By Cathy Burroughs
We all know the now-famous Albuquerque home from the greatest TV show of all time — and I don’t care what you Game of Thrones or The Wire fanboys say, it’s totally the greatest TV show of all time. And if you’re anything like me, you’ve probably planned out a trip — in your head, at least — to Walter White’s sleepy little suburban home under the false pretense that you’re taking the kids to Disneyland, or something. Or maybe I’m just projecting my fandom, here.
In either case, there are probably some things you should know about that house before you go a’knocking. One of those, ironically being, don’t go a’knocking; that’s not a prop house, but a private residence. And evidently, one of its residents isn’t too keen on fans dropping by and poking around. And can you really blame her? I wouldn’t want a bunch of people poking around my home, even if I got a boatload of money for letting people film it.
So, in the interest of giving these poor people their privacy and still letting the fandom have a little bit of fun, I’ve compiled this small bit of facts and faux pas in case one of you decide to visit the private domicile of Mr. White. And naturally, I did this with nothing to spare of my crack journalism skills — okay, I really just googled around for like an hour, but c’mon, gimme a little bit of credit.
First off, according to some admittedly anecdotal information from roadtrippers.com, there’s actually a silver lining to the whole ‘angry’ resident issue. The woman who lives there — whose name is actually Fran — doesn’t live alone. There’s a gentleman who I can only presume is her husband who is more, uh, “open” to curious onlookers. In fact, in the words of at least one roadtripper, he will “ask where you are from and tell you all the stories you can imagine from the shooting…” if you’re lucky enough to catch him outside.
But don’t take any of this as a diss against Fran. The official listing says “don’t think about throwing a pizza on the roof…by order of Vince Gilligan”, which leads me to believe that at one time, some overly excitable fans were throwing pizza on the roof of the house (and I was right, as it turns out). And while I personally would love to have people throwing free food at me, I can completely understand why someone else might not.
The neighborhood is also a hotbed for police activity, so if you’re one of those more “adventurous” types — aka, a trespasser — you should know that the inside of the home is nothing like what’s portrayed in the show (that was filmed in an entirely separate location). So, if you’re thinking of doing what I think you’re doing, just know you’ll probably end up disappointed and inside the back of a police cruiser.
Really, the best thing you can do is keep in mind that this is a 41-year-old house with real people that really live in it. Really. Take all the pictures you want, but stay off to the road, out of the driveway, and don’t think that delivering a pizza — with or without breadsticks — will put you in any one’s good graces. Trust me, I’m sure plenty of people have tried it.
Oh, and just so you know, there’s a certain restaurant called Twisters up the road that was the sight for a certain fictional chicken-y restaurant that may or may not have sold a little bit more than chicken. I’m sure you’d be more than welcome there.
