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The Murder House is a 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 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.[1]

The address of the house is given in the episode "Birth" as "939 Berro Drive, LA 90068".

At least from 1983- 1994, Constance 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.

Locations

Outside & Gardens

The property features a porte-cochère with a medium high wall. Violet has been seen sitting there while smoking. In "Murder House", Ben builds a gazebo in the garden to mask where Hayden was buried. Moira 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.

The Parlor/Dining Room

Currently houses a gas-fed fireplace.

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.[2] Vivien played the cello here.[3]  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.[4]

  • 1968: Maria is murdered here by R. Franklin.
  • 2011: Vivien gives birth here and dies in childbirth.

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 doll house 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 for 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.[5] This could be entirely coincidental, however.

The Bathrooms

  • 1968Gladys 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 to 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.

Violetstainedglass Stained glass001 Stained glass002

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
 Ben
Ben Harmon
 Stacey
Stacey Ramos
 Gabriel
Gabriel Ramos
Incidental residents
 Fiona
Fiona (Murder House character)
YGTDIT residents
 Alex
Alex

Notes

  • The house used in filming is the Rosenheim Mansion.
  • This house was featured and sold on the Scifi channel show Collection Intervention.

References

  1. According to Marcy (the realtor) in Pilot and tour guide Stan in "Murder House"
  2. Episode: Pilot
  3. Episode: Afterbirth
  4. Episode: Home Invasion
  5. Saturn in mythology

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