Long before Rockland County real estate made national headlines, Bill Murray and his then wife, Margaret “Mickey” Kelly, bought a plot of land in Snedens Landing. Property records show the couple paid $305,000 for the site in May 1985. A year later, they built a new home on it, and that house has carried Murray’s name in local real estate circles ever since.
The Palisades hamlet was already known for famous residents when Murray arrived. Actors, writers, and artists had settled there for decades, drawn by the privacy and the river views. Murray’s decision to build there fit right into that pattern.
What makes the story fun for fans is the timing. Murray built the house in 1986, two years after “Ghostbusters” made him a household name. The home even carried a small piece of that film history for years, a detail we cover further down.
Where Is the Snedens Landing Property Located
The house sits at 19 Ludlow Lane in Snedens Landing, a small hamlet within Palisades, New York. Palisades itself is part of the town of Orangetown in Rockland County, roughly 11 miles north of the George Washington Bridge.
Snedens Landing has a country feel despite that short distance to Manhattan. The area borders the Hudson River, sits near parkland, and has a private, wooded character that has attracted well-known names for generations. Neighbours and past residents of the hamlet have included Al Pacino, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Scarlett Johansson, Angelina Jolie, and the late Katharine Hepburn.
That mix of history and privacy is part of why the address keeps coming up in celebrity real estate coverage. It also explains why homes here rarely stay quiet once they hit the market.
Inside the Yellow House Design
Murray’s team built the home in a Colonial farmhouse style, with design cues pulled straight from the site’s own past. The structure that stood there before, a 19th-century barn known locally as the Yellow Barn, shaped the new house’s look and its nickname.
According to the listing description used when the home returned to market, the property is “set on nearly 4 acres straddling a private lane in Snedens Landing” and reflects a design that “harkens back architecturally to the charming Yellow Barn and the bygone days of river village life.” Architecture firm Shope Reno Wharton worked elements of the original barn into the finished home.
The main house measures 5,177 square feet. It includes five bedrooms and four and a half bathrooms, spread across two full floors plus supporting spaces.
Here is a quick snapshot of the property as it was marketed most recently:
- Main house: 5,177 square feet, five bedrooms, four and a half bathrooms
- Lot size: nearly four acres, with an additional buildable two-acre parcel at 28 Ludlow Lane
- Year built: 1986
- Style: Colonial farmhouse, inspired by the original Yellow Barn
- Extras: free-standing two-car garage with an office or studio above, wraparound porch, treehouse
Room by Room Look at the Property
The living room is the space most listing photos highlight. It sits beneath 15-foot ceilings and includes a wood-burning fireplace, an office nook with a built-in daybed, and French doors that open onto a wraparound porch overlooking the lawn.
The kitchen underwent a renovation before the home’s most recent sale attempt. It pairs green and yellow tones with a large prep island, and it keeps the original 119th-century wood-burningfireplace from the Yellow Barn footprint. A dedicated laundry room and an en suite bedroom for an au pair or housekeeper sit just off the kitchen.
Upstairs, a central staircase rises beneath a cupola that pulls natural light down into the stairwell. The second floor holds a spacious primary suite with two walk-in closets and a full bath, plus two more bedrooms that share a bathroom.
Outside, the grounds include a sprawling lawn, mature trees, and a treehouse. The listing also bundles in a separate buildable lot at 28 Ludlow Lane, giving a future owner room to expand or build a second structure.
The Ghostbusters Fire Pole Story
Fans searching for this house often want to know about one detail in particular: the fire pole. During Murray’s ownership, the home reportedly featured a fire pole reminiscent of the one seen in “Ghostbusters,” the 1984 film that made him a global name.
The pole became a small piece of local legend, the kind of detail real estate writers love to mention. It was removed at some point after Murray sold the property, and current listings describe the home without it. The connection to the film remains one of the most searched facts tied to this address, even though the pole itself is long gone.
The timing lines up neatly with Murray’s career. “Ghostbusters” hit theatres in the summer of 1984, and the actor broke ground on his Snedens Landing home not long after. It is easy to see why a small nod to the film’s firehouse might have made its way into a house built at the height of that success.
Real estate writers covering the 2024 relisting made a point of noting the pole’s absence, almost as if closing the loop on the story for longtime fans. The house today reads as a straightforward Colonial farmhouse rather than a piece of movie memorabilia, but the detail still shows up in nearly every article written about the address.
Who Has Owned the Yellow House Since Murray
Murray did not stay in the home forever. Ownership passed through a handful of notable residents in the years that followed, according to real estate coverage of the property.
Past occupants have reportedly included “Grease” actress Didi Conn and her husband, composer David Shire. More recently, the home was owned by artists Sean Scully and Liliane Tomasko, both of whom have work held in museums around the world.
That chain of ownership adds another layer to why the property keeps drawing coverage. It is not just a former celebrity home. It is a house that has passed through the hands of performers, composers, and visual artists, each adding to its story.
Fans of Sandy Koufax’s house will recognise this pattern. Properties tied to well-known names often carry a layered ownership history that extends well past the original famous resident.
What the 2024 Listing Included
The home returned to the market in October 2024 with an asking price of $3,695,000. Marjorie Galen of Ellis Sotheby’s International Realty held the listing.
The sale bundled two parcels together. The main 5,177-square-foot house sits on the primary lot, while a separate buildable two-acre parcel at 28 Ludlow Lane came with it. That second lot gives a buyer flexibility, whether that means preserving the land as is or building a second residence down the line.
Snedens Landing has produced some eye-catching sale numbers in recent years. A separate Ludlow Lane estate known as Niederhurst, a 13-acre property with eight bedrooms, sold for $26.1 million in 2024, the highest price ever recorded for a single-family home in Rockland County at the time. That sale shows just how much range exists within this one small hamlet, from multimillion-dollar farmhouses like Murray’s former home to record-breaking mansions a few doors down.
Snedens Landing as a Celebrity Enclave
Part of what keeps interest alive in this address is the neighbourhood itself. Snedens Landing has been called an artistic haven and, in some real estate coverage, “Hollywood on the Hudson.” The hamlet has drawn writers, actors, and artists for close to a century.
The area combines genuine privacy with easy access to New York City. Residents get wooded lots, river views, and quiet streets, all within roughly 30 minutes of Manhattan on a good day. Award-winning schools and a long-standing local tennis association round out the appeal for families who choose to settle there.
That balance of seclusion and access explains why so many public figures have owned homes here over the decades, and why any Murray-connected address in the hamlet tends to attract outsized attention compared to similarly priced homes elsewhere in Rockland County.
Local coverage of the neighbourhood often points back to its early history as well. Snedens Landing traces its name to an 18th-century ferry crossing on the Hudson River, and the community grew slowly around that original settlement. Later, in the 20th century, its bridge tunnel proximity to Manhattan turned it into a quiet retreat for people who worked in the city but wanted distance from it at the end of the day. That same appeal still drives interest in any property connected to a well-known former resident, Murray included.
Readers who enjoy tracking where public figures put down roots might also want to look at Keith Morrison’s house, which offers a similar look at how a recognisable name intersects with a specific neighbourhood’s real estate story.
Other Rockland County Homes Tied to Murray
The Yellow House is not the only Rockland County property linked to Murray’s name. A separate Gothic Revival home at 124 Washington Spring Road, built in the late 1860s and known locally as The Manse, also has ties to him. Murray reportedly lived there for several years in the 1980s before selling it in 1990.
That home served as the parsonage for a church built across the street around 1863, and it later returned to the market on its own, asking just over $2 million. Together, the two addresses show that Murray’s time in Snedens Landing spanned more than one property, even though the Ludlow Lane house remains the one most associated with his name today.
For readers who enjoy comparing how different public figures approach home buying, the Tony Hinchcliffe house offers another example of how personal taste shapes a property choice outside the usual celebrity hotspots.
Final Thoughts
The Bill Murray house in Palisades tells a story that goes beyond one famous name. It is a Colonial farmhouse built on the bones of a 19th-century barn, sold and resold across four decades, and passed between actors, composers, and artists along the way.
For fans searching out where their favourite performers have lived, the Yellow House stands as one of the more grounded examples. No sprawling megamansion, no flashy amenities list, just a well-built family home in a hamlet that has quietly hosted some of entertainment’s biggest names for generations.
FAQs
Where is Bill Murray’s house in Palisades located?
The home sits at 19 Ludlow Lane in Snedens Landing, a hamlet within Palisades, New York, in Rockland County.
How big is Bill Murray’s Palisades house?
The main house measures 5,177 square feet and includes five bedrooms and four and a half bathrooms, set on nearly four acres.
When did Bill Murray build the house?
Murray and his then-wife, Margaret Kelly, bought the land in 1985 and built the home in 1986 on the site of a 19th-century barn known as the Yellow Barn.
What was the asking price when the home last sold?
The property returned to market in October 2024 asking $3,695,000, listed by Marjorie Galen of Ellis Sotheby’s International Realty.
Does the house still have the Ghostbusters fire pole?
No. Reports say the fire pole was removed after Murray sold the property, and current listings describe the home without it.
