In 2010, when beloved star Barbra Streisand published her coffee table book, ‘My Passion for Design,’ she ended up revealing a major detail about her life. An entire chapter from the book was solely dedicated to her private, subterranean shopping mall built right beneath her Malibu estate. The space had been designed to house decades’ worth of award-winning costumes, rare antiques, and collectibles; this underground village has become an icon of Hollywood lore, inspiring off-Broadway plays and captivating celebrity guests alike. Read ahead to learn the story behind Streisand’s custom-built street, its shops, and why she created it.
In 2010, Barbra Streisand revealed that she has her own personal shopping mall
Underneath her 10,000-square-foot Malibu estate, Streisand has built her own special haven in the form of a private shopping mall. The singer was inspired to create the replica 19th-century antique street and display rooms, which house her personal collection of dolls, vintage clothing, and a faux candy/sweet shop—after visiting the Winterthur Museum of American Decorative Arts in Delaware.As per her book, the subterranean promenade was built as a way to keep all of her years’ worth of memorabilia, antique collections, costumes, and more in one place. In 2023, while talking to Stephen Colbert on an episode of ‘The Late Show,’ the star shared, “It’s a little, tiny mall, if you want to say.” She has also openly talked about the mall and why she made the establishment in her basement.While talking on CBS’ ‘The Today Show’ in 2023, Streisand opened up about her habit of collecting things. She commented, “I love to collect. I love antiques. [As a child] I didn’t have a doll, so I put hot water into a hot water bottle, which felt like a real person.”
Key features of Barbra Streisand’s private basement mall
The actress and singer built the mall as a way to keep all of her collectables and memorabilia in one place. (Instagram)
There are a lot of features in Streisand’s private mall. These include a candy shop that has been named Baby Rupert’s, which was named after her beloved Coton de Tulear dog, Rupert. It has fully operational candy display cases, vintage dispensers, a popcorn machine, and real licorice and sweets for guests. Along with that, there is a costume and antique shop that houses Streisand’s archival movie wardrobes, stage costumes, vintage lace, and rare textiles. It also has mannequins that are modeling iconic gowns from ‘Funny Girl,’ ‘Hello, Dolly!’, and ‘The Way We Were.’She also has her own private doll collection in a shop named Bee’s Doll Shop. This space displays her entire collection of antique 19th-century French dolls, porcelain figures, and intricate dollhouses behind glass display windows with working interior lights. Gayle King, the host of ‘The Today Show,’ had heard about Streisand’s collection of hobbies and had joked during the interview, “Wow, Barbra. I think that you’ve made up for not having a doll when you were a child.”Other than that, there is also a functional nook stocked with wrapping paper, ribbons, cards, and craft supplies where Streisand personally wraps gifts for friends and family. As for the decor and build of the place, it features brick pillars, stone flooring, barn doors, streetlamps, and functioning display windows, with lit interiors to simulate an authentic night stroll down a village street.Many people have gotten a tour of her private mall, which she often treats as part of the guest experience. Some of these people include Oprah Winfrey, Lady Gaga, Ryan Murphy, and Shirley MacLaine.
