Around the time that Jones landed his first hit film role in “The Great White Hope,” he visited the Hudson Valley with a friend and fell in love with the small town of Pawling.
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James Earl Jones, the actor whose iconic voice gave life to roles like Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise and Mufasa in The Lion King, passed away at the age of 93 on Monday.
Far away from the lights and stars of Hollywood, however, Jones found a home more than 50 years ago when the actor stumbled across a small town in Dutchess County, New York, called Pawling.
Over time, Jones acquired 10 neighboring properties in the village, which is located in the Hudson Valley, according to property records. It is not clear if he built additional houses on any of the parcels while he owned them.
Jones was born in the small town of Arkabutla, Mississippi, and after his parents abandoned him at a young age, was raised in Michigan by a racist grandmother while he struggled with a stutter. That did not stop Jones from ultimately developing a prodigious acting career that spanned stage, TV and film. By the time he visited Dutchess County around 1970 with a friend, he was well-known for roles like Jack Jefferson in The Great White Hope, in which he was nominated for an Academy Award.
Although Jones did not win the Oscar for The Great White Hope, he did receive a lifetime achievement award at the Oscars in 2011, which helped him gain EGOT status, the moniker given to creatives who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony.
Jones reportedly was traveling to look for a home for his friend, according to the Poughkeepsie Journal. Instead, Jones was the one who ended up putting down roots in the area.
“I liked it,” he told the Journal in 2012. “Big trees … they were big enough to hug.”
Jones seems to have acquired the various properties gradually over time, according to Realtor.com records. One was purchased in 1993 at the low price tag of $16,500, while another two were purchased the following year for $177,500 and $108,000. In 2000, Jones bought another property for $320,000.
The actor reportedly became very involved in the community while he lived there, helping to fundraise for his son Flynn’s alma mater, the Poughkeepsie Day School, and lending a hand to community theater events, like a playwrights’ festival.
Pawling is about 80 miles north of New York City and only about five miles west of the Connecticut border. The median asking price of homes in Pawling is $700,000 and the median sales price is $440,000, according to Realtor.com.
The town lies in close proximity to lakes, hiking trails and plenty of green space, but also has a train station and a small downtown with restaurants, cafes, book shops and other amenities.
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