A �Bewitched� House: 1164 Morning Glory Circle

by HOOKEDONHOUSES on OCTOBER 4, 2009

Welcome to Movie Monday, when I feature the houses from our favorite films and TV shows. So many of you requested a post about the �Bewitched� house on 1164 Morning Glory Circle that I finally gave in and started researching it. I hesitated, though, because I had never seen the show and knew nothing about it. I may be the only person in America over the age of 25 who can say this! My parents were strict about what we were allowed to watch, and �Bewitched� reruns were banned when I was growing up.

One of the fun things about the first season is that we get to see Darrin (Dick York) and Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery) go house hunting. When Samantha and her mother Endora (Agnes Moorehead) first visit the house at the beginning of Season One, it has just been  built. It�s empty and bare, and there isn�t a blade of grass in the yard:

Samantha fixes the place up with a quick twitch of her nose:

Oh, if only home improvement could be that easy! That scene was fun because Samantha and Endora take turns trying different looks for the house and argue about which is the best version.

When they step into the house for the first time, this is what it looks like:

The interiors were all created on soundstages at Sunset Gower Studios.

The pilot for �Bewitched� was supposed to begin filming on November 22, 1963, but was postponed because of Kennedy�s assassination. The first episode aired in 1964.

You can see the backyard in this shot through the glass doors:

Samantha decides to try a few different looks for the dining room. Here�s how it looks before she puts any furniture in it:

They fall in love with the place and buy it. Here�s how it looks after they move in:

What�s that penguin doing in there? I suspect some magic was involved:

These episodes were originally in black and white but were later colorized. The tell-tale sign of colorization is when a character opens their mouth and their teeth look gray. Their skin tones also tend to be a little orange at time, like a sunless tan gone wrong.

The dining room:

According to 1164.com, a popular website for �Bewitched� fans:

The interior and backyard scenes, as well as some garage and front porch scenes, were all filmed in a soundstage.  The set consisted of a modular (but complete) first floor and back yard.  It also contained the hallway visible above the steps (though those doors at the top only led to tiny closets!).

All of the upstairs shots were filmed on another set, often just a few rooms that were frequently changed around.

Love the colorful coffee mugs she has lined up on a kitchen shelf:

The laundry area at the back of the kitchen (with the avocado appliances!) must have seemed very modern and convenient in 1964:

The bedroom:

Check out the massive lamps on either side of their bed and the cushion that goes across the head of it. I wonder where they stashed their sleeping pillows during the day?

�Bewitched� was on the air for 8 years. In Season 2, Samantha and Darrin had a baby girl, named Tabitha (whose name was spelled Tabatha for the first few seasons and then changed later on). Here are some photos of the nursery:

The den set on the first floor doubled as the nursery set for Tabitha. According to 1164.com:

For nursery scenes, they just put a fake wall up outside the door to hide the view into the kitchen. For den scenes, they put brown paneling up over the pink walls, covering the nursery window area with the plain wall near the den�s fireplace.

Samantha paints a pink pony on the crib:

When Darrin gets home from work, we get a look at the garage and driveway:

The exterior in Season 2:

The house was built on the back lot of the Warner Bros. Ranch (on West Oak Street in Burbank, California). It sits alongside other famous facades used for classic shows like �The Partridge Family,� �Gidget,� and �I Dream of Jeannie.�

Here�s how the �Bewitched� house looks today:

The �Bewitched� Movie: Nicole Kidman�s Cottage

by HOOKEDONHOUSES on OCTOBER 11, 2009

Welcome to Movie Monday, when we look at the houses from our favorite TV shows and films. Last week we toured the sets used on the original television series�Bewitched,� so I thought it would be fun to feature Nicole Kidman�s charming California cottage in the 2005 movie remake, too.

In the movie, Kidman plays Isabel Bigelow, a real witch who is cast as Samantha in a television remake of the original series. Will Ferrell plays Jack, the movie star cast as Darrin who is determined to make the show all about him. But then he falls in love with Isabel and finds out she�s a witch and, you know the drill�complications ensue.

When Isabel sees the house she wants, she puts a �For Rent� sign out front:

Nora Ephron came up with the concept of the movie after producers called and begged for help. Nicole Kidman had agreed to consider doing the film, and they needed a pitch.

There were a stack of rejected screenplays that had piled up over the years, including one written by Richard Curtis (the writer behind Notting Hill, which I featured a few weeks ago�I�d love to see what his version of Bewitched looked like!).

Ephron sketched out the idea for the remake, suggesting that Nicole play an entirely new character instead of reprising Elizabeth Montgomery�s Samantha. Kidman liked the idea and signed on.

This house was chosen for Isabel by director Nora Ephron because it belonged to friends of her parents, and she visited it often as a child. Coincidentally, those friends were Larry Berns and his wife, Sandra Gould, who played the second, better-known Gladys Kravitz. (Alice Pearce, who played the first Gladys Kravitz, died after the second season.)

Isabel�s home was set in a tree-lined Valley suburb of modest A-frame houses and white picket fences. 

Isabel watches the pilot episode of the original �Bewitched� after being cast as Samantha for the remake:

Nicole Kidman went to the Broadway musical Wicked and was so blown away byKristin Chenoweth�s performance as Glinda that she begged �Bewitched� writer Nora Ephron to create a part for Chenoweth into the film. Ephron wrote the role of Isabel�s next-door neighbor Maria Kelly for her:

Production designer Neil Spisak explains the thinking behind the design of Isabel�s house:

Our idea was that since Isabel is desperately searching for normalcy, whatever that might be, she�s moved into a charming, simple house in the Valley, finding a lovely place for her to start her life.

Nora quite liked the exterior of the house we found and, based on that, we designed an interior. The concept was to maintain its simplicity but to play up a certain appealing femininity in the furnishings and details. So, like Isabel, her surroundings are a little na�ve, a place that is neutral but warm and comfortable.

Note the magnetic spice holders hanging on the wall behind her (under the microwave) in this shot:

Isabel in her bedroom:

Isabel�s living room:

Isabel has her friends over to discuss what to do with her �Jack problem� (she�s figured out his scheme to be the star of the show and cut her out as much as possible):

Aunt Clara arrives�down Isabel�s chimney:

Brunch on Isabel�s patio. Aunt Clara has an idea: �Let�s put a hex on Jack.�

Casting a hex on Jack that will teach him a lesson. (In Isabel�s backyard. I wonder what the neighbors thought of this?)

Isabel�s bedroom (I read that they tucked a photo of Elizabeth Montgomery into the mirror frame, but I never saw it):

Isabel on the phone in her kitchen at night (why does this photo make me think of  that scene with Drew Barrymore in Scream?):

In the opening credits of the �Bewitched� remake, Darrin is the star of the cartoon�Samantha�s face is never even shown:

The role of Jack/Darrin was originally supposed to be played by Jim Carrey, which I think may have worked a little better. Can�t you see him mugging the way Dick York used to? And Will Ferrell�s Jack was funny, but he was too goofy and over-the-top to ever take seriously as Isabel�s love interest. (Carrey chose to make the movie Fun With Dick and Jane instead.)

Isabel wears a heart-shaped necklace as Samantha on the remake, just like Samantha did on the original TV show:

Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha on the TV show wearing the heart necklace:

Samantha and Darrin�s kitchen on the new set of �Bewitched:�

Samantha and Darren�s bedroom on the set of the new �Bewitched:�

Isabel and her dad Maurice:

The roles of Iris (actress who plays Endora on the TV remake in the movie) and Maurice (Isabel�s warlock father) were played by Shirley MacLaine and Michael Caine. According to Bewitched fansite Harpies Bizarre:

The role of the warlock father was reportedly crafted by the Ephrons with only Michael Caine in mind. Shirley MacLaine told the press that she �wasn�t much of a fan of the TV series,� but had taken the film role because she �wanted to play a witch.� It is assumed that Ephron catered to MacLaine�s request and allowed her character to be a sorceress, since the April 2004 script copy had the Iris character just written as a mortal diva actress cast as the new TV Endora.

The exterior set of the �Bewitched� house for the TV show:

At the end of the movie, Isabel and Jack move into a home that looks almost identical to the one on their television show:

The numbers above the door of their new home are 1164�Samantha and Darrin lived at 1164 Morning Glory Circle (Westport, Connecticut) in the original TV series:

The house is a private home in the Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles (via Seeing Stars):

If you liked this post, you may also enjoy photos from the original �Bewitched� TV series and photos of Nicole Kidman�s Beverly Hills home where she lives with husband Keith Urban and their daughter Sunday Rose.