The Burr House from “The Twilight Zone”

After what amounted to a nearly two-year stalking hiatus, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, is finally back!  Let me reverse a bit and explain.  Over the past couple of years, Mike has been busy working in production (yep, he actually toils away on movie sets now!), which hasn’t left much time for tracking down locations.  I was having some trouble with a locale this past week, though, and on a whim decided to see if he could lend a hand.  Mike was game and, lo and behold, the two of us were on the hunt once again, just like old times!  The story of our quest, which is a bit of a long one, is detailed below.

While doing some research on Say Anything . . . locations back in January, I came across a 1990 Los Angeles Times article which made mention of an old Victorian house in Monrovia that had been featured in an episode of The Twilight Zone.  Perfect for my Haunted Hollywood postings, right?  Though the exact episode was not named, the column stated that parakeets were flown through the residence during the shoot, so I assumed it would not be hard to figure out.  I did a little digging, pinpointed the address of the property, headed right on over to Monrovia to stalk it shortly thereafter, and did not think much more about it until sitting down to write this post.  As it turned out, even armed with such specific information regarding parakeets, identifying the episode proved arduous.  My first course of action was to Google “The Twilight Zone episode” and “parakeets,” which yielded nothing.  Then I literally spent hours scanning through old TTZ episodes and reading recaps, but came up with nada.  Enter Mike.  Literally five minutes after I texted him and told him of my quest in tracking down the “parakeet episode,” he texted me back with an answer.  As he discovered, the episode was Season 1’s “Still Life,” which originally aired on January 3rd, 1986.  I felt like a complete blonde when he told me his search process, which involved inputting the sentence “Which episode of The Twilight Zone filmed in Monrovia, CA?”  The third result to be kicked back was a synopsis of “Still Life” on The New Twilight Zone website.  Actor Robert Morris had provided the site with a behind-the-scenes photograph of the shoot which was posted with the caption, “ . . . the episode was shot in Monrovia, California in this beautiful home.”  D’oh!

In real life, the dwelling is known as the Burr House and it was originally built in 1893 for Frank W. Burr and his family.  The 18-room Queen Anne-style residence was constructed entirely of redwood at a cost of $2,800.  At the time of its inception, it did not have heating, electricity, or even indoor bathrooms.  Yep, the Burrs had to use an outhouse!  That outhouse is still currently located on the property.  The Burr family owned the site until 1975, which explains how so much of the home’s original detailing remains intact today, 123 years after it was built.

In 1979, Mary Ann and Ramon Otero purchased the residence and began an extensive renovation and restoration process.  Today, the property boasts 5 bedrooms, 4,700 square feet of living space, several bathrooms (there are 4.5 to be exact), a pool, extensive gardens, a detached garage, and a half-acre plot of land.

In “Still Life,” the Burr House belongs to photographer Daniel Arnold (Robert Carradine), who, after visiting an estate sale, brings home an antique trunk which he later discovers has a secret compartment containing a camera that was last used during a 1913 National Geographic Society expedition to the Amazon River Basin.

As Daniel soon learns, during the expedition the camera captured the souls of several Curucai Indian tribesmen whom he inadvertently brings back to life.

The Burr House was used extensively in the episode.

The home’s actual interior was also featured throughout.

You can watch “Still Life” by clicking below.

As was noted in the Los Angeles Times (as well as in this Monrovia Patch article), the Burr House has appeared in countless movies, TV shows, and commercials over the years.  In 1988, it was used as the Boon residence in a scene in Sweet Hearts Dance.  Because most filming of the Boon home took place at a similar looking Victorian dwelling located at 113 Eden Street in Hyde Park, Vermont, I am guessing that the Burr House segment might have been part of a reshoot.

Mike Donnelly (Chris Farley) voted – and got stuck in the voting booth – outside of the property’s garage in the 1996 comedy Black Sheep.

You can see the garage in the photos below.

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Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for his help in tracking down the correct The Twilight Zone episode!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Burr house, from the “Still Life” episode of The Twilight Zone, is located at 150 North Myrtle Avenue in Monrovia.

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