Top Ten Television Houses

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Today's list will feature my favorite television show homes.

10. Family Ties: The Keaton Home. It was actually unique in comparison to many of the other two-story homes of the 80s sitcoms. You could come in through the front door and have a couple steps (like a miniature balcony) and go upstairs from the living room. Or, you could come in through a hallway into the kitchen (and I loved their kitchen), then into the living room.
Video for this one, shows a lot of the house:

9. The Torkelsons: The Torkelson Home. It was SO BIG when you consider how little the family made. I loved the antiquey look, and Dorothy Jane had such a beautiful room and a great oriel window. The furniture was old and some was even repossessed in the first season of the show. Of course, the entire house was only in the first season... the second season took place in Seattle, not Pyramid Corners, Oklahoma. And it was also changed to Almost Home... but that's a different story.

8. The Cosby Show: The Huxtable Brownstone. Talk about a huge living room. And tons of rooms upstairs. And a basement from the kitchen and another from the back hallway towards the front of the house, where Heathcliff did his office appointments. And a nice yard with a privacy fence out back. There were a lot of neat props throughout the house, and I always loved the multiple fireplaces. Plus, the artwork that Claire had was nice, and even changed a bit over the years. Additionally, the idea of I found a great floorplan of the place, but it was only available in Italian and Spanish, so here you go. It's done really well... a lot of detail went into the furniture placement and such.




7. Friends: Monica's Apartment. While the apartment itself isn't all that great (I hated their bathroom setup, and both bedrooms were rather tiny), they did seem to have a great location within the City (I think they were in the West Village?), and always having people surrounding you is nice. I found this great artsy drawing that's purchasable in poster format.

6. Full House: The Tanner Home. While the backyard is unrealistically large for the home, it's nice. I love the stairs that have a balcony at the top (which served the purpose of DJ's egg-twinkie experiment AND the great TV-fall of trying to watch two programs at once), and the attic apartment is rather amazing. Plus, have you ever seen an alcove that well utilized before?? Let's not forget the garage, which became a bedroom, which became a studio. All that AND four bedrooms. There were several makeovers of various rooms throughout the series, most notably the remodeling that Vicki's mother did for Stephanie and Michelle.


5. 7th Heaven: The Camden Home. While the exterior doesn't match the interior (no balconies in any of the bedrooms, yet the facade indicated that there should be two), the place is LARGE. I especially enjoy the dining room AND the large kitchen table, the "garage apartment" that we never see the downstairs to, the multitude of rooms yet rarely is there only one person in each, and the gigantic attic situation which they really should have always had. And let's not forget Ruthie's Hello Kitty decor.

4. Home Improvement: The Taylors. First, two points for not being a standard set-up. You enter the front door and have the choice to go upstairs or through a faux-hallway which leads by the dining area to either the living room or kitchen (which are completely unseparated which is unusual). You can go out into the side yard through three different glass doors. And with all of Tim's household improvements (intercom system, central vac, etc.), tons of extras!

3. Beverly Hills, 90210: The Walsh House. There were a ton of sets for this show, dear God. Res Hall rooms, apartments, parents' houses, parents' offices, schools, stores, beaches, workplaces, it's really and truly ridiculous. Please point out another show that utilizes as many different spaces! But the Walsh House remained in use even after Brenda, Jim, Cindy, Brandon (and even Valerie) are gone. I loved the arched door. The kitchen was cozy. The twins had large rooms. Heck, they hosted multiple weddings there, so obviously it was spacious!

2. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: The Banks Mansion. First of all, who has a poolhouse that large? While there are some structural discrepancies through the years, the place was still rockin'. Nobody had to "bunk in" with a sibling when company came, plus Geoffrey had his own room, too... so that's AT LEAST six bedrooms, easy. And while we never see the garage (to my knowledge), unless they frequently bought new cars, they had at least six of those floating around someplace! And then there's closet space... at one point Hillary lists her purse/coat/hat/shoe wardrobe, and it seems large enough to warrant a few closets alone!

1. Boy Meets World: The Matthews Place. Another house that doesn't even remotely match its facade (this might be one of the worst ones out there, actually). Still, I loved their staircase (I've always been a fan of the twisty ones). And I always thought it was nice that they had some sort of "office area" behind the living room, that allowed for two entrances into the kitchen. Let's not neglect their cool treehouse (which was accessible from Cory & Eric's bedroom), AND the fact that the neighbor was Mr. Feeny. This is a darned funny episode. The first clip shows the living room and Cory's room, while the second shows the backyard and the kitchen.