“The Dropout” certainly ended with a bang – or at least a scream – as Elizabeth Holmes (Amanda Seyfried) abruptly faced the realization that the phalanx of lies she had built up around her company, Theranos, had irrevocably imploded. Based upon the ABC News podcast of the same name, the Hulu limited series, which wrapped its eight-episode run last week, very accurately dramatized the sordid true tale of the now-disgraced CEO, who became the darling of Silicon Valley upon dropping out of Stanford at the age of 19 to establish her biotech concern which she claimed was going to revolutionize medical testing. Spoiler – it didn’t! In what amounted to a massive scam, the supposed groundbreaking technology she was peddling didn’t actually exist. Once valued at $7 billion, Theranos is worth zero today as its once-celebrated founder awaits sentencing following being found guilty of three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy as a result of her tall tales.
Amid the sea of true crime/scandal stories currently clogging our screens, “The Dropout” is a standout, due primarily to Seyfried, who stuns in the lead role with a near-exacting embodiment of Holmes, right down to her uniquely deep cadence and pronounced mouth movements. The Chicago Sun-Times deems the portrayal a “career-best performance” and that is not hyperbole. “The Dropout’s” supporting cast also shines onscreen, as do the show’s many locations.
While set mainly in Silicon Valley, the series was lensed in its entirety in Los Angeles, with the production team securing some of SoCal’s most alluring real estate for prominent roles. A few of the illustrious properties to feature on the show include Glendale’s famed Schaffer Residence, which pops up as the Bay Area home of Theranos board member Channing Robertson (Bill Irwin). Sophia Loren’s former Thousand Oaks ranch, La Concordia, which was reimagined in recent years by Tony Duquette protégé Hutton Wilkinson, masquerades as the sylvan home of former Secretary of State George Shultz (Sam Waterston). And a massive mansion in the tony Holmby Hills neighborhood portrays the pad Elizabeth shares with her boyfriend/Theranos president Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani (Naveen Andrews) in the latter part of the series.
Purported to be located in Northern California’s Atherton neighborhood, in reality, the dwelling can be found on a large corner lot just down the road from the Playboy Mansion at 10350 Wyton Dr. (Please remember this is a private home. Do not trespass or bother the residents or the property in any way.)
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Image Credit: Zillow Featuring four bedrooms and nine baths in an incredible 15,000 square feet, the abode is a monolith, even by Holmby Hills’ standards! A new build, the property was completed in 2019, blending “old world elegance with a contemporary design flair,” according to a former real estate listing.
The formidable exterior is awash with regal balustrades, Moorish domes and towering archways that cascade outward from a circular atrium at the house’s center. Though the façade is a bit ostentatious, the mansion’s interior is nothing short of dazzling!
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Image Credit: Zillow A step across the threshold leads to a radiant two-story foyer flanked by twin glass staircases that curve their way upward to the second level. Lined with marble flooring and capped by a rounded ceiling bounded in wood, the enclave faces the atrium, a brilliant glass-enclosed space that overlooks the backyard.
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Image Credit: Zillow Situated off the atrium is the spacious eat-in kitchen, made complete by two massive marble islands with waterfall edges, a top of the line Gaggenau appliance suite that would make most professional chefs green with envy, a mix of stainless steel and wood cabinetry and a teppanyaki grill that allows for an in-home Benihana experience!
Additional common areas, each more alluring than the last, include a game room with a bar set-up, an open living room and a sprawling dining room with a wall of built-ins. There is also a screening room, a gym, a plethora of fireplaces and an elevator on the premises.
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Image Credit: Zillow The expansive 1.54-acre lot is chock full of such exclusive amenities as a pool with an attached hot tub, a tennis court, a lake, multiple lawns and a guest house larger than most single-family homes! The two-story structure, which was designed to be a mini version of the main residence, features three bedrooms and three baths in 3,000 square feet, bringing the property’s total square footage to a whopping 18,000!
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Image Credit: Zillow According to the Wall Street Journal, 10350 Wyton Dr. was the brainchild of a local developer who purchased the original house that stood on the premises in 1996 and subsequently demolished it in 2015 in order to design a dream compound for his family. The paper reports, “He said he envisioned a home that looked like it dated back centuries but was brand new inside.” By the time construction on the property was finally completed over four years later, though, he had become an empty-nester, his five children having grown and moved out, and he found the finished project far too big for his needs.
As such, the pad was put up for sale in 2019 for $49.5 million, repped by realtors Enzo Fiore and Ben Bacal. The price was then dropped to $45 million in early 2021 before being delisted altogether a few months later. When the place initially hit the market, the agents decked it out with 17 neon light installations created by visual artist Olivia Steele in order to “attract attention in a crowded market,” as the WSJ put it. Ironically, the pieces, which spelled out such inspirational phrases as “Trust the process,” “You belong here,” and “Stay present,” were very reminiscent of those that outfitted the walls of Theranos’ Palo Alto headquarters, perhaps foreshadowing the mansion’s future small-screen role!
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Image Credit: Zillow The Wyton Dr. property only appears in “The Dropout’s” last two episodes, “Heroes” and “Lizzie.” Prior to that, Balwani and Holmes are shown living in a condo owned by Sunny. Though their move is never explicitly addressed on the series, the couple relocates to the massive manse at the point that both Elizabeth and Theranos are at the apex of their worth.
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Image Credit: Zillow Several areas of the residence are featured on the show, including the front exterior and motor court, the kitchen, the living room and the owners’ suite, a glorious space boasting a wood ceiling, a marble fireplace, a dramatic circular bathroom centered by a massive standalone tub and his and her walk-in closets (where Elizabeth kept her stash of Issey Miyake black turtlenecks).
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Image Credit: Enes Yilmazer It is at the property that Balwani and Holmes break up following an epic shouting match in the final episode that moves from the main bedroom to the foyer. Though Sunny’s words are pretty poignant in the segment, as he screams at her, “You’re not real! You don’t have feelings! You aren’t a person, you’re a ghost! You’re nothing! You’re nothing!,” they were largely lost on me thanks to the mesmerizing glass-walled stairs Elizabeth is shown running down, which had me wholly transfixed! The twin spans are true scene-stealers!
Interestingly, the French provencial-style residence that Holmes and Balwani shared in real life (which recently sold for just under $16 million) is far more understated and traditional than their onscreen pad. Boasting four bedrooms and six baths in 6,800 square feet, it is also much smaller (by more than half, actually!) than its television counterpart.
Sleek, extravagant and overtly stylish, the Wyton Dr. estate, while definitely a showy choice, did nicely illustrate Holmes’ burgeoning wealth and ego onscreen, both of which implode quite fantastically by “The Dropout’s” end.