Alert – Inside Matthew Perry’s former Malibu mansion he turned into a sober living center amid his decades-long sobriety journey that became ‘too expensive to run’

After finding strength in sobriety, Matthew Perry devoted his life to helping others get clean, including turning his former Malibu beach home into a men’s sober living.

Following his tragic death, at 54, of an apparent drowning at his Pacific Palisades home on Saturday, the Friends star is being remembered for his philanthropic efforts aimed at helping addicts in their recovery. 

Ahead of his death, he was reportedly in the early stages of setting up a foundation dedicated to assisting individuals dealing with substance abuse-related issues. 

According to TMZ, the late performer was planning on establishing an organization similar to the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation in an effort to fund addiction recovery treatments.

Previously, he created an oasis, called the Perry House, for addicts out of his beach house for two years, which offered holistic services to help men get sober.

In 2015, Perry made the difficult decision to close the 5,500-square-foot beach compound, overlooking the Malibu pier.

‘That was a Malibu beach house, and it was too expensive to run and the business didn’t really work,’ he told The Hollywood Reporter, at the time.

It sat on a generous 2.32 acres of land that offered residents plenty of room to wander around in. 

The home had an impressive swimming pool, which boasted a breathtaking view out of the ocean, as well as an array of outdoor entertainment features, an admirable large garden area, a fire pit and booming sound system.

After selling the property for $10.65 million, the performer said he and addiction specialist, Earl Hightower, who helped run the facility, were ‘looking at smaller places in Santa Monica and Studio City.’ 

‘I’m keeping the business going because I like it; it’s a good way to help alcoholics,’ the Emmy Award nominee told the outlet. 

The Perry House was a transitional space that helped recovering addicts ease back in to their regular lives.

The duo offered men with addiction issues the opportunity to attend meditation programs and learn the twelve steps of recovery. 

‘If you’re thrown from treatment to the outside world, sometimes it’s too bumpy,’ Perry previously said, according to My Recovery. 

Another location, however, never happened. 

In 2013, Perry received a Champion of Recovery award from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy for creating the sober living facility. 

The actor was also an ambassador National Association of Drug Court Professionals, which is a non-profit organization for ‘courts that take a public health approach to criminal offenders with substance abuse issues,’ according to The Guardian. 

Before his death, Perry stated that he wanted to be remembered for how he supported others, who also experienced substance abuse. 

‘Best thing about me- bar none- is if somebody comes up to me and says, “I can’t stop drinking, can you help me?” I can say yes and follow up and do it, that’s the best thing,’ Perry said in a resurfaced video on X.

‘And I’ve said this for a long time, when I die, I don’t want Friends to be the first thing that’s mentioned.’

Perry added: ‘I want that to be the first thing that’s mentioned, and I’m going to live the rest of my life proving that.’

Footage of Perry talking about how he wanted to be remembered has been shared across social media in the wake of the actor’s untimely death on Saturday.

Though he was happy to have made an impact on the hit 90s sitcom, he made it clear that he wanted Friends to be listed ‘far behind’ on his list of accomplishments.

‘I know it won’t happen, but it would be nice,’ he said at the end of the shared excerpt.

Perry died of an accidental ‘drowning’ in his jacuzzi at his Los Angeles home. Police found prescription pills at the home, but no illegal drugs, sources said. 

Perry had reportedly played a two-hour game of Pickleball – a sport similar to tennis but played on a smaller court – earlier in the day, before sending his assistant out on an errand. When they returned, Perry was said to be found unresponsive in his hot tub. 

His body was taken from his house by the LA County Medical Examiner’s Office hours after his death.  

Perry rose to fame in his role as ‘Chandler Bing’ on the hit 90s sitcom Friends, which ran for ten seasons. 

He had just recently posted a picture of him and his father John Bennett Perry who joined him on a Friends episode in 1998. 

He was born in Massachusetts and raised in Canada by his mother Suzanne Marie after his parents divorced when he was one-year-old. 

Perry was a natural fit for the role of Chandler, beloved for his sarcastic one-liners, and many of his mannerisms grew from the actor’s own behavior.

He said in his memoir: ‘It was as if someone had followed me around for a year, stealing my jokes, copying my mannerisms, photocopying my world-weary yet witty view of life. One character in particular stood out to me: it wasn’t that I thought I could ‘play’ Chandler. I ‘was’ Chandler.’

Perry later revealed that when he was first cast in the sitcom at the age of 24, that is when his alcohol addiction really came to light. 

He said years later that by the end of the 10th series of the hit show, he became ‘entrenched in a lot of trouble.’ 

In a 2016 he admitted that he didn’t remember three seasons of filming because he was a ‘little out of it at the time’.

At one point during his time on Friends, Perry said he was taking 55 Vicodin painkillers a day and was down to 128lb but yet he ‘didn’t know how to stop.’

Following his sudden death many took to social media and gave tribute to the late actor, specifically for his role as Chandler in Friends. 

Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada attended school with Perry when he lived in the country and wrote a touching post about him. 

‘Matthew Perry’s passing is shocking and saddening. I’ll never forget the schoolyard games we used to play, and I know people around the world are never going to forget the joy he brought them. 

‘Thanks for all the laughs, Matthew. You were loved – and you will be missed,’ Trudeau said. 

Warner Bros, which produced Friends, said in a statement: ‘We are devastated to learn of Matthew Perry’s passing. He was a true gift to us all. Our heart goes out to his family, loved ones, and all of his fans.’ 

After moving to LA, Perry starred as Chazz Russell in Boys Will Be Boys and also had roles in shows including sitcom Growing Pains before becoming a global superstar as Chandler.

‘This was the only guy to play him,’ creator of Friends Marta Kauffman said in the 2021 reunion special. 

The star laid bare the height of his terrible drug and alcohol addiction battle which nearly cost him his life in a memoir titled Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir.  

Perry also revealed that his colon ruptured as a result of his opioid addiction when he was 49.

Doctors gave him only a two percent chance of survival and he was in a coma for two weeks followed by months more in the hospital.

Perry required 14 surgeries to help repair all of the abdominal damage, and he admitted to having gone to rehab 15 times over the years in hopes of kicking his drug addiction. 

On Monday, Perry’s five co-stars from Friends have released a joint official statement about the actor’s tragic passing. 

Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer all signed the statement, telling fans they are heartbroken by the news.

‘We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family,’ they told People. ‘There is so much to say, but right now we’re going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss.’

The stars continued: ‘In time we will say more, as and when we are able,’ the statement continues. ‘For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world.’

Perry famously starred as Chandler Bing in the popular sitcom, alongside Aniston as Rachel, Cox as Monica, LeBlanc as Joey, Kudrow as Phoebe and Schwimmer as Ross.

Maggie Wheeler, whose character dated Perry from the show’s second season to third, was among the first to publicly mourn her late costar on social media.

‘What a loss. The world will miss you Mathew Perry,’ she captioned the image, which showed her looking at him adoringly as she portrayed her character, Janice Litman-Goralnik. 

Perry also starred in several films including 17 Again starring Zac Efron, Fools Rush In with Salma Hayek, and Getting In with comedian Dave Chapelle.

He featured in The Whole Nine Yards, and The Kid with Bruce Willis – who was a guest star in the sixth series of Friends.

Perry never married and ended his engagement to Molly Hurwitz, a talent manager, in 2021.

He dated several well-known actresses including Julia Roberts and Lizzy Caplan.