Melissa Gilbert, 58, Sold LA Mansion for Calm Life with Spouse — She Bakes Pies & Spends Time with 9 Grandkids

Melissa Gilbert left her million-dollar house in sunny California for a quiet life on the outskirts of New York. The actress admitted that she tried to change herself to fit the Hollywood mold, but now she's embracing her natural lifestyle and living a happy, fulfilling life in her cottage.

Melissa Gilbert came to fame at a young age. She grew up in the entertainment business with her adoptive parents. Her father, Paul, was an actor, and her mother, Barbara, was also an actress and a dancer.

Gilbert grew up in front of the screen doing commercials, but she was most famous as Laura Ingalls in the fan-favorite series, "Little House on the Prairie," which aired from 1974 to 1982.

She continued to take on several acting roles as a child, but Gilbert also transitioned into adult roles smoothly. She was voted president of the Screen Actors Guild for two terms in a row in 2003.

However, now the actress is enjoying a different phase of her life, where she has toned down the Hollywood life, settling for a quiet life and spending quality time with her grandchildren.

Melissa Gilbert Down Sized to a Cottage in the Woods

In Hollywood, things are mostly done extravagantly, especially regarding property. However, Gilbert is not interested in the life of sunny California because she put her million-dollar house on the market and bought a $98,000 house in New York in 2019.

When a celebrity downsizes their life to that extent, people wonder if Gilbert had lost her fortune to managers and was forced to choose the next best thing.

But in this case, Gilbert had always been open about wanting to relive the simple life she played on "Little House on the Prairie" and wrote about it in her latest memoir, "Back to the Prairie."

The house she and her husband, Tim Busfield, bought was abandoned by its previous owner, who left it filled with a lot of junk and rodded with mice.

However, the couple was not afraid to get their hands dirty. They got rid of the rotten food in the fridge, cabinets, and floors sticky with built-up dirt as they were determined to make the house liveable.

After Gilbert spent a great deal of time scrubbing her house, they have since installed new cabinets, a ceiling fan, a couch, and a "love seat." Gilbert also loves to knit her own throws, which she uses to add warmth and a personal touch to her homes.

On the outside, the actress has made good use of the space and added raised garden beds, and brought in a few chickens. The overall feeling of the house is warm, cozy, and cheerful, and it also seems to be loved by their dog, Chicago.

Besides their beloved single-bathroom cottage, Gilbert and her husband rent out an apartment in Manhattan but love to spend their days in their hidden woodsy home.

Melissa Gilbert Is a Proud Grandmother

Gilbert loves to be a grandmother. When she welcomed her granddaughter Ripley, she told her followers she would flood them with baby pictures.

The actress shared several pictures of Ripley in her arms, showing off all the snuggle time she had been enjoying. Gilbert and Busfield have eight grandchildren between them. The "Little House on the Prairie" star has one child with her first husband, Bo Brinkman, Dakota.

Her marriage with Brinkman ended after six years; then, the actress tied the knot with Bruce Boxleitner, with whom she had another son, Michael.

However, their union ended after 16 years of marriage. Boxleitner had two more sons, Sam and Lee, from his marriage with Kathryn Holcomb. Despite ending things with her second husband, Gilbert remained close to her stepsons and celebrated their milestones with them.

When Gilbert married Busfield, she became the stepmother of three more children, Wilson, Samuel, and Daisy Busfield. Gilbert loves her blended family to bits; on international son's day, the actress shared a heartfelt post and said they she happened to be blessed with four sons, Dakota, Michael, Sam, and Lee.

She praised her sons for being generous, kind, funny, and talented and said they were the chambers of her heart. Now that Gilbert is embracing her natural self and living a simpler life, she is even more excited to bring her grandchildren along and introduce them to a life she loved dearly as a child.

The actress recently welcomed another grandchild, Rosemary, and just like the proud grandmother she is, Gilbert shared the good news with her Instagram followers.

The pictures showed the grandmother with her granddaughter lying on her chest as she smiled proudly next to her. Gilbert truly loves cuddling with her grandchildren.

Happy Life on the Prairie

Starting a life in the limelight seemed easy as a child star, but as Gilbert grew older, she realized that she was expected to stay young, so she found herself getting into botox and plastic surgery, trying to turn back time.

But after much introspection and therapy sessions, Gilbert realized that she did not need to fit into anyone's mold of what a 58-year-old woman should look like.

Therefore, the actress started her website, Modern Prairie, to show women that every stage and age is important and that they do not have to disappear into the background because they are getting older.

Gilbert also credits her husband for his constant support and agreeing to move across the country. The actress loves her new quiet life at their New York cottage, where she spends the day baking pies, painting, and connecting with her Modern Prairie community.

Her focus is to lead a zen and joyful life, take care of her body, eat healthier food she grows from her garden, and enjoy her fruitful age.

Gilbert said she had always dreamed of living a quiet life on the mountainside, but she was more concerned about staying thin and fitting the Hollywood mold instead of living her truth.

So, one day she woke up and chose to live a life that fulfilled her, and Gilbert is grateful for snapping out of the mindset of focusing on the outside and not addressing the inside.

The actress is happy to be embracing the natural lifestyle she has always wanted and could not be happier and more at peace with her life.