Real Estate | Back to the Future Edition

Today is a big day with Marty and Doc Brown travelling to the future or for us to today in the iconic 80's film, Back to the Future II.

Like many of you, I'm a huge fan of the Back to the Future trilogy. I loved the idea of time travel via a DeLorean. Like Doc Brown said "The way I see it, if you're gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style?"

I was always curious over the years about the story behind the homes used for the filming of Back to the Future. So lets take a look at 3 of them.

Marty McFly's real-life house is located at 9303 Roslyndale Ave Los Angeles, CA 91331 in Pacoima in the San Fernando Valley. The exterior of the home is exactly the same as the movie -- a modest 1950s style ranch house. With the unusual amount of power lines behind it, the view isn't exactly the best. But the home has its stucco charm -- Spoiler Alert, the interior did get an upgrade with the new reality when Marty returned from 1955.

Marty Mcfly's House, Credit: Ian Fish/Flickr

In movie, Marty travels back to the 1950s only to encounter his parents as teenagers. And to Marty's embarrassment, finding out the 'true story' to how his dad was hit by his father in law's "to be" car. The exterior house shots of Lorraine's (Marty's Mother) childhood home were filmed at 1807 Bushnell Ave in South Pasadena, Ca. Today, just as the other home, the house looks the same as it did in the movie. The lawn might be smaller in size, but the landscaping around the home makes up for it. Side note: The exterior shot houses of bully Biff are also on the street as well. 

Credit: Tony Hoffarth/Flickr

Marty's friend and time travelling inventor Doc Brown house is fascinating.


Doc Brown's house has a lot of history to it, as the 3-story building is a National Historic Landmark & a California Historical Landmark. Designed by architects Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene in 1909, the house was constructed for David and Mary Gamble (a second generation family member of the Gambles of Procter & Gamble) in Pasadena, California.

"The Gamble House is considered by many to be one of the crowning achievements of the American Arts and Crafts movement, it combines Japanese design aesthetics with a variety of natural resources. There are several types of wood used throughout the house, including teak, maple, oak, cedar and mahogany all juxtaposed to contrast the differences between the material. In 1956, the Gamble house was given to the city of Pasadena and the University of Southern California School of Architecture."

Credit: Tony Hoffarth/Flickr

The interior shots were filmed at The Blacker House, which was also designed by Greene and Greene in the same style as the Gamble House. The Gamble House was unavailable for interior filming at the time.

The Gamble House was only featured in the 1950s scenes, as told by the Film, it burnt down at some point in the 1960s. On the property, there is also a garage built in the same style as the house. To show the garage in 1985, a facade was built next to a Burger King. When comparing the movie garage and the real one, they look pretty much the same. The only difference is the movie facade looks dingier.

You can visit the Gamble House, as it is open for docent led tours.