The Mansion from Season 1 of “The Bachelor”

My girl Miss Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog, recently gifted me with Best of The Bachelor, a DVD compilation of condensed episodes from the popular reality series’ first season as well as a slew of special features and not-shown-on-TV bonus footage. Well, because this stalker absolutely loves herself some The Bachelor, I just about died from excitement upon receiving it, especially since I had not seen any of Season 1 since it originally aired in early 2002, over a decade ago! (How in the heck has it been that long??) I, of course, watched the DVD the very same night that I received it and immediately became obsessed with tracking down the Mediterranean-style mansion – or “The Bachelor’s Villa” as it was called on the series – where the inaugural Bachelor, 31-year-old management consultant Alex Michel, lived. The good news is that the mansion was quite the easy find. The bad news is that it is no longer standing. But more on that later.

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Thanks to the spectacular ocean views that were visible in the episodes, I knew that The Bachelor’s Villa had to be located somewhere near the coast in Malibu.

So I began scanning through Bing Map’s aerial views of the ‘Bu coastline looking for the property’s uniquely-shaped pool, which I figured would be easily recognizable.

Thankfully, it was.

When I zoomed in for a closer look, though, I was saddened to discover that the mansion had been torn down and a new dwelling was being built in its place.

And while Bing aerial views only show the new residence mid-construction, you can catch a glimpse of what it looks like in a mostly completed state below, thanks to Google Maps.

Even though the mansion is no longer, I figured it was still worth a stalk and a blog post being that there are most likely other stalkers out there who are curious as to its location.

According to Zillow, the now-defunct mansion, which was originally built in 1987, boasted four bedrooms, four baths, 6,967 square feet of living space, a 1.7-acre plot of ocean-front land, a lighted tennis court, an infinity pool with his-and-her cabanas, a 2,200-square-foot guest house, several stone fireplaces, a motor court, 22-foot-high beamed ceilings, hand-carved wooden doors, a sauna, and panoramic ocean views. Unfortunately though, aside from the top floor of the massive guest house (seriously, that thing is bigger than most homes!), no part of the property is visible from the street.

The manse was used extensively throughout Season 1 of The Bachelor. The dwelling was not only where Alex lived during the duration of the seven-week filming, but it was also where all of the rose ceremonies and cocktail parties took place. Areas of the property that appeared in the series include the front entrance . . .

. . . where Alex was first introduced to the 25 women;

the driveway;

the huge living room, where the rose ceremonies were held;

and the backyard, where the final rose ceremony – in which Alex rejected future Bachelorette Trista Rehn and offered his final rose (but not a ring!) to Amanda Marsh – took place. Not surprisingly, Amanda and Alex broke up less than a year later and rumor has it that he pulled the ol’ switcheroo by then (unsuccessfully) attempting to rekindle the flame with Trista. It appears, though, that Alex, who for the most part has stayed out of the spotlight since the series ended, finally found marital bliss with a woman named Carly in June 2010.

I am unsure of how many seasons of The Bachelor were shot at the mansion, but I am guessing that it was only Alex Michel’s season. At some point after the year 2005, filming moved to an Agoura estate (which I blogged about here), where it has remained ever since.

You can watch a great interview with Alex, thanks to the Obsessed with Samantha Ettus website, by clicking below.

You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER. And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The former site of the mansion from the first season of The Bachelor, which has since been torn down, is located at 24834 Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.