Check Out the Mexican Resort where Mildred and Gwendolyn Live on ‘Ratched’

Rhoda and Merritt commissioned architect Stiles O. Clements to design their new mansion, and decorator John Holtzclaw was brought in to furnish the interior. The 5,000-square-foot dwelling took a year and a half to complete.

No expense was spared and no detail overlooked in the construction of the ocean-front property. With five en-suite bedrooms, two servants’ quarters, hand-carved wooden doors, lancet windows, frescoed ceilings, and fountains galore, the Adamson House is the stuff of dreams! 

Clements even installed a boldly tiled outdoor tub for the family to bathe their many pets.

The dwelling is actually best known for its elaborate tilework, all of which was created by Malibu Potteries, the local tile company owned by Rhoda May.

The vibrant hand-painted pieces, sourced from clay on Rhoda May’s own land, can be found everywhere in the Adamson House! Covering floors, walls, fountains, heater grates, and counters, it is no wonder the pad has been called the “Taj Mahal of tile.” There’s even a “Persian rug” created entirely out of tile that enhances the home’s loggia.

The State of California declared eminent domain on the estate in 1966, four years after Rhoda Agatha passed away, and began enacting plans to raze it in order to make way for a parking lot. I’m not kidding! The state was literally going to “pave paradise to put up a parking lot”! It was the exquisite tilework that wound up saving the place from demolition. After what amounted to a ten-year battle, it was finally determined that, thanks to the unique tile, as well as the pad’s historical significance to the city, the Adamson House would not be leveled. Instead, it was transformed into a museum/state park that, after a lengthy restoration and renovation, opened to the public in 1983.

Currently closed due to COVID-19 restrictions, the grounds are typically open daily and tours of the mansion are offered Wednesdays through Sundays. The Adamson House is also available as a special events venue and, of course, for filming.

The stunning property appears in most exterior shots of Mildred and Gwendolyn’s Mexican resort on “Ratched.” The grassy, cobblestone-tiled front courtyard is where Mildred and Gwendolyn dine with Nurse Betsy Bucket (Judy Davis) and where Mildred receives a very unwelcome phone call at the end of the finale.

The Adamson House’s expansive grounds, including the pool, west lawn, and greenhouse, also appear in “Mildred and Edmund.”

But neither the interior nor the exterior of the actual room where Mildred and Gwendolyn live can be found on the premises. The couple’s suite is instead located about twenty miles inland at the longtime West Hills home of Czechoslovakian-born star Francis Lederer.

Francis constructed the massive stone-clad Spanish Mission Revival compound with builder John R. Litke in 1933. The hilltop abode, a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, consists of a 2-bedroom, 2-bath, 4,796-square-foot main house and a 3-bedroom, 2-bath guest duplex that measures in at 2,092 square feet. With French doors throughout, a library, beamed ceilings, 4 fireplaces, and a central courtyard, the property (more photos here) is truly one of a kind! Originally part of a 300-acre ranch, the home’s outbuildings and much of its land were eventually sold off. Today, the former stables house the Malibu Wines & Beer Garden.

The main house’s formal dining room is utilized as Mildred and Gwendolyn’s hotel room on “Ratched.”

The production team truly worked some magic, making the sprawling space seem quaint onscreen.

Via some carefully-crafted CGI, the production team also made the room appear to be situated overlooking the ocean, which is not the case in real life. While the pad does boast “amazing Valley views,” per a past real estate listing, there are no ocean vistas to be had.

The views from the Adamson House were utilized to their full extent, though, in the scene in which Mildred and Gwendolyn first fantasize about moving to Mexico.

The Adamson House has been a hotbed of filming ever since the state acquired it in the ‘70s. A few of its more notable appearances include portraying the home of Wally Windham (John Larch) in the Season 8 episode of “Dallas” titled “Deeds and Misdeeds” in 1985.

In 1992, it posed as the Baja cantina where Brenda Walsh (Shannen Doherty) and Dylan McKay (Luke Perry) danced the night away in the Season 2 episode of “Beverly Hills, 90210” titled “Mexican Standoff.”

In 2018, the site popped up as the beachside restaurant where Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis) and his brother Amenadiel (D.B. Woodside) searched for a thief in the Season 3 episode of “Lucifer” titled “City of Angels?”

And, earlier this year, Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) and Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti) attended a wedding there in the Season 2 finale of “You” titled “Love, Actually.”

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: The Adamson House, aka the Mexican resort from “Ratched,” is located at 23200 Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. Typically the grounds are open to the public daily and tours offered Wednesdays through Sundays, but the property is currently closed due to COVID-19. There are plans to re-open when possible and as allowed by state and county mandates. Updates can be found here. Mildred and Gwendolyn’s hotel room from “Ratched” is not accessible to the public. It is part of a private residence at 23132 Sherman Way in West Hills. As such, do not trespass or bother the residents or the property in any way.

Click over to the main page for more Dirt on the location.