Jane Fonda’s Hollywood Hills Home Where She Was Once Tapped By The FBI Is For Sale

It was while renting this Mediterranean Revival-style villa in the Hollywood Hills, that Jane Fonda was being watched. The FBI had tapped all the phone lines to the house and accessed her bank details without a warrant. The CIA, meanwhile, were covertly intercepting and opening all the mail sent to this address. 

But what did the secret services want with little Jane Fonda, star of Barbarella and Dolly Parton‘s 9 to 5? Surely there were more pressing matters on their agenda than monitoring a Hollywood actress. 

A stringent anti-war activist, it seems that Fonda’s outspoken pacifism had stirred up communist-sympathising rumours amongst the US intelligence agencies. In 1972, Fonda visited Hanoi, North Vietnam, where she was photographed laughing while sitting on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun used to shoot down American aircrafts – a stunt which earnt her the nickname ‘Hanoi Jane’. 

To most, Fonda (now 88) is best known for her 1968 psychedelic sci-fi film Barbarella, directed by her then-husband Roger Vadim. It was him that she lived in this Hollywood Hills home with – later swapping him out for her second husband, the activist Tom Hayden. After Fonda moved out, the property was sold in 1985 for $234,000 and bought-up by Hollywood character actors Bryan and Jo Deodato Clark who remained in the property for 35 years. 

Inside Jane Fonda’s Home

Tucked away at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac in the Whitley Heights Historic Preservation Zone, this peach-hued stucco structure was originally built in 1924 (it’s two-story veranda was later added in 1941). Whitley Heights is Hollywood’s first National Register historic district and the property is one of only two homes in the neighborhood protected by a Los Angeles Conservancy facade easement. The home is also covered under the Mills Act, which provides significant property tax savings in exchange for preserving a structure’s historic character.

Today, the five-bedroom, five-bathroom abode spans to 4,200 sq ft. Due to its hillside location, it can be accessed via two different streets from two different levels. You can either take the grand staircase from Holly Hill Terrace through to the formal entry, or enter via the top of the house through a two-car garage off Grace Avenue. 

Inside sits a living room with fireplace, an office and a library-slash-family room which opens out to a red-brick patio with canyon views. A formal dining room with an antique-style pendant light and multi-paned French doors flows through the remodelled kitchen – complete with a breakfast bar, casual seating and built-in banquette. This floor also has an ensuite bedroom, plus a second bathroom that opens directly onto the pool deck.

Up above, the primary suite includes a sitting room, a private patio with canyon and treetop views, and a bath with a soaking tub, separate shower and walk-in closet. On the up-most floor is an office, private balcony, two more bedrooms, and a bathroom with a freestanding tub, and down below sits the guest suite with its own private entrance, laundry room and kitchen. Outside, the terraced hillside hosts a swimming pool and spillover spa wrapped by a sundeck and an elevated lounging deck, along with a built-in grill, gardens, and mature fruit trees.

Where Does Jane Fonda Live Today?

These days, Jane Fonda lives in The Enclave – a guard-gated community in Century City, Los Angeles. Another Mediterranean-style townhouse, the 2015-built property is said to extend to 5,739 sq ft and is spread over three floors. Inside, there are seven bathrooms, plus a courtyard and private lift. Fonda purchased the four-bedroom home in 2017 for $5.45 million. 

Prior to this, Fonda lived in Forked Lightning Ranch in New Mexico. Fonda custom-built the main 9,585 sq ft Spanish-colonial-style property which she completed around 2002. She later sold the property in 2015.

On the market for $1,995,000. Find out more at elliman.com