“Full House” star Dave Coulier candidly revealed on Wednesday that he has been battling “very aggressive” stage 3 cancer, revealing in a series of interviews that he was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma after experiencing unusual swelling in his lymph nodes.
The 65-year-old actor, who was born and raised in St. Clair, MI, recalled the moment that his doctors delivered the news of his diagnosis during an interview in People magazine.
“Three days [after undergoing tests], my doctors called me back and they said, ‘We wish we had better news for you, but you have Non-Hodgkin lymphoma and it’s called B cell and it’s very aggressive,” he told the outlet.
“I went from I got a little bit of a head cold to I have cancer, and it was pretty overwhelming. This has been a really fast roller-coaster ride of a journey,” he said.
In a separate on-air interview with the “Today” show, Coulier explained that he has been undergoing treatment since his diagnosis a little over a month ago. He added that he is confident that he will reach “total remission” after completing chemotherapy in February 2025.
Coulier gave credit to his wife, Melissa, explaining how she took charge and “organized (his) entire life, from nutrition to the doctor’s appointments to the pills.
“She’s got stuff color-coded. It’s pretty great,” he said.
Building a dream home
Together the pair, who wed in 2014, are fighting the disease while taking refuge at their lakefront home in St. Clair, where they moved to from Los Angeles in 2019—returning to the town where Coulier was born and raised.
In an interview with Hour Detroit that same year, Coulier revealed that he and his wife had purchased a 5-acre plot of waterfront land in the area, where they were building a custom lake house inspired by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright‘s designs.
Property records show that the duo purchased a plot of land in the area that same year in what appears to have been an off-market deal. That acreage was last listed for $1,999,000.
“I’ve always been in love with this part of the world,” he told the publication. “I find that I’m drawn to Lake St. Clair.”
Coulier added that he expected work on the home to be completed by 2020. However, his Instagram account suggests that there have been some delays. Posts shared as recently as October 2023 showed that construction was still being completed on the impressive abode.
‘A slice of heaven’
However, the actor has taken a key role in leading the build on the property, revealing that he even went back to school to learn the skills needed to carry out work on his future house.
“I’ve always worked hard. And I enjoy working with my hands—doing the dirty work to make my home and surroundings look their best,” he wrote on his website. “I’ve always wanted to build my family a home.
“So we bought some lakefront property, cleared it ourselves (with our tractor) and designed a home. Then I went to contractor’s school to learn how to be a real builder. I’ve gained a new respect of builders everywhere.”
He added in another 2020 post: “I grew up on Lake St. Clair. A little over a year ago, I discovered the most incredible lakefront property. It was in really rough shape. It was littered with trash and dead trees. It took almost 6 months to clear.
“But underneath all of that was over 3 waterfront acres and another acre and a half with a cove and breakwater. Now I get to take my boat there, get on my tractor and keep it looking beautiful. Yes. I have to pinch myself. A poor kid from St. Clair Shores, Michigan owns a slice of heaven. It only took 4 decades of hard work to get here.”
In September 2022, he shared an update with his fans, admitting that the construction had been more “labor intensive” than he’d anticipated.
“It always starts with a solid plan. Me and @melissacoulier designed our house with @workadaydesign architects. I got so involved with the process that I went to contractor’s school to learn as much as I could,” he wrote on Instagram.
“So far, the most labor intensive phase has been securing all the permits. I can’t quite call myself a general contractor yet. I surrounded myself with really knowledgeable people and studied every page of the plans. So far, I’m having a blast.”
It appears that the couple initially planned to completely renovate a home they purchased in 2020, “right when COVID hit,” Coulier told Closer in November of that year. “It was a very convenient time to be locked in a home. We were tearing down walls and ripping out carpeting and doing construction work.”
2020 also marked Coulier’s sobriety journey, another hurdle that he credits his wife with helping him to overcome.
“I decided to make a decision for my own well-being, my family and for those around me who I love so dearly,” he wrote on Instagram. “The mental and physical withdrawal were big challenges for me, but I was supported by @melissacoulier and friends who had already made the journey. The psychological and physical transformation has been amazing.”
Michigan for life
Coulier’s new home is located not far from where he grew up—and where his brother, Dan, and his father, David, lived until they both passed away, residing in the same home where the actor was born in 1959.
The actor attended high school in the area and initially planned to continue his education there. However, after spending just one year at the University of Michigan, the aspiring comedian dropped out to pursue his Hollywood dream.
He moved to Los Angeles and started performing stand-up in comedy clubs in the 1970s, alongside Robin Williams and Jerry Seinfeld.
His big break came in 1987, with the “Full House” role of Uncle Joey. He recently reprised the beloved part in the Netflix reboot “Fuller House.”
Claudine Zap has been a writer and editor at Realtor.com since 2015, covering celebrity real estate, unique homes, and real estate trends. She also contributed to the site’s “House Party” podcast. She was previously a writer and editor at Yahoo, where she covered entertainment, culture, fashion, food, travel, and web trends. Claudine earned a B.A. in government and anthropology at Smith College and a master’s in journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, where she won the McClatchy Prize for In-Depth Reporting. Originally from the East Coast, she now lives in San Francisco.