Skip to main content

Melissa Gilbert and Timothy Busfield got married in 2013. This was both of the actors’ third marriages. They entered the union with some baggage but excited to begin a new, healthy chapter. Part of that chapter included downsizing and getting rid of a bunch of stuff, including Little House on the Prairie memorabilia. 

Melissa Gilbert and Timothy Busfield in red aprons.
Melissa Gilbert and Timothy Busfield | David Livingston/Getty Images

Melissa Gilbert moved out of Los Angeles 

When Gilbert and Busfield first started dating, the Thirtysomething actor lived in Michigan. Gilbert started spending some time there and eventually moved to her new partner’s home state. From there, they moved to New York for work. Eventually, they landed in the Catskills, where they have a small cabin on many acres of land. It’s where they call home today. 

“We were living in New York City and wanted a second home where we could escape into peace, quiet, and nature,” Gilbert wrote in her 2022 book Back to the Prairie. “We wanted space to think and breathe and stillness to help us slow down. We wanted to recharge and feel inspired.”

The Melissa Gilbert & Timothy Busfield Michigan Estate Auction

Moving to a smaller home meant Gilbert and Busfield had to get rid of a lot of their belongings. 

“I had already said goodbye to the bonnet,” wrote Gilbert. “And the red gingham dress I wore back when I was portraying Laura Ingalls. And the black-and-white Us magazine photo of me pregnant with Dakota. And the wooden sign that said HALF-PINT. And my old Carman Allen boots. And Tim’s autographed scripts from thirtysomething. And his high school baseball jersey. Oh, and seven unopened bags of Morton salt. It was goodbye, adios, adieu to those and more than two hundred other items from our shelves, closets, and kitchen pantry.”

All of these items were up for auction as part of the Melissa Gilbert & Timothy Busfield Michigan Estate Auction. It was a huge success.  

“More than fifty-eight thousand people browsed the auction website, more than four hundred people registered to bid, and when the last gavel banged, we were sold out,” she wrote.

Related

Melissa Gilbert Doesn’t Think Her Marriage Would Have Survived if She’d Become a Congresswoman

A fresh start for Gilbert and Busfield

The auction was about more than simply freeing up space. It was a fresh start for Gilbert and Busfield. 

“This was not a Kondo-inspired cleanse; it was more of a Swedish death cleaning,” wrote Gilbert. “It was a purging of the past that had to happen. We needed to let go of things that we had treasured but really didn’t need—not anymore. This was about figuring out what was essential for us and getting rid of anything that might distract from that or weigh us down with the past. Six years earlier I had felt my heart open and given myself permission to follow that into a new marriage. This was about that next essential step: building a life together.” 

The couple wasn’t even present at the auction. They were working on fixing up their new home in the Catskills. And there was lots of work to be done. When they’d bought the place, it was completely filled with all the previous owner’s belongings. And none of it was in good shape. Once Gilbert and Busfield cleared their new home of all the unwanted clutter, they felt ready to enjoy their clean slate. 

“We weren’t scrubbing away our pasts as much as we were prepping a canvas on which we could paint a future together,” she wrote. “This house was in need of TLC but its bones were solid and we saw the potential it offered.”

Best in Entertainment