How did the each mansion's exterior stack up, in comparison?

[Gioberti84]

How did the exterior of Villa Miravalle (the Victorian mansion used in FC) compare to Filoli from Dynasty and Southfork from Dallas? It certainly had character in abundance and was imposing from certain points. There were few exterior scenes of the Dynasty mansion, which was a pity as it was a beautiful place. Why couldn't the cost of using it be justified, for such a long running production or did the owners restrict use?

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Both Filoli (which did restrict use for filming at one point, but I think that was later) and Miravalle were around San Francisco, 400 miles to the north of Hollywood. So, with the TV budgets of the time, the entire crew traveling up there probably had to be restricted. I'm guessing.

Aaron Spelling was infamously tight-fisted with the money (except for John, Joan and Linda's salaries and for Nolan's wardrobe expenses) and the show never went to Denver (except interior shooting at the Carousel Ball and the actors entering from the sidewalk to inexplicable applause from onlookers as if they were TV stars and not just another rich family) or Filoli (except for the 3-hour pilot); Spelling would allow LOVE BOAT to go on location a couple of times a year because, I guess, he felt they needed a legitimate cruise every so often.

Southfork, originally Duncan Acres, was chosen by Leonard Katzman because he felt it couldn't be photographed from a bad angle, was 1,500 miles to the east of Los Angeles, but at least they went there for a month or two every summer in order to capture some valid Texas atmosphere... DALLAS' trip to Vienna and Moscow should have happened on DYNASTY, but DYNASTY never went anywhere -- filmed in a flat-lighted closet with furs and, from time-to-time, Steven.

FC did the same with San Francisco as DALLAS did Dallas, filming there two months every summer.

Filoli, a Georgian mansion built just after the turn-of-the-century, was the perfect setting for The Carringtons, so it really was a shame they only went there once. But it had an atmosphere that DYNASTY quickly lost... Southfork, a newer structure built in 1970, was an infamously tiny ranch house, but it photographed as larger than it actually was (the original Box Ranch used in the 1978 'mini-series' was large enough to house all the Ewings, but was somehow less-cute than Duncan Acres; the Box Ranch burned in 1987 when one of those embers from Pam's tanker collision set fire to it, and, oddly, has lain fallow for 40 years -- unless somebody did something with it recently).

Villa Miravalle was ideal for Angela and her FC family, gently gothic and compelling like the show itself originally was. (For decades, I would have the occasional weird dream occurring in the foyer of the house, but those seemed to have ceased in the 2020s).

 

[Bobby Southworth]

I don't know..Southfork is just so iconic for me, and I've been there... 26 years ago next month.


For me, though, I'm going to have to go with the Falcon Crest mansion. I love both the interior(we see on the show), and the exterior. Have no idea how close it is to the real interior(probably not very) but then, I would have to say it's got to be closer to matching the interior than the Southfork set.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely was thrilled to be at Southfork back in 2000, but realizing they shot every interior shot of the house elsewhere was a bit of a letdown(except one scene in "War Of The Ewings"). I loved the land surrounding Southfork, but I honestly would have also loved to be able to see the interior of the house they actually filmed interiors in for those early season 2 episodes. Terrible with names, and now memory..lol..but I'm thinking the interiors for Southfork were done at a mansion in the Little Turtle?? area of Dallas.

The Falcon Crest mansion. I've never made my way all the way to California. Actually, on the same trip my family took to see Southfork, we ended up making it all the way out to Vegas, but not California. On the bucket-list, I guess. It looks as though I would probably love the land surrounding Villa Miravalle, even more than I did Southfork, but it feels like we saw more of the land surrounding Southfork than we did the land surrounding Villa Miravalle on Falcon Crest. It may just be that I've watched more of Dallas, so it's just more iconic for me. I don't know.

The Dynasty house looks very spacious, and grand, but I was never as into that show as Dallas and Falcon Crest, and the Victorian mansion is good enough(lol) for this old man.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I don't know..Southfork is just so iconic for me, and I've been there... 26 years ago next month.


For me, though, I'm going to have to go with the Falcon Crest mansion. I love both the interior(we see on the show), and the exterior. Have no idea how close it is to the real interior(probably not very) but then, I would have to say it's got to be closer to matching the interior than the Southfork set.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely was thrilled to be at Southfork back in 2000, but realizing they shot every interior shot of the house elsewhere was a bit of a letdown(except one scene in "War Of The Ewings"). I loved the land surrounding Southfork, but I honestly would have also loved to be able to see the interior of the house they actually filmed interiors in for those early season 2 episodes. Terrible with names, and now memory..lol..but I'm thinking the interiors for Southfork were done at a mansion in the Little Turtle?? area of Dallas.

The Falcon Crest mansion. I've never made my way all the way to California. Actually, on the same trip my family took to see Southfork, we ended up making it all the way out to Vegas, but not California. On the bucket-list, I guess. It looks as though I would probably love the land surrounding Villa Miravalle, even more than I did Southfork, but it feels like we saw more of the land surrounding Southfork than we did the land surrounding Villa Miravalle on Falcon Crest. It may just be that I've watched more of Dallas, so it's just more iconic for me. I don't know.

The Dynasty house looks very spacious, and grand, but I was never as into that show as Dallas and Falcon Crest, and the Victorian mansion is good enough(lol) for this old man.

The Southfork interiors were filmed in The Calder house for about 10 or so episodes, and recreated in the Hollywood studio after that. (The exteriors of The Calder house were actually used for Mark Graison's home later).

The owner of Southfork has been approached to allow the interiors to be redone to more closely match the studio interiors, but has refused.

Yes, the interiors of Villa Miravalle at the Spring Mountain Vineyard are much closer to the sets on FALCON CREST.

The problem with DYNASTY was that, especially after the first couple of seasons, it had much less of a sense of "place". And that was as much a result of script flaws (and the static acting directive which began in Season 3, and made everything feel all the more artificial) as did the almost total lack of location footage. (You can see a lot of Filoli in the excellent pilot as well as Warren Beatty's HEAVEN CAN WAIT). And then there are the sets, based on Filoli's interiors, that are so thoroughly flat-lighted (on Spelling's orders) that it looks exactly like what it is: a fakey studio set.

 

[Bobby Southworth]

The Southfork interiors were filmed in The Calder house for about 10 or so episodes, and recreated in the Hollywood studio after that. (The exteriors of The Calder house were actually used for Mark Graison's home later).

The owner of Southfork has been approached to allow the interiors to be redone to more closely match the studio interiors, but has refused.

Yes, the interiors of Villa Miravalle at the Spring Mountain Vineyard are much closer to the sets on FALCON CREST.

The problem with DYNASTY was that, especially after the first couple of seasons, it had much less of a sense of "place". And that was as much a result of script flaws (and the static acting directive which began in Season 3, and made everything feel all the more artificial) as did the almost total lack of location footage. (You can see a lot of Filoli in the excellent pilot as well as Warren Beatty's HEAVEN CAN WAIT). And then there are the sets, based on Filoli's interiors, that are so thoroughly flat-lighted (on Spelling's orders) that it looks exactly like what it is: a fakey studio set.

So cool! Thank you for sharing this. Wow. You were not wrong when you said the interior of Villa Miravalle is a lot closer. I'm hardly noticing much of a difference to be honest, and even Angela's study(the library, I guess) is intact, and that, for some reason, seems like the most important feature for me. Also the fact that it faces the front doors, as in the show, and the rooms that are situated in front, it's a very similar, if not identical setup.

However, I must say I also love the interior of the Calder House. The exterior isn't too shabby either, LOL. Dang. I can see why that location obviously wouldn't have worked for exterior shooting, but that's a beautiful home. I still will take Villa Miravalle, but it's a tough call. If only the real interior of Southfork looked anything like the Calder home, or the set we saw all those years that recreated it. I'm sure anyone who has been to Southfork understands where I'm coming from. It's a fine interior, but.. it doesn't have the class or the spaciousness of the Calder House. Thanks again for sharing this.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

So cool! Thank you for sharing this. Wow. You were not wrong when you said the interior of Villa Miravalle is a lot closer. I'm hardly noticing much of a difference to be honest, and even Angela's study(the library, I guess) is intact, and that, for some reason, seems like the most important feature for me. Also the fact that it faces the front doors, as in the show, and the rooms that are situated in front, it's a very similar, if not identical setup.

The un-aired pilot, The Vintage Years (which you can sometimes find on Youtube), filmed inside the actual Villa Miraville house. But it was rewritten and restructured (by Bob McCullough) because the pilot was too cluttered. (Richard was already there, a different actor, already Angela's son and her essential gofer, with a different Chase & Maggie in the form of Clu Gulager and Samantha Eggar).

However, I must say I also love the interior of the Calder House. The exterior isn't too shabby either, LOL. Dang. I can see why that location obviously wouldn't have worked for exterior shooting, but that's a beautiful home. I still will take Villa Miravalle, but it's a tough call. If only the real interior of Southfork looked anything like the Calder home, or the set we saw all those years that recreated it. I'm sure anyone who has been to Southfork understands where I'm coming from. It's a fine interior, but.. it doesn't have the class or the spaciousness of the Calder House. Thanks again for sharing this.

Yes, the foyer is not as deep in the actual Villa Miravalle House, while real-life the study and living room are much deeper! (Later, when FC added the sun room, they should have placed it on the rear of the living room -- or off the dining room where it actually is at Villa Miravalle -- instead of off the study, which is where the kitchen should have been).

NOTE: the "P" over the front door, which they oddly recreated for the studio set (before removing it several seasons in) is for "Parrot" because, built in 1885, it was The Parrot House, which, is how they arrived at the name "Perrault" for Lana Turner's character0 (It was the name of the original owner)... So the series' falcon motif is actually made up of parrots!

On DALLAS, they apparently chose the Calder house because it had three windows on either side of the front door (like the exteriors of the Duncan House/Southfork).

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

A little more:

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

You can no longer drive around the mansion as you could on the show.

From springmountainvineyard.com:

Originally purchased for Tiburcio by his step mother in 1884, the property spanned 800 acres just above Saint Helena. Within a year, Parrott began construction on his palatial residence with the help of Albert Schroepfer, the architect responsible for both the Neibaum and Beringer homes. Miravalle, meaning "look valley," was designed to have panoramic views of Napa Valley from its fourth-floor tower and cupola. The mansion featured wraparound verandas, a conservatory, and exquisite details like stained glass cupids and Parrott’s initials over the massive front doors. On the first landing of his wide staircase, he put the famous parrot window (which Lorimar, in its TV production of Falcon Crest in the 1980s, insisted on calling a falcon).

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BTW: the interiors at Stags' Leap, the stone house used for the Giobertis' home, are different from those on the show.