Home is so nice actor buys it twice
Michael Gross, who stars as a survivalist in the upcoming TV series "Tremors" and played the liberal husband and father in the long-running NBC sitcom "Family Ties," and his wife, Elza, have bought back a La Canada Flintridge home they first purchased in 1990 and sold in 1996.
"My wife always mourned selling the house, which was built around a 300-year-old oak tree," Gross said by phone while on a train to Mexico, where he is shooting "Tremors: The Series," to debut March 28 on the Sci Fi Channel. He also stars in his fourth "Tremors" feature film, starting pre-production Tuesday.
The actor and his wife paid slightly under $1.6 million for the five-bedroom house, which they originally bought in 1990 for about $1 million.
"It's in a good school district, it's private but is close to a boulevard, and my wife's mother can walk to many places: major markets, the cleaners, the drugstore," he said. His mother-in-law, whom he described as being "more than 90 but less than 100," had been living with the couple in adjoining Pasadena condos, which they sold when they repurchased in La Canada.
"A blended family is not a problem for us," the actor, 55, said. "I grew up in Chicago, and there were several generations in one house. My own grandmother lived with us for 11 years."
He and his wife sold their La Canada home in 1996 to buy in New York so he could do more theater. (He subsequently co-starred on Broadway in "Macbeth.") The couple still has an apartment in Greenwich Village and a house in New Mexico, which they also bought after "Family Ties" (1982-89).
"We have homes now in three time zones," he said.
The La Canada home, built in the 1950s, wasn't on the market when he and his wife repurchased it. "The people who bought it from us in '96 approached my son and said if we wanted it back, they'd make us a good deal," the actor said.
In some ways, the house is better than when they first bought it. The 4,000-plus-square-foot house has a new, separate wing with its own entrance. The former owners also built an outdoor kitchen with refrigerators and counter space.
One thing that needs to be changed, however, is the decor, which dates back to when he and his wife bought the house in 1990. "The colors and the style have completely changed, and we aren't the same people we were 13 years ago," he said. "It's fun re-energizing it.
"You can go home again," he said, "but in certain cases, you must redecorate."
