The Wormwood Home from “Matilda”

Every time I open up Instagram lately I’m inundated with videos of the so-called “Matilda Challenge.”  For those whose feeds haven’t been flooded by the clips, in the challenge fans of the 1996 film re-create this scene in which Matilda Wormwood (Mara Wilson) perfects her magic powers.  Though I’ve never seen the movie (or read the 1988 Roald Dahl novel on which it was based), I did stalk the home where Matilda lived with her parents, Harry (Danny DeVito) and Zinnia (Rhea Perlman), and her brother, Michael (Brian Levinson), in it a few years back.  The challenge served as a reminder that I somehow never blogged about the place and, being that there’s no time like the present, here goes!

I first learned about the Wormwoods’ zany ranch-style residence via this image posted by fellow stalker Tony Hoffarth on his fabulous Flickr filming locations page.  I immediately became fixated on the unique property, especially its cantilevered front steps, rock detailing, and double-peaked roof.  Though I knew from Tony’s photo comparison that the actual home barely resembles its onscreen self, I ran right out to stalk it nonetheless.

In person, the dwelling is much more ordinary and non-descript than it appeared in Matilda, with a muted color palate and an abundance of foliage.  Missing are the Wormwoods’ tanbark and rock front yard and odd decorative paneling, as well as many of the other elements that made it so eccentric onscreen.

The most glaring difference between the real house and its movie counterpart, though, is the front porch area.  As you can see in my photos, while the Wormwood home has a flush front with a central window, the actual pad boasts a recessed entrance.

Several palm trees are planted in the space and the roof above it has an opening through which said palm trees grow.

There are also two dormer windows which sit behind the roof cutout, as well as a wrought iron gate enclosing it all.  None of these elements are present in the film.

The property looks so different from the Wormwood pad that when I first sat down to make screen captures for this post, I thought Tony may have pinpointed the wrong locale.  The dormer windows (which have to be fake being that the house is one-story) especially threw me for a loop – though, truth be told, it wasn’t the first time faux dormers figured into a filming locations hunt.  Thanks to street signs visible in the background of a few scenes, though, as well as landmarks such as neighboring homes that were easily identifiable, I was able to verify his information.   15811 Youngwood Drive in Whittier did indeed portray the Wormwood residence.  I am unsure if the many differences we are seeing today are the result of renovations done by the homeowners in the 22+ years since Matilda was lensed or if the dwelling was altered significantly by the production team for the shoot and then restored to its original state after filming wrapped, but I am guessing the latter.

In real life, the 1965 pad features 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2,366 square feet of living space, and a 0.46-acre plot of land.

The property does boast one fantastical, Matilda-esque element – an ornate leaf-covered wrought iron mailbox.  I am unsure if it is original to the home or a left-over set piece, though.

The first time I scanned through the movie, I did not see the mailbox pop up at all, so I assumed it was an element authentic to the house.  But during a second viewing I noticed the piece – painted red – in the very background of the scene in which Matilda confronts some FBI agents searching her parents'”‘”‘ garage.  If the mailbox was just a set piece added for the shoot, I'”‘”‘d think it would have been made more visible and prominent throughout the flick, which leads me to believe it is actually genuine to the home.

Either way, the mailbox is one of the most fabulous I'”‘”‘ve ever encountered.

I am 99.9% certain that only the home’s exterior was utilized in the filming and that the interior of the Wormwood pad was a studio-built set.

And what a magical set it was!  Production designer Bill Brzerski truly created a masterpiece with the Wormwoods’ congested, over-the-top, gaudy décor.  Amazingly, Matilda was Brzerski’s inaugural feature film job!  Talk about hitting it out of the park your first time up!  You can read an interesting article about how he got started in the business here.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Tony Hoffarth for finding this location.    You can check out his Flickr page here.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Wormwood home from Matilda is located at 15811 Youngwood Drive in Whittier.

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