TV & Movie Houses The Mrs Doubtfire House In San Francisco: Then And Now

Fans of Robin Williams will undoubtedly instantly recognize this house. The Mrs Doubtfire house played a central role in the popular 1993 movie. For those who haven’t seen Mrs Doubtfire, you’ve been missing out!

The movie is based around Daniel Hillard (Robin Williams), going through a divorce with his wife. In an elaborate plan to spend more time with his children, he decides to dress up as a female nanny. Calling himself Mrs Doubtfire, Daniel Hillard manages to fool his soon-to-be ex-wife and children into thinking he is just an old female nanny from Scotland. He, of course, gets the job as the nanny, until things begin to unravel.

What most people probably won’t realize is, the movie is based on the British book, Madame Doubtfire. The book, written by Anne Fine, was nominated for numerous awards when it was released in 1987. The movie adaption was directed by Chris Columbus, who has given us some good “house movies” over the years, including Home Alone.

For Robin Williams to play the role of Mrs Doubtfire, it would require him getting into a lot of makeup, a job that would take up to four hours per day. Yolanda Toussieng, the makeup artist in charge of getting Williams ready for filming, would go on to win an Oscar in 1994 for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

THE HOUSE IN THE MOVIE

Believe it or not, the real-life location of the house was given in the movie. When Miranda Hillard (Sally Field) gives ‘Mrs Doubtfire’ the address in the film, she states the real address of the house, “2640 Steiner Street”, in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhood.

The house was designed by architect Joachim B Mathison in 1893. The three-level property with elevated entrance boasts four bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms and 3,300 square feet of living space.

Below are some interior shots of the house in the movie. Some scenes were reportedly filmed on a set in a warehouse in the Richmond District of San Francisco. This would be similar to how Chris Colombus filmed Home Alone just a few years earlier, using a mixture of a real house and sets.

The living room had a very cluttered 90’s feel to it, you can see one of the distinctive oval windows on the back wall. These windows are very noticeable from the front of the property, with one either side of the main entrance.

It’s hard to tell whether the kitchen is real or just a set as mentioned earlier. This is mainly because when you see the kitchen as it is today, further down this post, doors have moved and it doesn’t appear as if the dimensions fit the real kitchen.

One thing we do know for certain is Chris Columbus loves a tiled island in his kitchen! This is something we also saw in Home Alone just a few years earlier.

The dining room found on the opposite side of the hall to the living room. This room would have the other small oval window in it, unfortunately, it’s out of shot, to the right of this picture.

The staircase in the Mrs Doubtfire house had three large stained-glass windows on the back wall, allowing in a lot of light. As you can see in the top-left of the picture below, there was also an arch with some decorative detail.

Finally, we have one of the bedrooms. The windows tell us it’s likely one of the turret-style bedrooms at the front of the house.

AFTER THE MOVIE

In 1997, just four years after the house was immortalized by Robin Williams, the property was purchased for $1.395 million by plastic surgeon Douglas Ousterhout.

After Robin Williams committed suicide in 2014, the Mrs Doubtfire house became an impromptu memorial site for the star. Fans of Williams left flowers, cards, candles, and messages of remembrance outside the property.

ARSON ATTACK

In 2015 the property made news headlines when an arsonist tried to burn down the house. Transgender woman Tyqwon Eugenen Welch was a disgruntled former patient of Douglas Ousterhout. Welch claimed that Ousterhour had botched her procedures and that was the motive behind her attack.

Douglas Ousterhout, told police that he smelled gasoline and saw his front doormat was smoldering. He doused the flames with water and then called authorities. The fire damaged the home’s front door and garage. Welch was later sentenced to 1 year in prison and 5 years probation.

THE HOUSE TODAY

In 2016, a year after the arson attack, the house was sold by Douglas Ousterhout for $4.45 million. The new owner was not identified. However, this did give us a chance to see how the property looked in more recent times, more than two decades since the movie was released.

The Mrs Doubtfire house in 2016 looks almost identical to how it looked in 1993, there are however some subtle changes. For starters a tree has been placed on the sidewalk outside the house, this was definitely not there in the movie. The steps leading to the front door have had some brickwork done, the oval windowpanes have changed and the house has been painted a lighter color. The other noticeable change is the front door, the white door in the movie has been changed for a brown door.

Today, the house is far more light and airy, with hardwood floors throughout the house. The windows on the staircase are now clear, rather than stained glass, while the arch has been completely removed.

The living room is now far lighter, with the over-bearing 90’s style curtains having long gone and the windows fully exposed.

The dining room as it looks today, with the oval window a major feature of the room.

An almost identical shot from the living room into the dining room, one from 2016, the other from the movie. The house inside is now almost unrecognizable, while the layout is the same, the entire interior has had a major facelift.

The tiled island now long gone, a newly designed and fitted kitchen has taken its place. In the movie, there were two doors in the far right corner of the room, one of which has now gone.

The master bedroom as it looked in 2016, you can see San Francisco Bay out of the far-right window.

The three other bedrooms inside the property, most of which didn’t feature too heavily in the movie. The light colors and high ceilings give all these bedrooms a light and airy feel.

If there is one thing this house lacks its outside space. A tiny yard to the back of the house is all the property has, if you don’t like gardening then I guess it would be perfect.