Eddie Murphy’s new sequel film “Coming 2 America” spans two worlds: the luxurious royal kingdom of Zamunda (which looks a lot like a modern-day rapper’s house) and the common life that character Prince Akeem once sought in Queens, New York.
As for Murphy, his life began in public housing in another New York City borough — Brooklyn. But after rising to fame on “Saturday Night Live,” the comedian embarked on a solo stand-up and acting career — which came with a life of luxury.
Today, the mansion where the 59-year-old lives with his family is a custom-built $20 million Beverly Hills estate — not to mention his rumored $15 million island in the Bahamas.
Here’s a look at where he lives now and where he previously called home.
Murphy’s $35 million in real estate
The “Coming to America” and “Coming 2 America” star, who plays four roles in each film, lives in a $20 million North Beverly Park home that was built in 2003.
He purchased the 3.7-acre lot in 2001 for $10 million and built the 10-bedroom, 17-bathroom mansion, which has become his primary residence, with an extensive library.
In addition to the 18,600-square-foot house, the estate has a tennis court with a trellis, a huge swimming pool, a hot tub, a four-car garage, a sunken mason barbecue pit, a courtyard and an underground vault, according to the original listing and Los Angeles property records.
From this house, he welcomed his youngest three children, Angel Iris (now 13), Izzy Oona (now 4) and Max Charles (now 2).
Murphy, whose net worth is unknown, is said to have spent $15 million in 2007 on a Bahamas island called Rooster Cay, Page Six previously reported, which some publications say is more commonly known as a resort called Long Cay. The island is 15 acres and sits near Nassau, according to Forbes. The New York Post was not able to independently verify Murphy’s ownership of the island.
Brooklyn public housing and foster care
1961-1970
Murphy was born on April 3, 1961, to telephone operator Lillian Laney and transit police officer Charles Edward Murphy.
The budding comedian spent his early years in public housing in Brownsville, Brooklyn, he said at a 2016 press event.
“I’ve always been aware that I have a charmed life. I’m from the Tilden Projects of Brooklyn. This is all gravy,” he said.
The 16-story apartment buildings he calls the “Tilden Projects” are part of Brownsville’s public housing units in a conglomeration of 27 X-shaped brick apartment buildings.
Murphy’s parents split up around 1964 or 1965, and his father was murdered in 1969, the comedian told local paper Newsday in 1981.
Soon after his father’s death, his mother became so ill that Murphy was shuffled around to different baby-sitters, including one Mrs. Jenkins, a harsh woman who always served grits and gravy, he told Newsday.
Foster care websites and other nonprofits claim that Murphy spent that year in foster care, but Murphy is not known to have made such a statement publicly. His residence location during that year of his life is unknown.
A lime green living room in Roosevelt, Long Island
1970-late ’70s
In 1970, Murphy’s mother married Vernon Lynch, a “wiry, no-nonsense” foreman at a Breyers ice cream plant who was also a boxing instructor, according to a 1982 feature by New York Magazine.
Murphy moved into his mother’s new “modern, two-story ranch house” in Roosevelt, Long Island, with his stepfather, Lynch’s son Vernon Jr. and at times his late brother Charles, he told Newsday.
His exact address in Roosevelt is unknown, but we know it was within two blocks of the former Roosevelt Youth Center at 104 E. Clinton Ave.
The living room had a lime green carpet and a coffee table covered with pictures of the Murphy and Lynch boys, according to the New York Magazine feature. The dining room was white brick, and the basement was wood-paneled with a record player and a boxing area.
Outside, the shingled roof overlooked Eddie’s new cars, a “Z” and a Trans-Am, which were covered in canvas to avoid attracting attention, according to the feature, which called the house “immaculate.”
The nicest apartment complex in Hempstead
Late ’70s-early ’80s
After his stand-up career took off, Murphy moved to the “nicest apartment complex in Hempstead” in the late ’70s on his $4,500-a-week “Saturday Night Live” salary, he told Newsday. He moved out in November 1982, according to New York Magazine.
The home he sang about: Bubble Hill
1985-2013
Remember Murphy’s 1989 song about Bubble Hill? The song was based on his 25,000-square-foot colonial home Bubble Hill, in Englewood, New Jersey, which he purchased in 1985 for $3.5 million.
The house on a five-acre lot boasted a screening room, a bowling alley, an indoor pool, a gym and a recording studio, The Post previously reported.
“Bubble Hill is never quiet. I named it after the black expression ‘bubble,’ which is slang for ‘party.’ Translated: Party Hill,” he told Rolling Stone in 1989. “It goes deeper than the party, though. I really feel at home in that house. My lifestyle is very conservative. There’s always a lot of swimming and Ping-Pong and listening to music and watching movies.”
His song said he’d live on Bubble Hill “until the end of time,” but he sold the home to Alicia Keys for about $10 million in 2013 after listing it for $30 million in 2004. It was from this home that he welcomed his first five children, Eric (now 31), Bria (now 31), Christian (now 30), Myles (now 28) and Shayne (now 26).
The “Beverly Hills Cop” star also spent $330,000 on a New Jersey home in the Haworth-Alpine area of New Jersey, according to Realtor.com. The purchase would have been sometime before 1985, when an Associated Press report said his 2,000-square-foot home on a quarter-acre was “a multi-level wood-paneled structure tucked away at the end of a dead-end street” near his friend, comedian Joe Piscopo. The address is unknown.
Cher’s Moroccan abode
1988-1995
A 27-year-old Eddie Murphy bought this 20,000-square-foot Moroccan house from Cher for $5.9 million in 1988, the year the original “Coming to America” film was released.
The 11-bedroom, 17-bathroom mansion, which was built in 1980, has undergone significant renovations since either celebrity owned it.
But property records show that when Murphy owned it, he enjoyed a fish pond, a large swimming pool and a guest house. During his stint as owner, Murphy re-roofed the Moroccan abode, property records show.
As it stands today, the stylish home has arched windows, ivy-covered terracotta walls, a tennis court and a pool, according to Realtor.com, plus five stables, two horse rings, Moroccan tiles, hand-carved wooden doors and coffered ceilings, according to a listing by Compass broker Aaron Kirman.
Murphy sold the home in 1995 for $4 million. With renovations and additional land on the property, the house is now worth close to $85 million, as stated in its listing price in 2017, according to the Robb Report.
Clove Hill Farm
1995-2011
The “Nutty Professor” star purchased a 205-acre farm with an eight-stall horse barn in 1995 for $2.5 million.
The Poughquag, New York, property spans 11,500 square feet with five bedrooms and five full bathrooms. The estate has a seven-acre pond, a swimming pool with a pool house, a tennis court, a movie theater with an arcade and a log cabin guest house, according to the listing.
He finally sold the equestrian estate for $3.8 million in 2011 after first asking $12.75 million in 2005.
Granite Bay home with ex-wife Nicole Mitchell
1998-2007
Murphy and his then-wife Nicole Mitchell bought this 10-bed, seven-bathroom palace for an unknown sum in 1998.
From Granite Bay, California, the couple welcomed two children, Zola Ivy (now 21) and Bella Zahra, the 19-year-old who would go on to become a star in Amazon’s “Coming 2 America,” alongside John Amos, Arsenio Hall and James Earl Jones.
With 12,600 square feet on 5.2 acres near Folsom Lake, the multimillion-dollar house sold for $6.1 million in 2007 after the couple’s divorce in 2006, according to Realtor.com.
The sprawling white modern mansion is fronted by a gated, stone motor court encircling a tiered fountain. Palm trees surround the infinity pool and hot tub, which peer over the Sierra Nevada mountains and the Sacramento skyline. The exterior of the home has Roman columns, wide glass windows and curved surfaces.
Inside, the “Shrek” star’s two-story foyer has a symmetrical Cinderella staircase winding up both sides of the entry and drawing the eye up to a concave circular alcove. The home is covered in marble, vaulted ceilings, curved lines, wild light fixtures and winding staircases, according to photos from the auction website.
The estate also has a full-size guest mansion spanning 5,200 square feet, a nine-car garage, a purple velvet movie theater, a 1,200-square-foot gym, a tennis court and a basketball court, according to Realtor.com.
That’s what Murphy calls “gravy.”
