Month: March 2021

Horror Cinema Trivia: The Changeling (1980)

The house seen in the movie in real life does not and never actually did exist. The film-makers could not find a suitable mansion to use for the film so, at a cost of around $200,000, the production had a Victorian gothic mansion façade attached to the front of a much more modern dwelling in a Vancouver street. This construction was used for the filming of all the exteriors of the movie’s Carmichael Mansion. The interiors of the haunted house were an elaborate group of interconnecting sets built inside a film studio in Vancouver.

Image from Mike’s Movie Cave: The Changeling (1980) – Review

The Addams Family Mansion

A 19th century Victorian home in Los Angeles’ West Adams District provided the basis for the Addams Family Mansion. The Addams house, located at 21 Chester Place, was built in 1888. Oddly enough, the actual house is only shown in the first episode of the first season and is visible during an opening exterior shot, and during the show’s intro reel. Unlike the Addams Mansion, the real house at 21 Chester Place only had two floors! To add the third floor and the gothic tower, the show’s production crew took a 30 x 40 inch photo of the house and had a painter create the missing details.

During its existence, the Victorian house went through a number of ownership changes, eventually winding up in the hands of Mount St. Mary’s College. The house has subsequently been demolished to make way for a recreational track.

Learn about more the real landmarks behind recognizable houses from pop culture at 5 Fictional Homes That Exist in Real Life.