Look familiar? Iconic movie homes you didn’t realize had several starring roles

Ever watched a movie and thought, “Hey, I think I’ve seen that house before?”

It’s no coincidence — and no, you’re most definitely not seeing things. Some of Hollywood’s most iconic properties are used over and over again, popping up in different films, TV shows, and even across different cinematic universes (I’m looking at you, Marvel).

Stars in their own right, these movie homes have a knack for stealing the spotlight, no matter what role they’re playing. And we’ve put together a lengthy list of famous on-screen homes that have been used in several major productions, some you may have spotted before without even realizing.

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The house in ‘The Bodyguard’

The iconic Beverly House at 1011 N. Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills, California is one of the most luxurious houses in all of Los Angeles, having once been listed for a mindboggling $195 million. It then makes perfect sense that it was chosen to serve as home to Whitney Houston’s unforgettable Rachel Marron, the pop music superstar at the center of the hit 1992 romance thriller, The Bodyguard. But that’s far from the only movie this sprawling estate was featured in.

You’ve also seen it in ‘The Godfather’ and in Beyoncé’s ‘Black is King’

Remember that scene in The Godfather when Hollywood producer Jack Woltz, after having crossed the Corleones, wakes up with a severed horse head in his bed? That infamous scene was allegedly filmed at the Beverly House, earning it the moniker of The Godfather house, as were many other productions like The Jerk (1979), Fletch (1985), Into the Night (1985), or The Man with Bogart’s Face (1980).

In recent years, the estate’s biggest claim to fame — other than being one of the most expensive homes for sale in the area — was its feature in Beyoncé’s visual album, Black Is King.

This memorable ‘Big Lebowski’ house

Set in Los Angeles’ Beverly Crest neighborhood, the 4,500-square-foot Sheats-Goldstein residence was designed by John Lautner (one of the most noteworthy American architects of the twentieth century) and built between 1961 and 1963.

The architecturally significant home was famously featured in the now-iconic The Big Lebowski as the home of film producer Jackie Treehorn and was by far the most recognizable house featured in the cult-classic 1998 movie.

Also appeared in ‘Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle’, even on ‘Selling Sunset’

While the Sheats-Goldstein residence is known by many as ‘the Big Lebowski house,’ it’s been featured in quite a long list of other movies, including Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003), Star Time (1992), and Bandits (2001, starring Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, and Cate Blanchett).

In 2023, we’ve also seen it pop up on streaming, with the Selling Sunset cast touring the iconic residence — and celebrating the Oppenheim Group’s 10th anniversary with a lavish party inside the house.

The ‘Avengers: Endgame’ cabin

The lakeside cabin where Tony Stark retreats after the devastating events of Infinity War, looking to give daughter Morgan a normal upbringing instead of exposing her to the chaos of superhero life, serves as a backdrop to crucial scenes in the movie — culminating with what is now arguably one pf the most dramatic moments in the entire Marvel universe: Tony Stark’s funeral.

Was also in ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’

Thanks to some eagle-eyed Reddit users, we found out that the same cabin — listed on Airbnb for well over $1,000/night — was used in Godzilla: King of the Monsters as Kyle Chandler’s home, where he retreats after the life-altering events that take place in 2014’s Godzilla (starting to see a pattern here).

Mansion featured in ‘National Treasure’

Turns out, treasure-hunting’s a sweet enough game to set Nicholas Cage up at Beverly Hills’s famed Greystone Mansion, which takes a big role in National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007).

The Tudor Revival mansion located at 905 Loma Vista Drive in Beverly Hills was originally completed in 1928, after three years’ worth of construction and a total cost of over $4 million — an insane amount at the time.

Also seen in ‘The Prestige’, ‘Spider-Man’, and ‘The Big Lebowski’

But the Greystone Mansion (also known as the Doheny mansion) has been featured in a long list of movies and TV shows over the years.  including classics like The Big Lebowski, Eraserhead, The Witches of Eastwick, Death Becomes Her, Batman & Robin, Dark Shadows, The Prestige, The Social Network, and X-Men.

In Spider-Man (2002) and Spider-Man 3 (2007), the Greystone Mansion is home to Norman Osborn, the CEO of science company Oscorp, which turns into the Green Goblin.

You’ve also seen it in series like ‘The Young and the Restless’ or ‘Gilmore Girls’

The Greystone mansion has also made appearances in several TV series, including Alias and The Young and the Restless, and it also played the part of Chilton Academy in Gilmore Girls. 

The ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ house

Scott Pilgrim’s battle with Ramona’s second evil ex, Lucas Lee (played by Chris Evans pre-Avengers fame) takes place at the iconic downtown Toronto castle known as Casa Loma.

The treasured Canadian landmark is owned by the City of Toronto and is seen as one of the top local tourist attractions with over 650,000 visitors every year. It also serves as a massively popular filming location, and you’ve undoubtedly seen quite a few of the major productions filmed here.

Is the same as Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters in ‘X-Men’

While it may seem plucked out of a time long gone, this estate sits in midtown Toronto and attracts thousands of visitors each year – and just as many film crews.

Most famously home to Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters from the X-Men movie franchise, Casa Loma also appeared in Chicago, The Tuxedo, Twitches, The Pacifier, Titans, Being Erica, Goosebumps, Shadowhunters, Strange Paradise, The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again, Warehouse 13, Hannibal, The Vow, Killjoys, and Cocktail, to name just a few of the productions filmed here.

Also the primary filming location for ‘Ready or Not’

Comedy/horror film Ready or Not (2019), starring Samara Weaving, Adam Brody, and Andie MacDowell was also filmed at Casa Loma, which served as the backdrop to all the bloody action.

The ‘Billy Madison’ house

Since we’re talking about Ontario’s famed Casa Loma, it only makes sense for the next stop on our list to be the nearby Parkwood Estate in Oshawa, which shares many productions with its downtown Toronto counterpart.

Rich kid Billy Madison’s house (in the 1995 comedy starring Adam Sandler) is played by the Parkwood Estate — with interior scenes being filmed at the previously mentioned Casa Loma. Similarly, Parkwood Estate and Casa Loma shared filming locations for several of the X-Men movies, with additional scenes being filmed at Hatley Castle in British Columbia.

You’ve also seen it in ‘The Umbrella Academy’

Other productions filmed at Parkwood Estate include Mrs. America, Nightmare Alley, Hemlock Grove, and Anne with an E, to name just a few.

Netflix fans might recognize it as the Neoclassical mansion where Klaus started a cult in The Umbrella Academy.

‘Downton Abbey’s Highclere Castle

For both the TV series and the movies that followed, Downton Abbey set up shop in the imposing Highclere Castle, a stunning Victorian country house towering over a massive 5,000-acre estate in the Hampshire countryside in England.

In the TV series, the Downton Abbey house was filled with constant activity with over 50 staff members (that we know of). In reality, it’s home to just one family: the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon whose family has been living here since 1679.

Was also prominently featured in ‘Eyes Wide Shut’

Recently featured in the Paramount+ action flick Infinite (with Mark Wahlberg and Chiwetel Ejiofor), and in the Kevin Costner-led Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), Highclere Castle’s biggest cinematic claim to fame (before Downton Abbey) was appearing in Stanley Kubrick’s award-winning Eyes Wide Shut (1999) starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.

Wayne Manor from ‘Batman Begins’

Back in the late 1980s, when Tim Burton was elevating the Batman brand to new heights, Michael Keaton’s Bruce Wayne took residence in the Knebworth House, a historic estate in the parish of Knebworth in Hertfordshire, England, that was once the seat of the Earl of Lytton.

The house was used as Wayne Manor in 1989’s Batman but, by the time Keaton returned for, well, Batman Returns (1992), Burton had a different aesthetics in mind, and ditched the Knebworth House in favor of a digital creation.

Also appeared in ‘The King’s Speech’

The Knebworth House may be more familiar to movie-goers thanks to its appearance as the Wayne Manor in Tim Burton’s Batman (1989), or its role as Thornfield Hall in Jane Eyre (1997).

But it also made appearances in popular films like The King’s Speech (2010), Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020), and TV shows like Agatha Christie’s Marple (2010), and Joss Whedon’s The Nevers (2021).

You may have also seen it in ‘YOU’

The house even appeared in Netflix’s popular You series when, midway through season 4, Joe Goldberg receives an invitation to join his newly-found, ridiculously rich friends on a trip to Lady Phoebe’s family estate, Hampsbridge House — played by the same Knebworth House.

‘Richie Rich’s sprawling estate

The real-life Biltmore Estate, built in the 1890s by magnate George Washington Vanderbilt II and widely known as America’s largest home, served as the backdrop for the iconic 1994 movie starring Macaulay Culkin.

Although there’s no actual roller coaster in the backyard and no Mount Richmore family portrait, the filmmakers did leave in some original paintings of Vanderbilt family members (the rightful owners of the Biltmore). So, yes, the Richie Rich house is as real as it gets. But is somehow even more impressive in real life.

Was the filming grounds for ‘The Last of the Mohicans’

Our most surprising finding was that the Biltmore, which served as the backdrop for more than a dozen films, was a primary filming location for the award-winning 1992 drama The Last of the Mohicans, starring Daniel Day-Lewis. And yes, you are correct to be confused, as there was no palatial estate at the center of that movie.

Instead, the estate’s expansive grounds were used throughout the film, as they resembled the old-growth forests of New York’s Catskill Mountains as they might have looked like at the beginning of the 19th century.

What did we miss? Know of any other movie homes that were prominently featured in other productions? Let us know and we’ll add them to our list!

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