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The homes of the Dunphy and Pritchett families on Modern Family are perhaps some of the most instantly recognizable settings in modern television. Canonically set in Los Angeles, the three main houses featured on the show are certainly substantial compared to the average American family, to the point of being rather unrealistic. So are these homes actually real?
What filming locations were used for Modern Family?
During its 11-season run from 2009 to 2020, Modern Family was primarily filmed in Los Angeles, California. As is often the case with TV shows, the interiors and exteriors are not the same house. This is often due to practical reasons, especially size. Even large houses cannot typically host an entire film crew and fit them behind the camera of the invisible fourth wall, out of sight of viewers.
Interior house locations, like living rooms or kitchens, are supersized in comparison to real versions of these rooms. If you’ve ever visited one of the Friends set pop-ups that tour across the world, you’ll know that Monica’s living room is the size of the average apartment in itself.
Modern Family’s interior locations are filmed on the Fox Studios lot in Culver City, Los Angeles County – not the homes shown in the exterior shots. If you were to visit the real buildings that act as the Pritchett family homes and hypothetically peep inside the window (please don’t actually try this, these houses are often privately owned), the rooms inside would look nothing like the ones shown on the mockumentary series.
According to filming location trackers at Seeing Stars, Phil and Claire Dunphy’s home is actually in Cheviot Hills, near Fox Studios, where the interior scenes are shot. In an adjacent neighborhood, around 20 minutes away, lies the home of Jay and Gloria Pritchett. Cam and Mitch’s shared home is in Century City, making for a total of a 35-minute round trip – although the show makes it seem like they are virtually next-door neighbours, from their frequent visits to each other’s homes.
Other filming locations include the shopping mall characters often frequent, located at South Bay Galleria, a 30-minute drive from the Dunphy-Pritchett homes. Unlike many of the other locations featured in the series, the high school attended by the kids and used during football scenes is a real school – the Palisades Charter High School, near Cam and Mitch’s home in Brentwood. Eagle-eyed fans of Teen Wolf who also watch Modern Family may have noticed that this is the same school that acts as Beacon Hills High School in the supernatural series.