Motivational speaker Mel Robbins' real estate journey from a Massachusetts farmhouse to a Vermont retreat

By Kelsi Karruli

The Vermont property with family ties

Mel Robbins attends the TIME Women of the Year Gala in West Hollywood, California, in March 2026.

Mel Robbins has built a career around helping people change their lives-and her own housing history includes a major change of direction.

The bestselling author behind "The Let Them Theory" and host of "The Mel Robbins Podcast" spent years raising her family outside of Boston before relocating to Southern Vermont.

Along the way, her homes have accommodated growing children, an expanding business, and renovations that required some difficult decisions.

Her former family home was in Sherborn, Mass. From there, they packed up their belongings and relocated to a house on 26 acres in Vermont.

The move also presented Robbins and her husband, Chris, with an existing family connection: The Vermont house was built by his parents.

Robbins has discussed buying and renovating it on her podcast, sharing both her initial reluctance to relocate and the features that eventually helped make it a home.

Her circumstances are a considerable departure from the financial difficulties she has described.

Robbins previously faced $800,000 in debt, alongside problems in her marriage, before establishing her successful publishing and podcasting career.

"I wake up every day and I am profoundly grateful for making a decision to change myself for the better because that's what started it all. One decision changes your life," she told People.

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The Massachusetts farmhouse

Robbins' former Massachusetts residence was a small, older farmhouse where space became an increasingly important consideration as her family and work evolved.

On her podcast, she recalled that the house initially had a dirt basement. Even after the family added a concrete floor, its low ceiling limited how they could use the space.

The narrow layout also made it difficult to accommodate the gatherings she had hoped to host for her children and their friends.

Author and podcaster Mel Robbins throws out the ceremonial first pitch before the game between the San Francisco Giants and the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on Aug. 21, 2026 in Boston.

An addition created more room, although it introduced another challenge.

Robbins explained that she and Chris refinanced the property to build a garage with a room above it. She envisioned that upstairs space as a playroom for the children, but an antique pool table from her father took up much of the available area.

Over time, the table served purposes well beyond playing pool. The children used it for Lego bricks, Robbins folded laundry on it, and a plywood covering allowed it to function as a work surface as her business grew.

She ultimately decided to dismantle it so the room could better accommodate the household's needs.

Leaving the property brought a different kind of challenge.

In a 2022 video titled "We Just Sold Our House. I Was Not Ready To Feel This," Robbins discussed the emotional experience of parting with the family home after 24 years.

"The closer I get to moving into our new place in Vermont, the more emotional I get about all of our kids growing up and this chapter of my life closing," she said in the social media post. "We raised our kids in the same house outside of Boston for 24 years, and now I feel like I'm walking around like a ghost in a former chapter of my life. We haven't officially decided whether or when we will sell it yet ... but that hasn't stopped the waves of anxiety," she said.

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A Vermont home with family history

The Vermont purchase emerged as the family considered a change for their son, Oakley, who wanted to attend high school there.

Robbins has said she initially opposed leaving Massachusetts, where her company was based.

Meanwhile, Chris' mother was considering downsizing and had offered her children the opportunity to buy the house she and her husband had built.

After reconsidering, Robbins asked Chris to arrange an appraisal. They bought the property and renovated it, although she has acknowledged that adjusting to the move was difficult.

According to reports, Robbins and Chris lived in Southern Vermont, while her media company, 143 Studios, remained based in Boston.

The Vermont property gave Robbins an opportunity to address something she had missed in Massachusetts: a dedicated place where her children could spend time with friends.

She described commissioning a small barn outbuilding with durability in mind. Rather than worry about delicate furnishings or the occasional mishap, she wanted a space that could withstand young people gathering, playing pool, and enjoying themselves.

"The house sits on a mountain, on 26 acres and has a 140 mile view," she said on a social media post describing the place. "You can access the Appalachian Trail, two ski resorts, and the view is absolutely unreal. It's like heaven on earth. It's even more special than it sounds because-Chris' parents built the house several decades ago."

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The personal details inside

Robbins has also shared smaller details about the Vermont interiors.

In one podcast episode, she described a breakfast area beside the kitchen, where a bench and the wall above it were intended to become a display for family photographs.

Despite having renovated the home and lived there full time for two years at that point, she admitted that the photo wall remained unfinished.

She used the project as an example of a personal goal that required deliberate attention, even when the necessary space was already waiting.

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Another family connection appears in the entryway: an antique cabinet inherited from her great-grandmother, which Robbins has described as having a marble top. In everyday use, it has held keys and dog leashes.

The house has also supported her professional life. Robbins has said that during roughly the first year to 18 months of her podcast, recording took place at the home and while traveling.

As the team expanded, the business established office and studio space in Boston.

This story originally ran on Realtor.com.

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