Although I consider myself somewhat of a master stalker (not as good as fellow stalkers Owen, Mike, from MovieshotsLA, or Chas, from ItsFilmedThere, of course), for whatever reason, up until this past weekend I had yet to visit one of the most famous movie locations of them all – the home where Mary (aka Dee Wallace), Elliot (aka Henry Thomas), Michael (aka Robert MacNaughton), and Gertie (aka Drew Barrymore) lived in the 1982 classic film E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. I am not sure how, or even why, I avoided the location for as long as I did, but my best guess is that it is due to the fact that it is located in Tujunga, which is kind of out in the middle of nowhere, far from the areas I usually drag my husband out to stalk. In fact, up until this past Saturday afternoon, I had never actually set foot in the Crescenta Valley suburb, which is situated just north of Glendale and just east of Sunland. But, this weekend, while on our way home from doing some stalking in the Valley, a light bulb went off in my head and I asked my fiancé to take a little detour on the 210 Freeway so that I could finally, finally stalk the E.T. house.
It is absolutely amazing to me how iconic the E.T. home still is – almost thirty years after the movie was filmed! As the Grim Cheaper and I drove up the hill where the residence is located and the property came into view, we both immediately recognized not only the actual house, but the cul-de-sac and neighboring residences which surround it. Being that I haven’t seen E.T. in almost three decades (I only watched it once, when it first came out, and I became so hysterical when E.T. left Elliot that my parents had to drag me out of the auditorium kicking and screaming and I’ve never been able to re-watch it since), I find that to be absolutely amazing! The long, sloped driveway, the cul-de-sac, the mountains in the background – for better or for worse, those images of the house are indelibly engraved in my memories.
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Thankfully, the residence still looks extremely similar today to how it appeared back in 1982 when E.T. was filmed. The only real difference I noticed was the fact that the property is now dotted with large trees and shrubs, which wasn’t the case thirty years ago. At the time of the filming, the house was newly-built and therefore had very little foliage surrounding it. I cannot tell you how awesome it was for me to stalk a place I haven’t laid eyes on since 1982 and have it still look almost exactly the same now as it did then. Love it!
According to director McG’s DVD commentary, the house was also used in another Drew Barrymore flick – 2000’s Charlie’s Angels, as the residence where the character of Dylan Sanders falls after being shot by Eric Knox (aka Sam Rockwell). I find it incredibly cool that McG decided to shoot a scene at this location! Such a nice nod to the home’s iconic cinematic history.
The sliding glass door that Dylan knocks on in Charlie’s Angels can also be seen in several scenes in E.T.
For those who haven’t seen the above YouTube video, which chronicles most of E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial’s filming locations, you really need to check it out! The video, which was put together by fellow stalker/filmmaker Herve Attia, artfully morphs clips of the movie with footage of how the locations look today. It is simply amazing to watch!
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂
Stalk It: The E.T. house is located at 7121 Lonzo Street in Tujunga.
Please leave the home owners in peace. Just look at photos on internet. Imagine if you were the home owners, you wouldn’t like people constantly coming by
Wow I wonder what it looks like now in 2022.
Hey cool! E.T. was my first Movie and i loved it! Where can i get a floor plan of this House? Maybe i will build it in Germany, it´s a fantastic House! Thanks for the great Video!
Can i be your roomate when you build the replica of the house :-))
Great post! When you get into Tujunga, you realize inmediately that you are INTO the film ET, everything looks near exatly the same. The only main change is all the vegetation, because 30 years ago the area was still in construction, and everything looked grey and brown, tough today the gardens and the trees turns the area into a delicious place.
And yes, when I was there, the owners where looking us from their door, I bet thinking “two more knerds looking for E.T”… :p
Thanks for the video, it’s simply I-N-C-R-E-D-I-B-L-E!!!
WOW! What an incredible video Mr Attia put together! That little trailer brought back so many good (and tear jerking) memories. It’s really incredible at how little the entire neighborhood has changed in 30-years.
So cute!
Yaaay! I’ve always hoped you get a chance to blog about this spot (even though it’s a place I’ve actually already stalked myself, that never happens!) I love how much it still looks the same, and it’s actually kind of neat to see all the foliage that has grown around the house over the years.
I do recall Drew mentioning that the same people still owned the house when they filmed Charlie’s Angels and how special it was for her to see them again. Not sure if you noticed, but besides the E.T. poster on the wall, the boys also have a bowl of Reeces Pieces 🙂 So cute.
Awesome post! I love this house and how it (and the neighborhood) play a big part in the movie. It must have been very cool to see in person. I just noticed that in the Charlie’s Angels screen shot, there is an ET poster on the wall behind the tv set – love it!!
I’m so glad you finally got around to visiting this house. This film is an all-time classic and one everybody should watch. When Paul and I were out there we spent a full day stalking all the “E.T.” locations, most of which were on Herve’s terrific YouTube video. (Thanks for the link.) OK, so you’ve crossed one iconic house off the list, but I’m still waiting for you to visit Marty McFly’s residence!!! If you need me to help you find it, I could leave a trail of Reese’s Pieces. 😉
TYPO in paragraph 1: No more fiance, its HUSBAND now!!!!!
Great TIMELESS location, Ive been there myself and was amazed how it looks exactly same. The owners were doing yard work the day I visited.
OMG! Too funny that I did that! I’ll never get used to calling him my husband! 🙂
Just give it some time……like another 30 years!!! 😉
I remember that day well. It was one of the first movies she had seen in a theater. She was devastated that ET and Elliott would be apart forever. She was crying out (loudly), “No, ET, No, ET you can’t leave….he can’t leave, NO, NO,” over and over. We did take her out of the theater. We felt so terrible for her. From then on out we screened movies beforehand!