The “Maude” House

IMG_2382

I am a true television aficionado, even when it comes to series that were before my time, like Soap, which began airing just a few months after I was born.  Yet when fellow stalker Brad emailed back in August 2017 asking if I knew the whereabouts of the home belonging to Maude Findlay (Bea Arthur) and her husband, Walter (Bill Macy), on Maude, I was at a loss.  Sure, I’d heard of the 1970s sitcom, but had never so much as seen even a portion of an episode.  Regardless, I accepted the challenge of IDing the place, which Brad informed me was said to be in Tuckahoe, New York, and was only seen in Maude’s opening and closing credits.  After some unsuccessful digging, though, I pushed the hunt to the back burner and promptly forgot about it.  Flash forward to June 9th of this year.  Brad wrote to me once again inquiring if I had ever managed to find the Maude house.  Coincidentally, my friend Owen had just embarked upon a massive endeavor to pinpoint all of the key yet-to-be-found locations from popular television shows that aired from the early 1970s through the early 1990s.  I emailed him to see if Maude was included on his list.  It wasn’t, but he was kind enough to look into the matter for me and, on June 10th, just one day later, wrote back with an address!  The Findlay residence from Maude can be found at 1011 Harvard Avenue North in Claremont.

[ad]

How did he do it, you ask?  I asked the same thing!  As it turns out, a curb led him to the location.  But first, while viewing the opening credits, Owen spotted an address number of “101” above Maude and Walter’s front door, something I had failed to notice during any of my searches for the place!

screenshot-001318

IMG_2384

As he explained, “Because some of the intro was filmed in NY — and there are 100 blocks there — I started looking in Tuckahoe.  I was coming up empty, and I was starting to wonder if a fourth digit was hidden behind the tree branches, so I turned my focus to that very distinctive curb, which I had never seen before.”  He’s talking about the unique curb with embedded stonework visible in the screen capture below.

screenshot-001319

IMG_2391

Owen next headed over to Google and performed a slew of different keyword searches.  One finally led him to page 111 of the book Claremont (Images of America), which detailed the city’s unique stone curbs typically referred to as “elephant toes.”  The curb pictured in the tome indeed resembled the one visible in the Maude credits.  Owen furthered, “I pretty much knew right away that I was on the right track.  I did a “Maude Claremont” Google search and quickly found this page.  The answer presented itself at the very bottom of the replies section, thanks to a Mark Z.  Mystery solved.  P.S. If you blog about this place — and you should blog about this place — I’d mention those ‘elephant toes’!  I think that’s such an elephant-astic description of that curb style.”  Your wish is my command, Owen!

screenshot-001333-2

I was dismayed to find the place undergoing a renovation when I showed up to stalk it a few weeks later.

20623425_10155714340787682_91451095_o

IMG_2390

At least the fabulous elephant toes were still intact and visible, though!

IMG_2397

IMG_2395

Despite the extensive scaffolding, certain elements of the house are still recognizable.  At the time Maude was filmed, the front porch was screened in, giving it quite a different look, but as you can see, the fluted pillars, rock wall flanking the front steps, and peak-roofed portico all remain the same.

screenshot-001316

IMG_2384

Thankfully, Google Street View provides us with some pre-renovation imagery of the home that shows some additional matching detail.

screenshot-001320

screenshot-001332

As Owen noted, “The crumbling portion at the corner of the driveway that is visible in the opening credits is still like that!  Love it!”

screenshot-001326

   screenshot-001336-2

The residence appears throughout both the opening and closing credits of Maude, which ran on CBS from 1972 through 1978.

20623425_10155714340787682_91451095_o (1)

IMG_2389

The American Foursquare-style property was originally designed in 1905 for land developer and Claremont pioneer C.C. Johnson.  It is one of the city’s oldest houses.  In real life, it boasts 5 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2,920 square feet, coved ceilings, crown moldings, a tiled wood-burning fireplace, a formal dining room, and 3 lots totaling 0.48 acres.  The pad last sold in March 2018 for $1.2 million.  A real estate listing from the time even mentions the home’s use on Maude!

20623425_10155714340787682_91451095_o (2)

IMG_2386

Only the exterior of the property appeared on the series.  The interior of the Findlay home was just a set, built first at CBS Television City and then at Metromedia Square, the two studios where Maude was lensed.

screenshot-001324

1011 Harvard Ave, Claremont, CA 91711

As you can see in the MLS images as compared to the screen captures above and below, the set does not resemble the inside of the actual house in the slightest.  Maude’s home boasted a much more open floor plan than that of the Claremont residence.  You can check out some more interior images of 1011 Harvard here.

screenshot-001325

1011 Harvard Ave, Claremont, CA 91711

Per the plans submitted to the Claremont Architectural Commission, only the rear of the home is being significantly altered during the renovation.  Here’s hoping that when all is said and done the front is left largely intact for stalkers to enjoy for years to come.

IMG_2383

IMG_2384

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Brad for asking me to find this location and to my friend Owen for tracking it down!  Smile

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine, and Discover Los Angeles.

IMG_2392-2

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The Findlay house from Maude is located at 1011 Harvard Avenue North in Claremont.

The Golden Girls House

Golden-Girls-House-15

This past weekend, thanks to fellow stalker Owen, I was able to stalk the home used in one of my favorite ’80s TV shows – The Golden Girls.   Being that I was only eight years old at the time The Golden Girls premiered, I probably seem like a very unlikely fan of the show.  But, for some reason, a sit-com which centered around the trials and tribulations of four single senior citizens living together in a Miami area home appealed to me.  What can I say – I absolutely loved it!

But besides being a fabulous show, The Golden Girls also had, hands down, the BEST television theme song ever!  🙂  “Thank you for being a friend!  Travel down the road and back again.  Your heart is true, you’re a pal and a confidant.”  Sing it with me, now!  “And if you threw a party, invited everyone you knew, you would see the biggest gift would be from me and the card attached would say, thank you for being a friend!”  LOVE IT!  LOVE IT!  LOVE IT!

ScreenShot1467

Golden-Girls-House-6

Golden-Girls-House-13

I am happy to report that The Golden Girls house looks EXACTLY the same today – and I mean EXACTLY the same – as it did when the show first premiered in 1985.  It is absolutely unbelievable to me that the home has remained unchanged in a whopping twenty-four years time.  LOVE IT!  I’d like to go on record right now and thank the owners of this house for letting this piece of television history remain untouched for all of us stalkers to appreciate years later.  Why can’t more filming location owners be like you?????  LOL

ScreenShot1469

Golden-Girls-House-9

What’s even more amazing to me is how iconic The Golden Girls house truly is.  Even my fiance recognized it, and he recognizes virtually NOTHING.  In fact, I think I can safely say that in all the years we’ve dated (eight and half, but who’s counting?), he has never once recognized a location that I’ve dragged him to – ever!  Until this past weekend, that is.  🙂     Even though The Golden Girls house is extremely non-descript, for some reason a picture of it is imbedded in my brain, almost more so than any other TV home – except, of course, for the 90210 house!  🙂

ScreenShot1468

Golden-Girls-House-7

Golden-Girls-House-4

A big THANK YOU to Owen for finding this location after hearing numerous rumors about its wherabouts – rumors like the house was actually located in Florida or Pacific Palisades or that it only ever existed on a studio backlot.  He ended up finding the house several years ago on a German website that had a map of Los Angeles with the general vicinity of the GG home earmarked.   Once he had the general area locked down – even if it was in German 🙂 – it didn’t take him long to find the home’s exact address and put to rest all of those pesky location rumors.  The real story of the Golden Girls home is this: During the first seasons of the show, a Brentwood area house was used for all of the establishing shots of the ladies’  Miami area residence.   Then in 1988, a replica of that home was built on the backlot of Disney MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida, and that replica was used for the exterior house shots for the remainder of the series – which seems odd to me being that the show was actually taped right here in Los Angeles.  Anyway, you can see a photograph of the replica home here.  Sadly, in 2003 the replica was torn down, along with the rest of Residential Street, in order to make room for a new stunt show called “Lights!  Motors!  Action!”   To quote Chelsea Lately,”I don’t like that!  I don’t like that at all!”   At least the real house is still standing, though!

Golden-Girls-House-2

And if you are a big fan of the GG house, or just the show in general, I definitely recommend checking out this girl’s website.   And people say I have way too much time on my hands!  🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: The Golden Girls house is located at 245 North Saltair Avenue in Brentwood.