MovieChat Forums > Family (1976) Discussion > Is the 'Family' house real?

Is the 'Family' house real?

posted 18 years ago by garycottle
21 replies | jump to latest

It seems to me that in the exterior shots we are seeing a real house. Does anyone know where that house is? And how about the interior? Is that real, or are we seeing a stage set?

I was about the same age as the Buddy charater when the series orginally aired, and I can remember watching this show as a kid and wishing that I could live in a house like that. (Maybe a strange wish for a ten-year-old boy. LOL) Recently I watched the first two DVD's of the set that just came out, and discovered that I still love the house, the shingle sidding, the doors, windows and woodwork, and the furnishings. It's so understated and classic that I don't think that it's aged hardly any. Even now, after all this time, I think it'd be wonderful to eat breakfast in that kitchen, and the little washer & dryer alcove is perfect. The dinning room with its rustic but elegant table and chairs would be great for Thanksgiving. The whole place looked so homey and warm.

[–] spike71 18 years ago

To those of you who remember Father Knows Best, take a close look and I think you'll see a resemblance to the interior of Family and Father Knows Best. The entrance with the closet directly across from the front door, the stairway on the left and I believe both shows had a grandfather in the same place in the foyer. The living room is the same and the dining room is pretty much the same area on both shows. The difference would be the kitchen.

[–] garycottle 18 years ago

Thanks for the info. I'll have to check out a rerun of "Father Knows Best."

[–] Joannakathryn 18 years ago

The exterior is real. I guess the inside was a stage set. I love the house, too, and while my kitchen is nothing like theirs, I do use a lot of blue.

I loved the upstairs with the big hallway and several good-sized bedrooms off it, plus it would be nice to have a back stairway.

[–] jliscorpio 18 years ago

That house actually is in Pasadena California. Im sure the interior was a set though. I wish I could remember its exact location. I remember it being for sale in the "ahem" early 80's for $500,000. A steal today a fortune then.

[–] garycottle 18 years ago

Thanks jliscopio.

[–] Liz01219 18 years ago

jil,

Did you get the DVD's????

What had me nearly falling out of my chair was the episode when Doug is due a big promotion but they had to move to New York,
Kate brings in a real estate agent and the agent tells her the house is worth $90,000 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kate said you really think that much, ROFL.
The agent told her yes because of the guest house but then told her she would have said more if they had a pool!!!!!!!

I'm telling you I nearly died, $90,000.

I loved that house and especially loved the stairs that led to the kitchen. I thought that was great.

[–] sibie 18 years ago

The house is in Pasadena, on 1230 Milan St. ('Holland St.' in the series) I have seen photos of what it looks like now. They have kept it looking nice, except the fence is gone as is much of the shrubbery. The brick colums at the entrance are also gone. The house, however, looks the same wonderful place. The interior, as with most if not all TV series, was a set designed with the house in mind to make it believable (not usualy the case with TV shows).

[–] sibie 18 years ago

...by the way, I, too, have always been in love with the house. Watching the DVD's I remember thinking how it could very well still work today, because the set design was so classic...it has not aged at all (except for the character's costumes...can we say Polyester heaven?) I think the 'Family' house has always been sort of a 'comfort food' for me. I would love to see what the 'real' house looks like inside though...or maybe not, why spoil it...

[–] subcarrier 18 years ago

http://www.geocities.com/HollandSt/house1.jpg

and

http://www.geocities.com/HollandSt/house2.jpg

from Serge Elnitsky's site

http://www.geocities.com/HollandSt/

[–] astrojet 18 years ago

If I'm not mistaken, the pilot was filmed in the actual house in Feb or Mar 1975. When it was picked up as a mini-series the following fall, I imagine a set was built at 20th Century Fox for the interiors that matched the real interior. I've always wondered what it would be like to be a homeowner whose front lawn was used as an exterior. Like the people who lived on the cul-de-sac where the exteriors were done on Knots Landing. I'm guessing they filmed the exteriors in one day each week. I mean, were you told you couldn't leave your house the full day of outside shooting or what? Did the production company hire a lawn service to keep it looking perfect? (If so, very cool). And when they showed a character actually exiting the front door, does that mean you had Sada Thompson in your entry hall all morning?

You can go to www.zillow.com and type in 1230 milan ave in south pasadena, ca to get an aerial view of the house. It shows the value as being $2.4M now. I clearly remember in one early episode, a realtor suggests to Kate that the house would fetch $90K, and Kate was dumfounded that anyone would pay that for such an old house!

Watching the DVDs, I keep wondering what that place must look like inside now. Probably with a stainless steel kitchen, granite countertops, etc. If you can afford $2.4M, you can update the kitchen. I think zillow said it was last sold in 1999. I also saw that same house used on some commercial recently and it looks great.

[–] spike71 18 years ago

Astrojet - do you recall what commercial ?

[–] astrojet 18 years ago

No, I'm afraid I don't. It was a few months ago. If it comes to me, I'll let you know.

[–] view123 18 years ago

I'm also a fan of this series (have been since I was 12) and I loved that house too. I even tried to draw my own houseplans of it when I was a kid. This is really "freaky" 'cause I also saw the resemblence of the interiors in "Father Knows Best" too. Anyway, I'm so familiar with looking at the exterior of that house that I actually recognized it when "Designing Women" used the exterior as an establishing shot in one of their later episodes. AND (get this!) I nearly squealed when I saw it (the backyard) in "Jurassic Park III", Laura Dern's character lives in the "Family" house!!!

[–] kwalstedt-1 18 years ago

Once your house gets known in the movie and tv set industry you can make huge amounts of money by renting it out for filming. I'm sure the owners considered each offer individually and worked out some limits on what days/hours of the week they could film there. I'd do it if I had a house or apartment like that. In New York you can almost make your condo pay for itself if it's a popular film location.

[–] niko7sky-1 17 years ago

the house is actually on Milan Street in SOUTH Pasadena (NOT PASADENA). South Pasadena is a small town next to Pasadena, and has a much larger concentration of wealth---VERY WHITE BREAD. In fact, when you look at the earlier episodes, Buddy is on the South Pasadena swim team. People who live out here realize the big difference Anyway, the house is on a beautiful street, and the current owners seems like your typical wealthy, blonde, WASPs from the suburbs. I too wonder about how much of the home they actually used, because the sets were so life like...

[–] rob-949 17 years ago

Funny seeing the series after all these years. The house is MUCH smaller than I remember it, and sort of dumpy-looking (to me) -- for instance the front gate is bent up and the "hedge" is just a vine growing through ugly chain link fence. The landscaping isn't very interesting either (in fact it seems the house might have been chosen because it obscured the view of neighbors' comings and goings [better for filming]).

I remember the interior sets as being decorated with nice, understated antiques, but the furniture is not of the caliber that I remembered it. In fact, Doug drives a boring/ugly car and inherited the house, and it seems to me on rewatching it now that he comes off as not a very successful lawyer, more like a lawyer who works for city government than in private practice.

[–] ethersmum 17 years ago

I don't think I agree with your assessment of the "dumpy-looking" house: I remember the 1970's and recall that home interiors and landscaping were not as big a priority back then as they are now. People took pride in their properties of course, but there wasn't the same obsession with out-doing your friends and neighbors by having your landscaping and interior decorating done by professionals. In the seventies, only celebrities and the mega rich would have had these things done. Doug and Kate were from an era that believed such things were frivolities. Kate was a farm girl, and wouldn't have concerned herself with the opinions of would-be Martha Stewarts.

I knew a boy in the seventies whose father was a lawyer, and while their house was gigantic, and even bigger than the Lawrences' of Pasadena, the interior looked like the inside of a farmhouse. They only had one car and it was an Astra hatchback! Hardly a high end vehicle, but the family made out just fine.

I think you're viewing these things through the lenses of the 21st century, with all it's superficialities and materialism.

[–] rob-949 17 years ago

No, I think I'm just remembering it with a more educated eye than I had then. For instance back then I really liked the dresser in Doug/Kate's bedroom. Now I think it's boring aas the wood doesn't have pretty patina. I'm not commenting on what it was, just how my impression has changed between then and now.

[–] view123 17 years ago

Within the past week I was watching The Travel Channel (or was it Discovery?) and not really paying too much attention to a commercial about the National Realtor's Association (or whatever) when I noticed glossy shots of a family moving into their new house and it was the "Family" house. I love being surprised by the unannounced, cameo appearances of this "all American" house.

[–] spike71 17 years ago

that's amazing. I would love to have seen that. I loved that house, inside and out.

[–] view123 17 years ago

OMG! Here we go again. This spring SEARS is airing a commercial for their lawn and garden line. There are beautiful shots of a riding lawn mower being used in both the front and back yards of the "Family" house. Check it out.