| Setting for Murder House and YGTDIT |
| The Murder House |
|---|
 |
| Residents |
| Televised Rooms |
| YGTDIT Rooms |
|
The Murder House is the central location and focus of the first season of American Horror Story and of the web experience "You're Going To Die In There".
History
The house is a classic Los Angeles Victorian, built in 1922 by prominent "surgeon to the stars" Charles Montgomery for his wife Nora. The fixtures are Tiffany glass, and the house was restored to its original grandeur by Chad Warwick and his boyfriend, Patrick.
At least from 1983 to 1994, Constance Langdon lived there, but then moved next door. It is as of yet unknown in which year she and her family moved into the Murder House.
In 2011, Ben Harmon, his wife Vivien and their daughter Violet moved into the house.
Until 2017, 36 deaths have occurred and have been documented in the house.
In 2017, Cordelia Goode sends Madison Montgomery and Behold Chablis to the house in order to gather information about Michael Langdon, a possible next Supreme. They buy the house in the disguise of a newly married pair.
Locations
Outside & Gardens
The property features a porte-cochère with a medium-high wall. Violet Harmon has been seen sitting there while smoking. In "Murder House", Ben Harmon builds a gazebo in the garden to mask where Hayden McClaine was buried. Moira O'Hara is also buried in the same grave, but Ben is unaware of this.
Entrance
The Study
- Ben meets clients for therapy sessions here since he operates his psychiatry practice from home.
The Basement
The basement is now home to the Infantata.
- 1926: The unnatural half-human prodigy of Elizabeth, a vampire, kills and consumes Charles Montgomery's nurse after a failed abortion.
- 1978: Troy and Bryan were killed here by the Infantata.
- 2011: Leah was attacked here by the Infantata. Fiona, Dallas, Chad Warwick, Patrick, and Joe Escandarian are all killed here.
The Parlor/Dining Room
Currently houses a gas-fed fireplace.
- 1926: Dr. Charles Montgomery was shot here by his wife Nora before she killed herself.
- 2010: Tate/Rubber Man attacked Chad and Patrick here.
Living Room
Ben suggested using the space as a music room for Vivien. However, due to his wife's reluctance to play the cello, it serves as a living room.[1] Vivien played the cello here.[2] The peeling wallpaper, which was removed by Vivien, hid a mural across several walls depicting gruesome imagery. In 2011, Vivien and Violet were bound here during a home invasion to re-enact R. Franklin's murders.[3]
- 1968: Maria is murdered here by R. Franklin.
- 2011: Vivien gives birth here and dies in childbirth.
Master Bedroom
- 1983: Constance shot her husband Hugo and housekeeper Moira O'Hara in the Master Bedroom.
Turquoise Bedroom (Tate's/Violet's/Gabriel's bedroom)
- 1994: Tate is shot by the S.W.A.T. Team.
- 2011: Other than scenes involving Violet and Tate or Violet and Vivien, Moira gives Joe a blowjob here. Tate attempts to kill Gabriel Ramos in this room, with the purpose of not letting Violet alone, but he fails to do so when she saves the Ramos' son by distracting Tate.
Note: The kitchen and the turquoise bedroom were the only rooms that the crew redecorated. All other furniture and decorations belong to the Rosenheim Mansion (with the exception of the wall mural). The defining color of Violet's room (other than the turquoise wall color that is part of the Rosenheim Mansion) is of course violet: Her bedding, her carpets, and her small round leather seat are all violet. Violet's room was decorated with items which relate back to several episode storylines. It features
- A poster of a skull next to her bed.
- A jar with dolls heads (referencing the jars in the basement).
- A collection of spiked belts draped over her desk lamp.
- A collection of dead bugs and butterflies.
- An armchair.
- A Ferris wheel (the Ferris wheel was invented for the 1893 Chicago World Fair mentioned in Piggy Piggy)
- A dollhouse on the window sill. When Tate lived in this room, a copy of Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House" was in its place.
- When this was Tate's room, he had a poster of Saturn on his wall. In Roman mythology, Saturn fulfilled the same role as the Red Dragon that Leah mentions in Home Invasion in the Bible's Book of Revelations: He devours children as soon as they are born. Saturn assumed power by castrating his father, then married his sister. In Medieval and Renaissance occultism, the planet Saturn was associated with depression. It is still a symbol of death. In astrology, the planet Saturn in one's chart indicates a tyrannical, domineering parent who seeks to mold the child in his or her own image. Children often become "swallowed up" by such domination.[4] This could be entirely coincidental, however.
The Bathrooms
- 1968: Gladys was drowned in a bathtub by R. Franklin.
- 2011: Violet does her cutting here at the sink with her father's razor blades.
- Violet dies in the bathtub after overdosing on sleeping pills. At the time it appears as though she lived but Tate later reveals that she had swallowed far too many and that she did, in fact, pass away in his arms.
The Corridors
The Kitchen
The kitchen and Violet's/Tate's room were the only two rooms of the Rosenheim Mansion that were redecorated for the show. All other furniture comes with the property, with the exception of minor props. For later episodes, the exact same furniture from the Rosenheim Mansion had to be recreated.
The Attic
- 1994: Constance's son, Beau, was smothered by Larry Harvey.
- 2011: Vivien finds a gimp suit attached to the ceiling in the attic.
Decorations
- Stained glass
- The house features several original Tiffany lamps and stained glass windows. The stained glass windows feature the color blue, which Nora explains was Charles' tribute to her eye color. All stained glass windows are actually part of the Rosenheim Mansion. It is true though that the stained glass in Ben's office, which is, in reality, a Greek temple, resembles the gazebo and that the Dining Room has stained glass windows with violets in them. It is thus possible that the writers of the show took clues from the actual decorations of the Rosenheim Mansion.
Promotional Website
The house can be explored on the website You're Going to Die In There [1]. The main article for clues and information found therein can be found here.
Residents
These are the residents of the house, both intended and unintended, whether currently living or deceased.
| Homeowners and tenants | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Incidental residents | |||||||||
| YGTDIT residents | |||||||||
Notes
- The house used in filming is the Rosenheim Mansion.
- On February 2018, current owners of the house Dr. Ernst von Schwarz and Angela Oakenfold sued the previous owners and estate agents for failing to disclose its connection to the FX show. Daily intrusions and trespassing by fans of the show are the main issues motioned in the lawsuit. [5] [6]
- This house was featured and sold on the SYFY's show Collection Intervention.
- Overall, as of "Return to Murder House", there are 36 people who have died in the Murder House and been trapped in its confines as restless (or malevolent) ghosts, not including the occupants featured in You're Going to Die in There (1. because it is left unknown if it is canon to the show's universe and 2. because it is deliberately kept unclear how many additional people died in the house, and is left up to the audience to decipher).
References
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