The Sad Reason Christopher Lloyd Lost His Home In 2008

Christopher Lloyd is considered Hollywood royalty thanks to the outstanding success of the "Back to the Future" film trilogy, in which he starred as Dr. Emmett Brown, or simply "Doc." The veteran actor joined Michael J. Fox in the sci-fi-comedy first released in 1985, and went on to become a certified cult-classic. But in addition to his iconic role in "Back to the Future", Lloyd is also known for his work in "The Addams Family," "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" and the comedy series "Taxi," for which he won two Emmys (per IMDb). To date, Lloyd continues to lend his acting talents to films such as Bob Odenkirk's "Nobody" and George Clooney's "The Tender Bar." He is also reported to guest-star in the upcoming third season of the Disney+ "Star Wars" series "The Mandalorian," as confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter in March.

Almost four decades after he rose to superstardom for "Back to the Future," Lloyd's acting career continues to flourish. However, the actor has also gone through some major ups and downs over the past number of years. For one, he's lived through high profile-marriages and divorces with five different women, including his first wife, Catherine Boyd, who sued him in 2002 for allegedly failing to pay for alimony, per AP News. Back in 2008, Lloyd also suffered a major loss after he lost his million-dollar home to a tragic incident. Here's what happened.

Christopher Lloyd's multi-million dollar home was among the thousands of homes destroyed by the series of wildfires that took place in Southern California in November 2008. The actor joined dozens of Montecito residents who lost their homes as fire ripped through the exclusive celebrity neighborhood in Los Angeles, where Oprah Winfrey, Michael Douglas, and Rob Lowe also own homes (via CNN). "Windows were blown out" and "entire sections" of his mansion — valued at $11 million — were "demolished," according to the report. "It's amazing, it's just gone," Lloyd said during an appearance on "Good Morning America." "Rebuilding would be — it's too much. You can't rebuild that."

"You watch TV, you see these kinds of incidents happening here and there, but you look with a kind of detachment because it's happening ... elsewhere," he continued. "But suddenly to be in the midst of it — it's a very different awareness." Despite the tragedy, Lloyd was able to poke fun at his situation, sharing that he'd been planning on reorganizing his home, but never got around to it. "Kind of don't have to worry about that now," he added.

The Montecito blaze, also known as the "Tea Fire," was the first of several wildfires that broke out in SoCal in November 2008, followed by the Sayre Fire and the Freeway Complex Fire. It was caused by a group of college students who held a bonfire party at the abandoned Tea House on November 12, per Independent. The wildfire ended up destroying a total of 210 residential and commercial structures, and damaged nine others, according to a California Fire report. 

After losing his home to the 2008 California wildfire, Christopher Lloyd custom-built "a sprawling, four-bedroom, and 4.5-bathroom Tuscan-inspired villa" in another part of Montecito, according to Dirt. He put it on the market in 2012 for $6.5 million, and it sold that same year for $5.1 million.

Aside from his Montecito ranch, the "Back to the Future" actor also owns a residential property in the exclusive Santa Barbara area, which he and his current wife, Lisa Loiacono-Lloyd (a real estate agent), purchased in 2017 for $2.5 million, also per Dirt. In addition, he owned a lovely beach-front cottage in Ventura, California, which he bought in 2018 for $2.17 million, per the Los Angeles Times. However, he also ended up selling the abode in 2020 for just under $3 million, per Yahoo! Entertainment.

Lloyd and his wife also listed a bungalow they purchased in 2014 for $800,000 and renovated into a 1950s Spanish-inspired home. The property, which was listed with Ron Brand and Arthur Kalayjian at Compass, is 21,861 square feet with two bedrooms and one bathroom, per Dirt. It features a cozy living room and a "fairly small but smartly arranged" kitchen, as well as a spacious backyard perfect for hosting guests and  al fresco dining. Oh, and it also has a garage that can be converted into a "snazzy" media room. Lloyd supposedly sold this particular home for approximately $1.6 million.