Catherine Willows’ House from “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”

I’ll never forget the first time I saw CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.  It was back in 2003 and my parents had come home from a random stop at the video store (remember those?) with a DVD of the series’ inaugural season in hand.  I had not heard of the show at the time and decided to give the pilot a watch with them.  I was immediately transfixed, as were my parents.  We proceeded to binge all 23 episodes (the old-fashioned way!) in pretty much one sitting and then ran right back out to the video store to grab Season 2.  I continued to be an avid viewer of the procedural (as well as the spin-offs CSI: Miami and CSI: NY) for years.  Then somehow it fell off my radar.  Nonetheless, I was thrilled to receive an email this past August from a fellow stalker named Sacha who wanted to know if I had any intel on the house belonging to Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger) in the series’ twelfth season.  I headed over to Hulu to take a look at the residence Sacha was searching for and recognized it immediately.  It’s a place I’ve not only stalked, but blogged about before!  As it turns out, Catherine’s pad is none other than South Pasadena’s Cox House, which portrayed Oliver Trask’s (Taylor Handley) Palm Springs dwelling on The O.C.  Because the property has since gone on to appear in an episode of Ray Donovan, I figured it was due for another write-up.

The Cox House, named for original owner Paul Cox, was designed by local Pasadena architect John Galbraith in 1959.

The Mid-Century Modern masterpiece is also known as the “Tree House” thanks to the large conifer that grows right through the roof of its entryway.

The one-story pad, which boasts Miesian Modernist and Southern California Regional Modernist elements, features 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, 3,032 square feet of living space, glass and stone walls, a massive tile fireplace, hardwood flooring, a 0.46-acre lot, multiple patios, a pool, and a hot tub.

The property last sold in December 2000 for $641,000.

You can check out some interior photos of it here.

While undeniably striking and cinematic, I am surprised the place wound up on CSI, which is set in Las Vegas, being that it doesn’t really have a Sin City vibe.  A different home was actually utilized as Catherine’s in Season 5’s “Weeping Willows” (it’s at 17145 Nanette Street in Granada Hills) and it, too, had a decidedly Mid-Century Modern-style, though, so what do I know?

The Cox House first popped up on CSI in Season 12’s “Zippered,” which aired in 2011.  Only the interior of the residence was shown in the episode, in the scene in which Catherine meets up with her old friend Laura Gabriel (Annabeth Gish).

The pad was subsequently featured in the next episode of CSI titled “Ms. Willows Regrets.”  In the episode, Catherine returns home from visiting a crime scene and winds up ambushed herself.  Both the exterior . . .

. . . and interior of the property were featured prominently in the episode.

The Cox House appeared again in the following episode of CSI titled “Willows in the Wind,” in which the team investigates Catherine'”‘”‘s attack.

As I mentioned earlier, the home was also featured on The O.C.  In Season 1’s “The Links,” which aired in 2004, Oliver invites Marissa Cooper (Mischa Barton), Ryan Atwood (Ben McKenzie), Seth Cohen (Adam Brody), and the rest of the Harbor School gang for a weekend visit to his parents’ Palm Springs pad, said to be located “right on PGA West.”  Now the Cox House portraying a Palm Springs property I can certainly buy.  The residence definitely bears that desert look.

While the home’s actual interior appeared in the episode (as well as some of the actual furniture) . . .

. . . the two bedrooms shown were just sets built at Raleigh Manhattan Beach Studios (now MBS Media Campus), where the series was lensed.

Not surprisingly, the Cox House also popped up as a Palm Springs residence on Ray Donovan.  In Season 1’s “Black Cadillac,” which aired in 2013, Mickey Donovan (Jon Voight), Bunchy Donovan (Dash Mihok), and Daryll (Pooch Hall) visit Daryll’s mother, Claudette (Sheryl Lee Ralph), at her supposed desert home.  Upon arriving, Mickey proclaims, “What the f*ck kinda architecture is this?”  It'”‘”‘s called Mid-Century Modern, Mickey!  Mid-Century Modern at its finest!

The interior of the residence also appeared in the episode.

That built-in firewood holder is the stuff of dreams!

The Cox House’s backyard was featured in “Black Cadillac,” as well.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Catherine Willows’ house from CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is located at 534 Arroyo Drive in South Pasadena.

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