Josh Duhamel has opted to live in his “doomsday cabin” in Minnesota over Hollywood.
The “Ransom Canyon” star, his wife, Audra Mari, and their 1-year-old son, Sheperd, live 40 minutes away from civilization on their lakeside property in northwest Minnesota. The actor’s 11-year-old son, Axl, with ex-wife Fergie, also spends time at the home.
Duhamel’s property, which he jokingly told Country Living he refers to as his “doomsday cabin,” is located up a two-mile dirt path up to his home in the forest. “It’s an exhale whenever we get here,” he noted.
Since the star is raising a family, he prefers to be disconnected from the hustle and bustle that Los Angeles brings, even though he recognizes that there are “a lot of great things” about the West Coast.
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“Here my kids get to be kids, catching frogs, collecting sticks. They come home and they’re filthy, and I think that’s so good for them.”
“These days there’s so much anger in the world, and I think it’s because people are on their phones, getting caught up in whatever they’re being fed through their devices as opposed to being outside connecting with the world. Nature helps ground you to what’s important,” Duhamel said.
Duhamel purchased some land and spent the last 15 years building a rustic cabin. He eventually added a second parcel that came with a hunting shack and a third parcel that came with a home.
“It’s a cute little red cabin with a stone chimney that sits right on the water; it’s basically a Terry Redlin painting,” he said, referring to the famous artist’s scenic work.
Building his property over the years has been an act of love for the actor.
“We were basically homesteading the first 12 years. For the longest time, we didn’t have plumbing. We were using outhouses and washing dishes in the lake,” Duhamel told the outlet.
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Over the last decade and a half, the amenities on Duhamel’s property have been upgraded, but he still harnesses that live-off-the-land mentality.
He explained, “I feel so connected to it. I didn’t just buy the place, I shaped this place. While we’ve made a lot of improvements, you still feel like you’re roughing it, and I love that.”
Living remotely may also mean some run-ins with wildlife.
On Easter Sunday, Duhamel took to Instagram and shared a video of himself in a blue suit removing a goose from the grille of his SUV.
“I guess we’re having goose for Easter,” the actor wrote for his video.
“RIP Buddy…Happy Easter,” Duhamel captioned his post, adding a prayer hands emoji.
Duhamel told Parade this month that his community takes care of each other.
“Part of the reason I built my place out in Minnesota, deep in the woods, is it’s removed from everything,” the “Safe Haven” star told Parade.
He continued, “The closest store is 40 miles away. Once we get there, it’s really about everybody taking care of each other – making memories, spending time with family and friends.”
Duhamel told the outlet that his son, Axl, is going to have a different upbringing when he is staying with him at their cabin in Minnesota.
“My son is going to have memories of this place forever. He’s not on his iPad when he’s out there. He’s out there in the boat with me, or he’s playing soccer on the beach, or he’s out there in the woods doing whatever I’m doing.
“And then I have a little baby who’s going to experience the same thing. Someday I hope to pass this on to them [so] they’re able to share it with their kids. It’s really important to me that they have this. It’s not just about having all the amenities and all the luxuries that we [have] become so used to. It’s really about family. It’s about legacy,” he said.
While it took years for Duhamel to build the off-the-grid spot for his family, he is grateful to have the opportunity to “get back to the basics.”
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“You’re not consumed by all these other distractions,” he told the outlet. “When you’re out there, it’s really about having fun, making sure everybody’s warm, everybody’s got food and water.”
Duhamel opened up about his disinterest in Hollywood in a 2023 interview with “In Depth with Graham Bensinger.”
“I don’t think I ever really got comfortable with all of it. It was just a lot. I missed the simplicity of who I really am,” he said at the time. “I’m just not a guy who is comfortable doing red carpets, doing all the Hollywood stuff. I don’t hate it, I’m better at it now than I was, but it just took me a long time to really feel like I belong, like I fit in.”
“You know Hollywood and L.A., that whole lifestyle can suck the soul out of you if you’re not careful.”
Fox News Digital’s Lauryn Overhultz contributed to this report.
