Can You Name These Famous Homes?
Not every house you see on TV or in the movies was built on a studio lot. Lots of times they’re real houses with real people living in them, and sometimes the house itself becomes the star of the show.
1)
This 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom, Italianate Victorian home in San Francisco hosted a household that included a widowed father, his three daughters, his brother-in-law and his best friend. Many fans assumed this home was one of the “Painted Ladies” on Postcard Row, but it can actually be found 12 blocks away on Broderick Street.
2)
This gracious Southern gem played an important role in a 2004 movie based on a Nicholas Sparks novel. The house that Noah rebuilt for Allie is actually Martins Point Plantation on Wadmalaw Island in South Carolina. They created a fake façade to make the beautifully maintained 1875 home look like it had fallen into disrepair before Noah fixed it up.
3)
A kid from the mean streets of Philly traveled across the country to live in a mansion with his aunt, uncle and cousins. This 1930s Colonial is not really in Bel-Air: It’s actually in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles. The 5-bedroom, 5-bathroom house was last sold in 1978 for $732,000. Today, it’s worth about $7,320,000. Good investment!
4)
Holiday chaos ensued in this 1920s Georgian. The stately home in Winnetka, Illinois played the role of memorable backdrop to the hijinks of Kevin McAllister and the Wet Bandits.
5)
A young man brings a young woman to this enviable Pacific Northwest home. Designed by Skylab Architecture, the kitchen of Hoke House was the place where Edward Cullen introduced Bella Swan to his parents. The Portland home is named for its current owner John Hoke, Nike’s chief design officer. He bought the home in 2007 for $2.5 million.
6)
This venerable 6-story Manhattan apartment building was home to roomies Monica and Rachel, who lived across the hall from Joey and Chandler and were regularly visited by Ross and Phoebe. The West Village apartment building was built in 1900, and there really is a café on the ground floor!
7)
In a post-apocalyptic world, survivors holed up in this 1908 Craftsman in Monrovia, California to escape the horrors outside. Fans of the film flock to this 7-bedroom home designed by Frank O. Eager to pose in front of it wearing blindfolds.
8)
This unassuming 1972 rancher in Albuquerque was home to morally ambiguous high school teacher Walter White, who committed numerous felonies while living here. The real-life home is the residence of a long-suffering family who reports eager fans constantly toss pizzas onto the roof to recreate an iconic scene from the show.
9)
An orphan living in this quiet suburban home discovered his evil relatives had been hiding the truth about his identity. Nº 4 Privet Drive was played by this 3-bedroom home located on a cul-de-sac in Bracknell, Berkshire, UK. Both the exterior and interior were used in the first film of the famous franchise.
10)
This split-level rambler in Studio City was home to a large blended family, and was once the 2nd most photographed house in America, behind only the White House. Its familiar exterior had been altered by owners to discourage trespassers, and its iconic interior once existed only in a studio. But HGTV bought the house in 2018 and gave it a thorough renovation, restoring its famous exterior and doing up the interior to match the original TV layout.
11)
This 17th century castle has 61 bedrooms! The aristocratic Crawley residence is actually Highclere Castle in Highclere, Hampshire, UK. The 30,000-square-foot palace is set on 6,000 acres, and the real owners are the 8th Earl and Countess of Carnarvon. They welcome visitors for tours. Thanks to the show, the increase in admissions has helped finance much-needed repairs to the august building.
How did you do?
1) Full House, 2) The Notebook, 3) The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, 4) Home Alone, 5) Twilight, 6) Friends, 7) Bird Box, 8) Breaking Bad, 9) Harry Potter, 10) The Brady Bunch, 11) Downton Abbey