Yahoo Finance Cookie is a landlord: Taraji P. Henson rents out her small starter house
By Sid Lipsey
Here's a tip to whoever rented this house: You definitely don't want to be late with the rent.
Taraji P. Henson — who plays the take-no-B.S. (or prisoners) ex-con Loretha "Cookie" Lyon on Fox's "Empire" — has rented out her 2-bedroom, 3-bath house in Glendale, a Valley suburb of Los Angeles. The Multiple Listing Service even indicates that the house is leasing for $3,700, almost 10 percent more than $3,400 list price (h/t Variety). Maybe the renter is a fan of Henson's and willing to pay a premium to host "Empire" viewing parties at Cookie's house.
(Click here or on a photo for a slideshow.)
It's been a good month for Henson. Not only did she rent the house, she scored an Emmy nomination for her work on "Empire."
Her success could be the reason she's renting out her longtime home, a 1930s Spanish-style house that she bought in 2002 for $431,000. Soon after she got an Academy Award nomination for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" in 2009, she told Bankrate she was still "low maintenance" despite the high-profile recognition: "I live modestly in the same house in the San Fernando Valley that I have been in for many years."
But then she scored a role in a hit TV show, CBS' "Person of Interest," and, according to TMZ, moved out of the home in 2010. She told Page Six last year that she's moved on up. “Listen, we’re like the Jeffersons," she said. "Now a big LA house. To us, it’s a mansion."
Or, as she says at the end of the first video below:
"I'm the American Dream."
The Glendale house is certainly not the kind of lavish spread one would expect to find Cookie, whose tastes on "Empire" can be described -- with maybe a little understatement -- as "over the top."
(Click here or on a photo for a slideshow.)
The long stairway to the front of the house is covered in Spanish-accented tile, which gives you something pretty to look at as you cough and wheeze after the long climb to the top. At least the climb has a payoff: from the house — perched, as the listing says, "in the hills above Glendale" — you get views of the surrounding area.
Dark hardwood floors, French doors and high ceilings were the big selling points in the newly repainted home (its color scheme is now lighter).
An "updated" kitchen was also highlighted in the rental listing. It has a black-and-white color scheme and an island — where the renter can, if so inclined, bake Cookie-shaped cookies.
There's an office/bonus room with AC outside the second bedroom's French doors. Outside amenities include a swimming pool and a covered patio with a barbecue and a dining set.
All told, whoever rented this place scored. But seriously, whoever you are, be on time with the rent. Otherwise, you don't know when Cookie might come to collect.
Click here or on a photo for a slideshow of Taraji P. Henson's starter home.
Also on Yahoo Homes:
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• Slash's rock-star playground is 'too much' for family (45 photos)
• Julia Roberts lists (relatively!) modest NYC retreat (50 photos)
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