Hollywood doesn’t make stars like Bette Davis anymore.
The legendary actress lived life on her own terms both on screen and off.
And Bette Davis’s oceanfront home just hit the market with one asking price that will leave you speechless.
Hollywood royalty called Maine home for a magical decade
Back when Hollywood still had real movie stars, Bette Davis was the queen of them all.
The two-time Oscar winner had that fire in her eyes and razor-sharp wit that made her unforgettable in classics like All About Eve and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Most folks don’t know that Davis found her slice of heaven far from the glitz and glamour of Tinseltown.
After falling head over heels for fellow actor Gary Merrill on the set of All About Eve in the early 1950s, Davis packed up her life and headed to the rugged coast of Maine.¹
The couple settled into a sprawling farmhouse in Cape Elizabeth, right along Casco Bay, where they raised their adopted children, Margot and Michael.
Davis playfully dubbed their eight-acre oceanfront paradise "Witch Way" – and what a fitting name for the actress who could cast a spell on any audience.
"I have lots of good memories about our time at Witch Way, a beautiful property and a wonderful family home, right on the ocean," their son Michael Merrill told Portland Monthly magazine years later.²
The property wasn’t just a house – it was a genuine slice of New England farm life with "two coves, a large front lawn, a barn, an enclosed area for goats and other farm animals and horses, vegetable gardens, berry bushes and a pond."²
A $15 million piece of Hollywood history awaits new owners
Now that magical retreat where one of Hollywood’s greatest stars lived her happiest years is up for grabs.
The asking price? A jaw-dropping $15 million.³
The original farmhouse where Davis and Merrill called home until their divorce in 1960 has been replaced by a stunning modern residence, but the magic of the location remains untouched.
The current 7,600-square-foot main home sits on the same hallowed ground where Davis once tended her gardens and watched the Maine sunrise over Casco Bay.
There’s also a detached 2,000-square-foot carriage house and an incredible 1,200 feet of ocean frontage that’ll take your breath away.³
Michael Merrill painted a picture of what life was like growing up in this coastal paradise.
"Dad also had lobster traps in the coves, and there was a sandy beach very close by within walking distance," he recalled. "Dad did have a hockey team, Merrill’s Marauders, which played ‘pick up’ hockey against other groups of players on the pond."²
Young Michael had his own adventures rowing around the pond in a little dinghy while his famous mother and stepfather lived the good life by the sea.
When Hollywood stars lived like real Americans
What strikes you about this story is how normal it all sounds.
Here was one of the biggest movie stars in the world, and she chose to live like regular folks – raising farm animals, tending vegetable gardens, and watching her husband play pickup hockey on a frozen pond.
Davis wasn’t some pampered Hollywood princess demanding red carpet treatment everywhere she went.
She was a Massachusetts native who had worked as a lifeguard at Ogunquit Beach when she was just 18 years old.¹
The Pine Tree State was in her blood, and she performed in local venues throughout her life, never forgetting her New England roots.
Even in her later years, Davis filmed scenes for one of her final movies, The Whales of August, right there on Cliff Island in the 1980s.¹
This was back when movie stars actually had some class and connection to real America.
A lifestyle that money can’t buy today
The current owners have maintained the property’s spectacular appeal.
The modern home features a double-height foyer with a floating staircase, a family room with a massive stone fireplace, and a curved kitchen that would make any chef jealous.³
Upstairs, five bedrooms include a primary suite with its own balcony overlooking the same waters where Davis once found peace.
There’s even a cozy octagon-shaped reading room in the cupola – perfect for curling up with a good book while listening to the waves crash below.³
The grounds still capture that "charming English countryside setting" with covered porches, a bluestone terrace, and that same pond where the Merrill family created so many memories.³
But here’s what you can’t put a price tag on – the connection to a time when America still produced genuine stars who weren’t afraid to live authentic lives.
The property last sold in 2016 for nearly $3.8 million, so somebody’s looking to make a serious profit at $15 million.³
Still, for the right buyer who appreciates both luxury and Hollywood history, "Witch Way" represents something you just can’t find anymore.
It’s a piece of an America where movie stars chose substance over flash, where family values mattered more than social media followers, and where the good life meant something real.
Bette Davis knew what she was doing when she chose this slice of Maine over the Hollywood Hills.
She found something money can’t buy – genuine happiness in a place that felt like home.
¹ Robb Report, "Bette Davis’s Former Oceanfront Estate in Maine Hits the Market for $15 Million," Robb Report, July 24, 2025.
² Michael Merrill quoted in Portland Monthly magazine, 2014, as cited in Robb Report, "Bette Davis’s Former Oceanfront Estate in Maine Hits the Market for $15 Million," Robb Report, July 24, 2025.
³ Ibid.