The Golden Girls house goes up for sale

The house is up for sale for the first time in its history.

“The TV interior was just a set; the inside of the real Brentwood residence was private and is being revealed for the first time in 65 years.” – Trulia Estate Agents

From 1985 to 1992 The Golden Girls was a rating banker for NBC stateside and Channel 4 in the UK. The show that revolves around four older women living life to the full in Miami starred Bea Arthur as Dorothy, Rue McClanahan as Blanche, Betty White as Rose and Estelle Getty as Sophia. The storyline saw Blanche looking for housemates following the death of her husband George. Widower Rose and divorcee Dorothy moved in, with Dorothy’s mother Sophia soon following when her nursing home ‘Shady Pines’ burned down’. The show ran for 180 episodes over seven series, becoming noted as a ground-breaking comedy that tackled taboo subjects years before social awareness in a sitcom was deemed cool.

Now for the first time since it was built in 1955 the house that became known to millions of viewers as the abode of Blanche Devereaux and her over-50s housemates is up for sale, however fans with plenty of money sitting in the bank won’t be enjoying the charms of Miami, the building is in Los Angeles.

On the market for three million dollars (just under two and a half million British Sterling) the home is located at 245 N. Saltair Ave. in Brentwood. (The fictional address, of course, was 6151 Richmond Street, Miami.) The home was constructed for SoCal Edison attorney David Noble Barry III and his wife Margaret Carr Barry. Estate Agents dealing with the property Trulia, note that the house was ‘inspired by the beauty of Mid-Century Japanese/Hawaiian architecture’ with ‘award-winning Hawaiian architects Johnson and Perkins commissioned to design this 4-bedroom dream home.’

Covering 2,901 sqft, the house also has four bathrooms, a spacious kitchen and living room as well as floor to ceiling glass, clerestory windows and ultra-high beamed ceilings.

The interior for The Golden Girls home was a studio set in front of a live audience.

The fake Disney exterior as seen in series four of The Golden Girls.

The house now goes on sale for the very first time in 2020 following the deaths of David in 2017 and his wife Margaret in 2019. The couple had spent sixty years together at the house, the last thirty years sharing it as a television landmark with NBC viewers.

Related Article: Golden Girls fans hope for Channel 5 reprieve

‘In 1985 Touchstone Television location scouts were initially drawn to the home’s flourishing flora since it gave off more of a Miami vibe than most L.A. area properties.’ Variety notes, adding that ‘The Barrys agreed to have their house featured on the show for a small fee and loved having their famous home be seen on a national platform, though they were reportedly not sitcom fans and didn’t watch the show.’

In 1986 a replica frontage was built, using the original floorplans, at Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando as part of their ‘Residental Street’. Shots for the remainder of the shows run were recorded here for series two to seven of The Golden Girls and the first episode of spin-off series The Golden Palace in 1993 (CBS). The replica, however,  unlike its original counterpart, no longer exists; it was demolished for more ‘thrilling’ theme park attractions in 2003.

The interior scenes for The Golden Girls were recorded in Hollywood at Sunset Gower Studios for series one and two and from series three onwards at the Ren-Mar Studios. Blanche, Dorothy, Rose and Sophia have most recently in the UK been entertaining viewers on Channel 5 who from April to July have screened the first four seasons, with fans of the show hoping the broadcaster will also screen series five to seven.

The real house, that inspired the designs for the TV series The Golden Girls.