A talented filmmaker will make a space so real you can’t tell if it’s a set or a real property while watching the movie. An especially beautiful house, though, might pique your interest as to whether it’s real or not. So you hit up Google, type “house in (insert movie/TV show here)” and discover that it’s a real home—perhaps it’s even listed for sale.
Specializing in selling recognizable houses from movies or TV might be too thin a niche to build a business on—even if you live and work in the City of Angels. Still, if a listing does have a history on camera, the marketing opportunities (and obstacles) can be unique. Here are a few recent homes that went through particularly interesting or unusual transactions based on their visibility in film, television and pop culture.
3828 Piermont Dr NE and 322 16th St SW in Albuquerque, New Mexico – “Breaking Bad”
“Breaking Bad” shot primarily on-site in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to take advantage of the state’s film production tax breaks. The houses glimpsed throughout the series are real ones you can find in Albuquerque neighborhoods—and the most prominent one is on the market.
First, there is 3828 Piermont Dr NE, used as the suburban home of series’ anti-hero Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and his family. The house is a fairly modest one-floor home, though it does have a pool out back for cooling off during those hot New Mexico summers.
The property was listed in January 2025; owner Joanne Quintana, who grew up in the house after her parents bought it in 1973, discussed the decision to sell with local news station KOB 4. The house has become a tourist stop for “Breaking Bad” fans over the last decade plus, prompting the owners to put up a fence. Quintana said: “It’s time to move on. We’re done. There’s no reason to fight anymore.”
The house is listed by the Christensen Group | eXp Realty Luxury, specifically agents David Christensen and Sonya Avila, with assistance from Ryan Johnston, CEO of production company Interphase Entertainment. The listing even has its own website, where it is described as “the most famous house in Albuquerque.”
The listing price tag is just under $4 million, an elevated price due to the house’s pop cultural significance. (Median listing price in Albuquerque is currently $390,000, according to Realtor.com®.) Quintana told KOB 4 the house likely won’t serve as just another single-family home anymore, but could be turned into a vacation rental property or museum for “Breaking Bad” fans.
Just 20 minutes away from this potential museum is Albuquerque’s 322 16th St SW, which in “Breaking Bad” was the home of White’s partner-in-crime, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul). According to Homes.com, the property most recently sold in 2023. Make no mistake, though, the single-family home is hardly a bachelor pad, with four bedrooms and a two-car garage.
“Breaking Bad” is not always the best advertisement for these properties; several crimes occur at the Pinkman residence over the course of the series, from body disposal to raves to, of course, meth cooking. Data in 2022 found that 47% of respondents would prefer living in a house filled with ghosts over a former meth lab.
“Seacliff” in the Carmel Highlands of California – “Basic Instinct”
Listed for $91.35 million in Monterey County, California, is a luxury house called “Seacliff” owing to its location near, well, sea cliffs. Represented by Coldwell Banker Realty agent Tim Allen, the property is currently owned/being sold by software entrepreneur Gary Vickers. The house, though, has another former inhabitant you might recognize.
Seacliff was used as a filming location for the 1992 erotic thriller “Basic Instinct,” wherein it was depicted as the luxurious home of Sharon Stone’s femme fatale villain Catherine Trammell. (The movie is set in San Francisco, but the real house is a 2.5 hour drive away from the city.)
Vickers and his wife Kerry discussed their listing of the property earlier in April with the Wall Street Journal. They had previously listed the house, which they maintained as a second home, for $52.38 million in 2019. The relisting comes following an $11 million renovation.
Based on listing photos and reporting, Seacliff has many more amenities to offer than just its place in film history: features include a two-story library, smaller cottages on the property that supplement the main house and a steam room. If sold at listing price, the sale would eclipse Brad Pitt’s 2022, $40 million purchase of the neighboring D.L. James House in the Carmel Highlands.
3159 W 11th St, in Cleveland Ohio – “A Christmas Story”
What is Cleveland’s greatest tourist attraction? Sitting neck and neck with the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is the suburban house as seen in the 1983 cult classic film, “A Christmas Story.”
Purchased in 2004 by entrepreneur Brian Jones for about $100,000 on eBay, the “Christmas Story” house has been active as a tourist attraction since 2006. The property includes a museum and gift shops, while attendees can book tours and overnight stays in the main house or next door at “The Bumpus House,” the fictitious Parker family’s neighbors whose dogs stole their Christmas turkey.
Upon taking ownership of the property, Jones financed a $250,000 renovation to make the house, mostly the interior, more closely resemble the movie. The exterior retains its quaint and classical Victorian style, from its triangle roof to its roofed front porch; “A Christmas Story” is set in the 1930s, so a house built in an older style fit the period. Jones also purchased surrounding land lots to prevent new construction that would break the early 20th century illusion of the house.
Jones put the property up for sale in 2022, but only for those willing to take over operations of the business. The house was ultimately acquired in 2023 by company employee Joshua Dickerson, approached by Jones as a “plan B” after previously interested buyers fell through.
Henry River Mill Village in Hickory, North Carolina – “The Hunger Games”
Not every movie location is Hollywood luxury. Currently on the market is the 70 acre North Carolina property that includes Henry River Mill Village, a former company town for a textile factory. As of May 2025, the property is split between two listings, one 43 acres for $800,000, the other 28 acres (including multiple buildings) for $1.15 million.
Though not an inhabited town in the conventional sense, the village remains a preserved historic site. Among the nearly 30 buildings located on the property is a vacation home listed on Airbnb—and the village attracts tourists beyond those who want some Appalachian isolation, or who want to hike in the nearby Bakers Mountain Park.
The Henry River Mill Village was used as a filming location for the first “Hunger Games” film, set in a dystopian future where children are recruited to fight to death in televised gladiatorial combat. Heroine Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) hails from the impoverished mining community District 12—the rustic, semi-abandoned village was perfect for bringing that town to life.
“Hunger Games” fans who wanted to be Katniss when they were young apparently can’t resist the call of the village; Realtor.com reports the Airbnb rental brings in about $20,000 annual revenue.
380 S. San Rafael Ave in Pasadena, California – “Batman”
On July 22, 2025, the above Pasadena mansion sold for $20,500,000, per Zillow. The 10-bedroom, six-bathroom property clocking in at 16,599 square feet has been used as a filming location for many film and TV productions over the years since its original construction in 1928. (Recent filming has gotten owners complaints from neighbors for disruptions, highlighting a potential hazard for living on/near a frequently filmed property).
One of its most notable depictions on film was as the exterior for Wayne Manor in the 1966 “Batman” TV series, starring Adam West as Batman/Bruce Wayne. Batman movies and TV shows have filmed in numerous real cities, from Chicago to Liverpool, to present the fictional Gotham City. The ‘66 show, though, was filmed in sunny California. That said, the mansion’s British manor-style classicism—particularly its brick exterior—lets it pass as the mansion of East Coast old money like the Wayne family.
The house was once erroneously reported to have been destroyed by a fire in 2005, when it was actually the neighboring mansion at 160 S. San Rafael Avenue, which had also been used as a location for Hollywood shoots. Clarification that the house still stood quickly followed.
The luxury property’s size and the upper-scale Pasadena neighborhood makes it an attractive property. Be warned, though—the Batcave, and hidden library door entrance to said cave, is not included.
27 Marchant Avenue, Hyannis Port, Massachusetts – Taylor Swift’s former Cape Cod mansion
Not all stars are primarily movie stars. Music mega-star Taylor Swift announced her engagement to her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs Tight End Travis Kelce. Swift maintains numerous homes and real estate ownings—one former piece of her portfolio was in the news earlier this year.
In July 2025, the oceanfront Cape Cod mansion found at 27 Marchant Avenue in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, was sold for $14.5 million. Swift only briefly owned the home in 2012 – 2013 during a romance with political scion Conor Kennedy—the property is a neighbor of the Kennedy family compound. But even that short stint was enough to boost its profile, as the home sold relatively quickly after listing. The property on which the mansion rests stretches 1.11 acres, or about 5,000 square feet, and the private beachfront is over 200 feet long.
