way, Betty would’ve lived and died in that home [in Carmel],” a source told The New York Post. “It’s the home she shared with her husband, it’s where she felt more comfortable.”
Located on a high bluff above Carmel Bay, the 3,621-square-foot midcentury masterpiece overlooks Point Lobos Nature Reserve, Ribera Beach, and Monastery Beach. The Sotheby’s International Realty listing credits architect Richard Hicks for the panoramic ocean and coastline views.
Huge picture windows “showcase the majesty of land meeting sea.”
On the home’s upper level, glass sliders open up to a spacious, tiled terrace. Wood-clad cathedral ceilings sport a series of skylights. In the sun-filled main living area, a massive rough-cut stone fireplace spans an entire wall.
Down a floor, the primary suite features an adjoining sitting room. Below that, there’s another bedroom with an en-suite bath.
An exterior staircase connects all three levels to a lushly landscaped backyard and patio. A back gate leads out to the beach and numerous walking trails.
“The home embodies the spirit of Betty and Allen, it was eloquently understated with the focus on nature and the natural beauty surrounding the home,” listing agent Nicole Truszkowski of Truszkowski Freedman & Associates told Mansion Global via email.
“Betty’s home in Carmel was her special sanctuary and it was one of her favorite places to recharge and rejuvenate.”
In the midst of planning their dream house, Ludden was diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer.
“Neither radiation nor chemotherapy offered hope, and after much consultation, we opted against either one,” White reportedly told OK! magazine. “We decided to move on and make the most of every day for whatever time we had together.”
Turns out, in the final days of construction, Ludden took a turn for the worse. “We took him back up to see the house finished. He slept there two nights,” the actress remembered.
Sad but bittersweet, White always cherished her memories.
“Keep the person in your heart all the time,” she recommended to other widows who sought out her advice during the peak of her fame on The Golden Girls. “Replay the good times. Be grateful for the years you had.”
2625 Ribera Road, Carmel, is located in the elegant Carmel Meadows neighborhood.
