One Hollywood factoid that always manages to shock me no matter how many times I hear it is that Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are fraternal twins! Though the women look – and have always looked – identical, they aren’t! Don’t believe me – you can hear it straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak, here. I know, I know – it’s almost unbelievable! As Catriona Harvey-Jenner stated in this 2016 Cosmopolitan article, “During one of my daily travels around the great expanse that is the internet, I stumbled across a piece of information so shocking, so life-altering, that it shook me to my very core. Are you ready for this? Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, as in the identical-looking twins from our childhood TV movies, AREN’T identical twins. It’s okay if you want to just take a moment to sit down after hearing that. Practice some deep breathing and stuff.” Equally as surprising, at least to those who know me and my MK & A obsession well, is the fact that I never watched The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley, the girls’ 1994 mystery/musical video series. Nevertheless, I was thrilled when fellow stalker Chris (who you may remember from this post) let me know the address of the house the twins called home in the pilot episode, titled “The Case of Thorn Mansion.” As it turns out, it’s in Cameron Woods, the quarter-mile stretch of Van Nuys’ Orion Avenue that is one of L.A.’s most oft-filmed spots. So I had to run by while I was in the area a couple of months ago.
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In real life, the traditional 1-story residence, which was built in 1947, boasts 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1,825 square feet, a fireplace, a 0.49-acre lot, and a detached garage with what appears to be an in-law unit. You can check out some interior pictures of the place here.
With its white picket fencing, large setback from the street, green and white color scheme, and dotting of tall trees, the dwelling, like all of the others in Cameron Woods, is extremely idyllic.
Even the mailbox, fashioned to look like a house, is picturesque!
So it is no surprise that the place is a favorite of location scouts! I mean, look at that walkway!
The stately pad pops up twice in “The Case of Thorn Mansion,” first at the beginning of the episode as the twins return home from a day at school.
Though we don’t get a full view of the residence, what is shown looks much the same today as it did when filming took place over 2 and a half decades ago. (And yeah, I did the math – Mary-Kate and Ashley are currently 33! How’s that for making you feel old?!?)
The property also appears in the episode’s “B-U-T-T Out” musical number, which you can watch here. (That’s a very young Elizabeth Olsen wearing overalls in the caps below.)
Coincidentally, the house figured into another production featuring twins! In the Season 1 episode of CHiPS titled “Green Thumb Burglar,” Officers Frank Poncherello (Erik Estrada) and Jon Baker (Larry Wilcox) pull over a set of identical twins in front of the residence, which I learned via IMDB. But thanks to the large tree out front, little of the place can actually be seen. I was thrilled to spot the two white benches that still flank the front pathway (denoted with blue arrows below), though. “Green Thumb Burglar” aired way back in 1977, so those things have been in place virtually forever!
The same property portrays the home of Elaine Spencer (Jessica Walter), said to be at 1227 Lakeview in Cleveland, in the 1993 thriller Ghost in the Machine.
A digital version of the pad is even shown in the movie!
And it pops up as the supposed Wisconsin-area childhood home of Alison Parker (Courtney Thorne-Smith) in the Season 2 episode of Melrose Place titled “The Two Mrs. Mancinis,” which aired in 1994.
The actual interior of the home was utilized in the episode, as well.
Thanks to fellow stalker Mimi, I learned that Meghan Trainor’s 2015 “Dear Future Husband” music video was also shot at the pad.
The dwellilng’s interior appeared in the video, as well.
Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Chris for telling me about this location!
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Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: Mary-Kate and Ashley’s house from “The Case of Thorn Mansion” episode of The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley is located at 6332 Orion Avenue in the Cameron Woods neighborhood of Van Nuys. Pete’s (Brian Petsos) residence from Bridesmaids can be found across the street at 6309 Orion, as can Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) and Love Quinn’s (Victoria Pedretti) new pad from the Season 2 finale of You at 6301 Orion.
The property was also utilized in Meghan Trainor’s music video for “Dear Future Husband”
Oh my gosh, thank you for letting me know – I LOVE that song!!!! 🙂