Josh Duhamel Is Selling His California Home for Good and Moving Into a Doomsday Cabin in Minnesota
Josh Duhamel is selling his Los Angeles home. And if you have followed his story over the last few years, this is not a surprise. It is a conclusion.
The Encino property is officially on the market for $2.99 million. He and wife Audra Mari just welcomed a newborn daughter. Ransom Canyon Season 2 drops on Netflix on July 23.
And the man who spent 18 years building a 50-acre off-grid sanctuary in Minnesota with his own hands is done splitting his life between two worlds.
This is not a listing. It is the last piece of a decision made a long time ago.
The House That Was Never Really Home
Duhamel bought this Encino ranch-style home in 2017 for $2.65 million after his split from Fergie. It became the family’s West Coast base.
Four bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, 3,310 square feet, and panoramic mountain views described in the listing as “a spectacular backdrop from nearly every angle.”
The home was renovated in 2023, with refinished hardwood floors, new carpeting, and a remodeled primary suite complete with a marble shower and soaking tub overlooking the backyard. Two years later, he listed it as a $15,000-a-month rental. Now it is for sale.
Thomas Atamian of Coldwell Banker Realty holds the listing.
Eighteen Years of Building Something Else
This is the part every competitor article buries, but it is the actual story.
Duhamel bought his first parcel of land in Minnesota about 18 years ago, around 12 acres, after his father took him out to see it for the first time. He has since expanded it to roughly 50 acres by purchasing additional plots over the years.
For the first 12 years, there was no plumbing. No running water. He told Country Living: “We were basically homesteading the first 12 years. We were using outhouses and washing dishes in the lake.”
He has since added three wells, food plots filled with clover and chicory to attract game, and a full new dwelling on the land because the original two tiny cabins were not big enough for his family.
He built it into a working survival property, inspired by the Patriots survival guide, stocked and prepared for whatever comes.
He told People he is “probably 70% ready” to survive an apocalypse from this cabin.
And his words about the place say everything: “I didn’t just buy the place, I shaped this place.”
Realtor.com has the full property detail on both homes if you want to dig into the listing specs: Josh Duhamel’s Encino Home and the Move to Minnesota
Why It Is All Happening Right Now
Three things landed in the same window, and none of it is a coincidence.
Duhamel and Audra Mari recently welcomed their daughter Rocca, their second child together. They also have son Shepherd, born January 2024, and Duhamel’s 12-year-old son Axl from his marriage to Fergie.
Three kids, a cabin in Minnesota, a residence in Fargo that the couple considers their full-time home, and an LA property that no longer fits the life.
Ransom Canyon Season 2 premieres on Netflix on July 23, 2026. He plays a stoic rancher fighting to hold onto his land and legacy. The character is not far from who he actually is right now.
He told Dana Carvey and David Spade on their podcast that when he gets to Minnesota, his heart rate drops about 25%. “My priorities change. I feel like I have a purpose,” he said.
That is not something a person says about a place they are eventually going to leave.
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Celebrity real estate exits rarely go exactly as planned, price or otherwise.
Bradley Beal found that out when he sold his $11 million Bethesda mansion for significantly less than he originally expected, a reminder that the name on the deed does not guarantee the number on the check.
Why This Matters
Duhamel is not the only one making this call.
In 2025 alone, California recorded a net loss of approximately 216,000 residents, following a net loss of about 239,000 between 2023 and 2024.
U-Haul ranked California last for net in-migration for the sixth year in a row. Glen Powell went back to Texas. Eva Longoria left for Europe. The list keeps growing.
Duhamel bought in Encino for $2.65 million in 2017. He is listing at $2.99 million nearly a decade later. That is a modest gain by any LA luxury standard.
Compare that to Calvin Klein’s former East Hampton estate, which just listed for a record $165 million after being purchased for $3.6 million in 1981. The difference is not just the market. It is what the seller decided to prioritize.
And sometimes the move is not one home but everything at once. Rockstar Energy billionaire Russ Savage listed five luxury properties simultaneously for a combined $297 million, a different scale but the same signal: when someone is ready to move on, they move on completely.
The Newsweek breakdown of California census migration data puts the numbers in full context: California Exodus: Where People Are Going and Why
Key Takeaways
- Duhamel listed his Encino home for $2.99 million in June 2026
- He bought it in 2017 for $2.65 million, post-split from Fergie
- The property is 4 bed, 3.5 bath, 3,310 sq ft with panoramic mountain views
- Home was renovated in 2023 and listed as a $15K/month rental before this
- Listing held by Thomas Atamian of Coldwell Banker Realty
- His Minnesota off-grid property spans 50 acres and has been built over 18 years
- He and Audra Mari recently welcomed daughter Rocca, their second child
- Ransom Canyon Season 2 premieres on Netflix on July 23, 2026
- The family considers Fargo, North Dakota their primary full-time residence
- Buyer identity has not been disclosed
Would you trade a $3 million LA home for a 50-acre off-grid cabin in Minnesota? Or does what Duhamel has been quietly building up there for 18 years actually sound like the smarter life? Drop your take in the comments.
Wrapping Up
This listing is not about square footage or mountain views. It is about a man who decided what kind of life he wanted, spent 18 years building it with his own hands, and is now signing off on the one he outgrew.
The LA chapter is closing. The Minnesota one has been open for nearly two decades already.
If this kind of story is your thing, Build Like New covers celebrity real estate, luxury market moves, and the human side of big transactions regularly. Worth bookmarking if you want more than just the headline.
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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. All details are based on publicly available reports at the time of publication.
