Tessa Carla Blog's: An Eye-Opening Tour of ‘The Golden Girls’ House

Thursday 16 July 2020

An Eye-Opening Tour of ‘The Golden Girls’ House—Now for Sale for the First Time

“The Golden Girls” house is for sale for the first time ever—and for a famous property, some might say this 2,901-square-foot, four-bedroom house in Los Angeles is a bargain, listed for a mere $2,999,000.

With lush landscaping full of exotic plants, the property—located in the Brentwood neighborhood—was used only for the exterior shots on the show, which ran from 1985 to 1992 and starred Rue McClanahan as Blanche, a widow who opened up her home to three roommates played by Betty White (Rose), Bea Arthur (Dorothy), and Estelle Getty (Sophia).

Yet most of these spunky senior citizens’ antics—which occurred inside the house, around the kitchen table, or in the living room—were filmed on a Hollywood set.

As such, while this house has attracted a few fans to snap pictures curbside, the home’s interior has long remained a mystery—which is all the more reason why this home is bound to receive tons of attention now.

The reality behind ‘The Golden Girls’ house

In real life, this house served as the longtime residence of David Noble Barry III and Margaret Carr Barry, a married couple who had the house built in 1955. The Barrys lived in the house for more than 60 years until their deaths in 2017 and 2019, respectively. The property is being sold by a trust.

James Barry, the late couple’s son, reported that location scouts first noticed the property because of its verdant landscaping, thinking it had just the right aesthetic to represent the four friends’ fictional home in Miami at 6151 Richmond St. (FYI, no such address actually exists.)

So the NBC network paid the Barrys a small sum of money to film exterior shots at the home. They agreed, in part because they wanted to show off their home’s unique architecture.

In fact, the home was primarily used as a filming location for only the first season of the show. For later seasons, the Barrys loaned NBC the home’s original blueprints so the network could build a replica at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, where fans could tour the house until it was torn down in 2003.

So what’s the original “Golden Girls” house really like?

An inside tour of ‘The Golden Girls’ home today

The Barrys modeled their Brentwood property after the Honolulu home of David Noble Barry III’s father. Japanese and Hawaiian influences abound throughout the property, which features original oak floors, high ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, sliding Shoji screens, built-in cabinets, and an engawa, a traditional Japanese wood flooring surrounding the home.

The living room inside the Los Angeles home used for exterior shots on “The Golden Girls”
Natalie Way

The retro kitchen, which is original to the home, has turquoise and avocado cabinets, yellow accents, and turquoise Formica countertops.

The retro kitchen inside the Los Angeles home used for exterior shots on “The Golden Girls”
Natalie Way

Who will buy ‘The Golden Girls’ house—and how much will it cost?

So, who will be the lucky new owner of this iconic TV home? Many real estate experts say it’s priced aggressively to sell and the buyer will likely be a toss-up between TV or movie producers who may want to use the location, or private buyers who may be fans of the show.

“The list price is strategic and meant to attract a lot of attention and interest,” says Rachelle Rosten, the home’s listing agent with Douglas Elliman. “The beauty of this pricing strategy is the market ultimately determines the value. I anticipate this property will sell over the list price. It’s an exciting and emotional house as well as being a nice-sized lot on a desirable street. The market will respond accordingly. It will be very interesting to see who ends up buying this property.”

A bedroom inside the Los Angeles home used for exterior shots on “The Golden Girls”
Natalie Way

One potential buyer? HGTV, which in 2018 outbid Lance Bass to purchase the home used for exterior shots for “The Brady Bunch.” The network renovated the house back to its 1970s glory on the hit show “A Very Brady Renovation.”

“‘The Golden Girls’ home reminds me of ‘The Brady Bunch’ home sale scenario all over again,” says Cara Ameer, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker in California and Florida. “A television network could be an ideal buyer for the property, such as HGTV or even NBC, which originally aired the series. Perhaps Amazon, Netflix, or a studio like Paramount will want it for future projects—a ‘Golden Girls’ remake or a similar show with a new twist or even a movie.”

As for dollars and cents, Ameer says it’s hard to put a specific price tag on a home with celebrity status.

“I would venture that this is going to be subject to multiple offers and may go well above asking price—as much as by $1 million or a bit more,” she says.

But not all celebrity-status homes sell quickly. Just look at the famous “Full House” home in San Francisco, which was last sold for $4 million in 2016 and has been listed twice since then with no success. One possible reason could be all the “Full House” tourists crowding the front, which might become a nuisance at “The Golden Girls” house as well, especially if it becomes the subject of a pop culture revival.

“A buyer of this house will need to contend with tourists and fans constantly taking photos and the privacy concerns that come along with that,” says Shane Ray, a real estate agent in San Francisco with Domicile Properties/Compass.

The dining room inside the Los Angeles home used for exterior shots on “The Golden Girls”
Natalie Way

Some real estate agents think that the headaches of owning a famous home make them a poor investment.

Cedric Stewart, a real estate agent with Keller Williams Capital Properties in Washington, DC, thinks “The Golden Girls” house will sell for under asking, at around $1.95 million.

“Is there a chance someone would buy it for sentimental purposes or use it as an attraction of sorts? Sure,” Stewart says. “But the generation that would most appreciate that is on their way out, so this is not a place you buy to make money.”

Only time will tell what will happen to this house, but in the meantime, it’s fun to get a chance to see a piece of TV history.