How many times have you watched a television program enough to recognize the house in which the main characters of the show lived? Have you ever wondered if those homes were real — and if so, where they were located?
The Locations of 52 Most Iconic Homes on Television — Well…Most of Them, Anyway…
Sometimes these borrowed homes have fictional addresses — for example, a house in Brentford might act as the home of a character in Bel-Air. Other times, the houses are built as studio sets that look so real, you are sure you know the neighborhood in where they are located — even if you actually know them as sets from other shows and movies.
The one thing these homes all have in common is that they have something extra: the house that is a bit spookier, a bit more stylish, a bit odder than the others on the street, is the one that the producers choose before putting their set designers to work.
A series of posters which celebrates 52 of the most iconic homes on television in the United States gives a visual compendium of their generic and individual features; and this article — which was written for HomeAdvisor — gives more details about them.
I have been given express written permission to use the images and the verbatim text from the aforementioned article in this article. With articles such as this one, I sometimes add brief notes — but I am not knowledgeable enough about them to add much value to the information which is already here.
By the way, beware of SPOILERS ahead….
1. Arrested Development — Bluth Residence
The Bluths’ turreted show home is made to look like the middle of nowhere, but in fact, it is part of a regular neighborhood. Both the exterior and the 6,233-square-foot interior were used for the pilot of Arrested Development, although the interiors were shot in a studio for the rest of the run. Throughout the show, the model home slowly falls apart leaving the Bluths’ in dire need of a local repairman.
2. Beverly Hillbillies — Clampett Residence
$245 million: that was the asking price for the Beverly Hillbillies’ French Neoclassical-style mansion when it hit the market in 2018. It was designed by architect Sumner Spaulding in 1935 and occupies a 10-acre plot overlooking downtown LA and the Pacific Ocean.
3. Beverly Hills 90210 — Walsh Residence
Brenda and Brandon’s 1928-built home, in fact, exists at Altadena 91001. It has four bedrooms and four bathrooms across 3,327 square feet and is valued at a little under $2m.
4. Big Little Lies — Mackenzie Residence
The interiors and exteriors (except the front) of the Mackenzie’s ‘Monterey’ dwelling were all filmed on location at a $14.8m home on Broad Beach Road in Malibu. This traditional looking, classically beautiful house was chosen to reflect Madeleine’s personality. Who could forget her dramatic and glamorous bedroom? The vibrant magenta interior paint provides a fresh perspective.
5. Black-ish — Johnson Residence
The Johnsons live in a 1946 four-bed across a roomy 4,820 square feet of floor space. The interiors always look very well kept, although the kitchen remodel storyline in season four nearly ended in divorce for the characters! Next time, we’re hoping they hire a kitchen designer to help make those stressful design decisions.
6. BoJack Horseman — Horseman Residence
BoJack’s modernist monstrosity of a house is perched precipitously on stilts, reflecting our hero’s lack of stability. The building recalls the work of contemporary architect Paul McClean — hard surfaces, severe right-angles, and greenery that looks like it has been stapled on for effect. This minimalist aesthetic works well on TV, but can be difficult to achieve in the real world without the help of a local professional organizer.
7. Breaking Bad — White Residence
Walter White’s iconically bland Albuquerque house remains under close observation today — from obsessive fans making their Breaking Bad pilgrimage. In fact, the real-life owner has had to install a 6-foot wrought iron fence to regain a sense of privacy. “We’re the ones who’s being locked up,” says resident Joanne Quintana. “We did nothing wrong.”
8. Buffy the Vampire Slayer — Summers Residence
Revello Drive, Sunnydale, was, in fact, Cota Avenue, Torrance. The home is built in the Craftsman Style, a late 1800s/early 1900s architectural trend linked to the Arts & Crafts Movement — giving it the folky look that so suits the show’s supernatural themes.
9. Charmed — Halliwell residence
Properly known as the Innes House, the property used for the exterior of the main Charmed home was built in the Victorian-era Eastlake style in the 1800s. You may know this creepy property from the video for Michael Jackson’s Thriller, in which it also starred. We wonder if the Halliwell sisters had a special spell to help them with historic home preservation for this centuries-old property?
10. Desperate Housewives — Solis Residence
Wisteria Lane is one of those fictional addresses that remains as famous as the show’s characters. It is situated in Fairview in the made-up state of Eagle. In truth, the neighborhood existed on the same Universal Studios Hollywood backlot used for scenes in The Burbs, The Munsters, Gremlins, Psycho, and Buffy. Gabrielle and Carlos’ home was also the home of James Stewart’s family in the 1950s classic Harvey. After an eight-season run on Desperate Housewives, it felt like we lived there too! And these days, any fan of the show hopes to hire a handyman as helpful as Mike Delfino.
11. Dexter — Morgan Residence
Before moving in with Rita, Dexter starts out living in one of the condos at Miami’s Bay Harbor Club. The first few episodes were shot in and around the real apartment before a studio replica was built — a common story among shows once they achieve some initial success. Apartments at the Bay Harbor Club currently sell for around $190k.
12. Everybody Loves Raymond — Barone Residence
Raymond’s Long Island home is in Merrick to the west of the island. It is genuinely right opposite Frank and Marie’s house, so there really was no escape. And though it’s standing today, the Barone’s home faced peril throughout the series — like when Marie drove Frank’s car through the wall! The cost to repair the wall damage and install new wallpaper certainly didn’t help Ray’s relationship with his parents.
13. Family Guy — Griffin Residence
Peter Griffin’s family home is in Quahog, Newport County, or somewhere in the territory of Petoria, depending on which episode you watch. It is a detached, butter-yellow house with an enclosed porch and twin dormers. The idyllic green lawn in the cartoon is thanks to the Griffin family’s efforts – though they may have had more time to keep up with Stewie if they’d chosen to hire a landscaping pro instead.
14. Family Matters — Winslow Residence
The Lincoln Park old frame house where the Winslows lived was torn down in 2017 to the dismay of the show’s fanbase. A plaque with the name of the show now adorns the three-story condo building that has risen in its place.
15. Fresh Prince of Bel Air — Banks Residence
The Banks’ $9m home — actually in Brentford, not Bel Air — is a 6,438 square feet Colonial-style mansion set on an 88-acre lot. It was built in 1937 and features five bedrooms, the same number of bathrooms, and — naturally — a pool. Though, the cost to maintain a swimming pool and large property didn’t seem to bother the well-off Banks family.
16. Friday Night Lights — Taylor Residence
The cult college football drama was set in the fictional town of Dillon, TX, but it was, in fact, shot in Austin. The real house that doubled for Coach Taylor’s home was built in 1967 and remodeled in 2006.
17. Full House — Tanner Residence
The full house in Full House was a hybrid of two locations cut together for the opening credit sequence of each episode. The picnic scene is set outside a row of Victorian houses known as the Painted Ladies, alongside Alamo Square Park in San Francisco. The house with the red door is a mile away in the Lower Pacific Heights neighborhood. Although it is a real house, it has a falsely oversized front to make it look bigger than it really is — a common feature among SF homes of the era. The inside, however, was not oversized and it demonstrated that the Tanners really knew how to organize and maximize a tight space.
18. Gilmore Girls — Lorelai and Rory’s Residence
The girls’ home in Stars Hollow is in a traditional southern style and is particularly enviable for its wraparound porch (it could be unnerving if you’ve seen too many horror movies). The building was on a studio lot at Warner Brothers in Burbank, CA, which welcomes tourists to the Gilmore residence and the girls’ favorite spots. The home remains mostly the same throughout the show until season six, when Luke and Lorelai decide to take care of repairs around the house.
19. Golden Girls — Devereaux Residence
The house that provided the exterior shots of Blanche’s home is, indeed, golden: it is actually worth around $3.5m today. It still exists in Brentwood, CA, and in much the same condition — unlike the studio replica, which was used for later seasons and ultimately demolished.
20. How to Get Away With Murder — Keating House
The exterior shots of lawyer Annalise Keating’s home/office are filmed at a real Victorian home in the North University Park Historic District of LA. It was built in 1895, and the interior’s five bedrooms and three bathrooms are spread across 3,108 square feet.
21. Jane the Virgin — Villanueva Residence
Many TV homes are chosen to look quintessentially American — larger, smaller, or quirkier takes on colonial, ranch-style, or foursquare houses depending on what the creators want to say about the character. On the other hand, Alba and Xiomara’s 1923 bungalow is a rare instance of an art deco-tinged Spanish Colonial Revival-style TV home. The home provides a safe landing place for the Villanueva women throughout the show and remains largely unchanged, aside from a season three episode where Alba decides to install new wallpaper (and then abruptly tear it down).
22. Mad Men — Draper Residence
In real life, the Draper (and later Hofstadt Francis) family home is situated opposite Steve Martin’s home in Father Of The Bride. The iconic red door had to be repainted blue after every shooting session at the house and painted red again next time the camera crew showed up! Whether production hired professional painters for the task, or the crew simply learned how to paint a front door, that bright red hue provided a perfect pop of color to the Draper residence.
23. Malcolm in the Middle — Wilkerson Residence
The producers of Malcolm in the Middle are said to have paid $3,000 to $4,000 per day while shooting exteriors at this Toluca Lake home (interiors were shot in the studio). It’s no wonder the owners could afford to give the house a major facelift since the series ended — they even chose to install a brand new roof.
24. Married… with Children — Bundy Residence
The Married… with Children family home was built in 1970 and last changed hands for $320,000, the year after the show finished. It is built in the Colonial style, which enjoyed a revival in the 1960s-1970s as a reaction against modernism.
While the house is gorgeous outside, the inside wasn’t so sparkling on the show. Peg didn’t enjoy cooking or cleaning, and it’s a source of tension between she and Al. Hiring a local housekeeper could’ve alleviated their arguments.
25. Mindhunter — Tench Residence
Agent Tench’s house is actually in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania. The stone exterior is quite common for the area, but we can’t imagine how dark and dismal it would feel to come home after a long day of dealing with serial killers and horrific crimes. We hope Agent Tench was able to find and hire an interior decorator to brighten things up on the inside, even if the outside world he works in is a bleak one.
26. Modern Family — Dunphy Residence
The traditional-style Cheviot Hills house that played the exterior of Phil and Claire’s home went on the market for $2.35 million a few years back. It may sound steep, but the agent made it clear the new owners could make a few bucks back by continuing to charge the producers for access. The real thing features “serene garden vistas,” and the master suite has a private balcony. This gorgeous outdoor access means a lot of time spent in the weeds or with a lawn mower — a perfect reason to hire a gardener.
27. Murder, She Wrote — Fletcher Residence
In real life, Jessica Fletcher’s fictional home is an 1888 Victorian bed-and-breakfast in Mendocino, California. “The framing and flooring are Douglas Fir, the walls and foundation are virgin, clearheart Redwood, which today would be prohibitively expensive, helping to explain the home’s excellent condition,” say the proprietors. If the “murder” vibes give you chills, we’re hoping the Fletcher residence doesn’t have any cold spots that will creep you out. The cost to insulate a house is totally worth it — especially one this age and size.
28. Ozark — Byrde Residence
Marty and Wendy’s hideout home is a modernist take on the Ranch house format. Don’t they say that people who are on the run from the feds and the mob shouldn’t live in glass houses? This becomes a tangible problem in season two when gunfire rings out in the living room and the windows are shattered; luckily for the Byrdes, things get cleaned up quickly, but removing all of that glass and replacing a pane that large is definitely not a DIY job.
29. Parenthood — Braverman Residence
Adam and Kristina Braverman’s home was filmed at a property in South Pasadena. The house itself is in the Craftsman style, while the set decorators describe the interior décor as “Pottery Barn, right off the shelf.”This is a killer location, with easy access to the San Gabriel mountains, but that means the property is vulnerable to local wildlife, including rattlesnakes, bears and mountain lions. Hopefully the Bravermans had animal control on speed dial!
30. Parks and Recreation — Knope Residence
We didn’t see much of Lesley’s house in Parks and Recreation, but it quickly made an impression. It’s a 1916 Craftsman-style pad with an interior to match. In real life, it features four beds and two baths spread across a 2,374 square feet footprint!
31. Party of Five — Salinger Residence
The Salingers’ Bay Area home is a party of $6.5 million: the three-flight, turn-of-the-century Eastlake style house features “cathedral ceilings, a four-car garage, an elevator, a gourmet kitchen, a greenhouse solarium, stained glass windows throughout, two decks, and views of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Palace of Fine Arts, and San Francisco Bay.”
32. Pretty Little Liars — Aria’s Residence
The outdoors of Aria’s sprawling Craftsman-style home was originally shot on location in Vancouver and is genuinely right opposite the fictional home of her friend Alison DiLaurentis. Though this might disappoint fans, there have been several upgrades to the 5,000-square-foot real-life residence. The owners repainted the house gray and white, replaced the windows and altered the roofline above the porch.
33. Rick and Morty — Smith Residence
The Smiths’ ranch style house is situated somewhere outside Seattle, according to show co-creator Justin Roiland. The signature crack in the driveway appeared after Morty accidentally jolted the entire property into another dimension in episode eleven, and can be seen in all subsequent episodes, but we’re mostly jealous of that workspace in the garage! It could use some extra storage and a professional organizer to tidy things up, but we have a feeling Rick wouldn’t appreciate that very much. We’ll just have to envy it from a distance.
34. Riverdale — Cooper Residence
Betty Cooper’s Riverdale home is in the Georgian American style. It’s in a real neighborhood of entertainment homes: Charmed, Supernatural, and The Millionaires Club also used locations within a few hundred meters of the New Westminster, BC property.
35. Sabrina, the Teenage Witch — Spellman Residence
The real-life Spellman Manor, is in fact, a Victorian house in New Jersey that has been converted into office spaces (for entrepreneurial witches?). Bonus fact: the gothic Westbridge High building is actually Dwight Morrow High in Englewood, which is where Jessica Parker and John Travolta went to school. The gorgeous architecture, storied history and eye-catching trellises make this house a stand-out on the street, but thoughtful upkeep goes into maintaining a property this size in a four-season location. Any crawlspace or basement should be insulated to keep in heat and keep out moisture, for example, with special attention paid to any wooden parts of house.
36. Shameless — Gallagher Residence
The real American Shameless was filmed in Lawndale, Chicago. The current occupants of the house leave a bucket outside for donations in case you want to grab a selfie when you pass. We’re guessing the inside is probably more organized than when the Gallagher family lived there, but if you find yourself living in a bit of chaos, don’t hesitate to ask for help and find a house cleaning service.
37. Six Feet Under — Fisher Residence
The extraordinary Queen Anne-style Fisher house/Fisher & Sons Funeral Home was built around 1904 for Auguste Rodolphe Marquis, a Swiss-born gold magnate. It is now the headquarters of the Filipino Federation of America. Inside, we’re guessing they no longer have the renovated wall of coffins installed in the show’s later seasons, but it was functional while it lasted!
38. Smallville — Kent Residence
Smallville, as we know, is somewhere 200 miles west of Wichita. The Kents’ two-floor farmhouse is, in reality, in Langley, British Columbia. It has also been seen in many CW shows, like Riverdale, The Flash, and Supergirl. An expansive plot of land like this could benefit from good irrigation — how else could you be sure all of that grass gets evenly watered?
39. Stranger Things — Hopper’s Trailer
Chief of Police Jim Hopper’s bachelor trailer was built by the show’s crew on Sleepy Hollow Farm in Douglasville. If, for some reason, you want the same look for your own pad, you’ll need to beat the wood in order to age it, as the Stranger Things set designers did. We’re guessing they had home improvement pros crawling all over this set, as there are a ton of renovations (and demolition work) necessary for the structures on this show. Take Starcourt Mall, for example — that’s a big building to knock down on your own.
40. The Brady Bunch — Brady Residence
The inside of the Bradys’ house was shot in a studio, while the front of the house belongs to a real property in California’s Studio City — a real neighborhood with an ambiguous name. In 2019, the real house was renovated to become a perfect replica of the TV home — which took some effort since the Studio City property only had one level and the Brady house clearly had a staircase! Our favorite part about the real-life house is easy: The whole interior is open-concept, with each room flowing into the next. Perfect for entertaining (or playing house) to a huge family!
41. The Handmaid’s Tale — Waterford House
The real Waterford House was originally known as Ingleneuk, an old word for a fireside reading nook. The red-brick house can be found in Hamilton, Ontario, where it was built for the family of a wealthy banker in the 1890s. The famous black railings and Nick’s garage-top apartment were added for the show. Part of what makes the Waterford House eerie, though, is how normal it looks; the open-concept kitchen and the various welcoming components of the layout are a stark juxtaposition against the realities of what life is like inside.
42. The Munsters — Munster Residence
Believe it or not, The Munsters’ house was situated on Wisteria Lane — at least, it was shot on Colonial Street, the same Universal Studios set used for Desperate Housewives. Regardless, we’re guessing the other houses on the block didn’t have the same attitude toward exotic pets that the Munsters did. Don’t call a pest removal service — that bat is Ignor, Grandpa’s pet, and the lair under the stairs belongs to Spot, Eddie’s pet dragon.
43. The OC — Cohen Residence
The home where Seth, Ryan, Sandy, and Kirsten lived is on Ocean Breeze Drive in Malibu, 80 miles from the show’s Crystal Cove setting. But it actually exists across a few different properties. The exteriors were shot at number 6205 and the interiors at 6210, a bit further down the street. Sadly, the latter property burned down in the Agoura/Malibu-area fires of 2018.
44. The Office — Jim and Pam’s Residence
Jim and Pam’s house is just a couple of miles away from The Office’s fake Scranton Business Park, which was made up of the rather dull exteriors of Chandler Valley Center Studios in Van Nuys (where the show was filmed). It’s pretty sweet that Jim spontaneously bought the two of them a house, but even more cute that he designated a specific area for her art studio. #HusbandGoals.
45. The Simpsons — Simpsons Residence
The Simpsons may have their financial problems, but they manage a home with four-bedrooms, two living rooms, a dining room, garage and a secret sauna. You may remember HomeAdvisor re-imagining the Simpsons house in several different architectural styles…which one is your favorite?
46. The Sopranos — Soprano Residence
Tony’s home was built in 1987 on an elevated 1.5-acre estate in North Caldwell, NJ. It has always been occupied by the family of the construction company owner who built it. It went on sale this summer for an asking price of $3.4 million — twice as much as similar properties in the area. Its celebrity status and stunning custom upgrades inside justify the asking price, though — everything from the creative, octagonal vaulted ceiling to the crème-colored kitchen elevate this house. Find out how much it costs to remodel a kitchen like the Sopranos’.
47. The Walking Dead — Grimes Residence
Rick’s ‘King County’ home is actually in Atlanta, Georgia. This 1897-built bungalow has traditional elements such as fireplaces, a claw foot tub, heart pine floors, and original millwork, but has also been modernized with a chef’s kitchen and energy efficiency features. We don’t spend a lot of time in the Grimes home, but it looks like the perfect starter home. The 3-bedroom, 2-bath home boasts two fireplaces and a claw foot tub with heart pine floors and 11” ceilings. (We’re already taking notes on how to install a fireplace of our own.) Thinking about it now? It would’ve been hard to walk away from all of that, even with the imminent zombie apocalypse.
48. The Wonder Years — Arnold Residence
Show creators Neal Marlens and Carol Black based the location of The Wonder Years on their childhood hometowns of Huntington, Long Island, and Silver Spring, Maryland. But the producers insisted on never naming the place where Kevin lives. The house the Arnolds occupy is in Burbank, CA, and still looks much the same a quarter of a century after the end of the series.
49. This is Us — Pearson Residence
This Is Us is set in an anonymous Pittsburgh suburb. Keen-eyed observers have noticed much of it is filmed in Bethel Park. The Pearsons’ four-bedroom house seems to keep moving. The real thing, however, is very firmly in Eagle Rock. One big takeaway from the show, no matter where you live, is to practice electrical safety and ask your electrical contractor the right questions. Decades-old appliances, lights or even unattended candles can cause massive fires like the infamous one that occurred in the show.
50. True Blood — Stackhouse Residence
Beware visiting Sookie’s house (in fact, a studio-built structure on a plot near the Agoura Hills/Malibu area) — somebody died inside or outside the home in every season of the show. Should you wish to paint your place the creepy shade of yellow it has from season four, the hue you need is Dunn Edwards DE5373 (Clay Dust). Another component of the house to copy is that incredible wrap-around porch. It truly isto die for.
51. Twin Peaks — Palmer Residence
Doomed high-schooler Laura Palmer’s colonial-style family home is in Everett, Washington – not far from where the fictional town of Twin Peaks should be. It went on sale in 2014, and a group of fans started a Kickstarter to buy the house and transform it into a Twin Peaks museum (they didn’t raise very much). The eventual buyer ended up with a small role in Twin Peaks: The Return. The one downside of this charming house is that it’s a 4-bedroom home with only 1.5 bath. The cost of a bathroom addition would be worth it, since it would make things more convenient for guests, and also increase resale value when the time comes.
52. Weeds — Botwin Residence
The exterior of Nancy’s house was filmed in Stevenson Ranch, CA, a neighborhood that also featured in the movie Pleasantville. The house and much of the neighborhood are designed in the traditional style, although it was only built in 2001.
Summary
Yes, the homes of many more television programs are missing from this article and are not represented here — and no, I am not affiliated or associated with the Cohen residence for the television program The OC.
The television programs of the United States reflect the diverse people and experiences of this country — and although most of the buildings fit into one category or another, the feel of each television home is completely original, made unique by how the characters live there.
Which is your favorite television home?
Photograph ©2014 by Brian Cohen.
