Diana Ross at Home: 10 Photos of the Pop Diva Off-Duty

From the reflective piano to the shag-lined conversation pit, Ross’s groovy LA home base was both canvas and retreat for the Supremes superstarDiana Ross was born in Detroit.Photo: American Broadcasting Companies via Getty ImagesAs the breakout star of the Supremes and later a solo sensation, Diana Ross proved herself a force to be reckoned with. The Detroit native’s booming career allowed the singer-slash-actor to fashion her own residences in her own singular style: A statement purple sofa, a shag-lined conversation pit, beaded curtains, and a mirrored piano were among the features that might’ve stood out elsewhere, but all appeared seamlessly at home with The Boss. As she declared in her 1979 anthem of independence: “There’s my chair / I put it there / Everything you see / Is with love and care / It’s my house and I live here.”Through 12 number-one singles with The Supremes, six number-one hits as a solo artist, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy, and a Presidential Medal of Freedom, Ross apparently managed to maintain a sense of normalcy in her domestic life. “My mom is such a mom,” Ross’s daughter, actor Tracee Ellis Ross, said on The Kelly Clarkson Show. “I had a really regular upbringing.” Read on for a roundup of the icon in her offstage moments.Ross in Miami. Photo: Fairchild Archive/Penske Media via Getty ImagesNew beginningsRoss poses on a floral sofa in her Miami suite in this photo, dated March 17, 1970. It was a big year for the songstress: She performed her final concert as lead singer of The Supremes that January, and her debut solo album was released in June.The singer unwinds on the sofa during an interview. Photo: Fairchild Archive/Penske Media via Getty ImagesA place to unwindWhen these portraits were snapped, Ross was in the middle of a nine-day run of shows at Miami’s Eden Roc hotel—her official debut solo show after a preview run in Framingham, Massachusetts. “Welcome to the ‘Let’s see if Diana Ross can do it by herself club,’” the vocalist said during the performance, journalist Shirley Eder wrote in a March 20, 1970, issue of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Eder also reported that “Diana takes a long time to unwind after a performance… she screens movies in her suite almost nightly.”A pregnant Ross leans against her reflective piano. Photo: Fairchild Archive/Penske Media via Getty ImagesLady Sings the BluesRoss, eight months pregnant with Tracee in this 1972 photo, leans against the mirrored piano in her Beverly Hills home during an interview about her first film role: Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues, directed by Sidney J. Furie. Ross’s depiction of the jazz singer garnered her a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination, among other accolades. “She’s the greatest improviser I’ve ever known,” Furie told The Hollywood Reporter in 2021. “Some of the main scenes were improvised…. She was the consummate pro and not a diva at all.”The musician at home with her daughter Rhonda. Photo: Fairchild Archive/Penske Media via Getty ImagesMaking a familyRoss lounges in her Beverly Hills home alongside her eldest child, Rhonda, in 1972. The “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” singer’s career was launched by Motown founder Berry Gordy, and the two shared a relationship that was romantic as well as professional. Rhonda was born in 1971 as a result of that liaison, but Ross married music executive Robert Ellis Silberstein two months into the pregnancy, and he raised Rhonda as his own. The couple welcomed two more daughters together: Tracee, who was born not long after this photo was taken, and Chudney, who was born in 1975.Ross at home taping an appearance for an ABC special. Photo: American Broadcasting Companies via Getty Images’70s styleIn the mid-1970s, The Wiz star was once again photographed on the purple sofa in her Beverly Hills living area, which was complete with a white-shag-lined conversation pit and a mirror-bedecked fireplace. According to a 1972 New York Times profile of the artist, her 6,833-square-foot home had 30-foot-tall ceilings and an Andy Warhol tapestry of Marilyn Monroe. The grounds also hosted a swimming pool and a tennis court.Ross with daughters Tracee (left) and Rhonda. Photo: American Broadcasting Companies via Getty ImagesLA ladiesThe Ross family’s Beverly Hills pad boasted five bedrooms and nine bathrooms. According to The Los Angeles Times, the property was built in 1964 for art collector Donald Factor. Because its walls maximized space for paintings, it was reportedly known in the neighborhood as “the house with no windows.” The conversation pit abutted a window adorned with a beaded curtain, as shown in the background of this photo of Ross with Tracee and Rhonda. Both daughters followed in their mother’s footsteps as performers: Tracee is an actor (who recently won her first Daytime Emmy for the program Solo Traveling with Tracee Ellis Ross), while Rhonda was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for her role in the soap opera Another World.Ross, flanked by her daughters, cradles infant Chudney. Photo: American Broadcasting Companies via Getty ImagesMother of fiveA newborn Chudney also made an appearance during the mid-’70s shoot, as seen in this snapshot. Ross and Silberstein divorced in 1977, and the singer went on to marry Norwegian businessman Arne Naess Jr. in 1986. With Naess, she welcomed two sons, Ross and Evan. The “I’m Coming Out” singer and her second husband split in 2000.The singer with Barbara Walters. Photo: American Broadcasting Companies via Getty ImagesMaking changesIn 1978, a newly single Ross welcomed Barbara Walters to her Beverly Hills home for an interview about her career and life as a single mother in front of a window overlooking the backyard pool. “Her success has brought her every material comfort,” Walters narrated in the television special. “Believe it or not, within 24 hours before we came here she completely refurnished the living room.” The television special offered a glimpse of the conversation pit, now done up with dark maroon carpet and a navy sofa with white cushions.Ross dressed to impress for her birthday party. Photo: Roman Salicki/WWD/Penske Media via Getty ImagesHost with the mostThe “Upside Down” singer celebrated her 38th birthday with a party at her Beverly Hills residence in March 1982, as seen in this glamorous snapshot. Later that year, she released Silk Electric, her 13th studio album, and was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.The singer at home with her family. Photo: Roman Salicki/WWD/Penske Media via Getty ImagesMoving onRoss’s daughters were in attendance, as shown in this photo of her bustling birthday party. The 13-time Grammy nominee sold the Beverly Hills property three years later for $1.75 million. These days, the 82-year-old icon lives at Quarry Farm, a property in Greenwich, Connecticut. In 2021, she released her 25th studio album, Thank You.Not a subscriber? Join AD for print and digital access now.Browse the AD PRO Directory to find an AD-approved design expert for your next project.Katie Schultz is a Brooklyn-based freelance writer who reports on celebrity real estate news and other pop culture-related content for AD. She has previously written for House Digest and the Minnesota Daily. 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