Brad Pitt let his elderly neighbor live in his $40 million house rent free until his death
There is no questioning that a lot of folks would dream of being rich and famous, though that is not exactly within the realms of possibility.
The next best thing is perhaps living that lifestyle for a day or more, and one elderly man got to experience just that thanks to Brad Pitt.
The legendary actor allowed his elderly neighbor to live in his $40 million house rent free until he passed away.
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Pitt didn’t intentionally set out to become a landlord when he bought the lavish home back in 1994 - but his later gesture certainly warmed a lot of people's hearts.
The Mr and Mrs Smith actor paid just $1.7 million when he purchased the property from Elvira star Cassandra Peterson.
After spending the better part of three decades at the residence, Pitt noticed that the area was becoming increasingly built up.
It’s then that he took pity on his elderly neighbour, as Peterson recalled in an interview with People: "I think there were like 22 houses that were contiguous to the edge of the property. And every time they came up he bought one."
Peterson claimed one of those properties belonged to an elderly man in his early nineties and Pitt ended up striking up a deal with him that allowed the senior to stay in the residency.
"He was very, very kind to the husband. His wife passed away and the husband, John, lived there," she continued.
"I know that Brad allowed him to live there without paying anything until he died."
Joking about the fact that the arrangement continued slightly longer than expected, Peterson added: "It was kind of funny because John lived to be 105."
She continued, saying that John 'just kept living forever,' before saying: "I imagine Brad was thinking well, you know, he can live there till he dies, which might be any minute now."
Peterson, who became Pitt's neighbor after selling her property to him, shared her own experiences with Pitt throughout the years.
"I go past Brad's garage and he's in there wearing only sweatpants. He's got on boxing gloves and he is punching a bag. I swear I almost fainted.
"I remember he goes, 'Hey, how are you?' and I'm like, 'Huh?' I couldn't talk. I was turning red. I felt like I was fainting.
"He's just so stunningly, stunningly handsome — and nice, to top it off," she concluded.
Callum Jones