Lanie’s House(s) from “Truth Be Told”

I am pretty darn good at recognizing actors in the various roles they play (I am a stalker, after all!), but I watched the new Apple TV+ series Truth Be Told almost the entire way through before realizing that Lanie Buhrman and her estranged twin, Josie, were both portrayed by Lizzy Caplan, aka Mean Girls’ Janis Ian herself!  In my defense, the star is virtually unrecognizable today from her snarky 2004 high school character, as you can see above.  It didn’t help that she played a set of twins with very differing appearances on Truth Be Told, either – Lanie sports a short brown bob, while Josie’s hair is long and blonde.  Lanie’s house on the series is also somewhat of an enigma being that two different dwellings were used to depict it – a tidbit I didn’t realize until I actually sat down to write this post, which meant I had to run out to do some last-minute stalking before hitting publish.

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In Truth Be Told’s premiere episode, “Monster,” Lanie, the daughter of a famous author who was murdered twenty years prior, is shown to be living in a dark peaked-roof Craftsman.

An address number of “229” was visible next to the front door in the episode, which, along with the home’s style, central walkway, and stairs leading down to the sidewalk, led me to believe it was likely in the Windsor Square area.  So I began my search there, working my way outward until I found it at 229 South Gramercy Place in Koreatown.  I ran out to see the place shortly thereafter.

The charming 1911 pad, which looks much as it did onscreen, boasts 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2,060 square feet, and a 0.18-acre lot.  Though the interior was not utilized in the episode, you can check out some photos of it here.

In a bizarre twist, the next time the home appeared, in episode 4 “No Cross, No Crown,” it was a different property entirely – one that did not resemble the original in the slightest.  Somehow (and I am going to blame the seven days in between the episodes airing), I did not realize the change – even though I had already tracked down the initial house by that point!  It was not until I started making screen captures for this post that I noticed the swap and was flabbergasted, to say the least!  While location change-ups are fairly common after a pilot is picked up due to the purchasing networks wanting to make certain adjustments, Truth Be Told was developed straight-to-series, meaning Apple TV+ optioned an entire season before the pilot was even lensed.  A location alteration made in that scenario is odd.  And while I have seen productions switch locales from season to season (I’m looking at you Wilson house from 90210!), it’s a pretty rare circumstance and I can’t ever recall it occurring on a series with a scant eight-episode run like Truth Be Told.

Fortunately, an address number was also visible on Lanie’s second house – “5131” above the front porch.  Thanks to that four-digit address and the home’s Anywhere, U.S.A.-style, I figured it was likely in Eagle Rock.  Sure enough, I IDed it fairly quickly as 5131 North Maywood Avenue.

Google Street View imagery of the pad shows it in a rather beaten-down state – a far cry from how it looks today.  Per Zillow, the abode was completely restored in 2012 – and it is now nothing short of adorable!

The charming property boasts 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2,612 square feet, a formal dining room with coffered ceilings, original oak wood flooring throughout, a parlor, wood-beamed ceilings, a modern kitchen, and a large 0.28-acre plot of land.

The gorgeous restored interior, which you can see photos of here, also appeared on Truth Be Told.

The home is no stranger to the screen – it is also where Brett (Mark Duplass) and Michelle Pierson (Melanie Lynskey) lived on the HBO series Togetherness.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking! 

Stalk It: Lanie’s house from the first episode of Truth Be Told is located at 229 South Gramercy Place in Koreatown.  The pad used as Lanie’s in subsequent episodes can be found at 5131 North Maywood Avenue in Eagle Rock.