Yes that is right the lucky number 13th thing to do in Simi Valley is “drive-by” the Original house from the movie Poltergeist. Notice how I said drive-by. Please be respectful as this house is still a private residence. Please do not bother the occupants or enter onto their property. I like to be able to show some other famous locations in Simi Valley but if we can’t behave like citizens then the fun will stop pretty quickly.
Sorry to start out on a note of warning. I’m not to give complete directions to the home, but enough that you can create an adventure, drive down the street and figure out which house it is for yourself. The easiest way to get there is to drive up Tapo Street from Alamo toward Wild Horse Canyon and turn left on Roxbury. When I located the house a number years ago I didn’t remember the driveway being that steep in the movie; so I had to watch the movie again. I have some friends who lived in the area and who were there when the movie was filmed. They filled me in on some the details. The tract of homes was very new at the time of filming. Other parts of the movie were filmed out in the Conejo Valley and other areas.
This is a sort of companion post to one by my friend in Pasadena who located the original house from the movie Halloween. Up until recent years the San Fernando Valley and surrounding areas have always been movie locations for the studios. It’s fun to see where Hollywood makes all the magic happen and and exciting to know that it happens in our own backyard.
I remember driving by with friend this house right after the movie came out. Also used to drive out of town friend by to show it off… LOL
BTW, thanks again for this series. #12 has given my and wife I something new to do for Date Night.. 🙂
Thanks Greg, You might see me at Lost Canyons Friday night with my wife, I was really impressed. I have been there for lunch quite a few times and it is a great break in the middle of a work day, but last Friday evening was even better.
My ex-girlfriend used to live in this house when we were in high school. the inside was done alittle different. front and back yard was the same. except for the pool and SPA.
Marcos,
Cool, great to hear form someone who has been in the house. I love Hollywood trivia. The apartment building for the original Karate Kid is just over in the Valley near Tampa and Saticoy
Brought my son by the house when we were in Simi Valley two years ago (visiting Skatelab).
My understanding is that the houses behind it (to the north on Presidio) were not there, which permitted the film crews to stage things up along the vacant properties. I also read somewhere that the homes were so new that the production company landscaped the entire block for free (with the exception of one vacant home at the end of the street, which can apparently be seen in some shots), partially to pacify any potential aggravation the residents experienced…
@marcos — I believe the interior house shots were all done on a sound stage; similar to ET, where no interior shots were done in the home in Tujunga.
Speaking of ET, there *was* a great website that lined up nearly every exterior neighborhood shot (Halloween scenes, bike chases, bus stop, etc.) to present-day Google Streetview maps throughout the neighborhood in Porter Ranch. I’ll see if I can find a cache of it.
@Ted — you should highlight other Simi Valley filming locations (Cat In The Hat, Sneakers, The Good Girl.) I think its nifty checking out the “on-location locations”. Thanks for the great site!
That is correct. The poltergeist house was built in 1979 and of course poltergeist was filmed on location in 1981, and released in 1982 in theaters.
… oh, and let’s not forget Bachelor Party (Tom Hanks), Little House On The Prarie, or The Dukes Of Hazzard (TV) — the latter (I believe) was done largely where Lost Canyons currently is.
James,
Thanks for the great information. Too bad the Cat and the Hat set is still not there. It was fun watching that whole thing. I had to drive to TO several days a week then and always looked as I drove the 118.
I was thinking of Sneakers, I am not sure if Bank of America Security will let me up there.
On the Polertgeist house as I understand from a neighboring home, that the crew had to run water from a home behind over closer to Tapo street as the house for the movie did not have water at the time or not not enough water for what ever they needed.
I lived over near the shopping center for Good Girl when it was filmed. It is now Flooring 101.
Now I have to watch Bachelor Party again …. LOL
Hi Ted,
Interesting about the water. Can’t imagine what they needed it for, as (I think) things like the pool scene at the end were also done in a sound stage. Amusingly though, the skeletons used were apparently real! This (of course) has fed the folklore of the movie being “cursed”…
Bachelor Party’s Simi Valley connection is limited to the multiplex movie theater and parking lot scenes — done at the theater off of Sycamore.
I was at the Ralph’s next to the Flooring 101 this past February. I’m from the Boston area (“back east” as you folks say 🙂 but I’ll buy that “fire sale” dream home in Lost Canyons one of these days. Your number will be first on the speed-dial 😉
Thanks!
Jim
… oh, regarding ET and Porter Ranch. The website I was looking for is long gone, BUT it’s been supplanted by an unbelievable video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO555bbZkDw
and an associated website (with addresses, etc.):
http://onthesetofet.blogspot.com
Enjoy!
Great Video James!
I lived on the street when Poltergeist was filmed in 1981 and I still live there today. It was chaos for those 2 weeks when the movie crew was there. The street was wall-to-wall trucks during the day and spectators came from all over Simi. They worked all night with wind machines going and lots of noise. Not enjoyable!
It is not true that everyone got their yards landscaped. A couple of houses across the street got some sod put down and a few boring shrubs, but that was it. Very low budget. The biggest disturbance to the neighborhood were the holes cut in the street and yards for the coffins to pop up during the climactic scene at the end. They patched the holes in the street, of course, but the coffin-sized rectangles were visible for years until the city repaved the street.
For a small tract of only 46 homes, the studio was very stingy, considering the amount of aggravation they caused. We were across the street and down a few houses, and we heard that the house next door to us was the cut-off for special treatment by the studio, i.e. very small compensation and an invite to a special screening. They couldn’t even give all 46 families equal treatment.
One thing they did do for us: on the night they were filming the final scene, they asked permission to mow our lawn so they could have grass clippings to cover the coffins about to spring out of the ground.
All in all, it was not a pleasant experience, but it’s fun to tell people that the movie was filmed on our street.
Jo Kay,
Thank you so much for stopping by and filling in the details. 🙂
Sorry James but the information you recieved was wrong about landscaping everyones home on that block. My boss just lived a couple of houses down and when they were filming they knocked on everyones door and asked if they could mow there lawn, The poltergeist house did not have the landscaping done yet because all the houses where brand new and they took all the lawn clippings from the houses on the block and sprinkled them over the dirt to make it look like there was grass at the Poltergeist house, just a fyi
I’ve always been curious when Spielberg and/or Hooper were scouting for filming locations, how did he settle on that one particular house? It’s become an icon almost more than any other horror movie at the time, most of which had (in comparison) very nondescript homes.
–Randall
It might be as simple as Simi Valley being close to Hollywood. Little House was being filmed out here for years. Corriganville was the hub of western style movies for several decades and the Stearns offramp was the 3rd offramp in Simi Valley. Also, that tract was brand new, a friend of mine told me his inlaws helped provide hose lines for water from their house over to the set.
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