Lorraine’s House from “Back to the Future”

Back to the Future fans are undoubtedly looking at the photo above thinking, ‘That’s not Lorraine Baines’ (Lea Thompson) house!’  But the Craftsman I am standing in front of, located at 1705 Bushnell Avenue in South Pasadena, did actually serve as her 1955 pad in the movie.  Before the die hards get all up in arms, I am well aware that it’s not the property widely recognized as her teenage home, which is just a few doors down at 1727 Bushnell.  As I just discovered, though, the Baines’ residence was actually a mash-up of two different dwellings situated within a few hundred feet of each other.  Let me explain.  For years now, my friend Owen, from When Write Is Wrong, has been begging me to blog about sites from BTTF, his all-time favorite movie.  Because its locations have been copiously chronicled both online and in books for decades, I’ve avoided the subject.  As longtime readers know, I don’t like to write about places that have been covered elsewhere (especially feverishly so) unless I have something new to say.  Well folks, I finally have something new to say!  Owen’s birthday was a couple of weeks back, so I consider this post a belated present to him!  HBD, friend!

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Many moons ago, one of my dad’s Los Angeles doctors mentioned during an appointment that he lived in “the Back to the Future house.”  My ears immediately perked up (obvs!) and when I pressed for more details, he explained that he owned Lorraine’s 1955 pad and then said, “It’s bizarre to watch the movie and see Michael J. Fox sitting in my dining room.”  I had long been aware of 1727 Bushnell’s (that’s it below) cameo as Lorraine’s home in the film and, assuming it had been used for both interiors and exteriors, figured that was the spot he was referring to and did not think much further on the subject (though I was thisclose to inviting myself over for a tour).

Flash forward to a few weeks ago.  Shortly before Owen’s birthday, I toyed with the idea of writing about the place.  My first move was to check if my dad’s doctor still lived on the premises, in the hopes that he might send me some interior photos.  In looking at property records, though, I was shocked to see that not only did he not reside at 1727 Bushnell anymore, but that he never had!  His former house, which was sold in 2017, is three doors up the street at 1705 Bushnell (it’s pictured below).  Thoroughly confused, I almost brushed the whole thing off as misinformation.  But then a lightbulb went off in my head – what if 1705 had been used for interiors?  Thankfully, MLS pictures from the 2017 sale are still widely available online so my newfound hunch was easily verifiable.  I could hardly hold my fingers steady as I slipped in my Back to the Future DVD and just about hyperventilated when I saw that I was correct!  While 1727 Bushnell appeared as the exterior of Lorraine’s house, interior filming took place just up the street at 1705!  As far as I can tell, this information has never been reported elsewhere, which has me giddy with excitement – for Owen, for myself, and for the leagues of BTTF fans out there!

But first, let’s get back to 1727 Bushnell.  Not much of the 1909 Craftsman’s exterior is actually shown in Back to the Future.  We really only catch a glimpse of the second floor windows when George McFly (Crispin Glover) tries to peep on Lorraine in an early scene.

As you can see, thanks to a completely new color scheme, the home looks quite a bit different today.

We do get a full view of the property’s exterior in a different Michael J. Fox movie, though!  Interestingly enough, 1727 Bushnell also served as the Howard family residence in the 1985 comedy Teen Wolf.

In a Q&A Fox shot for Back to the Future’s Special Edition DVD, he even mentions encountering the movie’s location scouts while shooting Teen Wolf on the premises.

I am unsure if the actual inside of 1727 Bushnell was used in Teen Wolf, but I think it might have been.

If so, considering the decidedly 60s/70s look of the place, it goes a long way toward explaining why Back to the Future producers headed elsewhere to stage the inside of Lorraine’s 1955 home.  And they found exactly what they were looking for right up the street.

As you can see in the screen shot as compared to the MLS image below, the inside of 1705 Bushnell is classic, timeless, and simple in design – perfect for a storyline set in the 1950s.  (You can check out another matching shot of the home’s front entry area here.)

As you can also see in the screen captures below as compared to images here and here, not much of the property has changed in the years since Back to the Future was filmed (though it appears that producers did cover over the dining room’s stained glass window for the shoot – either that or the window was a later addition).

Along with the front entry and dining room, areas of 1705 visible in Back to the Future include the living room (you can check out an additional matching image of it here and a close-up view of the fireplace, which has been altered a bit but is still recognizable, here);

and the stairs . . .

. . . which you can see additional imagery of here.

I believe that Lorraine’s bedroom was just a set, though, and not one of 1705’s actual rooms.

In real life, 1705 Bushnell, which was built in 1912, boasts 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2,772 square feet of living space, formal living and dining rooms, hardwood flooring, wainscoting, a fireplace, stained glass windows, an eat-in kitchen, a den, a partially-finished basement, an upstairs laundry room, a 0.18-acre lot, a pool, a built-in BBQ, and a detached garage that has been converted into a family room/pool house.  You can check out some more interior photos of the place here and here.

How incredible – and thrilling – it is that new location information can still be unearthed from a decades-old movie, one that has been feverishly studied and documented ad nauseam over the years, no less!  Imagine all of the other filming sites just waiting to be discovered!  The possibilities are endlessly exciting!  The future of stalking is bright, my friends!

A (belated) happy birthday to my friend Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog. 

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 

Stalk It: The home used for exterior shots of Lorraine Baines’ 1955 residence in Back to the Future is located at 1727 Bushnell Avenue in South Pasadena.  Interiors were filmed just up the road at 1705 Bushnell.  George McFly’s 1955 pad from the film can be found next door at 1711 Bushnell.  And Biff Tannen’s (Thomas F. Wilson) property from Back to the Future Part II is at 1809 Bushnell.  Several other famous, but non-BTTF-related houses are on the same street including Hope and Michael Steadman’s residence from thirtysomething at 1710 Bushnell; the Hopper family home as well as Joan’s pad from Ghost Dad at 1621 and 1615, respectively, and the Lambda Epsilon Omega fraternity house from Old School at 1803.