Photos show Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ sprawling multi-million dollar new hideout… as cringe way couple talk in private is revealed
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds have been secretly building another New York bolt hole to hide from prying eyes, the Daily Mail can reveal.
But the 110-acre property, tucked away in Westchester County, has been seven years in the making and is nowhere near finished despite having a projected completion date of summer 2024.
New exclusive Daily Mail images show the sprawling compound is still barely past foundation level as work continues.
Lively, 37, shared the couple’s plans for the property in South Salem, a ritzy hamlet in the town of Lewisboro, 60 miles north of Manhattan, in a June 2022 town planning board meeting held virtually due to Covid restrictions at the time.
Appearing only as ‘b.’ on a Zoom call with 51 participants, the actress gushed over the quiet, idyllic neighborhood which she described as ‘heaven’ and ‘the most beautiful place in the world’.
‘We want to build this home in an incredibly sustainable and thoughtful way,’ she told the board. ‘Not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it’s something that we’re both passionate about.’
Exclusive Daily Mail photos show the first glimpse of Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds secret new compound in Westchester County, New York
Though the couple purchased the property in 2018 and presented their development plans in 2022, these new images show the home is still in the very early stages of construction
Lively, 37, told the local planning board that she and husband Ryan Reynolds were planning to build a massive home to accommodate their growing family, months before announcing they were expecting their fourth child in 2022 (pictured in November that year)
Lively confirmed she and husband Ryan Reynolds, 48, have owned the home since 2018 and revealed they’ve purchased several properties and plots of land on the same road in a bid to build ‘a beautiful buffer’ for themselves.
The couple already owns a $5.7million home eight miles away in Pound Ridge, where they are said to be hunkering down with their four children amid their ongoing bitter court battle with Justin Baldoni.
Lively and Baldoni, who co-starred in 2024 domestic violence film It Ends With Us, have been at each other’s throats for months amid claims that he sexually harassed her during filming.
Speaking to the planning board, Lively noted that Reynolds had planned to be in on the meeting too, but explained he was away filming in France where it would’ve been the middle of the night for him.
‘I was like, “my darling, I got this, I got us”.
‘He would have no idea what he’s talking about anyway,’ she quipped. ‘But he’d be so charming doing it.’
In addition to the main house on the lot, the couple purchased several properties and plots of land surrounding the home in a bid to build ‘a beautiful buffer’ for themselves
The compound, located in South Salem, a ritzy hamlet in the town of Lewisboro, 60 miles north of Manhattan, includes a cottage and another smaller residential structure which the pair decided to keep in their original states while rebuilding the main home
Lively shared the couple’s plans for the property in a virtual town planning board meeting in June 2022 where she appeared only as ‘b.’
The actress gushed over the quiet, idyllic neighborhood which she described as ‘heaven’ and ‘the most beautiful place in the world’ in the Zoom call with 51 participants
The Gossip Girl alum talked through the process of purchasing the property, and admitted they decided against buying another nearby house from the seller because it wasn’t ‘private enough for us’.
She complained that they ‘didn’t want to bring anyone from outside of the town to be wandering around’ – which she blamed on her and her husband’s professions.
‘We bought this land and thought, “Oh, this is incredible we ultimately have 110 acres here”,’ Lively said.
‘We’re just so excited to live here, our kids are growing up way too fast, which is none of your problem, but definitely ours.
‘We’ve had this property for four years now and I’m just desperate to get shovels in ground and be living on this land and enjoying it,’ she added.
She also assured the planning board, saying: ‘Our neighbors will never see us, in the best way you know, with all of our plans, it’s very much a part of the earth and and you know, we’re not cutting down we’re literally like flagging trees to save, half the trees we’re trying to reuse for lumber.’
Photos show there’s a long, secluded driveway in a heavily wooded area leading to the property, ideal for privacy lovers like Blake and Ryan
During the planning call, Lively told the board that she and Reynolds wanted to ‘honor the history of the property’, while asking for approval for a ‘substantial size pool house and gym’
The compound is surrounded by lots of natural beauty and will overlook Lake Oscaleta
The couple’s South Salem home is only eight miles away from their current Pound Ridge property and is expected to be their main family residence
‘We only ever wanted to be additive to the community, and you know we’re, I feel you can say that we’re good people and we’re good neighbors and like we’re just and we’ve been surrounded by that,’ she continued.
‘Everybody’s not only respectful but incredibly protective. I feel you can say that we’re good people and we’re good neighbors.’
Records show the Hollywood couple first purchased a $12million property on the lot in 2018 under an LLC, along with one other home.
They went on to purchase a $1.6million four-bedroom property bordering theirs in 2020, along with four surrounding plots of land, spanning 110 acres.
Zoning and planning board records from 2022 state the compound consists of a one story, two-bedroom cottage without a kitchen, as well two stables and a barn.
It notes that the main residence, now being rebuilt, had been downsized from the original structure and will be replaced with a new home over 14,500 square feet with a garage.
Lively and Reynolds are currently living at their $5.7million home in Pound Ridge, just eight miles from South Salem
Similar to their new house, the Pound Ridge home is in a quiet, secluded area with lots of thick foliage providing privacy for the family
Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds (left) were photographed at an equestrian competition in South Salem, New York in early April
The couple also sought approval for a pool, pool house, gym, septic systems and stormwater management facilities, according to records.
Lively said she and Reynolds wanted to ‘honor the history of the property’, while asking for approval for a ‘substantial size pool house and gym’.
The gym is expected to be 1,702 square feet, with the pool house coming in at 3,306 square feet for a 1,000 square-foot swimming pool, records show. Letters from neighboring properties in support of the renovations were submitted with their application.
But nearly three years on from that meeting, construction is still ongoing. Photos show the massive compound will be ensconced in woodland and lookout on to Lake Oscaleta.
Lively went on a gushing monologue during the meeting, describing the property as the ‘most beautiful place in the world’.
‘We love this land so much,’ the Gossip Girl alum continued. ‘We’re so grateful to have this land and to have such space and such privacy.’
During the 2022 planning board hearing, Lively admitted that she and her husband were probably not done having children. The couple, pictured with daughters James and Inez in 2015, now have four kids
Michael Sirignano, the couple’s lawyer who was also on the virtual call, told the board that the couple planned to make the property their primary residence with their three daughters – James, now 10, Inez, 8, and Betty, 5.
Lively also described herself as a ‘huge fan of history’, saying that was why she and Reynolds wanted to keep a cottage and another structure, while rebuilding the main home.
‘It used to be this big, beautiful home, I have no idea why they cut it down to like a fourth of the size of what it was,’ she said. ‘That home was great as it was.’
‘We respect the history and the story so much, but also we have three children. And we’re probably not done having kids,’ Lively confessed. ‘I just love having kids so much.’
Two months later, Lively would announce that she was pregnant with their fourth child, son, Olin.
‘I love my babies so much,’ she gushed. ‘I’m also one of five children, my husband’s one of four. Our family drives us insane but, yet we always have them here, we always have them around.’
Lively added that ‘the goal’ is to have their family ‘visiting as as much as possible.’
When questioned over plans to have a kitchenette in the pool house, she insisted to the committee that it would not be used as an apartment.
Minutes from the meeting show that there were no objections from members of the public to the building work.
The couple rarely offers insights into their home life and have been vocal about how much they value privacy.
That commitment to discretion was evident even in the meeting minutes, which show Lively’s name redacted from the transcript, identifying her only as a ‘rep’ for the couple’s LLC.
And plans obtained by the Daily Mail show that privacy won’t be an issue with their new mega-mansion on the huge plot of land.
Over the years, the couple have offered rare glimpses of their home life by sharing photos taken at Pound Ridge house. The two are pictured at the home in 2022 during Lively’s last pregnancy
In a 2024 Instagram post, the Gossip Girl star gave fans a look inside her bedroom which had a rustic look to it. The bed was not made and her bathroom could be seen in the background
Sirignano confirmed that the couple had ‘no plans’ to sell off any of the smaller lots of land, ensuring it ‘remains a family compound’.
Lively herself added that she and Reynolds didn’t want to be ‘tyrannical and try to just buy up every bit of land available’ but purchased the extra land as a ‘beautiful buffer’.
The actress also said that she would be asking locals where to find the ‘best fireworks on Fourth of July’ – implying she might skip her former bestie Taylor Swift’s annual party once her own home is finished.
The Hollywood power couple are apparently already becoming familiar with the South Salem neighborhood as they await for their new home to be complete.
Earlier this month Lively and Reynolds broke cover amid their high-profile legal battle with Baldoni and were spotted at an equestrian farm in the town to watch one of their daughters compete in a horse show.
Wearing an oversized blue and white plaid jacket, a blue turtleneck, light wash jeans, and brown leather cowboy boots, Lively looked casual and rustic, a far cry from the usual red carpet-ready glamor fans have come to expect from the seasoned actress.
Reynolds has always gushed about his home in New York, telling an interviewer in 2022 that he and Lively would never consider moving to his native Canada.
When asked about leaving the US, the Deadpool star said: ‘No. It hasn’t even crossed our minds. I love New York, and I love where I live.’
The couple moved in together just six months after first dating. That home was in Bedford, New York, 10 miles south of their planned new home.
