Munster Mansion

The house, built in the Second Empire Victorian architectural style, was constructed on Stage 12 in 1946 for the filming of the turn-of-the-century period romantic film So Goes My Love. Placed alongside another Victorian-style house built specifically for the production, the 2+1⁄2-story set was utilized on a soundstage for all shots in the film.

After production of So Goes My Love ended, both house sets were put into storage. In the early 1950s Universal decided to build a new exterior residential street on its front lot, and these sets were then taken out of storage and reassembled where they became a part of "River Road;" one of a number of residential streets constructed in the area. The house was then seen in a number of Universal productions through the 1950s (see List of appearances in film and television, below).

The house received its most famous make-over in 1964 when it was redressed for the premiere of the sitcom The Munsters. The third-story octagon tower with its mansard roof and four windows was altered into a covered widow's walk with a tented roof, the second-story center window was given a faux gingerbread gable, and a chimney and a crooked vampire-bat weathervane were added.[1] The grounds were equipped with bare trees, dead leaves and a stone entrance gate. After a slight "roughing up" with new darker paint, the house and its grounds were used for all the exterior shots on the series, with interiors filmed on separate soundstages. The address for the house was at one point supposed to be 43 Mockingbird Lane, Camelot, New Jersey, but was changed to 1313 Mockingbird Lane in the city of Mockingbird Heights (state unknown) as shooting began. After production of The Munsters in 1966 and the film Munster, Go Home, the house was stripped of its trees, gates and other landscape dressing.

Universal had replaced its entire front lot, and the Munster house, among other sets, were relocated to the backlot on "Colonial Street". Although the house was used for the television movie The Munsters' Revenge only close-up shots of windows and the side garden exterior were possible, with stock footage from the previous 1966 movie Munster, Go Home used for long shots as the house had undergone several changes.

Throughout the early part of the 80s the house was renovated again and became more modern. The most notable changes were the removal of the architectural details added for The Munsters, including the gingerbread gable over the second-story center window and the replacement of the columns and railings of the widow's walk tower. The original first floor front porch was replaced with a larger wrap-around porch.

The house then fell into a state of severe disrepair and by 1987 was unable to be used for the original TV pilot of The Munsters Today. Stock footage was again used from Munster, Go Home. The house, after production had ceased on The Munsters Today, appeared in many films and TV shows again – including The 'Burbs, Dragnet and on the TV series Coach starring Craig T. Nelson.

In the mid-2000s, for the second season of Desperate Housewives, the second floor was demolished and all of the remaining architectural details on the first floor were removed. A new second floor was constructed with a somewhat similar design, changing the original mansard gable into a gambrel gable, reflecting a more Dutch Colonial Revival architectural style.

Owner Sandra McKee at the entrance to Munster Mansion replica in Waxahachie, Texas. Image uploaded with express permission of Sandra McKee.

In the spring of 2001, Sandra and Charles McKee of Waxahachie, Texas, began construction of a fully livable "re-creation" of the Munster home,[3] inside and out. With initial construction completed in 2002, cast alumni Al Lewis and Butch Patrick appeared at the public grand opening. Lewis exclaimed, with tears in his eyes, "This brings back warm memories."[4] The house comes equipped with a grand staircase (which opens up to reveal Spot), a rotating suit of armor, trap doors, secret passages, Grandpa's electric chair, a pipe organ, the raven cuckoo clock, a crooked bat weather vane on the roof and even a dungeon complete with trap door.

Since then, the McKees have opened their private home to the public for two nights each year on the weekend of Halloween. Since the death of Lewis, Pat Priest has returned to appear multiple times. The Munster Mansion Halloween Bash each year selects a local charity and donates all proceeds from the event.

While popular model-maker AURORA offered a fanciful "Munsters Living Room" plastic model kit in 1/16 scale in the 1960s, only recently has a model of the house been made available. In 2012, model-maker Moebius announced that it was manufacturing a styrene model kit of the house as it appeared on the original series, in HO-scale,[5] available as both a standard kit and a limited edition "ghostly green" kit.[6][7]