There’s exciting news for all of the Kevin Pearson (Justin Hartley) and Madison Simons (Caitlin Thompson) shippers out there! No, I am not in possession of some super-secret insider information regarding the beloved (or not so beloved) “This Is Us” characters getting back together after suddenly – and heartbreakingly – calling off their wedding at the end of last season, or anything like that. But the house belonging to Madison, where the couple lived prior to breaking things off on the era-jumping drama, is currently up for grabs!
The single-story Craftsman just hit the market this week and is already generating quite a bit of buzz! Located at 1357 N. Orange Grove Ave. in a leafy section of Los Angeles’ historic Spaulding Square neighborhood, the dwelling exudes curb appeal! (Please remember this is a private home. Do not trespass or bother the residents or the property in any way.) Tucked behind an idyllic white picket fence with a vine-covered clapboard façade that looks straight out of a Hollywood backlot, it is not hard to see why the pad is a hot commodity – its small-screen fame notwithstanding.
Originally built in 1920 but added onto in 2000, the dwelling currently boasts three bedrooms and two baths in 1,817 square feet. Repped by power broker Trevor Wright of The Beverly Hills Estates, the property comes with a $2,195,000 price tag. That’s $1,208 per square foot for those counting (Manny say “Whaaaaaat?”), which is right in line with Realtor.com’s current assessment of the median PPSF in the area, proving that the Los Angeles real estate market is showing no signs of cooling down anytime soon! (Hartley himself has even been adding to his portfolio. The star just dropped $1.3 million on an investment property in Encino.)
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Image Credit: Realtor.com Open and bright with rooms that naturally flow into each other, the interior of the Craftsman is as chock full of character as the exterior. The classic, fluid design is marked by many original details including broad crown molding, hardwood flooring and French doors throughout.
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Image Credit: Realtor.com Living spaces include an updated kitchen outfitted with new stainless steel appliances and marble counters, a living room with a working fireplace, a handsome office/den and a formal dining room, the latter two both lined with built-ins. There is also a laundry room on the premises.
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Image Credit: Realtor.com The spacious owners’ suite features pitched ceilings, a walk-in closet, French doors overlooking the rear patio and a tranquil subway-tile clad bath boasting an entire wall of original cabinetry.
Picturesque through and through, the property seems tailor-made to appear onscreen!
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Image Credit: Realtor.com Interestingly, when audiences are first introduced to Madison’s house in season two, she lives in a different location entirely. In the episode titled “Clooney,” Kate Pearson (Chrissy Metz) visits her at a cottage located at 546 N. Beachwood Dr. in L.A.’s Larchmont District. By the beginning of season five, however, when Madison becomes pregnant with Kevin’s twins, she has moved on to 1357 N. Orange Grove. In the season’s premiere, titled “Forty, Part One/Forty, Part Two,” Kevin offers to “rent a giant house” – large enough for Madison to have her own wing! – so that the two can quarantine together throughout the pregnancy, but they ultimately opt to share her charming Craftsman instead.
Only the exterior of the residence is utilized on the series, though we don’t ever see much of the front excluding a brief glimpse of the porch in the episode titled “Jerry 2.0,” as Pearson matriarch Rebecca (Mandy Moore) and her daughter-in-law, Bethany (Susan Kelechi Watson), leave Madison’s bachelorette party. Apparently, “This Is Us” is not a show that is big on establishing shots.
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Image Credit: Realtor.com The backyard, though, is featured regularly throughout the fifth season, which started filming amid the pandemic last fall. The quaint 0.17-acre space made for an excellent spot to safely shoot outdoors and, as such, popped up in several scenes, including in the painting portion of Madison’s bachelorette party in “Jerry 2.0” and in “I’ve Got This” when Kevin and Toby Damon (Chris Sullivan) smoke Cohibas gifted by Leonardo DiCaprio’s manager.
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Image Credit: Realtor.com Television productions very rarely make use of actual interiors being that sets are far more easily controlled environments, a circumstance that has never been more true than during Covid. Accordingly, the inside of Madison’s house is a set constructed on a soundstage at Paramount Pictures Studio in Hollywood where the series is lensed. Created by production designer Gary Frutkoff, the set is loosely modeled after the Craftsman’s real interior.
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Image Credit: Realtor.com As open as 1357 N. Orange Grove is, the set is even more so thanks to the absence of a wall between the kitchen and dining area. Otherwise, though, the Craftsman has very much the same feel as what appears on TV. So whoever buys the place will be able to ugly cry their way through the final season of “This Is Us” (which is set to air in 2022) pretty much from the comfort of Madison and Kevin’s home! And bonus – the residence is still under contract with the series through the end of next year, so there is potential for filming income – not to mention star sightings! Talk about a selling point!