The Munster Mansion is an exterior set located at Universal Studios. It is most famous for its use in the — sitcom The Munsters , but has appeared in several other productions, both before and after. The house, built in the Second Empire Victorian architectural style , was constructed on Stage 12 in for the filming of the turn-of-the-century period romantic film So Goes My Love. After production of So Goes My Love ended, both house sets were put into storage. In the early s Universal decided to build a new exterior residential street on its front lot, and these sets were then taken out of storage and reassembled where they became a part of "River Road;" one of a number of residential streets constructed in the area.
The house was then seen in a number of Universal productions through the s see List of appearances in film and television , below. The house received its most famous make-over in when it was redressed for the premiere of the sitcom The Munsters. The third-story octagon tower with its mansard roof and four windows was altered into a covered widow's walk with a tented roof, the second-story center window was given a faux gingerbread gable , and a chimney and a crooked vampire-bat weathervane were added.
After a slight "roughing up" with new darker paint, the house and its grounds were used for all the exterior shots on the series, with interiors filmed on separate soundstages.
The address for the house was at one point supposed to be 43 Mockingbird Lane, Camelot, New Jersey, but was changed to Mockingbird Lane in the city of Mockingbird Heights state unknown as shooting began. Within the fiction of The Munsters series, the mansion was built on the remains of an old fort, with Grandpa providing the down payment when Herman and Lily bought the home. After production of The Munsters in and the film Munster, Go Home , the house was stripped of its trees, gates and other landscape dressing.
The set became known as the Munster Mansion, but that name was never used in the show. Universal replaced its entire front lot, and the Munster house, among other sets, were relocated to the backlot on " Colonial Street ".
