A couple of weeks ago, a fellow stalker named Michelle posted a comment on my site asking me to track down the house where lifeguard Mitch Buchannon (David Hasselhoff) lived with his son, Hobie Buchannon (first played by Brandon Call and then later by Jeremy Jackson), on the immensely popular 1989 television series Baywatch. Ironically enough, I had already stalked the residence about a year prior, but had yet to blog about it. Back in July 2012, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I had embarked upon a Venice Canal stalking adventure, during which he pointed out countless waterfront homes that had been immortalized onscreen – so many, in fact, that I had to grab my iPhone and start taking notes! One of the dwellings that he showed me just so happened to be Mitch’s house. Because we stalked over fifty different locales on that particular day, though, I had completely forgotten about it until I received Michelle’s query. So thank you, Michelle!
As I mentioned in my October 22nd, 2012 post about Lana Clarkson’s former home, the Venice Canal area is an absolutely gorgeous little waterfront idyll that was founded by real estate developer Abbot Kinney in the early 1900s. (You can read a more in depth history on the Canals here.) What better place for the world’s most iconic fictional lifeguard to live? In real life, Mitch’s house boasts three bedrooms, three baths, 1,665 square feet of living space, 0.06 acres of land, and it’s own private dock. The property, which was originally built in 1980, last sold in May 2001 for a whopping $900,000.
As you can see below, the dwelling is quite picturesque. I mean, it looks like it belongs on a postcard or something, especially with the two small boats docked in front!
I have never actually seen an entire episode of Baywatch (which is shocking being that, according to IMDB, the show aired in 148 different countries and on every single continent excluding Antarctica during the height of its popularity!), so I had to rely on Michelle for information about Mitch’s home. According to her, the Venice-area residence was used in establishing shots throughout the series’ first nine seasons, at which point Mitch (and the production) moved to Hawaii.
Unfortunately, quite a few changes have been made to the exterior of the property since filming took place back in 1989, the most odd of which being the removal of the rather large rear chimney. Why on earth someone would remove a chimney is absolutely beyond me.
Thanks to fellow stalker Richard, author of Emergency!: Behind the Scene, I learned that the interior of Mitch’s house was a set. Said set first existed at Culver Studios, where the series’ inaugural season was lensed. When production moved to a former-McCulloch-Chain-Saw-warehouse-turned-studio located at 5433 Beethoven Street in Playa Vista during Season 2, Mitch’s house set went with it.
Richard also alerted me to the fact that images of the home’s real life interior are posted on Zillow. Two are pictured below. As you can see, the actual inside of the residence is vastly different from Mitch’s house. You can check out some more images of the property here.
For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.
Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Michelle for challenging me to find this location and to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for tracking it down!
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: Mitch Buchannon’s house from Baywatch is located at 469 Sherman Canal, on the Venice Canals, in Venice.