Billy Porter | House Tour | Forced to SELL Long Island Home

Three months have passed since Hollywood's most imaginative minds walked out from the writers room and one month since actors joined the protest lines. However, the severe consequences of the WGA and SAG after strike are now becoming more prominent. Beyond the diminishing availability of fresh content, the strike is also prompting significant property decisions among celebrities. An example is the actor Billy Porter. The multi-hyphenate performer said in an interview recently, I have to sell my house. Yeah, because we're on strike and I don't know when we're going to go back. While Billy formerly lived in New York City while he was performing on stage, the first and only home he ever purchased, and the one that he's talking about apparently, is reportedly located in Long Island. From the outside, Billy Porter's starved musicals, shows, and much more look successful. And while he is, showbiz can be inconsistent. Especially now. And with housing prices sky high like they are in Los Angeles or New York, combined with the strikes, even those at Billy's level can feel the stress. Porter claims that he's forced to sell his home to ride out the current strikes because the studios would rather shut down the industry than pay everyone fair wages. Billy, who's also going through a divorce, is currently performing in London while his property is on the market. The Pose star pointed out that despite the Hollywood glamour, most creatives live paycheck to paycheck. He said, I was supposed to be in a new movie and on a new television show starting in September. None of that is happening. So to the person who said we're going to starve them out until they have to sell their apartments already starved me out. Limited information is available regarding Billy's current residence. Sadly, he hasn't shared a virtual house tour on his Instagram account. Nevertheless, the available details make news of the sale even sadder on this upcoming property listing. It's reported that the former star of Kinky Boots acquired his 4,500 square foot residence in Long Island in 2020, together with his estranged spouse. This purchase not only marked his first home ownership ever, but also held a sentimental value as he expressed to Condé Nast Traveler in 2021 that it's the place he felt the happiest. And he added, it's a 10 minute walk from the beach and it's on an acre of land. In July, several studio executives broke down the industry's cruelty but necessary approach to the strike. The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members are losing their apartments and losing their houses, one source claimed. While we hope the tides will turn and Billy can keep his home, this may be the first of many moves to come. In 2014, when Billy was starring in Kinky Boots, he lived in a New York City apartment, which was full of character as you might expect, and he took the New York Times on a tour of his place. 13 years, Billy Porter was a man without a home, only baggage, three suitcases, 26 boxes and a chaise lounge. And for those years, the Tony-winning star of the musical Kinky Boots carried that chair and his belongings from sublet to sublet, from coast to coast. He told the New York Times, it was a really difficult down period. I actually had to file for bankruptcy in 2007. While his character in Kinky Boots, Lola, a drag queen, saved a struggling shoe manufacturer, musical itself saved Billy Porter. Thanks to his success in the production, he was able to snag his own apartment in 2014 to call home for the first time in a long time, a two bedroom rental in a newly built Harlem building. He said about his time being unemployed, I knew I would have a place again because I've had one before and I know life has ups and has downs. I'm not going to say that what I went through wasn't difficult and debilitating, but I'm a very spiritual person. Billy's wish list at this time for an apartment included a concierge in the lobby to accept packages, a parking space for his car, and east-facing floor-to-ceiling windows. All of which he ended up achieving. He also landed it in the exact neighborhood he pointed out, between West 110th and 135th streets in the city. Billy, who grew up in Pittsburgh, said about this area, I love the melting pot of classes in Harlem. I live right across the street from the projects. It reminds me of my childhood in that way, in my black neighborhood, who had doctors and lawyers five blocks away from abject poverty. There was always something for me, a person who didn't have a whole lot to aspire to. I could walk five blocks and see a glorious house and go, oh, I could maybe have that someday. Billy craved an adult-designed home, as he called it at this point in his life. One built around his favorite mid-century modern shades he carried around with him for years. After putting his vision into place, Porter's apartment was warm, welcoming, and boasted some unique colors too, like a green-painted foyer and home office. What Billy refers to as the green room serves as the office, a guest room, and a place to showcase some framed testaments to his success. Certain themes recurred consistently. A side table positioned in the living room, alongside a bar that charmingly resembled an oversized snack table, was covered with the same frosted plexiglass material found on the nightstands in the master bedroom. The herringbone rug in the living room mirrored its twin counterpart in the master bedroom. Rectangular sections of cowhide covered both the foyer floor and the passage, connecting Billy's living room and bedrooms, forming a bridge between public and private spaces. He also had help from an interior designer friend, which really helped to maximize the space of his apartment. Billy made sure to decorate with plenty of artwork as well, carefully selecting what would hang on the walls. And he said, So that's what I did. Some pieces that Billy had included, a figurative charcoal drawing by Richard Clairvall on his foyer, and an abstract simply called Red that hangs over the leather couch. Before Kinky Boots, red was probably my least favorite color, Billy said. I would have never had anything red on my wall, ever. But because of the significance of the color red in Kinky Boots, it was his character's preferred footwear color, and a major part of the show's branding, he decided he'd put red on the wall in the living room. At the time, while living in his New York apartment, Billy continued, Furthermore, the views from his West Harlem apartment were amazing, so I'm sure that the years he lived in this light-filled residence served Billy well. While it's yet to be known what will happen with these strikes in Hollywood, as well as Billy Porter's living situation, and others, we can hope that the star doesn't have to lose his feeling of home. For now, that'll wrap up today's video, but before we go, answer this question for me. What are your thoughts on this whole strike going down in Hollywood right now? Let me know in the comments below, and don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow me on Instagram to chat. I'm Kara the Vampire Slayer, and if you liked this video, stay tuned, because next, we're checking out the properties of Cyndi Lauper. Bye! These days, Cyndi Lauper is a full-time city girl. This singer was actually living in a quiet, out-of-town Connecticut retreat for over 3 decades. But after placing it on the market in 2017, she packed her bags for her current apartment in the Upper West Side, and today we're gonna take a look. In these videos, we don't reveal any addresses, and even though I've done a house tour of my own place, please do not show up at any private residences because it's not safe for anyone. For more than 30 years, this Saddle Hill Road estate has been home to Cyndi Lauper, her husband, actor Dave Thornton, and their son. From the very beginning, Cyndi always intended this place to be her musical sanctuary – a getaway where she could work in peace, and that's exactly what happened. While living here, Cyndi would write some of her most popular music, including 5 albums, and her Tony Award-winning musical, Kinky Boots. First built in 1975 for footwear designer Vince Camuto, the home was sold to Cyndi in 1986, soon after he vacated. This 3,900-square-foot residence is designed in a classic Connecticut style, with a cedar-mansard roof, etched glass doors, and a large palladium window centralized in a living room that offers amazing seasonal lake views. Easily one of the standout features of the home is the classic 19th-century front door, which was sourced from an actual 19th-century English manor house. Speaking of European flavor, the interior of the home is largely the work of the founder of French country style, Howard Caplan. In fact, he imported a special press from Italy to hand-stencil Cyndi's walls, like in the vaulted ceiling of the Great Room, where all that craftsmanship is framed by large wooden beams. Not far from there is Cyndi's kitchen, which includes a breakfast nook that features a Then there's the master bedroom with its intricate mosaics made from imported French tiling. In fact, all of Cyndi's bathroom, sinks, bidets – yes, this is the kind of house that includes bidets – as well as toilets are 19th-century French pieces. Meanwhile, the tile in the master bathroom is more of a modern era and imported from England. Moving on to the recording studio above the garage, Cyndi has decorated the place like a museum with her many platinum records, providing an accent to the wall above her soundboard. There's even a thrill pillow on a nearby loveseat that has Cyndi's face airbrushed onto it. This family home also has a sprawling, partial wraparound stone terrace that overlooks the backyard and the kidney-shaped swimming pool that's been built into the side of a ravine. Tall trees and shrubs do their part to obscure any nosy neighbors, and for the most part, the whole of this acre and a half of property feels totally remote. Which is probably why Cyndi stayed here for as long as she ultimately did. But then, in 2017, Cyndi finally felt like it was time for a permanent change. That's when she put her home on the market for 1.25 million dollars. But 3 months later, she'd reduced the price to $935,000, her broker told the Stanford Advocate at the time. The listing got worldwide attention and a lot of interest at the original price point, but the physics of real estate in general and the state of the market right now came into play. We decided to price it aggressively and got at least 5 or 6 offers in a bidding war. Cyndi might have wound up with a bidding war in her hands, but she still ended up eating what she must have considered to be a loss when she finally sold the home for $804,000. Almost 500k less than what she was originally asking for. But hey, don't feel too bad for Cyndi, because when I tell you about the background to her New York apartment, you're going to discover that the universe sometimes evens things out. Cyndi Lauper is now officially a city girl full time. After selling her home in Connecticut because her son was moving off to college, Cyndi and her hubby decided to move to the Big Apple and live permanently in a building that they have long rented in the Upper West Side. And I said rented, not owned. And boy oh boy is there a lot of baggage with this property. This building is conveniently and pretty controversially rent-stabilized. This legendary limestone landmark has wooed famous tenants throughout the years, everyone from Al Pacino to Cyndi Poitier, and yes, Cyndi and Dave too. But the Apthorpe building as it's called has been a hotbed for corruption for decades. Even the State Attorney General's office has investigated its shady business practices in the past. Let's talk a little bit about the physical nature of the building. Listed on the Register of Historic Places, the Apthorpe takes up an entire New York City block, all the way from Broadway to West End Avenue, between 78th and 79th streets. So you know it's massive. Modeled after the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, Italy, the original owner of this building, William Waldorf Astor, had it built in 1906. Soon afterwards, thanks to its grand courtyard, the building would become a hub for NYC's rich and famous, allowing them to live in ultimate luxury at rent-stabilized prices. And here's the extremely convoluted way in which Cyndi Lauper came to be a resident here. Back in 1992, a guy named Shlomo Barron, yes that's his real name, agreed to lease an apartment in the building from the then-owners. At the time, Shlomo, he agreed in his lease not to use this apartment as his primary residency. What does that have to do with anything? Well, the owners used that as an excuse to remove the apartment from rent regulation, and then, they began charging Shlomo $2,400 a month in rent as opposed to what it was supposed to be, only $507 a month. Not willing to take that lying down, Shlomo came up with a plan. And this is where Cyndi Lauper comes in. Never moving into the unit at all, Shlomo turned around and immediately sublet the 4 room apartment to Cyndi and Dave. And what price? Well, $3,250 a month. That's how you beat the system. The only problem was, eventually, Cyndi and Dave caught onto what was going on. In 1996, Cyndi and Dave sued Shlomo, claiming that they were being overcharged under the rent stabilization law. The court would eventually rule in Cyndi's favor, saying that because Shlomo was never living there, she was the actual tenant. Thus, the apartment was subject to rent regulations. However, in 2000, Cyndi and Dave would then sue the building's owners, asking them to set the rent back to the original $507 a month price. In New York City for millionaires. Yeah, right. The owners, citing the law's 4-year statute of limitations for challenging rents, offered to cut the amount owed to $2,500 a month, which was the base rent the building had been charging for years at this point. Rather than agree, the matter went back to court. Eventually, the court ruled that setting the rent at $2,500 would effectively reward the And then, they came to the decision that the new rent should be calculated by a different formula. Anyways, long story short, for years now, Cyndi has only been paying $988 a month to live in an amazing New York City apartment. All I can say is sometimes a girl just wants to live rent free, or about as close to it as possible. Alright guys, that's going to bring an end to this Cyndi Lauper house tour. Be sure to leave your thoughts about Cyndi's former Connecticut home down below and tell me what you think about how much she spends in her New York apartment while you're at it. Personally, I liked her Connecticut property and all of the unique style within it. I would've stayed there and avoided the apartment drama, but that's just me. Anyways, thanks for tuning in. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram and I can't wait to see you all again on our next house tour. Bye!