TV homes from your favourite shows that ACTUALLY exist

Real homes as seen on screen

Ever wished you could escape into the world of your favourite TV show? It’s not impossible. While many movies and TV series are filmed on purpose-built sets, every now and then it's easier to shoot on location in a real home.

From Harvey Specter's fabulous NYC apartment in Suits to the spectacular mansions of Succession, these real-life TV homes are full of surprises.

Click or scroll on to step behind the scenes...

Succession

Succession became one of the most acclaimed shows on TV, winning countless awards. Following the dysfunctional Roy family, owners of international media conglomerate Waystar RoyCo, the heirs, spouses and hangers-on battle it out to take the top spot from ailing patriarch Logan Roy (Brian Cox).

Said to be loosely based on the lives of billionaire Rupert Murdoch's family, whose media empire includes The Times, Vice, Fox News and The Wall Street Journal, the series takes place in some of the most enviable properties imaginable.

Kendall's Manhattan apartment, New York, USA

This impressive New York City penthouse in Pavillion A of the Woolworth Tower Residences might be more familiar as Kendall’s war room, where several pivotal Season 3 Succession scenes were set.

With over 67,000 square feet (6,224sqm) of living space and a duplex terrace, the lavish home also comes with access to a set of hotel-grade amenities including a saltwater lap pool, a jacuzzi and sauna, a billiards room, and private wine storage and wine-tasting facilities.

Kendall's Manhattan apartment, New York, USA

The double-height living area boasts soaring 22-foot (7m) ceilings, a baby grand piano and a dramatic balcony accessed by a black wrought iron spiral staircase, which stands out starkly against the room’s pale colour palette.

This vast, open-plan living area served as a filming location for substantial portions of Season 3, and its ample proportions and floods of natural light from the skylights and wall of windows would have made filming a breeze.

Kendall's Manhattan apartment, New York, USA

In addition to this combined living, dining and kitchen space, the apartment includes a formal dining room, an office, a media room, two bedrooms with ensuites and a master suite including a luxurious bathroom, breakfast bar and private terrace.

The opulent penthouse was last on the market with Sotheby’s International Realty for an eye-watering $23 million (£17.4m). It costs a pretty penny to live like the Roys!

Stranger Things

Stranger Things has been a cult classic since it hit Netflix back in 2016, drawing in millions of obsessed fans.

The show follows a group of school friends who've uncovered secret government experiments and have to fight supernatural forces from The Upside Down.

Many of the most iconic sets are actually real, including the first home that Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) shares with her sons Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and Will (Noah Schnapp).

The original Byers house, Georgia, USA

While Stranger Things is mostly based in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, the real Byers' house can be found in Fayetteville, Georgia. 

It hit the market at £246,000 ($314k) in September 2022 and was on sale for just one week.

A savvy investor reportedly snapped up the property with sights set on transforming the film set into a Stranger Things-themed Airbnb.

The original Byers house, Georgia, USA

These reports have now come to fruition, and the unique and beloved property is now available as a holiday let.

The remote, three-bedroom home sits on six acres (2.4ha) of land against a heavily wooded backdrop at the end of a somewhat spooky winding driveway.

149 Coastline Road was originally built in 1900, its clapboard structure hosting 1,846 square feet (171sqm) of living space inside…

The original Byers house, Georgia, USA

The former TV set, now a fully liveable home, comes complete with its iconic fairy light alphabet wall.

According to TMZ, the money-minded new owner recreated the Byers' home for a truly immersive Stranger Things experience.

Different parts of the house now resemble 'The Upside Down', while the outdoor areas have been transformed into other scenes from the show.

Breaking Bad

First broadcast in 2008, Breaking Bad's unique storylines and gripping twists turned it into a cult phenomenon.

The award-winning show followed chemistry teacher Walter White (Bryan Cranston), who, after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, finds an innovative yet illegal way to make some quick cash for his family.

A decade and a half on, Breaking Bad remains the second-highest IMDB-rated TV show of all time.

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Jesse Pinkman's house, New Mexico, USA

Fans of the show will remember the home of Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), Walt's partner in crime. In the show, Jesse used his newfound fortune to purchase his childhood home, and the property played host to numerous iconic scenes.

While the basement was used as a temporary laboratory and holding pen for gangster Krazy-8, the hallway will be remembered for the now-infamous bathtub dissolving scene.

Jesse Pinkman's house, New Mexico, USA

In Albuquerque, New Mexico, where Breaking Bad was set, the Spanish Colonial revival house spans 3,500 square feet (325sqm) and has style as well as substance.

Attractive period details decorate every room, including original wood floors, stone-framed doors and ornamental fireplaces.

The family room, which featured heavily in the show, offers a stunning double-height ceiling decorated with exposed beams. 

Jesse Pinkman's house, New Mexico, USA

The two-storey abode also features four bedrooms, a large kitchen, and two exterior porches.

The makers of Breaking Bad are said to have initially used the interior of the house for shoots, before building an exact replica for any scenes that might have caused damage to the property (like Jesse's wild parties). 

This beautiful and historic abode was sold in 2015 for £1.3 million ($1.7m).

The Golden Girls

The Golden Girls was a television smash throughout its seven-year run. The feel-good American sitcom starred Betty White, Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty as four mature women sharing a home in Miami, Florida.

Yet in reality, the mid-century modern abode was actually in Los Angeles, California, and the real thing is almost too cool to be true.

Though many of The Golden Girls interior scenes were shot in a studio, this beautiful house remains a key part of the show.

The Golden Girls house, California, USA

Offering striking architecture and a slice of Hollywood history, this eye-catching home landed on the real estate market for the first time in 65 years in 2020, finally selling for £3.3 million ($4.2m).

Inspired by mid-century Japanese and Hawaiian architecture, the property was custom-built in 1955 by the award-winning designers Johnson and Perkins.

Thanks to a modern makeover, the interior is now every bit as dazzling as you might hope.

The Golden Girls house, California, USA

The grand four-bedroom property is spacious and filled with natural light, thanks to floor-to-ceiling sliding doors, clerestory windows and ultra-high beamed ceilings.

Expanses of glass also allow for a perfect transition between inside and out, while a natural colour palette and raw materials add to the home's organic mid-century aesthetic.

Although it offers an open-plan layout, Japanese sliding shoji screens and built-in cabinetry subtly zone off each space.

The Golden Girls house, California, USA

With a quarter-of-an-acre of land (0.1ha), the pad also comes with almost 3,000 square feet (279sqm) of inside space.

There are four bedrooms and three bathrooms, as well as plenty of perfectly preserved period details.

Key features include the rather eye-boggling turquoise and avocado kitchen and retro full-height brick fireplaces, which add to the home's charms.

The Brady Bunch

In the late 60s and early 70s, the world was obsessed with the dysfunctional set-up of one American family. The Brady Bunch ran on our TV screens for just five years, yet its legacy endures.

In fact, in 2019, HGTV released A Very Brady Renovation, a show in which the original Brady kids joined the Property Brothers, Jonathan and Drew Scott, to recreate the iconic Brady Bunch house. 

The results, we're sure you'll agree, are fantastic.

The Brady Bunch house, California, USA

This classic mid-century modern in Studio City, California, was the setting for all the family drama in the classic American sitcom. An integral part of the show, the real-life house has been sold twice in the last 47 years.

In 2018, it went for £2.8 million ($3.6m) and the Property Brothers were tasked with bringing it back to its former glory.

Leaving no stone unturned, they renovated the house to an extraordinary level of detail, and the property is now a pop culture time capsule.

The Brady Bunch house, California, USA

The ambitious project is said to have taken 9,000 hours over six months. The Brady Bunch cast used their in-depth knowledge of the home's original design to refine every detail across its 2,477-square-foot (230sqm) interior.

Work included recreating the 60s landscaped garden and decorating the exterior with its original beige paint.

Inside, the team tackled the iconic living room and staircase, finding identical furnishings and making replicas of the show's horse statue and two-sided fireplace.

The Brady Bunch house, California, USA

The team also tackled the home's three bedrooms and their efforts can be seen most successfully in the girls' bedroom.

Sickly sweet in baby pink, everything from the bedspreads to the kitsch wall decorations have been placed back in their original positions.

Apparently, it's the second most photographed home in the USA, after the White House, and now the home is even more likely to attract Brady Bunch fans!

Downton Abbey

Frequently soapy and salacious, Downton Abbey is a cult classic period drama with swoon-worthy production values.

The hit show is set in the fictional Downton Abbey, a stately home in the Yorkshire countryside, and follows the lives of the Crawley family and their staff in the rapidly changing world of the early 19th century.

Highclere Castle, Newbury, England

While Downton itself may be fictional, the show was filmed in the very real Highclere Castle, which is every bit as spectacular as Director Julian Fellowes’ creation.

This Grade I-listed country house was built in 1679, and is set on a sprawling 5,000-acre (2,023ha) estate.

Largely renovated in the 1840s in the Jacobean and Italianate styles, the home is the country seat of the real-life Earls of Carnarvon.

Highclere Castle, Newbury, England

Today, the house and grounds are open to the public for tours during the summer months, allowing fans to revel in the spectacular living, dining and sleeping quarters that so closely resemble the sets from the show.

The opulent rooms feature spectacular coffered ceilings, marble fireplaces, magnificent chandeliers, and priceless works of art. It’s all too easy to picture the cast of the show lounging in these plush surroundings.

Highclere Castle, Newbury, England

However, behind the scenes, a tremendous amount of work is constantly in progress to keep the ancient home in good condition. In the early 2000s, Highclere was in such a poor state of repair that 50 of its rooms were uninhabitable.

Fortunately, the windfall brought in by Downton’s filming and the subsequent surge of tourists has allowed for substantial repairs over the last decade.

Suits

One of the most-streamed shows in the US in 2023, Suits is possibly most famous for featuring the not-yet Duchess of Sussex, a young Meghan Markle.

However, the show is really a juicy legal drama, following the unlikely partnership of a top-flight partner in a New York law firm, Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) and his uneducated but savant-like associate (Patrick J. Adams).

Harvey Specter's apartment, Toronto, Canada

Many viewers will have found themselves drooling over Harvey Specter’s sophisticated, industrial-style apartment, which many characters in the show joke is the only ‘relationship’ to which he has ever been able to commit.

Fans of the show were thrilled when the sleek pad was listed for sale in 2022, but were likely equally shocked to learn that the apartment is actually located in the King West neighbourhood of Toronto, rather than New York City.

Harvey Specter's apartment, Toronto, Canada

While the interiors of the apartment in these listing photos definitely don’t bare any resemblance to Harvey’s minimalist style, the floor, counters and kitchen appliances should all be recognisable to fans of the show.

Even the shelving units which famously held Harvey’s beloved record collection are the same.

Harvey Specter's apartment, Toronto, Canada

With 3,000 square feet (279sqm) of inside living space and an additional 2,000 (186sqm) outside, including a heated pool, built-in barbecue and outdoor TV, it’s not hard to imagine why this space was picked to stand in as the home of a high-flying NYC lawyer.

The posh apartment was initially listed for $4,995,000 CAD ($3.7m USD/£2.9m), and ultimately sold for just below asking at $4,749,000 CAD ($3.5m USD/£2.7m).

Full House

A beloved American sitcom which ran from 1987 to 1992, Full House follows a widowed father as he enlists his brother-in-law and childhood best friend to help raise his three daughters in their San Francisco townhouse.

The wholesome family show was viewed by many as the natural successor to The Brady Bunch, and precipitated a 2016 Netflix spinoff, Fuller House.

The 'Full House', San Francisco, California

Chosen from many potential candidates, this 1882 Victorian home in San Francisco's Lower Pacific Heights was the scene of countless family antics.

In 2016, years after the program had wrapped, its creator and former executive producer bought the property and restored its exterior to the way it had looked for the show, with light grey paint, white trim and a bright red front door.

Predictably, the house immediately became a favourite photo spot for fans of the sitcom.

The 'Full House', San Francisco, California

The insides, however, could not be more different from the quintessentially 80s interiors augmented by the chaos of a growing family.

Instead, the 3,728-square-foot (346sqm) home has had a slick 21st century makeover, including a reconfigured open floorplan, new skylights, wide-plank hardwood floors and freshly tiled modern bathrooms.

The 'Full House', San Francisco, California

Architect Richard Landry did take care to preserve period details, including its ornate mouldings and Corinthian columns.

However, with blue cabinets, Calcutta Oro marble and Viking appliances, this was certainly not the kitchen that saw the early days of the careers of John Stamos and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen!

Dallas

A classic primetime soap, Dallas ran from 1978 to 1991, and followed the high-drama happenings of the Ewings, a wealthy but feuding family who owned an independent oil company and cattle ranch.

The story kicks off with the marriage of Bobby and Pam Ewing, who, Romeo and Juliet style, hail from two warring families.

The Dallas mansion, Texas, USA

The soap opera was set against the backdrop of an elegant estate in North Texas, which was highly influential in shifting Americans’ views on Texans away from cowboys and hillbillies towards wealth, luxury and glamorous women.

The 10,341-square-foot (961sqm) Georgian mansion where many of the show’s scenes were shot dates to 1939 and sits nestled within 4.3 acres (1.7ha).

The Dallas mansion, Texas, USA

The house boasts five bedrooms and seven bathrooms, as well as a formal living and dining area, a chef’s kitchen with a dining area, a billiards room, a media room, a family room and a wet bar.

These spaces all include meticulously preserved period details, including crown moulding, polished hardwood floors, statement central fireplaces and French windows.

The Dallas mansion, Texas, USA

Outside, the home’s grounds are equally lavish, equipped with an exercise building, pool, spa, tennis court, a creek-side terrace and firepit.

The entire home was rebuilt and updated in 2003, so it no longer looks the way it did back in the days when it housed America’s top-rated show, but it remains a glitzy piece of both Texas and cinematic history.

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