Colonial Street - History

History

Colonial Street has its origins in 1946 when a few homes were built at Stage 12 at Universal Studios for the motion-picture So Goes My Love. After the movie, the sets were placed in storage. In 1950, the homes along with other sets built from stock units were moved outdoors to the north edge of the backlot (formerly River Road), and was named Colonial Street after "Colonial Mansion" (demolished in 2005 for the second season of Desperate Housewives), the first home on the street. The year 1964 saw the opening of Universal Studios Hollywood and Colonial Street (along with the Psycho house) was a popular attraction. In 1981, Colonial Street was moved to its current location at the other side of the backlot. Not all of the buildings were moved to the new Colonial Street, with some of them becoming part of Industrial Street, now known as Elm Street.

In 1988, Colonial street was overhauled for Tom Hanks comedy The 'Burbs. The old Leave It to Beaver home was removed, as large homes were required for the movie (see a 1988 map here). Following the movie, the homes were rearranged again so Circle Drive was connected once again (see a 1989-1996 map here). In 1996, a new Leave it to Beaver house is built for the 1997 movie (called the Morrison Home), replacing homes that were built for The 'Burbs movie. Also during this time, the Providence home was built (called the Klopeck House Building). Colonial Street remained unchanged until 2004, when Desperate Housewives used the street for its series production, giving it the name Wisteria Lane. The homes were freshly painted with bright pastel colours and refurbished.

The house where the Desperate Housewives character Betty Applewhite lived during the second season was strictly avoided by the Desperate Housewives film crew during season one. This was due to the fact that it was considered to be too recognizable as the main setting of The Munsters. Following the decision to introduce the Applewhites, and having them live in the Munster home, the house was completely remodeled.

In 2005, for the second season of Desperate Housewives, the street went through some heavy changes. During the first season only one part of the street had been seen on the show — the cul-de-sac at the end of the street, known as 'Circle Drive' among film crews, had been left out. Now, the majority of the buildings and facades in this part of the street was either heavily remodeled or removed. Among the most noticeable changes were the removals of a church facade, seen on Murder She Wrote, in order to make room for Edie's house, and of the so-called Colonial Mansion, which was replaced by a park.