Plenty of popular series and movies have a well-known fictional house that is more memorable than the media it appeared in. These places of living can play a vital role in the overall story. Fictional houses can take up multiple parts in the scenes they appear in. A paper-filled apartment might show that the character is a writer or clumsy. When it comes to famous fictional houses, each media explores them differently.
Since a series can span a season or more, we see houses and apartments for multiple episodes. TV show houses and other living spaces must be entertaining and not so dull — after all, we will see them for a long time. Movies can be more liberal when it comes to character living spaces. A movie house is usually present in a scene or two, so it’s important to the character’s image. Just don’t get too architectural when looking at it.
Even a cartoon house can be much more pleasant than a real one. Below, we compiled a list of the most famous fictional living spaces that are as memorable as they are unique. Leave an upvote on the houses and apartments of fictitious origin you like the most. On the other hand, if you have anything interesting to share, architecturally or otherwise, do so in the comments below.
#1 0001 Cemetery Lane In The Addams Family
0001 Cemetery Lane is an abandoned, crumbling mansion decorated with some haunted-looking odd animals at the top of the stairway. After appearing multiple times, 0001 Cemetery Lane seems to have taken on a personality of its own. The cryptic and anti-social Addams family lives in the mansion.
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#2 Kevin Mcallister’s House In Home Alone
When it comes to memorable fictional houses, Home Alone’s primary location of the action and the opening of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, the fancy-looking McCallister home, is quite famous in the movie and real life. The house’s exterior shots showed a real-life residence located in the state of Illinois.
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#3 The Burrow, From Harry Potter
The Burrow, located outside of Ottery St. Catchpole in Devon, England, was the Weasley family’s residence. The Burrow, held up by magic, had a messy interior that still seemed incredibly cozy. At the height of the Second Wizarding War, the Weasley family had to leave their house after becoming a target of the Death Eaters.
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#4 The Simpsons House
As far as famous cartoon houses go, The Simpsons sit safely at the top of many lists. Marge and Homer Simpson live in the Simpsons’ house with their children — Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. Ned Flanders, a devout Evangelical Christian, is the neighbor across the wooden fence. A real-life replica was constructed in 1997 as a promotion stunt.
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#5 The Hobbit Hole House
Who would want to live in a house that’s in the ground? It might look like a nuclear bunker, but it’s actually a Hobbit hole. These hobbit hole houses varied in size and window amount. The richer hobbits had more of everything, while the poor had less. The most famous Hobbit hole might be Bag End, the residence of Bilbo Baggins.
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#6 Any One Of These Sick Pads From Spongebob Squarepants
The setting of Bikini Bottom has a lot of houses to choose from, with the three most iconic ones being Patrick’s rock, Squidward’s tentacle house, and SpongeBob SquarePants’ pineapple. All three have distinctive styles — Patrick’s home is minimalistic, the tentacle house is “stylish,” and the pineapple has three floors!
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#7 Cher’s Mansion In Clueless
You might be clueless that the house where Cher and Josh share a kiss is an actual house and not some studio set. Cher Horowitz’s house is still standing in Los Angeles. You can find it in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Encino. The Encino home’s interior is included in the movie.
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#8 Chandler And Joey’s Apartment In Friends
The duo of friends, Chandler and Joey, lived in a messy apartment. An important location for the series, the flat wasn’t the primary setting for most of the show’s action. It served as a haven for its two tenants, where they could unwind and play foosball, rather than as a meeting spot for the six buddies.
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#9 The Treehouse From Swiss Family Robinson
Sometimes, a fictional house becomes so famous that it gets built in real life as an attractive object in a theme park. First shown in the 1960s movie Swiss Family Robinson, the treehouse was built by Disney as a real place in Disneyland in 1962. As the name suggests, it’s a house in a tree — a perfect solution for people who want to live outside.
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#10 Wallace And Gromit’s Warm Home
The charming abode means a very pleasant place for residents, but does this definition fit the house shown in Wallace And Gromit? It certainly does. The style of the cartoon has had a lot of impact on the place, creating a uniquely beautiful interior. This house seems to suit the dog and person living there.
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#11 The House On Archer Avenue In The Royal Tenenbaums
In the movie, rather than being in Harlem on Convent Avenue at 144th Street, in real life, the Royal Tenenbaums’ home is situated on Archer Avenue. The house at 339 Convent Avenue is a private dwelling, just like its fictional equivalent. If you are ever near the avenue, take the time to look for this house.
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#12 Amélie’s Montmartre Apartment
It’s not unusual to want to live in the city of love and the nation of cheese — Paris, France. We got the chance to do that with the movie Amélie. In it, she lived in a small apartment located in Montmartre. It has everything a modern apartment has — a kitchen, a bedroom, and a mysterious metal box.
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#13 The House From Up
A legendary and emotional animated movie like Up will always have a famous house in it. The main house saw different events and things happen in it — sad and happy, tears and laughter. It was sitting on a vital piece of land, doomed for demolition. Luckily it floated away into distant lands, thanks to balloons.
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#14 Wayne Manor In Batman
When you are Batman, the dark knight of Gotham, by night and Bruce Wayne, one of the most important men in the city, by day — you have to have a manor. The house fits in with Gotham’s Gothic architecture and serves as Bruce’s headquarters. It’s maintained by Alfred Pennyworth, a close associate of Bruce.
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#15 Jerry’s Apartment In Seinfeld
What is up with these spacious New York apartments that don’t cost a whole paycheck? Jerry’s apartment acts as the primary location for the series Seinfeld. It’s usually neat and organized unless Jerry is out of the city. It has a lock that works only when the door is closed, and a chaotic neighbor is just a hallway away.
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#16 Was Vandamm’s House In North By Northwest
One of the most remarkable homes in movie history is the sleek, contemporary home Vandamm used as his headquarters atop Mount Rushmore. Regrettably, this home couldn’t exist in the real world. No building has ever been built near the summit of Mount Rushmore since the geography isn’t suited as the movie portrays.
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#17 Monica And Rachel’s Apartment In Friends
The primary apartment in Friends belongs to Monica and occasionally Rachel or Chandler. It’s one of the main set pieces in the series and probably the most visible location in the series overall. It served as a home for all the characters throughout the series. For New York, it’s also quite a spacious apartment.
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#18 Snow White’s Cottage
Snow White’s cottage is also known as the residence of the seven dwarfs. When Snow White visits the cottage, she sees a wild mess, with things littering every corner. Luckily, with the help of the forest animals, Snow White cleans up the cottage, hoping that the dwarfs will allow her to stay there. Out in the woods, the cottage is quite a grab.
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#19 Villa Villekula From Pippi Longstocking
Pippi Longstocking, a character in a series of novels of the same name, resides in the made-up Villa Villekulla. She lived together with her monkey, Mr. Nilsson, and horse. Sockerdricka, a soft drink offered in Sweden, is grown on a tree outside. When it came to filming, a location in Gotland, Sweden, was used as Villa Villekulla.
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#20 Tanner Family Home In Full House
It’s only logical for a house to be involved in the Full House series. The house involved in the series is known as the Tanner House. It houses nine people with different personalities and a dog loved by everyone. The house, in both the series and real life, is located in the state of California, the city of San Francisco.
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#21 Sam Baldwin’s Houseboat In Sleepless In Seattle
The Seattle houseboat Sam Baldwin had may be the finest in all of Hollywood. While Sam and his son Jonah were going through a difficult period, their unusual living arrangements added to the interest in his well-known romantic comedy. The actual houseboat was situated on Lake Union in Seattle.
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#22 Banks’ Mansion In The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air will live in a mansion and nowhere else! The Banks mansion is not only the primary location of the series but also home to the Banks family. Judging from the exterior, it’s quite a lavish mansion. It has three floors, each distinctive from the other. The real-life location is in Los Angeles.
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#23 Harry’s House In Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone
This house has enough space that a child could live just below the staircase. Known more commonly as 4 Privet Drive, this house is occupied by the Dursley family and, for a long time, by Harry Potter himself. This house has several floors, which aren’t easily accessible for Harry Potter. He is instead most commonly seen living below the staircase.
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#24 The Magnificent Downton Abbey
When you have a show about literal royalty of England, you are required to have a country estate involved somewhere. The Crawley family and their servants reside in the luxurious Downtown Abbey estate. The real-life location is known as Highclere Castle and has everything an aristocrat would want in the early 1900s.
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#25 Arnold’s Boarding House In Hey Arnold!
Arnold lives with his grandfather and grandmother in the Sunset Arms boarding home at 4040 Vine Street. Grandfather Phil and his twin sister Mitzi are the homeowners. Grandpa’s father won the house in a game of cards in the 1890s. It served as the local epicenter of British resistance during the American Revolution.
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#26 Casa Walsh In Beverly Hills, 90210
When your series takes place in Beverly Hills, it must include a lavish-looking house. Casa Walsh’s address is the title of the series — Beverly Hills, 90210. To facilitate the Walsh family’s hurried relocation to Beverly Hills, Jim’s company rented the property just to them. Judging from the exterior, it’s a well-maintained house.
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#27 Brady Residence In The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch house, which still stands in Studio City, California, was formerly a ranch-style, split-level residence that measured 2,477 square feet and had three rooms and three bathrooms. The house got chosen because Sherwood Schwartz thought it looked like the place Mike Brady, an architect, would call home.
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#28 Cameron’s House In Ferris Buehler’s Day Off
Ferris Buehler’s Day Off acted as a “love letter” by director John Hughes to the city of Chicago, Illinois. The real-life Camero’s House is located near Chicago, in Highland Park. The glass-enclosed garage on the property is significant to the story. The priceless 1961 Ferrari crashes into the ravine at this location.
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#29 Clarissa’s Place In Clarissa Explains It All
This series did two things perfectly. Firstly, Clarissa Explains It All is credited to have been the first Nickelodeon series where a female took the lead role, and secondly — it showcased a room that we all wanted to live in. The room has colorful walls and quite a wide window. The items in it are also quite well designed.
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#30 Jenny’s (And Georgette’s) Mansion In Oliver And Company
Many of us love our dogs so much that we buy them stuff and try to hang out with them as much as possible. Some take the time to buy a dog toy, while others invest in the highest grade of food a store can offer — while others give them a whole room or a mansion to occupy. In the cartoon Oliver And Company, Georgette and her owner Jenny live in a nice-looking mansion.
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#31 Jackie Treehorn’s Modernist House In The Big Lebowski
Having one leather object in a house is acceptable and stylish, but when the whole place feels full of this material — you know the owner has some strange taste. In The Big Lebowski, Jackie Treehorn, a producer of several adult films, owns a house that could give a heart attack to any visiting cow.
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#32 The Incredible Converted Firehouse In The Princess Diaries
How cool would it be to reside in a well-furnished firehouse? In The Princess Diaries, the main character, Mia Thermopolis, resides in a converted firehouse with her mother. Unlike a functioning firehouse, this one is a place where a family could live. It even has some space dedicated to pursuing artistic works.
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#33 Southfork Ranch In Dallas
Dallas, the series known for its portrayal of wealth, close relationships between loved ones, plotting, struggle for power, and conflicts, would have a ranch involved somewhere. The Southfork ranch is a real-life ranch located in Texas, near Dallas. Thanks to the popularity of the series, it now hosts popular events.
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#34 Jetson Family Home In The Jetsons
Who wouldn’t want to live in a futuristic apartment? In The Jetsons, the main characters live in futuristic Skypad apartments in Orbit City. The architecture of the skypad apartments is showcased in the Googie style, just like the rest of Orbit City. There is also a robotic maid in the apartment.
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#35 The Spice Bus, From Spice World
In Spice World, Meat Loaf’s character Dennis drove the colorful tour bus with the Union Jack painted on it that took the Spice Girls around London. The bus was destroyed off-screen. Fortunately, the real-life bus was left untouched. The Spice Bus has been a property of Island Harbour Marina since 2014.
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#36 Annie’s London Manor In The Parent Trap
Hallie Parker and Annie James, portrayed by Lindsey Lohan, might have set a trap for their parents, Nick Parker and Elizabeth James, but the London manor in The Parent Trap caught the audience’s eyes. Located in the grand city of London, the manor shown has the old style England is known for today.
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#37 Hallie’s Napa Mansion
Another house from The Parent Trap is no less than a mansion. Only this one is in the good old United States of America. Unlike Annie’s London manor, Napa Mansion is more modern and open. Also, this mansion has an interesting addition — a fruitful and beautiful vineyard.
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#38 Veronica Lodge’s Mansion In The Archie Comics
Lodge Manor has previously appeared in the Archie Comics universe and returns in the Archie’s Weird Mysteries canon. The wealthy Lodge family resides in this opulent estate, which is situated just outside of Riverdale. The manor was built when the Lodge family moved to Riverdale many years ago.
#39 112 Ocean Avenue In The Amityville Horror
Sometimes, a fictional house gets based on a real location. In The Amityville Horror, the story’s primary location is a haunted house known by its alternate name — “Amityville Haunted Horror House.” It got its name because a real-life homicide happened inside the house. Now it is known as House 108.
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#40 Emmett’s Barn House In Road House
Who could have known that there would be some cool houses in Missouri? In Road House, the main character, the rough and tough Dalton, portrayed by Patrick Swayze, lives in a “comfy” loft-style living space above a barn. With nature just a few steps away, this place costs just a hundred dollars — quite a steal.
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#41 The House From Smart House
As the name suggests, the house in Smart House is quite intelligent. It plays a vital role in the movie, as it feels like the main character. The Smart House has an intelligent virtual assistant who, after watching some 1950s family movies, begins to mimic the motherly nature presented in them.
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#42 Delta Tau Chi Fraternity House In National Lampoon’s Animal House
Every fraternity club should separate itself from the others with its members and house. The Delta Tau Chi fraternity house is the living quarters of a ragtag bunch of misfits that enjoy getting wasted, having fun, and meeting ladies. From the outside, it looks half-desolated, with some windows boarded up.
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#43 Stratton Residence In Silver Spoons
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the CEO of a toy business struggled in his childhood. Edward Stratton III, the protagonist, acts like a child throughout his older days, and his house reflects that. A foosball table, arcade video games, pinball, and the rideable train that seemed more appropriate at an amusement park were all included in his house.
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#44 The Space Station From Zenon, Girl Of The 21st Century
Could you imagine living in a space station? It would dwarf every other house and apartment there is. The space station in Zenon, Girl of the 21st Century, seems to act like any International Space Station we have right now — cleaning the air and recycling water. This one has much more space to house things, and gravity seems to work like on Earth.
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#45 Sarah’s House In Outer Banks
It’s hard to deny the fact that American architecture is unique in its own way. Sarah’s house from Outer Banks has the best things of this style — large windows for the light to come in, columns on the second-floor balcony, and a lot of interior space. In real life, the house we see is the Lowndes Grove, built around 1786.
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