“Conventional” is not among the words one could use to describe Robert Downey Jr.’s houses. From a windmill to a domed clubhouse built with inflatables, the Iron Man star tends to gravitate towards the unusual and whimsical when it comes to his living quarters. He doesn’t skimp on the style either. “I’m not saying that I’m like a fledgling interior designer, but there’s two kinds of people, and I’m the kind that cares about the drapes,” he once said. Below, we highlight the often strange but always stylish places that the actor has called home.

Hollywood Hills house with a legendary past

Downey received his first Oscar nomination for his starring role in the 1992 Charlie Chaplin biopic, Chaplin. In a surprising twist of art imitating life (or vice versa), Downey’s home at the time was a Hollywood Hills estate that was reportedly built for the legendary actor in 1926.

As of its most recent listing, the abode has original beamed ceilings, a two-story primary suite, and French doors that spill out into the backyard. According to Realty Today, Downey owned the 2,700-square-foot Spanish-style house from 1989 until 1994. The three-bedroom, five-bathroom residence was later owned by television personality Kelly Osbourne, the Los Angeles Times reported.

In 1989, an Interview Magazine feature of the then 23-year-old Downey described the home as “pink and perfect” and “classic Hollywood,” sitting “just a stone’s throw from the Sunset Strip.” According to the article, Downey kept a bright red piano in the front room. “It was built by one of Cecil B. DeMille’s set designers for Charlie Chaplin, who lived here—or this was one of 90 places they built for him,” the actor said of the pad. “I swear to God, you can go into a brand-new condo building and they’ll say, ‘Way back when, Barrymore….’ It may be the same lot, but I don’t think they had track lighting in ’24.”

Team Downey headquarters

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Downey and his wife and business partner, Susan, paid $5.6 million in 2009 for a modern home in Venice, California, to serve as a base for their production company, Team Downey. The 7,500-square-foot structure was built in 2007 and features a nearly all-glass façade, a rooftop deck with an infinity pool, and a home theater. According to listing details, the top floor is designed for personal living, while the ground floor has a 1,600-square-foot art gallery or office space. A 2010 Rolling Stone feature described the space as “a concrete modernist aboveground bunker whose main floor resembles a mellow war room.”

The Downeys still seem to do business out of the three-story dwelling. The Oppenheimer star is no stranger to the beach town; according to the archived Venice Beach website, the Sherlock Holmes star had an apartment on the boardwalk back in the ’90s.

Malibu estate

The actor and his wife bought a Malibu compound in 2009 for $13.4 million. The four-bedroom country-style cottage spans 3,500 square feet and rests on a seven-acre plot with pastures, animal enclosures, a tennis court, and a barn converted into a two-bedroom guesthouse.

In 2013, the Downeys commissioned architect Nicolò Bini to build a 6,500-square-foot concrete clubhouse on the property. Bini, the son of industrial designer Dante Bini, uses his father’s technique to construct Binishells: domed bungalows made by inflating neoprene-coated air bladders topped with steel-reinforced concrete. The thin-shelled building, which sits in one corner of the property alongside a kidney-shaped pool, serves as a place for the Downeys to entertain and house guests. “We wanted to try something that hadn’t been done before,” Susan told The New York Times. “Plus, we love a character.” The unique abode was inflated into shape in 2015, but sat empty for about two years until the couple tapped AD100 designer Joe Nahem, along with architect Ben Goodman, to decorate the dwelling with furniture and decor befitting of a Binishell. A saltwater aquarium, a breakfast nook tucked behind a retro screen comprised of giant fiberglass beads, cork flooring, and organically shaped round windows are among some of the fun furnishings.

According to an interview with Purist, Downey had the property rigged with wind turbines and solar-generated water systems to offset energy consumption. The eco-friendly home still serves as the family’s primary residence.

Spare Malibu pad

In 2017, the Los Angeles Times reported that Downey paid $3.8 million for a 1970s beach house in Malibu. The 3,400-square-foot single-story pad features three bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a great room with sliding glass doors leading out to a spacious deck with an ocean view. A detached garage with a studio, an outdoor kitchen, a putting green, a swimming pool, a cabana, and a fire pit round out the stone-paved backyard.

Downey still owns the home, though it seems he bought it for family rather than for his use.

Hamptons windmill house

That same year, the Oscar winner paid $10.5 million for an East Hampton windmill cottage. The circa 1885 home was never an operating mill, but a decorative copy that originally served as a playhouse, before several additions turned it into a full-size abode in the ensuing decades. A library and an office are now found inside the windmill itself. Seven bedrooms and 11 bathrooms are spread throughout the main house, a guesthouse, and a studio. A three-car garage, a potting shed, a 50-foot pool, a tennis court, and gardens round out the four-acre property.

“We wanted something we haven’t seen a million times,” Downey said of the purchase during a 2017 Architectural Digest home tour. “We didn’t set out to do something conspicuously wacky. We just enjoy a bit of whimsy and fun. And we definitely don’t like boring.” Nahem helped the couple decorate the home with their preferred whimsical flair. A larger-than-life bright green praying mantis sculpture welcomes guests from the front lawn, beckoning to the front entrance at the base of the windmill. Nahem lined the octagonal entrance foyer with rainbow-striped wallpaper and added a sunken seating area in the adjacent living room. Bold colors and large-scale works of art adorn nearly every space of the historic abode. In the backyard, the designer added a poolside pavilion equipped with a dining area, a bar, and an outdoor living room with a large television.

The Marvel star still maintains the playful property.