James Van Der Beek — who passed away on February 11 at the age of 48 — may have been a beloved and famous Hollywood figure; however, in recent years, he called a ranch in Texas home.
The actor and his family — which includes his wife, Kimberly, and their six children, daughters Olivia, 15, Annabel, 12, Emilia, 9, and Gwendolyn, 7, and sons Joshua, 13, and Jeremiah, 4 — made the big move from California to Texas in 2020.
They ended up living in Spicewood, Texas, “a rural town outside of Austin where they would have more than enough room to raise their brood of six kids,” according to Realtor.com.
James & Kimberly Talked About Leaving Los Angeles
On September 30, 2020, James took to Instagram to share photos of his family saying goodbye to their home in L.A. In the caption, he wrote, “Sometimes a fuller life begins with an empty house. Leaving Los Angeles incredibly grateful for all the friends and memories we’ve made here. Onto the next big adventure! ❤️😊”
Kimberly also opened up about the move during an interview with the “The Make Down” podcast, saying, “I think we’re in a time right now where people are wanting to ground themselves a little bit more into nature. And L.A. has been a magical place for many years for me. So much life has been lived here. I’m going to go through a process to leave. I mean, I birthed three kids in the home I’m living in.”
She then added, “But you know, I gotta get out of the concrete jungle for a little bit.”
Kimberly also told City Lifestyle, “I’m a farm girl at heart who had never lived out her dream. Nature was calling. I wanted to be immersed in nature, in trees and fields and the sky. We found this property and it’s been like a dream come true.”
The Ranch Offers Space for the Van Der Beek Family
The ranch where the Van Der Beek family landed consists of a 36-acre property, acccording to Realtor.com. “Their wooded property includes a main house, several cabins, and a pool and backyard with views of the Pedernales River.”
The main house is 5,149 square feet and includes five bedrooms, three bathrooms and a commercial kitchen. That’s not to mention the “balconies with sky and river views, and a tram to the river,” as well as “a barn perfect for throwing a party,” per Realtor.com.
In October 2020, Kimberly posted a video to Instagram and talked about renting the ranch before deciding to buy, saying, “We’re going to try Texas out for a year and really give a lot of love to this property. … We have incredible landlords, they’re magical, so they’re really letting us dip into it and really steward the land as if it’s our own and go wild with it. Which is really cool.”
Realtor.com notes that “[p]roperty records now show that James and Kimberly officially purchased the ranch for $4.76 million on Jan. 9, just over a month before the actor died.”
