John Goodman’s Longtime Digs in The Big Easy Can Be Yours for $5.5 Million

There’s a famous Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong song called “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?” Maybe John Goodman is about to find out.

More than 50 years after the veteran film, TV, and stage actor first flipped for the Louisiana city during a Mardi Gras trip with a group of his Missouri State frat brothers, then went on to marry a local girl and ultimately settled down there, he’s decided to hand over the keys to the historic Italianate-Greek Revival residence he and his wife Anna Beth have called home for the past 20 years. The asking price is a smidge under $5.5 million, which is around $3.7 million more than the Roseanne and The Conners star paid Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor for the place in an off-market deal back in 2005.

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Built in the mid-1800s and known as the Joseph Merrick Jones House, the two-story white wood-sided and green-trimmed structure is nestled amid a corner parcel of land spanning over a quarter of an acre within the sought-after uptown Garden District neighborhood, near the iconic Commander’s Palace restaurant, St. Charles Avenue, and Magazine Street. A total of four bedrooms and five baths are spread across nearly 5,000 square feet of well-preserved living space, which features colorful interiors accented with 14-foot ceilings, intricate plaster medallions, hand-carved millwork, and six fireplaces.

A gated entry laced with ancient crepe myrtles provides access to the home, which boasts dual wraparound galleries complemented by columns and shuttered floor-to-ceiling windows. A classic entry hallway displaying a traditional staircase and a seating area notched into a bay window flows to a double parlor and a formal dining room with a hand-painted hardwood floor. A living room and an adjacent breakfast nook connect to the cobalt blue kitchen, which is dressed with a hand-stained shiplap ceiling, custom cabinetry, honed quartzite countertops, and Wolf appliances.

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In addition to an office and a sitting room, the upstairs portion of the house holds a spacious primary suite flaunting a wraparound balcony, two walk-in closets, and a luxe bath equipped with a soaking tub and a separate shower. Three other bedrooms include two with their own baths and another that’s currently being used as a dressing room. And outdoors, the hedged grounds are dotted with gardens and host a covered veranda that can be privatized with drapes and a saltwater pool and spa embellished with Mayan lion spray fountains, as well as an attached two-car garage.

According to listing agent Hyatt Hood of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Preferred, Realtors, the Goodmans are selling because they simply don’t need as much space. “John and Anna Beth have spent the past 20 years raising their family in this beautiful home, and it has been a truly special place for them,” he says. “Now, as empty nesters, they are ready to downsize. Additionally, John’s busy work schedule keeps him traveling between both coasts and beyond. That said, they absolutely love New Orleans and will continue to maintain a home here—the city remains an important part of their lives.”

The 72-year-old Missouri native and his wife lost another home they purchased in 2007 for $4.6 million in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles to the recent wildfires.

Click here for more photos of the New Orleans home.