Fans know the 8 Mile star hails from Detroit, but has he stayed close to home after all these years?

Back in 1999, he said he was “a Detroiter for life,” but where does Eminem live now? Well, the acclaimed rapper, also known by his real name, Marshall Mathers, has stayed steadfastly true to his word. Though he ventured into the suburbs shortly after his meteoric rise to fame, Mathers has always opted to stay close to where it all began.

“I can always go back and revisit my old neighborhood any time I want. And stuff like that is very important. Even if I just want to drive by one of my old houses or something,” he said in 2009 of the decision to stay. “It brings back memories for me. And there are a lot of memories I have here in Detroit. I’m just so comfortable here.” The rapper, who recently became a grandfather, is so comfortable in his Michigan home that he hasn’t bought another property in over two decades.

Below, we trace the legendary artist’s real estate journey, from a small house off of Detroit’s 8 Mile Road to a mansion that clocks in at over 17,000 square feet.

Childhood home

The Detroit home where Eminem spent his teenage years was immortalized in 2000 when Mathers appeared sitting on its steps on the cover of his third studio album, The Marshall Mathers LP. “I had a lot of good and bad memories in that house. But to go back to where I grew up and finally say, ‘I’ve made it,’ is the greatest feeling in the world to me,” he said in regards to the decision to put the humble abode on the album’s cover. Tucked in between 8 Mile and 7 Mile roads, the 767-square-foot brick two-bedroom at 19946 Dresden Avenue became a fan landmark.

Even Mathers himself used to occasionally revisit the place. “It may sound corny, but I’ll go by and try to remember how things were when I was in those houses,” the rapper told Spin in 2010. “I’ll go back and remember, like, f—, man, how life was back then. How much of a struggle it was. As time goes by, you might get content and forget things.”

After a fire left it structurally unsound, the home was torn down in 2013. That same year, it appeared on the cover of another Eminem album, The Marshall Mathers LP 2, albeit in a much more decrepit state than when it was pictured 13 years prior. Reportedly, the musician’s former home “sat on a street with more than 70 vacant dwellings” at the time of its destruction. In 2016, Eminem sold 700 of the house’s bricks as official collectibles, complete with his signature and a commemorative plaque.

The empty lot has since been put to good use: Local nonprofit Detroit Hives announced plans in 2022 to convert it into a bee sanctuary.

Sterling Heights pad

In the summer of 1999, Mathers and his then wife, Kim Scott, paid $450,000 for a nearly 5,000-square-foot 1980s dwelling in Detroit’s Sterling Heights neighborhood. Reportedly, the on-again, off-again pair redid the kitchen and primary bedroom, plus added in bright purple carpet.

According to ABC News, the spot lacked sufficient privacy for the rapper; fans and thieves frequently showed up and stole “No Trespassing” signs and once, even the mailbox. Mathers parted ways with the 2.78-acre property in 2001. Though the rapper originally wanted $750,000 for the dwelling, it sold for just $475,000. (The new owner promptly removed the bold choice in carpeting.)

Primary residence

Photo: Danny Moloshok/Getty Images

Eminem reportedly bought his next property in September 2000, when he spent a little under $1.5 million for a 1996-built home in Clinton Township, a suburb northeast of Detroit. Records indicate that the house, nestled inside a private gated neighborhood, spans a little under 9,000 square feet—a spec that Mathers referenced in his 2009 song “Elevator” with the line, “This is my house, all nine thousand feet.”

The 8 Mile star has since had plenty of time to change things, but per listing history, the dwelling is a wood-and-brick split-level with four bedrooms and six bathrooms. At the time of sale, the abode also featured double-height rooms with crown moldings and etched glass doors. Listed amenities also include three fireplaces, a wet bar, security and sound systems, a breakfast room, a sunroom, and a study. Clocking in at three-quarters of an acre, the plot also has a basketball court, a 35-foot pool, and a spa.

Though the place has a highly improved level of security compared to Mathers’s previous pad, it has had at least one trespassing incident. In 2020, a man broke into the house, and the rapper reportedly “escorted the home invader through a TV area, game room, and basketball court to an exit out of the house.”

This is still the “Lose Yourself” musician’s primary residence.

Oakland Township mansion

In 2003, The 15-time Grammy winner paid $4.75 million for a 17,500-square-foot contemporary-style mansion in Oakland Township, a northern suburb of Detroit. Reportedly, Mathers used the stone-and-stucco home, previously owned by former Kmart CEO Chuck Conaway, as a getaway pad. Nestled on nearly six guard-gated acres just north of Detroit, the property included a sports court, a pond, walking trails, a 2,000-square-foot guesthouse with a game room, and a waterfall pool with a spa and a cabana.

The main house boasted five bedrooms (all en suite), a whopping 10 bathrooms, and an elevator. Like the square footage of his other suburban Michigan dwelling, this last feature was referenced in his song “Elevator.” As the chorus goes, “Eighty-some million records worldwide later / I’m living in a house with a f—ing elevator.”

After over a decade of ownership, the hip-hop artist sold the abode in 2017 for a major loss, netting $1.9 million—less than half of what he originally paid.