The “Zathura” House

It is no secret that the San Gabriel Valley is chock full of gorgeous Craftsman homes.  Never have I come across a neighborhood more saturated, though, than Oaklawn, the tiny enclave in South Pasadena that I blogged about on Wednesday.  The 0.2-mile curved street, made up of 27 stunning houses, features some of the prettiest Arts and Crafts properties I have seen, including the one at 216 Oaklawn Avenue, which portrayed the residence of the Browning family in Zathura: A Space Adventure.  My friend/fellow stalker Owen alerted me to the home last December, saying it was basically a main character in the 2005 family film and would make for a good post.  I had never seen the movie at the time, but one look at the screen caps included in his email and I knew I had to stalk the place!  I finally made it out there a couple of weeks ago in what amounted to a stalking twofer as Mary’s residence from Why Women Kill is right next door.  Just a few days later, my mom and I sat down to watch Zathura.  Owen was right.  Though the movie is just OK (it’s basically a mediocre version of Jumanji set in space), the house is undeniably the star and definitely worthy of a post.

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There seems to be quite a bit of confusion floating around online regarding the residence’s provenance as well as its amenities.

From what I have been able to gather, though, the Craftsman boasts 4 bedrooms, 4 baths, 3,805 square feet, wood detailing throughout, a fireplace, an upgraded kitchen, French doors, a pool, a hot tub, and a 0.45-acre lot.

Per some documents on the City of South Pasadena website, 216 Oaklawn was a speculative home constructed for builder G. W. Stimson in 1908 at a cost of $6,800.  Known as the F.N. Finney Residence, the property is said to have been designed by prolific architects Charles and Henry Greene.  Other sources, though, assert that the home is known as Villa Dora and that it was built in 1912 by architect G. Lawrence Stimson.

Regardless of its history, there’s no debating the pad is architecturally incredible!

It is not hard to see how it got chosen to appear in Zathura.  The house belongs on the screen!

Even the driveway is picturesque!

And the tree out front?  Come on!

In Zathura: A Space Adventure, two young brothers, Danny (Jonah Bobo) and Walter Browning (Josh Hutcherson), discover a retro board game packed away in their basement while being babysat by their inattentive older sister, Lisa (Kristen Stewart).  They, of course, start to play the game, which immediately rips their house from the ground, sending it into outer space where they have to battle various otherworldly adversaries.  The actual exterior of the Oaklawn home is only shown twice, in the movie’s opening and closing scenes.

The residence in the Chris Van Allsburg book on which the film is based is much more traditional in style, as you can see here.  But for the movie, producers zeroed in on using a Craftsman to keep the story visibly compelling.  The production notes state, “Since Zathura: A Space Adventure takes place in one location, the house had to be as visually interesting and integral to the film as any of the characters.  This was a major challenge for [production designer J. Michael] Riva who worked closely with the filmmakers to select just the right style and look for the house.  After much discussion, they decided to go with a classic California Craftsman-style home.  ‘We didn’t want the audience to feel trapped in a house for the whole movie,’ says [director Jon] Favreau. ‘So we decided to make it as interesting to look at as we could, something so spectacular than when it comes apart in the course of the film, you really feel like it’s a tragedy that this beautifully restored Craftsman-style house is being destroyed.’”  They certainly succeeded to that end.  My heart broke a little each time a piece of the residence was damaged.

An exacting scale model was constructed for the scenes in which the Browning residence is shown floating through space.

You can see images of the model on the Hooked on Houses website.

The miniature is also featured on the movie’s poster.

The interior of the Browning residence was nothing more than a studio-built set – an exquisite and elaborate studio-built set – which becomes quite obvious as it gets destroyed into virtual oblivion throughout the film.  The actual inside of the Oaklawn house is much smaller and much less Craftsman-y than its big-screen counterpart, as you can see in these interior images.

Of the set, the production notes state, “The filmmakers also wanted the house to stand out against the coldness of deep space and the metallic materials used for the spaceship.  The Craftsman style lent itself perfectly to that end and Riva was also able to fashion a welcoming interior.  ‘The idea was to create a hospitable environment, using warm tones and colors with lots of wood,’ explains Riva, ‘in direct counterpoint to the coldness of space — a womb-like environment that the characters could all survive in.  As that got destroyed, like an island being swallowed up by the high tide, the world they inhabited became smaller and smaller, as if the life-giving sustenance of the house, which protects them from oblivion, was diminishing.  We just loved the contrast in the colors to suggest that.’”  Riva did a spectacular job!  The set was so intricate, it truly had the look and feel of a real home, which is exactly what Favreau was going for.  He says, “I came up through independent film, where you’re usually shooting on location.  I hate when it looks like you shot on a set instead of on location.”  So realistic was the set, in fact, that until the destruction began, I was convinced filming had taken place inside the Oaklawn property.

Inspiration for the set came from some real residences.  Favreau explains, “We really wanted the house to feel like something, and feel old, and like it had some character.  All the details were chosen from different famous houses, even the fireplace and the fixtures.”  Well I, of course, read those words and got right to identifying exactly which pads in particular inspired the design.  It was not too hard to pin things down.  The production team looked no further than two of Pasadena’s most famous Craftsmans – the Gamble House and the Blacker Estate, both of which I am very familiar with.  The Brownings’ two fireplaces were modeled after one at the Gamble House.  You can see an image of it here.

The front door was likely inspired by that of the Gamble House, as well, though it was built on a much smaller scale.

And the staircase is a copy of one at the Blacker Estate, which you can see here.

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Big THANK YOU to my friend/fellow stalker Owen for telling me about this location! 

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 

Stalk It: The Browning residence from Zathura: A Space Adventure is located at 216 Oaklawn Avenue in South Pasadena.  Mary’s house from Why Women Kill can be found right next door at 224 Oaklawn Avenue.

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