Rediscovering favorite TV shows seems to be a theme of quarantine. “The Office,” “Picket Fences,” and “Veep” have each made their way back into our nightly viewing rotation. (Thank goodness for streaming!) All have, of course, also sparked some location hunting on my part, especially the latter. While shot in Baltimore and its environs during its first four seasons, the massively irreverent HBO hit relocated to Los Angeles for its final three years, a fact I took full advantage of during my initial watch many moons back. It was not until my recent binge, though, that I realized I had yet to track down the supposed White City, Alabama childhood home of Gary Walsh (Tony Hale), where former president Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and her ragtag team head to celebrate Gary’s 40th birthday in Season 6’s “Judge.”
Thanks to a 2017 “The Hollywood Reporter” article, I knew that the Walsh family’s farmhouse-like dwelling was not located anywhere near the Yellowhammer State. As showrunner David Mandel said of the episode, “We shot it at a house out in Pasadena, where we were able to find a house that didn’t look like Pasadena. It had this great big backyard that seemed very Southern. It had this great appeal.” An address number of 1725 was also prominently visible on the front of the residence in several scenes. Armed with that info, I used a parcel map to search 1725 addresses in Crown City, cross-checking each with Google Street View imagery as I went, finally hitting pay dirt at 1725 North El Molino Avenue. (Oh, the lengths I’ll go to find a house!)
Thrilled, I ran out to see the 4-bedroom, 4-bath, 4,426-square-foot property soon after. Mandel was right – though located on a typical Pasadena street, flanked by Spanish and Craftsman-style bungalows, once I lifted my phone to take photographs and viewed the place through the small lens, the surroundings just fell away and I was immediately transported to a remote farmhouse that felt very far removed from suburban trappings. I half expected to look down and see a dirt road beneath my feet.
For more Dirt on Gary’s childhood home, click through to the Gallery.