It certainly seems to be “Office” season in the Los Angeles real estate market because two notable houses from the beloved mockumentary series have recently come up for sale. First, the pad that played the residence of Toby Flenderson (Paul Leiberstein) was listed, and now the property that belonged to David Wallace (Andy Buckley) is up for grabs! Offered at $5,995,000, the listing is held by George Penner of Deasy Penner Podley.
Purported to be located in White Plains, New York on the show, in truth the Wallace house can be found at 1485 Lomita Dr. in Pasadena. In real life, it is known as the Abraham Denman Estate in honor of its original owner, Abraham C. Denman, Jr., a steel executive who had a hand in building the Arrowhead Hot Springs Hotel, which served as the visual inspiration for Lucia State Hospital on the television series “Ratched.”
The sprawling Denman Estate was designed in 1925 by architect Lucille W. Luckhardt at a cost of $16,000, which, according to a building biography on the property, was “about four times the cost of an average tract house” of the era. The two-story manse has since been expanded and renovated several times over the years, most recently in 2010.
Set far back from the road atop a leafy knoll, the home was the first to be constructed on Lomita Dr., a U-shaped enclave in Pasadena’s affluent Oak Knoll neighborhood, and is easily the most picturesque on the block. With five bedrooms and five baths spread across 6,301 square feet plus a one-bedroom, one-bath guest house, the Colonial Revival is not short on space. The grand dwelling is certainly befitting of Dunder Mifflin’s resident CFO (“not his initials – common mistake”) and Suck It inventor.
-
Image Credit: Carothers Photo The interior of the property is just as impressive as the exterior. Behind the regal façade and handsome brick-lined front entry sits an expansive foyer that opens to both the formal living room and dining room, the latter of which is swathed in exquisite hand-painted de Gournay Chinoiserie wallpaper in a saffron hue.
-
Image Credit: Carothers Photo The open kitchen is an epicure’s paradise with a Sub-Zero fridge, double ovens, a central island with an extra sink, bar seating and an adjoining “lounging room” with a fireplace and wall-mounted television.
-
Image Credit: Carothers Photo There’s also a wood-paneled library with a wet bar, a butler’s pantry, a breakfast room, a guest suite and a laundry room on the residence’s lower level.
-
Image Credit: Carothers Photo Upstairs you’ll find an office and four additional bedrooms, including the luxurious owners’ retreat, which looks straight out of a boutique hotel, boasting a fireplace, sitting area, dual closets, and a large bath with a walk-in shower and separate tub.
-
Image Credit: Carothers Photo A multitude of built-ins, hardwood flooring and French doors can be found throughout the estate.
-
Image Credit: Carothers Photo The manicured 0.79-acre lot, designed by landscape architect Mark Berry, is the home’s real pièce de résistance, though.
-
Image Credit: Carothers Photo With a bucolic expanse of lawn flanked by multiple terraces, as well as a pool and a spa, and shaded by a smattering of oak, pine and citrus trees, the spacious yard was made for entertaining!
-
Image Credit: Peacock -
Image Credit: Carothers Photo The Abraham Denman Estate only appeared once on “The Office,” in season three’s “Branch Closing,” which aired in 2006. Upon learning that the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company’s Scranton Branch is closing, Regional Manager Michael Scott (Steve Carell) and Assistant to the Regional Manager Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) decide to take matters into their own hands by driving to the New York home of Michael’s “boss’s boss’s boss” to make a face-to-face plea to save the office. Because Wallace is not there when they arrive, the two are forced to wait outside on the sidewalk all day and into the night with only a bottle of Gatorade to sustain them. Though they never end up getting a chance to confront the CFO, the Scranton branch is eventually spared from closure, with the Stamford branch shuttering instead, which paved the way for countless storylines involving the merger of the two.
Andy Buckley was actually employed as a Merrill Lynch wealth management advisor when he landed the career-making role of David Wallace in 2006. He had taken the brokerage job five years prior after almost a decade of unsuccessfully pounding the pavement as a struggling actor. A chance meeting with casting director Allison Jones at a local L.A. farmers market led to an audition for “The Office” and producer Michael Schur, delighted over Buckley’s financial background, cast him. His storyline kicked off with season two’s “Valentine’s Day” and what he thought might be a one-off turned into a 37-episode stint throughout the show’s nine-year run. Incredibly, despite his success with the role, he continued to work full-time at Merrill Lynch up until “The Office’s” last season in 2012! New clients must have been shocked to walk into a meeting with the financial advisor only to discover David Wallace himself sitting behind the desk!
Buckley’s reign on “The Office” may have been substantial, but the Denman Estate’s stint was short-lived. By the time the “Cocktails” episode aired later that same season, a different but somewhat similar Colonial at 5133 Louise Ave. in Encino was being utilized as the Wallace pad. According to Jenna Fischer on the “Office Ladies” podcast, director J.J. Abrams found the layout and floorplan of the Louise Ave. residence more conducive to the “Cocktails” storyline, which followed various groups of people throughout various rooms during a company party. The Encino property went on to portray the Wallace residence throughout the remainder of “The Office’s” run.
-
Image Credit: Peacock Fun fact – in “Branch Closing,” the Lomita Dr. homeowners’ actual doormat, which sports a large “H,” is visible at the front door. According to the “Office Ladies” podcast, no one on the production team noticed the monogram during the shoot. It was not until the group later got into the editing room that they realized the mistake, but by then it was too late to do anything about it, which left many fans wondering if Michael and Dwight had perhaps waited at the wrong house in the episode – a storyline that would have been very in line with their characters.
-
Image Credit: Disney-ABC Domestic Television “Branch Closing” is not the Denman Estate’s only small-screen cameo. The home also popped up as the residence of a murdered jewelry store owner in the season two episode of “Body of Proof” titled “Home Invasion,” which aired in 2012.
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂
Stalk It: David Wallace’s house from “The Office” is located at 1485 Lomita Dr. in Pasadena. Disclaimer: Please remember this is a private home. Do not trespass or bother the residents or the property in any way.