Barbra Streisand, Martha Stewart, and Tom Hanks Have Extraordinary Private Collections — The Personal Stories Behind Them — Photos

Imagine discovering an entire shopping street hidden beneath a celebrity's home, a separate little house filled with hundreds of baskets, or a collection of more than 300 typewriters spanning over a century of history. These aren't elaborate movie sets or museum displays. They are personal collections belonging to Tom Hanks, Martha Stewart, and Barbra Streisand, and each has a surprisingly intimate story behind it.

While their collections are vastly different, they share something interesting: each offers a glimpse into a part of the celebrity's life audiences rarely see. And some of the most fascinating details only become apparent when you look closely at the objects they've spent years gathering.

For Tom Hanks, a typewriter is much more than an old-fashioned machine gathering dust on a shelf. The actor has spent years collecting these mechanical writing devices, building a collection of more than 300 machines that represent different periods, designs, and innovations in writing history.

Tom Hanks' Collection of More Than 300 Typewriters Began With His Love of the Written Word

His fascination is not simply about nostalgia. In an interview with CBS, Hanks explained that he appreciates the physical experience of using a typewriter, particularly the distinctive sound it makes when someone is working.

"There's a percussive quality to writing sometimes, you know?" he said. He also offered a memorable comparison that captures his enthusiasm for the machines: "If the drums are the backbone of any rock and roll band, the sound of a typewriter is the sound of productivity."

For Hanks, there is something satisfying about a device designed to do just one thing. In an interview with PBS NewsHour, he compared collecting typewriters to collecting vintage guitars or postage stamps, explaining that he admires their beauty and aesthetic qualities.

But what fascinates him most is their simplicity. A typewriter takes something that exists in a person's head and transfers it onto paper, creating a physical record that can be kept for years.

Hanks explained that a typed page, if properly preserved, can be as permanent as a wood carving or something engraved in stone. Even a simple birthday letter can become something worth holding on to. That appreciation for the written word eventually carried into another part of his life.

The Typewriters That Helped Inspire His First Book

In 2017, Hanks published Uncommon Type, his first collection of short stories, containing 17 fictional accounts of people searching for connection and understanding. Typewriters appear throughout the book, and their presence was intentional. In a CBS interview, Hanks explained that he included them deliberately because they helped shape each narrative.

When asked whether the machines had individual personalities, he agreed. "Yeah, yeah, Exactly." His interest in writing, however, developed into something more personal than a fascination with vintage equipment.

In his conversation with PBS NewsHour, Hanks said some of his stories drew on his childhood experiences, particularly growing up in a family that moved frequently. "When I was 10 years old, both my parents had already been married three times, and I'd lived in 10 different houses," he recalled.

Rather than describing those experiences as simply unhappy memories, Hanks said he initially saw the frequent changes as an adventure. However, he was often confused about what was happening around him. He explained that writing allowed him to revisit those years and put some of the confusion into context for himself and his siblings.

One story, "A Special Weekend," drew particularly recognizable parallels with his childhood. It follows a boy moving between divorced parents, with moments of nostalgia and changing family circumstances woven into the narrative.

Hanks also discussed how he struggled to find his voice as a writer. Before publishing his book, he sought advice from his friend, the late writer and director Nora Ephron, after writing an appreciation of his longtime Hollywood makeup artist, Danny Striepeke.

Ephron told him that his work had potential but lacked a distinct voice. Her criticism encouraged him to keep revising until he found a writing style that felt more natural. He eventually published the appreciation in The New York Times in 2006, years before Uncommon Type reached readers.

Interestingly, Hanks did not actually write his collection of short stories on a typewriter. He used a computer, explaining that his passion for the machines inspired his writing more than it served as his actual writing method.

Still, he remains enthusiastic about introducing other people to the experience. During his CBS interview, he recommended the Smith Corona Clipper as an excellent machine for anyone interested in owning a typewriter. The recommendation was convincing enough that his interviewer bought one. Hanks then sat down and typed a congratulatory note for the new owner.

The 35 Typewriters He Finally Shared With the Public

Although Hanks owns more than 300 machines, only a small selection has been displayed publicly. In January 2025, he chose 35 typewriters from his collection for an exhibition titled Some of Tom's Typewriters at The Church in Sag Harbor, New York. The exhibition ran through March 10, 2025, with its installation designed by former Barneys creative director Simon Doonan.

The selection offered an overview of nearly the typewriter's entire history, from early mechanical inventions to more modern machines. It also included several unusual designs that show how inventive manufacturers became in developing ways to put words on paper.

Among the oldest examples was an Underwood Standard dating to around 1900. Its prominent front-facing keyboard, exposed typebars, and large carriage reflect the design that helped shape the modern typewriter.

Another early machine, the Hammond 12, dating to around 1904, had a particularly unusual circular keyboard arrangement and a curved type mechanism. Its interchangeable type system allowed users to work with different alphabets and type styles.

Some machines were designed to solve problems conventional keyboards could not. The Mignon AEG Model 4, produced around 1922–1923, had a rectangular index keyboard rather than the familiar rows of keys. Users selected individual letters using an index mechanism, and the machine printed capital letters only.

The GSN Junior and Simplex Model 2 also departed from conventional typing. Both featured circular index mechanisms that allowed users to select characters instead of pressing individual keys.

One of the most visually striking examples was the bright-red Olivetti Valentine, designed by Italian architect and designer Ettore Sottsass. Introduced in 1969, the machine came with a matching red cover and looked considerably more playful than the traditional office equipment of its time.

The collection also included a Marxwriter and a Petite, both miniature typewriters designed for children. Their smaller keyboards and simplified construction reflected an era when learning to type was considered an important childhood skill.

There were even examples that revealed how typewriters continued to evolve long after their traditional mechanical designs became less common.

A particularly unusual addition was a transparent Swintec electric typewriter, produced in the modern era. Its clear casing lets you inspect the internal components, a design associated with typewriters made for correctional facilities to prevent prohibited items from being concealed inside.

Other highlights included the IBM Selectric I, which replaced conventional typebars with a rotating typeball that could be changed to produce different fonts and characters, and the unusual Oliver Standard Visible No. 9, whose typebars curve down from either side of the keyboard.

The exhibition's final pictured machine is an Alpina Portable, with a cream-colored casing and a rounded vintage design.

For Hanks, however, the collection is not simply a record of technological progress. Each machine represents a different approach to the same enduring human activity: turning thoughts into words. And that might explain why the actor has kept collecting them long after computers made the old machines largely unnecessary.

While Hanks has found something fascinating in the mechanics of writing, Martha Stewart's passion lies in the craftsmanship of objects that have been part of everyday life for centuries.

Martha Stewart Has an Entire House for Her Basket Collection — And Some Were Made for Very Specific Purposes

The lifestyle entrepreneur has accumulated hundreds of antique, vintage, and handmade baskets, so many that she eventually needed a separate building to accommodate them. She calls it the Basket House, a small outbuilding on her Bedford, New York, estate dedicated to housing and organizing her collection.

And this isn't simply a room where baskets have been piled on top of one another. Stewart has taken considerable care to arrange the pieces according to their different shapes, materials, construction methods, and uses.

A Collection Built Around History and Craftsmanship

Stewart's relationship with baskets goes beyond simply collecting beautiful objects. Some of the pieces date back to her early catering career, when they served practical purposes. Over time, however, her interest grew into a much larger collection that reflects her appreciation for traditional craftsmanship, natural materials, and objects with a history.

For Stewart, baskets offer a glimpse into how people lived and worked across different periods. Long before modern storage containers and manufactured alternatives became commonplace, people relied on woven materials to carry, gather, store, and transport everyday necessities.

That history stretches back thousands of years. In a November 2020 blog post, Stewart noted that some of the oldest known baskets have been carbon-dated to between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago.

She is also drawn to the skill involved in making them. Different weaving methods, materials, and designs give each piece its own character, turning an otherwise ordinary household object into something worth preserving.

Her collection reflects that variety, bringing together practical pieces, specialized designs, and unusual examples of traditional basketmaking. Some were created for particular tasks, while others stand out for their shapes, construction, or distinctive appearance.

But maintaining such an extensive collection comes with its own challenges. By November 2020, Stewart was ready to give the pieces a thorough cleaning and find a better way to organize them inside the building she calls the Basket House.

Why She Had to Reorganize the Entire Basket House

In her November 2020 blog post, Stewart documented taking the baskets outside, cleaning them, and reorganizing the space. The task gave her a chance to revisit pieces she hadn't seen in some time. Rather than simply returning everything to the shelves, she examined the collection and worked out how to accommodate the different sizes and shapes.

One particularly inventive solution involved hanging baskets upside down from the ceiling. Stewart explained that she made special S-shaped hooks from heavy-gauge copper wire to suspend the pieces overhead. This let her use the vertical space better while freeing up the shelves for other baskets.

The cleaning process also required care. Rather than soaking the natural materials, the baskets were wiped down to remove dust and debris without risking damage to their fibers. Some had been sitting undisturbed for so long that they had even accumulated cobwebs.

The photographs from that day show just how much Stewart had to work through. She first spread the collection across the lawn, allowing her to examine the different pieces before deciding how to clean and arrange them. Among them was a particularly unusual narrow-necked basket. Stewart explained that it was originally designed to hold fish after they had been caught.

Another piece had a very different purpose. Its extended handle was designed to make gathering roses and other flowers from the garden more convenient.

The collection also offered an opportunity to appreciate the different skills involved in traditional basketmaking. Three of the pieces displayed distinct patterns created through plaiting, twining, and coiling.

Some of the older pieces needed particular attention. One oval-shaped wooden basket, for example, had been left undisturbed long enough for fine cobwebs to gather around it.

A woman identified by Stewart as Enma, worked through the collection, carefully wiping down the pieces rather than exposing their natural fibers to excessive moisture.

The photographs also reveal some of the more unusual designs in her collection, including another example of what Stewart calls a buttocks basket, named for its distinctive rounded shape.

Smaller pieces had their place, too. Among the items Stewart arranged were traditional wooden berry baskets, with their individual compartments designed for holding gathered fruit.

The 2023 Renovation That Gave Her Collection a Fresh Start

By April 2023, Stewart was ready to give the Basket House another refresh. Three years after documenting her earlier cleaning and organizing project, she returned to the building to prepare it for the collection once again.

In another blog post, Stewart documented the renovation, which included replacing the building's roof. The outbuilding, located across from a long clematis pergola on her Bedford property, received a new silver-gray standing-seam metal roof, while its gray shingle exterior retained the original structure's character.

With the exterior work completed, attention turned to the inside. The long built-in shelves were cleaned and prepared to receive the baskets, many of which Stewart brought outdoors so she could examine them before returning them to their places.

Seeing the collection spread out again offered a reminder of just how much she had accumulated. The baskets varied in size, shape, material, and purpose, with some carrying practical histories and others standing out for their unusual construction.

As she worked through the collection, Stewart revisited pieces that had not been seen in some time. She also took the opportunity to dust and arrange them before gradually filling the newly prepared shelves. The photographs from the project offer a closer look at the variety she was working with, as well as the care she took in putting everything back together.

The assortment reveals the range of pieces she has gathered over the years, including baskets that were once part of her catering work. A closer look reveals the different weaving patterns and natural materials represented throughout the collection.

One deep brown carrying basket has particularly thick woven sides, reinforced handles, and straps designed to allow it to be carried on someone's back. A reddish-brown basket with curved handles sits among other pieces, its color and construction adding another variation to the collection.

Several traditional English garden trugs are arranged together, their shallow wooden bodies and curved handles giving them a distinctive appearance.

Some of the flower-arranging baskets have unusually long, branching handles, creating distinctive silhouettes among the more conventional designs.

Another unusual piece is a rounded basket that Stewart identifies as a buttocks basket, a name inspired by its distinctive shape. With the organizing underway, the shelves begin to fill again with round lidded containers, rectangular storage baskets, and other woven pieces.

Stewart takes a hands-on approach to the final arrangement, personally examining and repositioning two baskets as she works through the collection.

One More Unusual Find: The Basket She Turned Into a Flower Stand

Even with hundreds of baskets already in her possession, Stewart has continued to find pieces that catch her attention. In March 2024, she documented one such discovery during a visit to the Antique and Artisan Gallery in Stamford, Connecticut.

By then, her Basket House had become home to an extraordinary assortment of woven pieces, from traditional carriers to unusual designs she had collected over the years. The photographs of its interior offer a glimpse of the collection that has continued to grow.

But Stewart's interest in baskets doesn't end with the pieces she already owns. During her visit to the Antique and Artisan Gallery, she came across an object that stood out from the other antiques and decorative accessories.

It was a two-tiered woven basket with two separate compartments arranged one above the other, supported by a slender wooden frame with curved handles. Its worn appearance did little to disguise its unusual construction, and Stewart saw an opportunity to give it another purpose.

She decided to have the piece cleaned and painted black, giving its weathered exterior a completely different appearance. Rather than simply displaying it as an antique, she envisioned something that could become part of her garden.

The transformation gave the old basket a new role. Once painted, it became a flower stand, with colorful purple and white blooms arranged in the upper compartment and another display filling the lower one.

Positioned along a cobblestone walkway beside a stone wall, the finished piece became an eye-catching garden decoration. What started as an unusual antique discovery was now something Stewart could use in an entirely different way.

Her collection is fascinating partly because it brings together so many different periods, purposes, and approaches to craftsmanship.

Some baskets preserve practical traditions, while others become objects to appreciate for their design or reinvent for a new setting. And as her 2024 discovery demonstrates, even a collection containing hundreds of pieces can still have room for one more unusual find.

Unlike Hanks' typewriters and Stewart's baskets, Barbra Streisand's collection isn't confined to one type of object.

Barbra Streisand Built a Private Shopping Street Inside Her Malibu Home – And It Began With Something She Never Had as a Child

Beneath her Malibu home, the singer and actress created an extraordinary private shopping street, complete with miniature storefronts, antique clothing, decorative objects, and a shop devoted entirely to dolls. It is an unusual arrangement even by celebrity-home standards. But the story behind it is much more personal than its elaborate appearance might suggest.

Streisand has long been interested in antiques, vintage clothing, and interior design. Yet one of the most revealing details about her collection goes back to her childhood in Brooklyn.

During her 2023 conversation with Gayle King for CBS, Streisand explained that she never had a doll growing up. "I love to collect," she said. "I love antiques. [As a child] I didn't have a doll, so I put hot water into a hot water bottle, which felt like a real person."

King pointed out that Streisand had certainly made up for that childhood experience with her extensive collection. The singer's response gives the collection a different meaning. What might initially look like an elaborate celebrity shopping fantasy also contains a personal connection to something she missed when she was young.

The Little Shops Inspired by a Museum Visit

The idea for Streisand's private shopping street developed after she visited Winterthur, the decorative-arts museum in Delaware. During the visit, she became fascinated by a series of early 19th-century shops that curators had created to display their collections.

Instead of simply placing objects in storage or arranging them on ordinary shelves, the museum had recreated the atmosphere of an old shopping street.

Streisand immediately saw the possibilities. "Seeing Winterthur's indoor street, I thought how ingenious that was," she recalled in an interview with Harper's Bazaar. "Instead of just storing my things in the basement, I can make a street of shops and display them."

She decided to create her own version, although she adapted the idea to suit her personal taste and the objects she had accumulated. The result was a cobblestone-paved street illuminated by antique-style lanterns, with several miniature storefronts arranged along the way.

There is Bee's Doll Shop, an Antique Shop, an Antique Clothes Shop, a Gift Shoppe, and a Sweet Shop. The shops are not merely decorative facades. They have practical uses, too.

During screening parties at her home, the Sweet Shop serves guests licorice, frozen yogurt, and popcorn. Before attending a dinner party or a friend's birthday, Streisand sometimes visits the Gift Shoppe to choose a present.

She can then wrap it at the shop's own wrapping table, using pretty ribbons to finish the package. The collection even includes a thoughtful detail for visitors: a bench positioned outside Bee's Doll Shop, where men can sit while their companions browse.

Streisand once joked about the freedom of creating such a place inside her own property. "You can do that if it's your own mall," she said.

The Clothes That Take Her Back to Different Moments in Her Life

Among the most personal parts of the shopping street is the Antique Clothes Shop. Unlike the other stores, which contain objects that can change over time, this section functions more like a museum of Streisand's own history.

Its lavender-painted paneled walls display some of the singer's most recognizable clothing and costumes, including garments associated with her Broadway career.

One particularly memorable piece is the green chiffon gown worn for the "People" number in the original Broadway production of Funny Girl. The dress is layered over pink silk and features small beaded balls on its sleeves.

Streisand described the costume as quirky, much like the character she played. The collection also includes gowns she wore when meeting President John F. Kennedy and the Queen of England, preserving outfits connected to significant moments in her public life.

But not everything in the shop came from prestigious designers or glamorous occasions. Some of her favorite pieces were purchased in thrift stores. During her CBS interview, Streisand showed King clothing she had bought secondhand, including a velvet piece that cost just $10.

"These are things I bought in the thrift shop," she explained. "Feel the velvet. This was ten bucks! I feel right in something that had a life in it. In other words, something from the past that I felt like I was once there."

That comment offers an interesting explanation for why she gravitates toward older clothing. For Streisand, the appeal is not necessarily about a designer label or the price of an outfit.

She appreciates the history and character attached to something that has already existed in another period. In her interview with Harper's Bazaar, she also admitted that modern fashion does not always interest her.

She described her preferred clothing style in one word: black. She likes simple pieces, comfortable waistbands, and clothing that does not demand too much attention. Her collection, however, preserves a much wider range of styles than she typically wears today.

Her Childhood Still Shapes the Way She Collects

Streisand's interest in collecting extends beyond clothing and dolls. In her book My Passion for Design, she discussed having an intense relationship with furniture, something she partly connected to growing up in a home where the family had very little.

She recalled that her family did not get a sofa until she was eight years old, after moving into a housing project on Newkirk Avenue in Brooklyn. Even then, the sofa was an unattractive olive-green piece that her mother covered completely in plastic.

Years later, Streisand found herself deeply attached to furniture and decorative objects. In her conversation with Harper's Bazaar, she reflected on whether that desire to collect might have something to do with the loss of her father, who died suddenly in 1943 when she was just 15 months old.

"Well, perhaps it has something to do with the sense of loss of a parent," she said. "There is always a possibility of getting an object back. There is no possibility of getting a parent back."

It is one of the most revealing observations behind her collecting habits. For Streisand, acquiring an antique or restoring an old object offers the possibility of preserving something that might otherwise disappear.

She has brought numerous historic furnishings and architectural pieces to her Malibu property, including works associated with Gustav Stickley, Charles and Henry Greene, and Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Her collection extends beyond the shopping street into several buildings across the estate.

The Bigger World Behind Her Private Mall

Streisand's passion for antiques and design extends well beyond the shopping street. Her Malibu estate includes several distinct buildings, among them a rustic mill house with a 14-foot-high, 4,000-pound water wheel, a cottage she calls Grandma's house, and a large barn filled with rooms inspired by different periods and design movements.

Inside the barn are a Federal lounge, a Greene & Greene library, a Stickley office, an Art Nouveau bathroom, and even a dedicated napping room. Streisand has described many of these spaces as art projects rather than everyday living areas.

She and her husband, James Brolin, sometimes treat the barn like a bed-and-breakfast, enjoying a change of surroundings without leaving their property.

Her fascination with preserving old objects and places comes with an interesting contrast. Although she has devoted so much attention to creating spaces filled with pieces from the past, she does not regularly watch her old films or listen to her completed albums.

"It's like living in the past," she explained. "I like to be in the present." Perhaps that is what makes her collections so intriguing: she enjoys preserving the history and character of objects, but she still prefers to live in the present.

The Photographs That Reveal Streisand's Private Collection

In 2023, Streisand gave King a look inside the extraordinary space during their CBS interview. The photographs from the visit offer a closer look at the different elements of the collection, from the vintage wardrobe to the elaborate doll displays. One image shows King standing in the doorway of the collection room as Streisand welcomes her into the carefully arranged space.

Another captures Streisand examining an ornate cream-colored vintage dress, with intricate lacework and delicate detailing visible across the garment.

The doll collection is equally elaborate. Shelves display porcelain figures, miniature furniture, decorative accessories, and carefully arranged scenes. Some dolls have elaborate outfits, while others feature distinctive hairstyles, bonnets, and accessories.

One particularly striking figure has wide blue eyes, blonde curls, and an elaborate bonnet decorated with oversized peach-colored bows. Other dolls are dressed in bold red outfits, complete with oversized hats, lace details, and decorative accessories.

Together, the photographs reveal how Streisand transformed a childhood absence into one of the most unusual parts of her private world.

For Streisand, the private mall is more than an elaborate display of things she has purchased over the years. It brings together her appreciation for antiques, her love of design, her interest in preserving history, and memories that reach back to her childhood.

And perhaps the most interesting part is that she did not simply build a place to store her treasures. She created an entire world in which every object has somewhere to belong.