I’ve always loved the spooky mansion from The Addams Family (1991). That twisted gothic house fascinated me as a kid.
If you’re wondering where the Addams Family house 1991 was filmed, I’ve got answers for you. I spent hours digging through film archives and location records to find the truth.
You’ll learn about the Burbank hilltop where they built the mansion facade, studio locations for interior scenes, other Los Angeles filming spots, what these places look like now, and behind-the-scenes construction secrets.
I’ll give you exact addresses and GPS coordinates. You can trust this information because I’ve cross-referenced multiple sources and fan documentation.
Let’s find out where they created this iconic movie mansion together.
The Iconic Mansion Set
The filmmakers drew inspiration from Charles Addams’ original New Yorker cartoons. They studied his twisted illustrations to capture that gothic style. The set was a temporary facade.
The front looked complete but the back was only a wooden frame.
Key features included crooked angles, a dark mansard roof, twisted chimneys, and gothic windows. They built the mansion larger than normal to look imposing.
Strategic camera angles hid the incomplete back. The temporary construction let designers make the house as twisted as needed. It perfectly matched the Addams family’s crooked world.
Primary Mansion Location
The famous Addams Family mansion wasn’t a real house you could visit. It was a temporary structure built just for the movie.
Burbank, California – Mansion Facade
The production team constructed the mansion facade on a hill overlooking Burbank. This wasn’t a full house. Only the front portion was built with complete details. The back was simply a wooden frame.
GPS coordinates: 34°12’17.6″N, 118°18’35.3″W. The crew even built a fake wall across the street. This blocked modern buildings and cars from appearing in shots. After filming wrapped, they took down the entire structure. Nothing permanent remained.
The temporary nature of the set makes sense for film production. Building a full mansion would cost too much money and time.
What the Location Looks Like Today
Today, the hilltop looks completely different. The mansion is long gone. Only the natural landscape remains. Fans still visit the coordinates to stand where the mansion once stood. Some take photos holding up images from the movie to recreate the view.
Historical records and fan photographs help us see what the site looked like during filming. These images show the scale of the construction and the surrounding area.
Other Filming Locations
The movie used several real Los Angeles locations for outdoor scenes.
Sylmar Motel
One memorable scene shows the Addams family temporarily displaced from their home. Wednesday and Pugsley set up a makeshift drink stand outside.
Address: 12171 San Fernando Rd, Sylmar, CA 91342. This real motel served as the backdrop for these scenes. The building still exists today and looks similar to how it appeared in 1991.
Fire-Breathing Lurch Scene
Remember when Lurch breathes fire? That scene was filmed at a different Los Angeles location. Morticia makes her entrance with the Addams family car in the background.
The crew burned a Native American statue prop in front of the building for dramatic effect.
The Olympic Coffee Shop appeared nearby in the scene. This restaurant has been featured in many other movies and TV shows over the years.
A Tombstone billboard served as another landmark during filming.
Studio Filming
Most of the movie’s indoor scenes happened inside a studio.
Sunset Las Palmas Studios (Hollywood Center Studios)
The mansion’s interior sets were built at this Hollywood studio. Every room you see inside the house was a constructed set on a soundstage. This same studio has an interesting Addams Family history.
The 1960s TV series was also filmed here. The production team likely chose this location partly for that nostalgic connection. Studio filming allowed complete control over lighting and camera angles.
The gothic interior designs could be built without worrying about finding a real house that matched the vision.
Behind-the-Scenes Insights
The construction process involved clever filmmaking techniques.
Mansion Construction Details
The back portion of the mansion was intentionally incomplete. It was just a frame to support the front facade. This saved money and construction time.
Cemetery scenes that appear to be outdoors were actually filmed on stage sets.
The production team built graveyard pieces inside the studio for better control over weather and lighting. These techniques are common in film production.
Building only what the camera sees makes practical sense.
Fan-Contributed Photos
Photographer Peter Hillman captured rare on-set photos during filming. These images show the temporary mansion from angles not seen in the movie.
His photographs give fans a glimpse of how the set looked between takes.
You can see the construction materials and support structures hidden from movie cameras. These behind-the-scenes images help us appreciate the work that went into creating the iconic mansion.
Legacy of the 1991 Mansion
The Addams Family mansion became instantly recognizable when the movie hit theaters. Its gothic design influenced how people imagine the family’s home.
The filming locations matter to fans for several reasons: they connect the fictional story to real places, they show the creativity of film production, and they offer pilgrimage sites for movie lovers.
Later adaptations of The Addams Family used different locations and designs. But the 1991 mansion remains the version many people remember best.
Its architecture set a standard that influenced gothic house designs in pop culture.
The temporary nature of the main set makes it more special somehow. It existed only briefly, just long enough to create movie magic.
Conclusion
I hope this guide answered your questions about where the Addams Family house 1991 was filmed.
The Burbank hillside, Sylmar motel, and Hollywood studio all played important roles in creating the movie we love. Even though the mansion facade is gone, these locations still exist for you to visit.
I’d love to hear from you. Have you visited any of these filming locations? Drop a comment below sharing your experience.
And if you found this helpful, share it with other Addams Family fans who might be curious about these spots.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was the Addams Family mansion a real house?
No, the mansion facade was a temporary structure built on a hillside in Burbank specifically for the 1991 film. Only the front portion was fully constructed. The crew dismantled it completely after filming finished.
Can you visit the Addams Family filming locations today?
You can visit the GPS coordinates where the mansion once stood in Burbank and the Sylmar motel that still exists. However, the actual mansion facade no longer stands at the location.
Where were the interior mansion scenes filmed?
All interior scenes were filmed on soundstages at Sunset Las Palmas Studios (now Hollywood Center Studios) in Hollywood. The same studio was used for the 1960s Addams Family TV series.
Why did they build a temporary mansion instead of using a real house?
Building a custom facade gave filmmakers complete creative control over the gothic design. It was more practical and cost-effective than finding and modifying a real house to match their specific vision.
What happened to the mansion set after filming?
The production crew dismantled the entire structure after filming concluded. Nothing permanent remains at the Burbank hilltop location today. It exists only in the film and in photographs taken during production.
