Richard Gere Builds a Snowman With His Kids at His Upstate New York Home—as Family Returns to U.S. from Spain for Holidays

Actor Richard Gere has traded the sunny Spanish weather for a white Christmas after returning to the U.S. from Europe with his family to spend time at their upstate New York home—one year after making the move overseas.

Gere, 76, and his wife, Alejandra, 42, relocated to Madrid with three of their four sons at the end of 2024, with the actor revealing that he wanted his spouse to have an opportunity to spend more time with her relatives and loved ones.

However, in a recent interview with Harper’s Bazaar España, Alejandra revealed that the couple is now planning to split their time between their home in New York and their luxurious villa in Spain—days before offering up a glimpse inside their idyllic estate in the U.S.

In a video posted to her Instagram account, the publicist revealed footage of her husband and two of their sons happily playing in the snow in their backyard, carefully constructing a snowman as flurries blanketed them all in fresh powder.

“The night left us a gift, we woke up and everything had changed!” she wrote in the caption. “White outside, joy inside—the first real snow of the season.”

In the accompanying carousel of photos and videos, Alejandra captured a heartwarming snap of one of her children perched in the snow next to a frozen body of water, while one of the clips showed two boys bundled up in ski gear while putting the finishing touches on their snowman alongside their father.

“Pretty Woman” star Gere could be seen advising his kids on the build, while also sporting his own cold weather gear, including a large hat and snow boots.

A large snow shovel was lying on the ground next to the snowman, as well as various twigs that were used to give the structure arms.

Several of the family’s dogs were seen wandering in and out of the frame as the trio continued their snowman building session.

Gere has owned several homes in upstate New York over the years, as well as a property in Connecticut that he sold shortly before moving to Spain at the end of last year.

He bought his New Canaan, CT, home from singer Paul Simon for $10.8 million in July 2022, around the same time that he offloaded his historic Pound Ridge, NY, estate for the staggering price of $21.2 million.

Gere spent years amassing various properties that eventually made up his 49-acre compound, which boasted a stunning New England-style main residence with eight bedrooms and 10 bathrooms, as well as a library, a sun room, and an enormous living room with a stunning fireplace.

The property was originally put on the market for $28 million in October 2021.

However, the actor and his family did not leave the area entirely, instead relocating to a smaller property in nearby North Salem, which he purchased for $9.8 million in January 2021.

Records indicate that Gere offloaded that second home for a staggering $19 million in October 2023, netting almost $10 million in profit.

Meanwhile, his decision to sell his Connecticut property prompted fury after it was revealed that the historic dwelling had been snapped up for $10.75 million in an off-market deal by developer SBP Homes, which promptly razed the stunning residence to make way for a nine-plot subdivision.

Among those leading the outcry was Simon’s daughter, Lulu, who publicly bashed Gere in a series of posts shared on her Instagram Stories in July, accusing him of failing to fulfill his promise to “take care” of her childhood home.

“Just in case anyone was wondering if I still hate Richard Gere—I do!” she wrote alongside a picture of herself flashing a peace sign at the camera.

“He bought my childhood home,” she went on. “Promised he would take care of the land as [a] condition of his purchase. Proceeded to never actually move in and just sold it to a developer as nine separate plots.

“Hate! Him!” she concluded the post, which also featured a news story about Gere’s real estate deal.

Lulu then continued her tirade with a rather eerie warning for Gere, sharing an image of the actor surrounded by photos of her late pets, while writing: “I hope my dead pets buried in that backyard haunt you until you descend into a slow and unrelenting madness.”

Gere has never publicly addressed the backlash, however he has opened up at length about his love of his new life in Spain, telling People magazine at an event in New York last month what he enjoys most about living there.

“My wife is so happy in Spain, so that’s the best part of that,” he said at the DOC NYC Visionaries Tribute Luncheon in New York City on Nov. 12. “She has wonderful family, wonderful friends.

“Spanish culture, there’s a very open joy about it,” he said. The people are “very warm and very open and a lot less stressed than what you find here in the U.S.

“It’s a very happy place. Like the Italians. I mean, being in Italy, being in Spain, you’re dealing with Latin cultures that just understand life in a different way than we do here.”

Still, Gere admitted that there are some things that he misses about his time in the U.S., particularly in New York City, which he praised for its “addictive … energy.”

The on-screen icon shied away from doubling down on his past criticism of the current state of politics in the U.S., which he has been very open about since his relocation—at one point going as far as to call President Donald Trump a “bully and a thug.”

“We’re all part of a universe of overlapping pain and sadness and joy. … I see this world that we’re in now forgetting that,” he said at an event in February. “This very foolish tribalism is starting to take us over, where we think that we’re all separate from each other.

“And we have unfortunately elected officials that don’t inspire us in the way that we want to be inspired. I’m coming from a place now … we’re in a very dark place in America where we have a bully and a thug who is the president of the United States. But it’s not just in the U.S., it’s everywhere.”

He expounded on these views in an interview with Spanish publication El Pais in May, when he expressed his fears about a lack of kindness in the world.

“If each of us were kind to each other, the world would be different and better. Not all of us respond to wisdom, but we all respond to kindness,” Richard told the publication. “Even in the case of Trump, I’m sure there is something kind about him. People say he’s charming in private.

“Yet the world he’s created around himself is violent, crude, and ignorant. Many of the things he’s doing we’ve never seen before.”

Despite his criticism of the U.S. and its leader, Richard was quick to insist that he plans to maintain close ties to his home country—particularly because his adult son, Homer, still lives there.