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Is Madre Linda Real? Tracking Down Joe and Love’s Dreamy Hell-burban Home from ‘You’ Season 3

Season 3 of ‘You’ sees our main characters move into the “soulless, wealthy suburb” of Madre Linda, said to be right outside of San Francisco. Join us as we track down Madre Linda’s real life counterpart, and find Joe and Love’s idyllic suburban house.

Love and Joe in Madre Linda neighborhood, You S03
Photo credit: JOHN P. FLEENOR/NETFLIX © 2021

Well, hello there. Who are you? Here to find out the location of Joe and Love’s charming Madre Linda abode? Okay, I’ll bite…

Based on the wildly popular book series by Caroline Kepnes, You, now a smash-hit Netflix thriller, follows Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley, Gossip Girl, Easy A), a mysterious bibliophile and obsessive romantic whose twisted ideas of what it means to be a good boyfriend lead him down a dark and murderous path.

After two nail-biting seasons set in New York and LA respectively, season three which aired on October 15th last year, transported Joe and his new, equally bloodthirsty wife, Love, to an entirely new location.

The rolling hills and picturesque tree-lined streets of Madre Linda. And, though Joe describes it as a ‘soulless, wealthy suburb outside San Francisco,’ I’m of the opinion it’s one of the prettiest neighborhoods going!

Victoria Pedretti as Love Quinn and Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg strolling in Madre Linda on Season 3 of You.
Victoria Pedretti as Love Quinn and Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg strolling in Madre Linda on Season 3 of You. Photo credit: JOHN P. FLEENOR/NETFLIX © 2021

If you too have been frantically googling its coordinates in hopes of a visit or relocation, I’m sorry to say, it might be time to call off the search.

’…safest neighborhood in the golden state. And who wouldn’t sell their soul for that?’ 

SEE ALSO: Hampsie, Lady Phoebe’s country house in ‘You’ Season 4

Is Madre Linda a real place?

Unfortunately, the suburb of Madre Linda as we see it on the show doesn’t exist in real life. The house we see in Season 3 of You is actually set in Van Nuys, the most densely populated neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles.

That said, many of the locations are totally real, and for those that aren’t, I’ve done a little digging to pinpoint those too.

Firstly, I had to know the whereabouts of Joe and Love’s idyllic North California home.

According to iamnotastalker.com, the You season 3 house can be found at 6301 Orion Avenue, Cameron Woods, in the picture-perfect neighborhood of Van Nuys, CA.

Built in 1951, this newly modernized 4 bed, 4 bath property also boasts a contemporary center island kitchen with Ceasarstone counters and a full butlers pantry, a family room, utility room, period built-in fireplaces, a sprawling backyard with a large waterfall pool, and a 2 car garage!

Joe and Love sitting in front of their house in You, season 3.
Joe and Love sitting in front of their house in You, season 3. Cr. JOHN P. FLEENOR/NETFLIX © 2021

It’ll come as no surprise then that Realtor.com estimates this storybook home would command a whopping $2,150,300 of ‘Quinn Family Blood money’.

Why Madre Linda?

Since the name of the town is fictional, you’re probably wondering where it came from. It could be a mash-up of two different areas in California. Sierra Madre and Yorba Linda perhaps?

While that’s likely true as the latter is one of the wealthiest cities in Orange County, multiple sources have also pointed out that ‘Madre Linda’ loosely translates to ‘pretty mother’ in Spanish.

Scene from You, season 3, showing Love with Henry in the backyard of their suburban house in Madre Linda.
Scene from You, season 3, showing Love with Henry in the backyard of their suburban house in Madre Linda. Photo credit: JOHN P. FLEENOR/NETFLIX © 2021

Could this also be a nod to Love’s new parent status or a fun poke at a town seemingly run by a clique of young blogger mums? Either way, it works perfectly and I’m still dying to live there!

A Fresh Tart

If like me you spend the better part of fall watching Gilmore Girls re-runs, you probably noticed the similarity between Love’s Madre Linda bakery and Luke’s Stars Hollow diner. If not, I promise the next time you watch either show you won’t be able to un-see it! 

In a recent interview, Netflix confirmed with E! News that although they’re two different sets, they’re both located on the same backlot street at Warner Brother’s studios in Burbank.

Victoria Pedretti as Love Quinn inside the bakery, A Fresh Tart.
Victoria Pedretti as Love Quinn inside the bakery, A Fresh Tart. Photo credit: JOHN P. FLEENOR/NETFLIX © 2021

Take a second look at scenes inside Love’s bakery and you might even spy Luke’s through the window. Better yet, you can book yourself onto a Warner Brothers tour and see both sets in real life!

As it turns out, these two beloved shows weren’t the only ones to film here. Scenes from Pretty Little Liars were shot on the very same street, whilst other sets including Blondie Street and French Street provided locations for WandaVision and La La Land respectively.

In fact, the cafe that Mia (Emma Stone) works in at the start of La La Land happens to be the exact same building as A French Tart!

Hello, Neighbor

If you were just as taken with Natalie and Matthew Engler’s house as you were with the Quinn-Goldberg’s residence (same) you’ll be interested to know it really is located on the same street.

Scott Speedman as Joe and Love's next door neighbor, Matthew Engler, in You.
Scott Speedman as Joe and Love’s next-door neighbor, Matthew Engler, in You. Photo credit: JOHN P. FLEENOR/NETFLIX © 2021

6309 Orion Avenue last sold for $2,583,406 according to Redfin.com and offers an impressive 7 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms.

And yes, the multi-level outdoor deck and waterfall pool we see in the show really do exist in its backyard. 

I Will Find You

Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg standing in the window of the house from Season 3 of You.
Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg standing in the window of the house from Season 3 of You. Photo credit: JOHN P. FLEENOR/NETFLIX © 2021

As the bodies start piling up, Joe flees once again leaving his baby son Henry behind in Madre Linda.

In the very last scene of the series, we see he’s escaped to Paris in search of his newest conquest, Marienne.

But did the entire production really travel all the way to France to shoot this epic ending? Of course not!

According to Atlas Of Wonders, we have WB’s Hennessey Street to thank for that. Recognize it? Scene’s from Minority ReportRoad To Perdition, and Rent were also filmed here!

With season 4 confirmed and shooting already underway, we can assume Joe’s sinister escapades will continue on in Paris. If so, you can bet there’ll be plenty more swoon-worthy locations to delve into when it airs!

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Written by Sophie Cook

Sophie is Drama graduate-turned-writer with a passion for movies and television, whose interests seamlessly come together to tell our readers all about their favorite on-screen homes. Outside of Fancy Pants Homes, Sophie has been penning articles for lifestyle brands like The Upcoming, Herbal Essences, Asda, and Harvey Nichols.

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