Jensen Ackles’ house in Austin, Texas and his sprawling castle in Connecticut

A while back, 'Supernatural' star Jensen Ackles and his wife Danneel opened up their 7,500-square-foot home in Austin, Texas to the Architectural Digest crew, giving all of us a rare glimpse into the heartthrob's home. Not long after, they bought themselves another stunner, a 100-year-old castle in Connecticut.
Flavia Medrut
13 Min Read
Photo credit: YouTube / AD

If you’re a die-hard Supernatural fan like us, you’re probably still reeling from the show’s finale and coping with the fact that there won’t be any new Winchester adventures for us to follow (unless you count the new CW series, The Winchesters, which we don’t). 

But we’re not here to talk about that, but rather snoop into the private life of one of the series’ leading men. More specifically, Jensen Ackles’ house — which we actually think Dean Winchester would approve of.

Supernatural actor Jensen Ackles
Supernatural star Jensen Ackles on the red carpet. Photo credit: Ga Fullner / Shutterstock

A while back, the Supernatural actor — who recently donned his superhero cape as Soldier Boy in Amazon Prime’s gory comic book adaptation, The Boys — and his wife Danneel opened up their 7,500-square-foot home in Austin, Texas to Architectural Digest, giving us a rare glimpse into the heartthrob’s home and personal life. And it’s nothing short of spectacular! 

More recently, the couple added a 100-year-old Connecticut castle to their real estate portfolio, and we’ve got all the deets on that one too (including some input from locals who are familiar with the estate). So let’s take a closer look at Jensen’s houses, one more impressive than the next.

Jensen Ackles lives in a beautiful lake house in Austin, Texas

As the story goes, the couple was relocating from Los Angeles to Austin, Texas and initially considered buying a house down the road when they noticed this idyllic property right next to Lake Austin (that wasn’t even for sale).

As they fell in love with it, the couple went ahead and asked the previous owners if they’d be willing to sell. And since it’s not easy resisting Jensen Ackles’ charms, they managed to convince the owners so the Ackles’ moved on to the next step –- redecorating the house.

To help out, they hired architect Paul Lamb and interior designer Fern Santini and together they came up with some brilliant ideas on how to best revamp their already-stunning new house.

“It was imperative that the house express the Ackleses — young, bold, and irreverent,” Lamb told Architectural Digest.

Jensen Ackles’ house, which boasts five bedrooms, revolves around Danneel’s decorating outlook of “more is more is more!” There is a lot of color, texture, plenty of woodwork going on to make it look like a lake house, and endless decorations with some of the coolest background stories.

Let there be music in the Ackles household

In Supernatural, Jensen’s character loves music. Who could ever forget his spontaneous Eye of a Tiger outtake, which to this day is one of the coolest things on the internet — and I’m sure many other fans of the Winchester brothers will agree.  

There’s definitely more of where that came from in real life, since Jensen did his best to create an amazing acoustic sound in his house.

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The living room is scattered with guitars and all across the shag rug lie comfy and colored floor pillows. All this because the couple loves having friends over, sitting on the floor, singing and playing the guitar in his sunken living room.

The living room of Jensen Ackles Austin home, with a dark blue velvet couch, colorful pillows, and music equipment
The living room of Jensen’s Austin home, often brought to life by music. Photo credit: YouTube / AD

Jensen was excited to talk about one of his favorite features of the house:

The hand-scraped wood floors undulate quite heavily, and we’ve got these giant beams and wood all around that feel like you’re in the hull of a giant ship. What that does is it creates an amazing acoustic sound. We’ve always had music in our lives, and we wanted to pass on that tradition.”

Jensen Ackles told AD

Jensen’s house has a kick-ass bar

They’ve taken care of the music, and to complete the ambiance they got rid of the formal dining room (that nobody used anyway) and replaced it with a kick-ass bar.

The dining room-turned-bar inside Jensen Ackles' home.
The dining room-turned-bar inside Jensen Ackles’ home. Photo credit: YouTube / AD

Placed on one end of the large living room, the bar is made out of black walnut with black and white veined marble. The cabinets were specially made to light the expensive bourbons it holds inside.

The master suite

There’s a master bedroom swaddled in Trove wallpaper bearing vintage photography of 1920s opera boxes.

Jensen and his wife, Danneel Ackles, inside their airy, light-filled bedroom.
Jensen and his wife, Danneel Ackles, inside their airy, light-filled bedroom. Photo credit: YouTube / AD

The wallpaper is covered in sections by Japanese-inspired barn door panels “because sometimes you need an audience and sometimes you don’t”.

The master bathroom has a beautiful bathtub sitting in front of a large window that provides stunning views of the lake.

The Mr. and Mrs. own two separate counters, because, you know, it just makes things easier in the mornings; and the inspiration for their master bathroom shower came from an Architectural Digest story featuring a steel and glass shower in the home of Neil Patrick Harris.

Jensen Ackles’ bright, wood-framed home

Exterior of Jensen Ackles' house in Austin, Texas.
Exterior of Jensen Ackles’ house in Austin, Texas. Photo credit: YouTube / Architectural Digest

Thanks to exposed beams, larger expanses of windows, and rich wooden ceilings, the architect managed to simplify and open the spaces. They simply tore down walls to let more natural light into the home.

Jensen’s favorite space is the breezy two-story screened porch that transformed the entire profile of the house; and his favorite piece – a custom long table made using a 2,000-year-old cypress log.

The two-story screened porch featured a custom wood table made out of a 2,000-year-old Cypress log.
The two-story screened porch featured a custom wood table made out of a 2,000-year-old Cypress log. Photo credit: YouTube / AD

Parents of three

Jensen and Danneel have three beautiful children, so they had to choose the decor and furniture according to their needs as well, and many of their items are both stylish and family-friendly.

home theater inside Jensen Ackles house
The home theater is a family favorite. Photo credit: YouTube / AD

It appears that the couple’s eldest daughter would make a great interior designer once she grows up. The nine-year-old girl, JJ, helped pick out all her own bedroom decor.

Unsurprisingly, the kids’ favorite toy is a rolling acrylic table from the ‘50s, placed in the kitchen. Everybody loves a happy kitchen!

the kitchen inside Jensen Ackles' house
The kitchen inside Jensen Ackles’ house. Photo credit: YouTube / AD

Jensen Ackles’ house is full of hidden gems

The actor’s house is a personalized, eccentric, yet highly livable place. It was designed to resemble the Laurel Canyon bungalow the couple had once lived in and it’s a testament to the old-school, Austin-style lake house.

The space is filled with all kinds of eccentric and eclectic objects—some useful, some decorative, some both. The decorations could be found in abundance in Austin during its bohemian period (the Ackles’ are active supporters of local art), as well as in late-60s California.

The master bathroom inside Jensen Ackles' house.
The master bathroom inside Jensen Ackles’ house. Photo credit: YouTube / AD

The Supernatural actor also owns a 100-year-old castle in Connecticut

While neither Jensen nor Danneel are ones to hoard properties, and we don’t often see their names in industry publications (and trust us, we check – often), when they make a purchase, they make it count.

In August 2023, Jensen Ackles bought a historic Gold Coast mansion in Southport, an elegant coastal Connecticut village with rich New England history. According to the CTPost, the actor paid $9.375 million for the stately home, and if you think that’s a hefty amount to pay, it was quite a bargain when put into context.

The mansion had been listed for $14 million, and that’s just for the patch of land the house sits on.

Previously, the mansion was part of a significantly larger estate that was once one of the most expensive estates along Connecticut’s Gold Coast. Later split into seven separate lots, the complete Connecticut property was last sold for almost $50 million back in 2001.

The Connecticut castle and three-acre property that surrounds it
The Connecticut castle and three-acre property that surrounds it. Photo credit: YouTube

And while Jensen and Danneel only bought one of the seven separate lots the estate was split into, they got the best one: the one with the 100-year-old castle.

It has over 19,000 square feet

While it may require some work to update and make it more homely, Jensen Ackles’ house in Connecticut is impressive by all accounts.

The Elizabethan Renaissance-style mansion packs more than 30 rooms across its ultra-generous 19,000 square feet of living space. That includes 9 bedrooms, 15 bathrooms, a library, a movie theater, a wine-tasting room, and a grand ballroom, to name just a few.

Jensen Ackles' house in Connecticut, a 19,000-square-foot castle built in 1923.
Jensen Ackles’ house in Connecticut, a 19,000-square-foot castle built in 1923. Photo credit: YouTube

The basement level comes with extra space in the form of a safe room, a large recreation area, and storage rooms, and there’s even an elevator to help guests and residents move around.

But despite its many attributes, fans don’t think Jensen is ready to leave Austin and move to Connecticut.

It’s a beautiful house! I wonder if Jensen and his family are moving to CT or if this is just an investment?”

u/Autumnevenings17 wonders

Probably an investment too. They’re probably not leaving Austin.”

u/Personal-Bear8739 shares

One local, however, has a different opinion — and shares some local rumors that might point to a future move:

I am from the town he bought the house in. The rumor is, he is buying up some of the adjoining properties, too (it used to be one larger, 50 acre estate) – so sounds more like a move. The street he bought on is simply beautiful… old school (mostly), big houses with character that is right on Long Island Sound and walking distance to a quaint little village. About an hour from NYC. Bradley Cooper rented a house for the summer on the same street in 2020.”

reddit user Ameribrit50 shares

I guess it remains to be seen what Jensen and Danneel have in store for their Connecticut castle. But we do love their Austin house, and we kind of hope they don’t plan on selling it anytime soon.

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An avid writer with a knack for lifestyle and home décor, Flavia has been combining her passion for movies and TV with her affinity for welcoming interiors, tackling topics from fictional homes to interior design tips or the psychology behind the way we decorate our homes. With a PhD in Sociology, Flavia has also been inspiring readers as a long-term contributor on Goalcast.com