Fred Astaire at Home: Tour the Dance Virtuoso’s Offstage Life in 10 Photos

Ask a group of choreophiles to name the greatest dancer in history and you’ll hear responses from Michael Jackson to Mikhail Baryshnikov. But no list is complete without Fred Astaire, the actor, singer, and dancer who ruled the musical film genre during Hollywood’s Golden Age.Born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1899, Astaire began performing in vaudeville at age four before finding success on Broadway and on London’s West End up until 1933. That’s when Hollywood came calling. He became an almost instant movie star alongside Ginger Rogers in Flying Down to Rio, kicking off the first of 10 films starring the dynamic duo. A technically gifted dancer and notorious perfectionist, Astaire would enjoy a career spanning more than seven decades. “When you were in his arms, you just knew how to dance—anything,” actor Leslie Caron, his costar in 1955’s Daddy Long Legs, once recalled. His legacy will also soon be revisited in an upcoming big screen biopic with Tom Holland, who will star as the dance icon.Off the stage and set, Astaire was known as a devoted father, loyal husband, accomplished horse breeder, and avid golfer. Once he built his dream home in Beverly Hills, he remained on the property for decades. Although his dwellings were elegant, Astaire never considered himself a design enthusiast. “I don’t think too much about my house, I just enjoy it,” he told AD in 1977.He largely kept his home life out of public view, but Astaire occasionally opened his doors to the press. Here, we take a look inside the homes of one of Hollywood’s most celebrated triple threats.Astaire on the tennis court of his California home Photo: Bettmann/Contributor/Getty ImagesHome courtIn the mid-1930s, Astaire and his wife Phyllis developed two acres of a four-acre property they acquired on Summit Drive in Beverly Hills. The house included a pool and tennis court, where Astaire is shown in this image. Despite being quick on his feet, the tap dancer mentions in his memoir Steps in Time that he and his wife didn’t play much tennis together because he could never win a match with her: “Phyllis was a good tennis player but I could never give her any kind of a game. She could beat me six-love anytime she wanted to.”Fred and Phyllis Astaire married in 1933. Photo: George Karger/Getty ImagesFred and PhyllisIt was Phyllis who found the property and Phyllis who was in charge of all the building and decorating plans. She was also the one who ran the household and the Astaire ranches, and handled any family business. Fred was deeply in love with the former New York socialite and her sudden death from lung cancer at the age of 46 in 1954 tore him apart. He didn’t remarry until 1980, at the age of 81. The couple are seen here, locked arm in arm, in this 1940 photo.Astaire at home in 1957 photographed during his Person to Person shoot. Photo: CBS via Getty ImagesHorses at homeA passionate horse breeder and racing enthusiast, Astaire often incorporated his love of the sport into his homes. In this 1957 photo (taken during production for his CBS Person to Person interview), the actor relaxes in the living room of his Summit Drive residence, where horse-printed curtains and a matching valance frame a large picture window behind. Off to the side of the living space was a small room Astaire affectionately called his “Lucky Loot Corner,” filled with racing trophies and photos.Astaire in his living room during his Person to Person interview Photo: CBS Photo Archive/Getty ImagesTrue colorsThough Astaire’s Person to Person images were taken in black and white, a 1957 GQ article revealed further details on the space, which was decorated in “muted shades of green and gray.” Filming a segment of the program here, the actor stands in a section of the room that features a fireplace and built-in shelving stocked with ceramics and encyclopedic style books.The dancer played the drums in his downtime. Photo: CBS Photo Archive/Contributor/Getty ImagesAstaire’s musical cornerWithin his living area, the entertainer kept a little section dedicated to music. Hidden behind him in this photo is a record player console standing beside a full drum set. The actor sometimes turned to percussion in his downtime from work or the race tracks. “I just bang away and make a lot of noise,” the hobbyist joked to Person to Person host Edward R. Murrow. “I hit everything in sight. Sometimes it isn’t too bad and sometimes it’s worse.”Astaire pictured with a furry friend in winter of 1968. Photo: Bettmann/Contributor/Getty ImagesA fresh start on familiar groundAfter Phyllis died, Astaire built another house on the two undeveloped acres of his property. “This house was built for my daughter and myself,” the retired dancer told AD in the late 1970s. “She was sixteen at the time and I planned it so she would have her privacy and I would have mine. Her wing is over there; mine is here.” Astaire is pictured with a canine companion at the front entrance of his home in this 1968 photo.The floor beneath Astaire’s pool table was reinforced to bear its weight. Photo: Cyril Maitland/Express/Getty ImagesDon’t shake the tableAstaire is caught mid-shot in this 1979 photograph as he plays a game of pool in his library. The table served as the room’s focal point and even dictated its expansive dimensions. Because of the table’s considerable weight, builders recommended reinforcing the floor beneath it, a decision Astaire later credited with helping the room withstand earthquakes. “The morning after the last earthquake, friends called to see if I had lost anything,” he told AD in the 1977 interview. “Not a piece moved.”Astaire at home in May 1979. Photo: Eddie Sanderson/Getty ImagesFashionable FredIn addition to the accolades heaped on him for his talent, Astaire was also recognized as one of the most dapper men of his era. His relaxed approach to formal aesthetics is still referenced today. Audrey Hepburn once said: “He had style. His clothes were always very casual, and terribly, extremely elegant, because he had such taste.” Fellow dancer and actor Gene Kelly said he “used to envy [Astaire’s] cool aristocratic style… Fred wears top hat and tails to the manner born—I put them on and look like a truck driver.” The style icon is captured in this 1979 snap, propped up against the pool table in his study, wearing a three-piece suit he had custom-made in Beverly Hills.Astaire in his art-lined living room. Photo: Bettmann/Contributor/Getty ImagesA beautiful lifeIn this 1968 photograph, the actor relaxes in the living room of his second Beverly Hills residence beneath a trio of paintings—including a large canvas by his son-in-law, artist Richard McKenzie, displayed prominently at center.Astaire in his backyard, practicing his swing poolside. Photo: Bettmann/Contributor/Getty ImagesA lifelong golferWhile on break from the vaudeville act he performed with his sister, Astaire learned to play golf as a youngster during summers in Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania. “I was so crazy about golf I couldn’t sleep nights,” Astaire recalls in his memoir. This 1968 photo proves that decades later, the “Cheek to Cheek” singer was still obsessed with the game. He’s pictured here mid-swing in the backyard of his Beverly Hills home. Astaire remained at that residence until his death in 1987.