15 Houses From Pop Culture You Can Actually Rent
Usually, homes where important stuff happened or movie and TV sets get turned into ultra-protected museums or torn down, respectively, but what do you do with the ones that are just left sitting there? Turn them into Airbnbs, of course. For mostly absurd amounts of money, you too can not only walk around in pop culture history, you can touch everything inside without some fussy docent scowling at you.
The Bachelor Mansion
The Bachelor mansion is basically a character -- in fact, it’s probably the best character on the worst reality TV show. If you wanna live out your wine-throwing fantasies, though, we hope you’ve got $6,000, which doesn’t even include wine.
The Big Little Lies House
(HBO)
Big Little Lies was as much class porn as it was legitimate drama, so of course, the real estate was stunning. Reese Witherspoon’s character’s 6,000 square-foot house, with an outdoor fireplace, Jacuzzi, and ocean views, is enticing even without a murder mystery, but it will set you back between $3,000 and $5,000.
Tony Stark’s Cabin
The cabin where Iron Man lived in Endgame is actually just a nice little lakeside spot outside Atlanta, and this one costs less than $800 a night. You can’t even do Disneyland for that.
Twilight’s Swan House
(Summit Entertainment)
If you haven’t emotionally grown since the 2008 election, no one could blame you, so treat your stunted little heart to some brooding where Bella brooded for a little more than $400 a night. Be advised, however, that the house is in St. Helens, Oregon, a several-hour drive from the official Twilight town of Forks, Washington, so you’ll need the money for gas.
The A Christmas Story House
(MGM)
If you’d like to spend your Christmas torturing your children, call it cosplay at the Parker house in Cleveland. We know what you’re gonna ask: Are there leg lamps? You know there’s leg lamps.
The Field of Dreams House
(Universal Pictures)
Of course, the field in question is now the site of an annual MLB game, but the farmhouse is available for rent for $600 a night. Well, it will be again, sometime next year. If you build it, they will book.
The F. Scott Fitzgerald House
The Montgomery, Alabama home where the Fitzgeralds wrote some of their most famous works in the early ‘30s can be rented as either the “F. Scott Suite” or the “Zelda Suite,” depending on how plagiarist you’re feeling. You may not get a lot of writing done, as these are definitely some bickery ghosts.
Steinbeck’s Studio
To really get down to business, consider the cottage John Steinbeck used as a writing retreat in the ‘40s. It has a minimum stay of 30 days, so at least you’ll have plenty of time to guilt yourself.
The Murder, She Wrote Cottage
(CBS)
For pure vibes, you can rent the California cottage used for exterior shots of Jessica Fletcher’s house on Murder, She Wrote. It features “stunning ocean views, cozy featherbeds, serene atmosphere and remarkable construction of clearheart Redwood,” but sadly no guarantee of mystery, cozy or otherwise.
Jane Austen’s House
No, not the Jane Austen House in Chawton where she wrote her most famous works, which is now a museum, but Austen did live in this Bath home for the first few years of the 19th century. She failed to write a novella there, so if you’re craving some nostalgic twenties frustration, it’s your house.
Julia Child’s House
For hilarious amounts of money, you can rent Child’s vacation home in Provence, though to be fair, it is a rich-person-suitable vacation home in Provence. Of course, it has a great kitchen, but what if you burned something on Julia Child’s stovetop? The shame would reverberate through your family for generations.
The Lizzie Borden House
The site of that famous double ax murder is actually a bed and breakfast now, so you can tell everyone around the dining table how Lizzie was done dirty. You can even stay in one of the rooms where someone died if you want to maximize your ghost opportunities.
The Spice World Bus
(PolyGram Filmed Entertainment)
The Spice Bus is easier to track down than the movie it starred in. It’s also one of the few Airbnb listings that has a height limit, so maybe leave the platform boots at home.
The Caddyshack Yacht
(Warner Bros.)
Of all the movie props you’d assume would have crumbled with the grains of time, the Caddyshack yacht must be up there, but you can get a nice stateroom and even honk the horn for $400 a night. After all, why rent a yacht when you could rent the Caddyshack yacht?
Lily and James Potter’s House
(Warner Bros.)
Harry Potter fans can do some weird roleplay in the place where it all began, the house where Harry’s parents were killed. It also really does exist in the neighborhood that served as Godric’s Hollow, so you can fully immerse yourself in the experience. Screw Universal Studios -- this is the actual wizarding world.
Top image: Airbnb
