Batman's original mansion is for sale, and it's a mock-Tudor masterpiece that'll (almost) convince you that you're in England
Pastiche rarely hits the spot — but when it does, it's a joy to behold. The same goes for both the original Batman television series, and the magnificent English country mansion that played a starring role in its making.
It's easy nowadays to laugh at the 1960s television adaptation of Batman. Seen through a 2020s lens, it's easy to take the kitsch, colourful, wildly overacted show at face value — something I did as a kid, as did all my friends — and poke fun at the whole thing.
The show's creators and stars, though, were in on the joke right from the start. Ludicrous plotlines. Farcical pseudo-science. Adam West's unflinchingly deadpan delivery. This was a classic piece of 1960s satire that delighted in making every joke possible — at the expense of its comic book source material, the very notion of superheroes, TV detective shows, and indeed 1960s society as a whole.
Subsequent incarnations of Batman, and in particular the films helmed by Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan, have darkened the mood and played things straight. In a world full of bleakness and wannabe-strongmen political leaders who convince themselves (and, depressingly, others) of their own legends, I'm not sure that Burton, Nolan et al have done us much good.
One thing about Batman's world has remained unchanged, though: the stately home where his alter-ego, Bruce Wayne, lives. Wayne Manor has been played by plenty of different country houses over the years, including a couple (Knebworth and Wollatton) that are in England. Neither of those will be up for sale any time soon, but the original Wayne Manor from the 1960s show is up for sale right now — and it's priced at $32 million, or around £24 million.
'Wayne Manor' may not have the aristocratic ring of 'Wollaton Hall', but it's a considerably more romantic name than the house's real-life moniker, 380 S San Rafael Avenue, in Pasadena, a northern suburb of Los Angeles. The name may not have the ring of an English country home, but an awful lot else about the place hits the spot.
This really is quite the place: 18,655 sq ft, seven bedrooms, 11 bathrooms and just under five acres of land — enough to almost convince you that you're out in the countryside.
In a sense, you are: the house actually backs on to the Arroyo Seco park, the largest green space in the area, which has several hundred acres set up for hiking, running, cycling, picnicking, golf and more — not something that you'll find in many LA neighbourhoods.
The house itself is just as much of a pleasant surprise: it's absolutely extraordinary, built in the 1920s in mock Tudor style, with leaded, stone-mullioned windows, the same mix of brick and stone walls you'd find at Hampton Court, and even castellations on parts of the roof.
There's intricate carved timber, marble flooring, wood-panelling, open fires and gothic touches. The interiors weren't used for the filming — and thus, sadly, there is no Batcave in the cellar — but it's a shame, for they're even more impressive than the ones put together in the studio back in the day. Like the television show that was once made here, this house is pure pastiche — yet it's irresistible.
All this comes at a cost, naturally: it's the most expensive house for sale in Pasadena at the moment by an order of magnitude, and should it achieve the asking price it'll beat its own record as the most expensive ever to be sold in this suburb. Batman may have been made with tongues firmly in cheeks, but selling agent Peter Owens is deadly serious: 'This singular estate is more than a home,' he says. It is 'one of the most extraordinary residential offerings in Southern California... and an exceptionally rare opportunity to acquire what many would consider the finest legacy property in the city.'
Alan Napier as Alfred with Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin in the original 1960s TV adaptation of Batman.
380 S San Rafael Street is for sale through Peter Owens of Christie's Internaional Real Estate — see more details.
