We all have our own niche obsessions, like Victorian kitsch or vintage plates (guilty), but how extreme and downright strange could these obsessions become if you had millions to spend on them?
We’re taking a look behind the shutters and inside the locked cupboards of celebrity homes to bring you the curious collections these famous faces have built.
Johnny Depp has a collection of bugs and animal skeletons
Johnny Depp – Bugs and Skeletons
For Johnny Depp, a pigeon skeleton was just the start. His collection of animal bones expanded to bats and bugs – he even has a favourite bug shop in Paris. But it’s not just macabre memorabilia the actor spends his cash on as within his strange collectables, Johnny used to count a painting by serial killer and party entertainer John Gacy of his alter-ego Pogo the Clown, as well. He also has an old raincoat belonging to Jack Kerouac and a collection of Arts and Crafts lamps. The Pirates of the Caribbean star also even reportedly spent $7000 on a sofa from Keeping Up with the Kardashians for his daughter, Lily-Rose Depp.
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The Guardians of the Galaxy star collects vintage lunch boxes
Dave Bautista – Vintage Lunch Boxes
There are not many celebs as strong as former wrestler Dave Bautista, the hard-headed warrior Drax the Destroyer from Guardians of the Galaxy, but he has a particular weakness for one thing: namely, vintage lunch boxes. He explained to Complex that he discovered the passion after an injury in 2003 during a WWE match: “That’s when I discovered eBay, so I was surfing on it a lot. That’s when I really started collecting. Then I search for ones because of certain reasons, because of rarity. So I was going back constantly searching for the same ones, and when I got it, I’d start a new search.”
The first lunch box part of his collection was tied to the show Fat Albert and bought by his mum when he was growing up. It’s now valued at around $500. Another notable collector’s item is a Toppie lunch box worth around $15,000 that, when it came out in 1957, could only be purchased with stamps.
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Emma Roberts has a fondness for collecting dolls
Emma Roberts – Dolls
Emma Roberts’ fascination with dolls may give off horror movie vibes to some, but the actress embraces the figurines’ terrifying reputation. “I’m madly obsessed with them – in love with them,” she explained in a house tour for Architectural Digest. “I hope that every night – that they’ll come wake me up. It would be so thrilling.” She said that she’s far from a minimalist, instead, “Every house I’ve ever lived in feels a bit like a cabinet of curiosities. I loved the idea of making my very own grown-up dollhouse.”
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Amanda Seyfried’s niche obsession is her set of stuffed animals
Amanda Seyfried – Taxidermy
As far as weird collections go, taxidermy is something of a classic; a quintessentially strange way to fill your home. But Amanda Seyfried has built what she calls a “real menagerie”. Like Johnny Depp, her favourite store for the weird and wonderful is based in Paris, a taxidermy shop called Deyrolle. These creatures aren’t just decor as each one is named, and Amanda puts a strict size limit at the dimensions of baby horse. In an interview with The Standard, she explained: “I have a miniature zebra Seth MacFarlane bought me, and a baby horse, but that’s the biggest I’ll go to. They’re twice the size of my dog Finn, and they’re called Kevin Sparkle and Antoine Woodberry.” Along with these equine editions, Amanda has an owl called Beatrix and Linda the chick.
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Martha Stewart has a love for baskets that serves a practical purpose on the farm
Martha Stewart – Baskets
The businesswoman’s taste can’t be faulted and certainly has a more practical purpose, one fitting Martha Stewart’s reputation. Her collection of baskets is (of course) neatly stored and cared for, with a dedicated home inside a garden shed she’s nicknamed the Basket House. Writing on her blog in 2023, following renovations to the roof, she detailed some of the items in her collection, including wooden trugs, long-handled baskets for floral arrangements, buttocks baskets and berry baskets. The Basket House even has a small window for easy ventilation. Martha’s collection is clearly dear to her, with many of the baskets dating back to her days in catering and making cameos in her first book, Entertaining (1982), where several were suspended from her kitchen ceiling.
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Angelina Jolie has a sharp focus on collecting knives
Angelina Jolie – Knives
The Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) star has a suitably daring hobby: collecting antique daggers. Per Collectors Hive, the obsession started while Angelina Jolie was visiting Renaissance faires with her mother at around 12 years old. She explained, “It reminds you of history, and there’s just something beautiful about them and traditional. Each country has different knives and weapons, and that’s why I started collecting them. I’ve done this since I was a little girl.” She has a particular interest in examples from the Middle Ages and Renaissance, as well as butterfly knives. Angelina showed off her skills in handling the knives on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, twisting and twirling a butterfly knife she’d brought with her.