2/2 A walk through (and around) 4247 Maplewood Drive- Seasons 1 and 2 by Kiwismh

The Laundry

clip_image002[4]
Onto the laundry, which we don’t get to see much except as background to the kitchen. I am thinking there must be a downstairs toilet (and possibly shower) in the laundry area too. It would be very inconvenient to have to dash upstairs at every call of nature.


So, notice this is definitely a different side door to the one off the family room, hence my amendment to the floor plan.

clip_image004[4]

 

The Formal Dining Room

clip_image006[4]clip_image008[4]
This room didn’t make it into many episodes but most notably was the room transformed into a KGB Interrogation Room in The Three Faces of Emily in which its pretty Wedgwood blue walls were painted Soviet Grey. 

Also, another good view of the differences in the altered kitchen from S1 (Amanda packing the picnic basket) and S2 Car Wars.

clip_image010[4]clip_image012[4](Above-Car Wars)

 The Formal Lounge

Another seldom seen room. First glimpsed in TFT with Dean and Amanda presumably smooching in front of the fireplace. Ick! They were out of sight thanks goodness – none of us wanted to see that! I think it was also the room from which Amanda made her first phone call to Lee. I think the window seat shot of Amanda in the opening credits is also in the lounge.

clip_image014[4]clip_image016[4]The formal lounge is also seen again in Dead Ringer. What on earth is the significance of that bull over the fire? It seems so not Amanda. It is an old weather vane? Maybe Joe liked it.
Dead Ringer

clip_image018[4] clip_image020[4]

Double Agentclip_image022[4]

Fearless Dottyclip_image024[4]

 

The Three Faces of Emilyclip_image026[4]

 

The Stairs and Upstairs

We never get entirely upstairs in the first 2 Seasons, but we do get part-way up the stairs. Amanda has been doing some redecorating after TFT – note the different wall hangings/pictures at the stair landing in The ACM Kid.

clip_image028[4]clip_image030[4]

 

In Always Look a Gift Horse we see Dotty all the way up on the second floor, but this is as close as we get to upstairs until Season 3. Whose bedroom door is that upstairs? Could be Amanda’s I think.

clip_image032[4]

 

Heating

The open fire place in the formal lounge is the only form of heating we see in the house, but I assume it is also centrally heated. I understand some US houses have some sort of central heating unit in the basement.

A chimney can be glimpsed from the kitchen window too, implying a fire place in the formal dining room, but I don’t think we ever got to see enough of the formal dining room to see if it had a fireplace in it. 

clip_image034[4]clip_image035[4]

 

The Garage

This is Amanda’s garage : 

clip_image039[4]

Is that a “flat” or “apartment room” above the garage, or just a storage room?
Seen here is the frequently used ‘running family’ shot.  

clip_image037[4]

Gratuitous Eye Candy and Amanda’s real garage. Does this man look like he belongs in the suburbs? Nope! I foresee some acreage and a few horses in this man’s domestic future.

clip_image041[4]clip_image043[4]

 

clip_image045[4]clip_image047[4]
This isn’t Amanda’s garage but for some reason it became her garage in Murder Between Friends :

It’s even the wrong way around!

I had to transpose this shot (photo on the right) to get it so that it looked like Lee wasn’t going onto the neighbour’s property to get into the garage door. The transposed shot below works better but it is still the wrong garage.

And the house next door is wrong too, but we will get to that in “The Neighbourhood”. 

clip_image049[4]
The rear of Amanda’s house is a virtual maze of trellising – I guess to form a back-drop and to screen the sound stage or set they were on. I can’t figure it out. Seasons 3 and 4 might give us more clues as to the lay out of the yard.

clip_image051[4]

 

The Neighbourhood

 

clip_image002[6]

clip_image004[6]clip_image006[6]clip_image008[6]
The house next door (on the garage side of Amanda’s house) has stone cladding and is single storey – most of the time – except on rare occasions when it’s weatherboard and 2 storey.

Establishing shot from A Relative Situation. A short time later in that episode the trees had mysteriously lost all their leaves, and there is that weird eagle over Amanda’s door (mentioned in post 1), but at least the neighbour’s house hadn’t transmorgrified into this!

clip_image009

clip_image011clip_image013

The rest of the houses down the street on the garage side of Amanda’s house :

 

Amanda’s other neighbouring property (on the kitchen/family room side of her house) is less often seen and usually only fleetingly as a car chase races past, usually involving a silver Corvette. Amazingly the whole neighbourhood seems woefully ignorant of the unusual goings-on at 4247 Maplewood Drive and don’t seem to notice that it is the nucleus of so much drama in their “normal” suburban street.

Here is the immediate neighbouring house on the other side of Amanda’s home. Kidnapping in progress – you’d think that one of the nosey neighbours would notice! Again, this house is single storey, as is the next one along by the look of things.

clip_image015

clip_image017

And here Billy makes a rare appearance in Amanda’s neighbourhood – this exterior shot enables us to see again the houses next door to Amanda.

Hmmm, trench coat and fedora hat – yes, everyday suburban-wear. Way to blend in, Billy!

And, below, the houses along the street – all single level.clip_image019clip_image021

clip_image023

clip_image025
And, down the road (garage side) to the corner, and below Maplewood Drive.

And finally, here we get to see the house on the corner across the street, and what look to me like not very typical hills in the background. Anyone familiar with Arlington who can let us know whether hills like this would form a typical back-drop there?

clip_image027

So “it’s hello, it’s goodbye” from Mrs Dukaine and me as we come to the end of our tour of 4247 Maplewood Drive and the neighbourhood as it was in Seasons 1 and 2. I expect I will add to this post at the end of Season 3.

 

I hope you’ve all enjoyed the tour and feel free to fill in any gaps or correct any errors or omissions.

Kiwismh

37 thoughts on “2/2 A walk through (and around) 4247 Maplewood Drive- Seasons 1 and 2 by Kiwismh”

  1. Kiwismh, I found both of these posts to ba absolutely fascinating! The detail and research that went into this was amazing! Thank you so much.

    Like

    Reply

  2. I loved this tour! I must have seen this show all the way through a dozen times but I had never realised how many transformations the house went through. 🙂

    Am I the only crazy person who thinks the amount of knickknacks in Amanda’s house is cozy and just right? She’s definitely the kind of person who snapped up the “Sidetracked Home Executives” book the second it came out and shamed all the housewives on the block with her ridiculously perfect organisational skills from that day forward. 😉 She’s the most organised TV-mom I’ve ever seen!

    I would love to hear any ideas about how the upstairs is set up- in one episode Amanda mentions her house has three bedrooms, but in the second season Jamie and Phillip have separate rooms to clean, indicating that she has four bedrooms. Maybe she remodelled upstairs at the same time as the kitchen? 😉

    I agree with those who said they think that the family room and laundry room have separate doors- that means she’d have the french doors, then the door out of the family room we see fairly often, then a third door in that same area from the laundry room. I’m researching that though. By watching the show again, of course!

    Thank you again for the virtual tour and all the info!

    Like

    Reply

    2. Great to hear from you, Cheyenne! I tend to think that Dotty is the secret (or not so secret) weapon in Amanda’s well-run home (but then I’m a Dotty fan).
      Hopefully Kiwismh, our resident expert on all matters relating to property, will do another post about the upstairs, especially since we’ve seen more of it as we walk through season 3.

      Like

      Reply

    3. Hey Cheyenne, thanks for the feedback. Amanda’s zany house is a constant source of wonderment and amusement. 🙂 Agree, dusting must be a nightmare in that house with all those ornaments and knick-knacks. Dotty must do the dusting… where would Amanda get time?

      Like

      Reply

  3. Hi Everyone – I’ve had a moment to think some more on this post.. Kiwismh you’ve done a fabulous job with both your posts and have really helped to clarify for me where things actually are.

    I think sometimes it felt to me like they had moved things when in reality there are two different doors – that area around the kitchen/ laundry and all those exits are always confusing to me!!! but you’ve cleared it up beautifully!! My brain can’t process this stuff by itself it needs kiwismh’s translation!!

    Thanks again!!

    Oh and I agree – all those knick knacks do my head in! Just think of all the dusting!!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  4. Yup–all the trellis in the back yard is mind-boggling. Ugh.
    I love the mutating house next door, the mutating garage, … so many things to boggle our minds!
    Kudos for documenting it all so well — clearly and entertainingly.
    “I expect I will add to this post at the end of Season 3.” Woo-hoo!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  5. Hi kiwismh! Bravo – another fantastic post! I love how you tell us which episodes each screen cap is taken from.

    Regrading the bull over the fireplace, I think that it is an antique or replica of an old weathervane – and is just another symbol of colonial times. The bull may be what they used on a farm or ate possible? I’m not a farm girl, so I really don’t know.

    It looks like you can see the window seat in the living room picture from Double Agent when the boys are sitting on the floor and Amanda is standing behind the chair.

    Good catch on seeing the bricks through the kitcen window suggesting a fireplace in the dining room. I didn’t think there was one in that room – I thought we saw enough of it in TTFOE, but I guess we didn’t.

    Yeah, I don’t get all the trellises in Amanda’s back yard either. Wouldn’t she want to be able to see the boys play?

    Ahh, I see Billy’s Inspector Gadget trench and Fedora that he wore in ROTP is what he wears when he visits Amanda’s house in DR. Go Go gadget Billy!

    Hmm, the Arlington Hills or Heights? I’ve been to the part of Arlington right along the Potomac but not out in the suburbs where Amanda would live. In my opinion though, I don’t think Arlington has hills that would look like that. Gradual, rolling hills with green trees, yes. I think what seems wrong to me is the vegetation. It look to brown and shrubbish. Guess they weren’t too concerned with people realizing Amanda really lived in California.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. Knick-knacks were certainly the style back in the 70’s and 80’s. People would have special shelves built to display things on. We didn’t have a lot of those around our house, but we did have a few. There are a couple older people I know who still have theirs hanging up around their home.

    Also, natural gas was the preferred method of central heating around that time, I believe. Very few folks had heat pumps. Some used fireplaces or coal furnaces/stoves. Around the southeast US, anyway.

    Like

    Reply

    1. Again, thanks for a great look at Amanda’s home and neighborhood, Kiwismh. I didn’t realize how much had actually changed.

      Like

      Reply

  7. I love all these details Kiwismh and all of our reactions to them. Does anyone remember reading Colonial Homes Magazine in the 80’s, full of knick knacks.
    Central heating is a must in the north eastern part of the US! Especially this winter. Amanda’s house probably would have had hot water baseboard radiators or forced warm air with a furnace in the basement. She might have even had central air conditioning which isn’t always a standard thing in my part of the country.
    I looked up pictures of Arlington, VA neighborhoods. Amanda’s house style would have been the norm, the rest of the houses on her street look more like California to me, as do the hills. Arlington is near the Potomac river as it enters the Atlantic, low lands.
    I think the differences in architecture due to location and country are interesting. It is amazing the things we take for granted but can learn as we share our own view points, Thanks.

    Like

    Reply

        1. Hi Debilyn – thanks!

          have moved.. and slowly unpacking and getting organised.. I’m back! 🙂

          I’ve missed you guys, the blog and smk!

          Like

          Reply

        1. Thanks Jule! have moved to a much better home than the one I was in last week – phew!!

          Yes definitely time to break out the chocolate! oh and always a good time for Lee-leif!

          Like

          Reply

  8. It’s funny how we all think Amanda needs to de-clutter….I look at photos of my homes back in the 80s and 90s and I had a lot of KNICK knacks (dust collectors).apparently that was my decorating style back then….now I go for “less is more”!
    Amanda’s house was kind of a “hot mess” if you ask me. (Before everyone starts asking….Hot mess—is a southern term that we like to use it means :(no reason to look that bad)…..loved looking at all the comparisons…

    Like

    Reply

    1. I hear you! Even though my parents were very Spartan compared to our neighbours, we still had a lot of bric a brac and knickknacks. We were the only house on the block without decorative plates and teaspoons on the walls and my parents were oddballs for actually PAYING EXTRA money for a white stove and fridge when the trend was avocado green, harvest gold or coppertone appliances.

      Like

      Reply

      1. Oh yes…i had a.harvest gold fridge and green shag carpet and I thought I was in the highest fashion…LOL….how times change

        Like

        Reply

    3. I was introduced to the wonderfully versatile term “hot mess” just last year here in the Midwest. Yes, that pretty much sums up the decorating we see. I think the 80’s were good for that. At one time, my father had a total of 23 brass lanterns adorning the first floor alone at home.
      I don’t know that the laundry/mud room would have had a bathroom. Many houses built in the 1920’s to 1950’s in our neck of the woods had only one bathroom for the entire house. Our first house was a little two-story bungalow with only one bathroom, upstairs.
      I’m interested to know what central heating is called and where it’s typically located in New Zealand homes. In the U.S., it’s most typically found in the basement or crawlspace, and we just call it the furnace. Ours is gas forced air.
      Great posts, by the way. I found them very interesting.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Central heating in New Zealand has really only been common place in New Zealand homes in the last 20-30 years. In fact, many new houses aren’t fitted with central heating. Not that many New Zealand houses have basements either, most of those that do were built in the 1960’s and 1970’s when split level and 2 storey dwellings became popular.
        New Zealand houses, particularly those built before 1970 have a reputation for being cold and damp – seems New Zealander’s preferred to “tough it out” in the old days. Also the predominantly English, Scottish and Irish settlers viewed New Zealand as a tropical country (compared with where many of them had come from) and clearly didn’t see the need for any serious heating.
        Many of our houses now are being retro-fitted with insulation, double glazing and better heating systems. The most common heating options for New Zealand houses now are heat pumps, gas heating (including central heating) and wood burners. Solar heating is also becoming more popular, particularly for water heating, but this is very expensive to install. Dehumidifying systems are also popular. The only fixed heating I have in my 100 year old villa is a wood burner, plus the exterior walls and ceiling space have been insulated. I don’t use heaters as power (natural gas and electric) is really expensive in New Zealand. Many New Zealanders make minimum use of electric and natural gas heating for this reason. The power companies make huge profits – it’s a real issue in NZ as cold, damp houses also lead to health problems particularly for children and the elderly. Firewood is really expensive too.
        I grew up in a 1920’s Californian bungalow style home – I’m sure with their sweeping covered verandas and shaded windows they were great in the dry, hot Californian climate, but in New Zealand they have a reputation for being the dampest, coldest houses (unless they have been fitted with full insulation, dehumidifying system and good heating). I remembering being shivering cold in the damn place in winter time, but we just thought that was normal back then (by “back then” I mean I the 1970’s and 80’s).

        Like

        Reply

        1. Since we usually have several – 30 C days in the winter (sometimes even hit -40!), a furnace is a necessity. I cannot imagine how the pioneers survived a hundred years ago. They were made of tougher stuff for sure.

          Like

          Reply

        2. I grew up in an old farmhouse–not sure of the era, but know it was most definitely pre-1970s… possibly 1930s-ish if I was forced to guess. Anyway–we had an oil heater that was sunk into the floor near the middle of the house… I’m not sure whether it qualified as central heating–but we very rarely used it… Kiwis are tough. LOL.
          Off on a tangent–I remember the power crisis in 1992… I was living in Dunedin at the time, and me and my flatmates would huddle on the sofa under blankets with hot water bottles on our laps. ROFL. (For those who don’t know, NZ utilises a lot of hydroelectric power and at that time the country was experiencing a drought and people were strongly urged to conserve power. Dunedin is near the south of the South Island, and isn’t exactly warm…)

          Like

          Reply

          1. I sure appreciated my central heating as it dipped to MINUS 39 last night. At least at that temperature, I don’t have to convert between Celsius and Fahrenheit.(With windchill, it felt like -49 C). GAH! I am not enjoying this current winter season. At least we have huge reserves of natural gas, so heating is relatively cheap compared to other parts of the world.

            Like

            Reply

            1. So if I said I was sitting in my apartment this evening beside the open ranch-slider in just a t-shirt (with no heating on, obviously), you’d be pretty mad, huh Cindy? 😀 My bad… At least we finally got a little bit of rain!!!

              Like

              Reply

  10. Hey, I’ve just noticed. Is that a Scarecrow Amanda is holding and making a kissy-face at in the window-seat shot from the opening credits? 😉

    Like

    Reply

    1. Yes, it is! She later hangs it on the refrigerator, I think, or somewhere in the kitchen.
      I noticed the tv in the living room/formal lounge in the Mr. Whitsit picture. Did they move the tv in there, or are there two tvs?
      Nice croquet set in the Lee with Lenin picture!
      Not sure the bedroom door behind Dotty is Amanda’s. That room would have to be over the family room, wouldn’t it? Amanda’s room is in the front left corner as you look at the house from the street. Or maybe I’m all turned around.

      Like

      Reply

  11. Fabulous Job kiwismh!! I had no idea we had gotten to see so much of the formal living room by this stage! this house is huge!!!

    I agree with everyone who is saying Amanda needs to declutter!!! Seems Lee certainly did between his first and second apartments.. Hmm!!

    I hope you had fun putting this together kiwismh, it’s certainly been lots of fun reading it! 🙂

    You rock! 😎

    Like

    Reply

  12. Wow you really have an eye for detail Kiwismh, good job! Thanks for the tour, it helps lessen some of the confusion. It always seem like there were lots of rooms downstairs in Amanda’s house, all with a lot of stuff in them. Hmmmm, I think I need to go declutter my house now, LOL! And you do have to wonder whether the neighbors were never at home or if nobody was very nosy…. If I saw Lee hanging out at my neighbor’s house I’d be over there in a heartbeat!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  13. Wow, amazing work! I was always wondering why they change so many things. Maybe they didn’t think we notice because of the Eye Candy.
    Bye

    Like

    Reply

So what do you think??? :)

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.