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A sandy harbour beach and houses along the edge of Balboa Island
The beach path round Balboa Island, November 2007, while the show was off the air. Photo by Renjishino. Renjishino · CC BY 3.0

Fox 2003–2006 · Netflix 2013–2019

Arrested Development

Newport Beach, CaliforniaWhere it is set. Almost none of it was filmed here. Cut away and see

Seven scenes · one cutaway each

Cut away.

The show plays like a documentary that keeps interrupting itself: a narrator who explains, and sudden cutaways to the truth. Do the same to its map. Each scene opens where the story says; cut away to where the camera really was.

A sandy harbour beach and houses along the edge of Balboa Island
The story’s Newport Beach: Balboa Island, 2007. Renjishino · CC BY 3.0

Sudden Valley, Newport BeachAs the story tells it

The Bluths’ model home, alone in an unbuilt development by the sea.

Pick a scene, then cut away from Newport Beach.

0 of 7 cut · 0 km from the story, added up

Where we read it
Where we read it

Oceanside Wharf, Balboa Island · in fact Marina del Rey

The banana stand.

The story puts the family’s frozen banana stand on Balboa Island. The crew built it beside the lighthouse at Fisherman’s Village in Marina del Rey, 65 km up the coast. The island, meanwhile, really does sell frozen bananas, and Newport Beach has never settled who made the first.

A small white and red lighthouse beside the harbour at Marina del Rey
The lighthouse at Fisherman’s Village, Marina del Rey, photographed by Carol M. Highsmith between 1980 and 2006 (Library of Congress). Carol M. Highsmith · Public domain
The Fisherman’s Village lighthouse against a blue sky
The Fisherman’s Village lighthouse in June 2017. Photo by PA Uploader. PA Uploader · CC0
A small white and red lighthouse beside the harbour at Marina del Rey
The lighthouse at Fisherman’s Village, Marina del Rey, photographed by Carol M. Highsmith between 1980 and 2006 (Library of Congress). Carol M. Highsmith · Public domain

The stand, filmed

Fiji Way, Marina del Rey, beside the lighthouse

The banana stand: Fisherman’s Village, Marina del Rey

The banana stand scenes were filmed next to the lighthouse at Fisherman’s Village.

The waterfront plays the Oceanside Wharf on Balboa Island, where the story puts the stand.

Five wooden buildings in the style of a New England fishing village stand round a promenade, a fountain and docks, with harbour cruises and a Catalina ferry.

A free waterfront to walk round. The lighthouse stands at the harbour edge, by the boat docks.

Where we read it
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Marina del Rey boat trips

Marina del Rey

Live marketplace results for boat trips from Marina del Rey, where the banana stand was filmed by the Fisherman’s Village lighthouse. None is about the show.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

Compare tours

Who froze it first?

Don Phillips opens what Wikipedia calls the first frozen banana stand, on the Balboa Peninsula, after seeing them on the Santa Cruz boardwalk.

Where we read it

  • Don Phillips opens what Wikipedia calls the first frozen banana stand, on the Balboa Peninsula, after seeing them on the Santa Cruz boardwalk.

    Wikipedia: Frozen banana

A sandy harbour beach and houses along the edge of Balboa Island
The beach path round Balboa Island, November 2007, while the show was off the air. Photo by Renjishino. Renjishino · CC BY 3.0

The story’s stand

Marine Avenue, Balboa Island, Newport Beach, Orange County

The story’s banana stand: Balboa Island, Newport Beach

The show is partly set on Balboa Island, where it puts the family’s frozen banana stand; nothing listed here was filmed on it.

Frozen bananas are a real island tradition: Bob Fitch is said to have made them here in the 1950s, at the shop he renamed Sugar and Spice.

Marine Avenue and Agate Avenue are the island’s shopping streets.

The island was dredged out of mudflats from about 1906 and joined Newport Beach in 1916.

Walk across the bridge or take the little car ferry from the peninsula. Marine Avenue is the island’s main street.

Where we read it
The Ferris wheel and boardwalk of the Balboa Fun Zone by the harbour
The Balboa Fun Zone on the Balboa Peninsula, 4 July 2014. Photo by Nandaro. Nandaro · CC BY-SA 4.0

The first frozen banana

The Balboa Fun Zone, Palm Street, Balboa Peninsula, Newport Beach

The first frozen banana: Balboa Peninsula

Don Phillips opened what Wikipedia calls the first frozen banana stand on the Balboa Peninsula around 1940.

In 1963 Bob Teller opened a rival stand across the street from it.

The Fun Zone was built in 1936 by Al Anderson, with a 45-foot Ferris wheel.

The Balboa Island Ferry has crossed the 800 feet to the island since 1919.

Free to walk along the boardwalk; the ferry to Balboa Island leaves from Palm Street and runs from 6.30am to midnight every day.

Where we read it
Balboa Island Ferry

The Balboa Island Ferry

Balboa Peninsula to Balboa Island, Newport Beach

Not about the show: the little ferry that has crossed the 800 feet between the Balboa Peninsula and Balboa Island since 1919, from 6.30am to midnight every day of the year. The story’s banana stand is on the island side.

Ferry times

Culver City · the show’s real home

Culver City.

Most of Newport Beach was a few streets of Culver City: the model home’s rooms on a soundstage, the courthouse at city hall, and a lawyers’ bar in a 1924 hotel. The hotel is 310 m from the studio gate and 300 m from city hall.

A white colonial mansion with tall columns behind a lawn
The colonial front of The Culver Studios on Washington Boulevard, November 2013, the year the Netflix season came out. Photo by Rclick-wiki. Rclick-wiki · CC BY-SA 3.0

The model home’s rooms

9336 West Washington Boulevard, Culver City

The Culver Studios

After the pilot, every model-home interior was filmed on a soundstage here.

Wikipedia lists the show among the television series made at the studio.

Thomas H. Ince founded the studio in 1918. Its first building, the white colonial front with tall columns, was modelled on George Washington’s house at Mount Vernon.

King Kong (1933), Gone with the Wind and Rebecca were shot on the lot; Amazon is now its main tenant.

A working studio lot, closed to visitors. The colonial front and its lawn are on Washington Boulevard, a short walk from the Culver Hotel.

Where we read it
Culver City City Hall, a pale civic building with an arched entrance
Culver City City Hall on Culver Boulevard, July 2022. Photo by Jengod. Jengod · CC BY-SA 4.0

The courthouse

Culver Boulevard, downtown Culver City

The courthouse: Culver City City Hall

Many of the show’s courthouse scenes were shot at Culver City City Hall.

The series was filmed mainly in Culver City and Marina del Rey, not in Newport Beach, where it is set.

A working city hall. The front and the plaza are open to anyone; go in on council business only.

Where we read it
The narrow brick Culver Hotel on a corner, with its rooftop sign
The Culver Hotel, a 1924 wedge of brick on Culver Boulevard, January 2016. Photo by Mickeypi6fish. Mickeypi6fish · CC BY-SA 4.0

Deliberations · season one

9400 Culver Boulevard, Culver City

Deliberations, the lawyers’ bar: the Culver Hotel

In “Altar Egos”, the 16th episode of the first season, the hotel plays Deliberations, the lawyers’ bar where Michael picks up Maggie Lizer.

Harry Culver, the founder of Culver City, built the hotel; it opened on 4 September 1924 and was designed by Curlett & Beelman.

More than 100 of the actors who played the Munchkins in The Wizard of Oz stayed here during filming.

It is on the National Register of Historic Places, and runs as a boutique hotel of 46 rooms with live music every evening.

A working hotel with a bar and live music in the evenings; anyone can walk in for a drink.

Where we read it
The Culver Hotel

The Culver Hotel, Culver City

9400 Culver Boulevard, Culver City

The 1924 hotel that played Deliberations, the lawyers’ bar, in season one: a boutique hotel of 46 rooms with a bar, dining and live music every evening, a few minutes’ walk from The Culver Studios.

See the hotel
A wide view over the San Fernando Valley with Woodland Hills in the foreground
Woodland Hills and Warner Center from Top of Topanga, December 2006: the neighbourhood, not the house. Photo by Oakshade. Oakshade · CC BY-SA 3.0

Sudden Valley · in fact Woodland Hills

The model home.

The house that played the Bluths’ model home is on Dolorosa Street in Woodland Hills, an ordinary neighbourhood a long way from the beach.

In the story it is 1 Lucille Lane, Newport Beach, the only house the family ever built in its Sudden Valley development; in life there are houses all round it.

It was built in 2002, shortly before the show first aired, and the pilot used its real interior, which is why the rooms look different in that first episode.

A private house with people living in it, in an ordinary residential street. It is named here, never pinned. Leave them be.

Where we read it
A long cream hotel beside a marina of moored boats
The Ritz-Carlton on the marina at Marina del Rey, November 2015. Photo by Dawid Glawdzin. Dawid Glawdzin · CC BY 3.0

Lucille’s apartment · the pilot

Admiralty Way, Marina del Rey

Lucille’s apartment: the Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey

In the pilot, Lucille’s apartment was a suite at the Ritz-Carlton in Marina del Rey.

Forbes Travel Guide describes nautical rooms with marble bathrooms, and a Club Level on the 11th floor.

A working hotel on the marina; the lobby and the waterfront are open to guests and diners.

Where we read it
Forbes Travel Guide

The Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey

Admiralty Way, Marina del Rey

Where a suite played Lucille’s apartment in the pilot. Forbes Travel Guide describes nautical rooms with marble bathrooms and a Club Level on the 11th floor, on the marina a short drive from Fisherman’s Village.

Read about it
Brick school buildings behind trees on Texas Avenue
University High School from Texas Avenue, West Los Angeles, December 2024. Photo by Jengod. Jengod · CC BY-SA 4.0

George Michael and Maeby’s school

11800 Texas Avenue, West Los Angeles

The high school: University High, West LA

The campus was the filming location for George Michael and Maeby’s high school.

Crews like it for its brick fronts and what Wikipedia calls an east coast look.

It opened in 1924 as Warren G. Harding High School and was renamed in 1929.

The campus holds the Tongva sacred springs, Kuruvungna, a California Historical Landmark, which have given fresh water since about 400 BC.

A working school, closed to visitors. Look from Texas Avenue.

Where we read it

Between the runs, October 2011

The family.

The cast of Arrested Development on a stage under a New Yorker Festival screen, flapping their arms like chickens
The cast doing the family’s chicken dance on a New Yorker Festival stage in New York, 2 October 2011, between the Fox run and the Netflix one: Portia de Rossi, Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Jessica Walter in front, David Cross and Jeffrey Tambor behind. Photo by aphrodite-in-nyc. aphrodite-in-nyc (Flickr) · CC BY 2.0
  • Jason Bateman smiling and holding Jessica Walter’s hands by a brick wall
    Jason Bateman (Michael) and Jessica Walter (Lucille) greeting each other on the street on the day of the reunion, 2 October 2011. Photo by Theornamentalist. Theornamentalist · CC BY-SA 3.0
    Jason Bateman and Jessica Walter · 2011
  • Will Arnett on stage holding a microphone
    Will Arnett (GOB) at the cast reunion, October 2011. Photo by Theornamentalist. Theornamentalist · CC BY-SA 3.0
    Will Arnett · 2011
  • David Cross on stage, bearded, in glasses
    David Cross (Tobias) at the cast reunion, October 2011. Photo by Theornamentalist. Theornamentalist · CC BY-SA 3.0
    David Cross · 2011
  • Alia Shawkat seated on stage, smiling
    Alia Shawkat (Maeby) at the cast reunion, October 2011. Photo by Theornamentalist. Theornamentalist · CC BY-SA 3.0
    Alia Shawkat · 2011
  • Ron Howard in a dark jacket and cap, smiling
    Ron Howard, the narrator and an executive producer, in New York in April 2011. Photo by David Shankbone. David Shankbone · CC BY 3.0
    Ron Howard · 2011

Mitchell Hurwitz created the show and ran it. Ron Howard was an executive producer and the narrator, uncredited for the first three seasons; later he turns up on screen as a version of himself. The first season won five Emmys, including Outstanding Comedy Series. Fox cancelled it in 2006; Netflix brought it back seven years later.

  • Jason BatemanMichael
  • Portia de RossiLindsay
  • Will ArnettGOB
  • Michael CeraGeorge Michael
  • Alia ShawkatMaeby
  • Tony HaleBuster
  • David CrossTobias
  • Jeffrey TamborGeorge Sr. and Oscar
  • Jessica WalterLucille
  1. Seasons 1–3Fox, 2 November 2003 – 10 February 2006Cancelled by Fox
  2. Season 4Netflix, 26 May 201315 episodes, one family member each
  3. Season 4 remixNetflix, May 2018Recut in story order: Fateful Consequences
  4. Season 5Netflix, 29 May 2018 and 15 March 2019Two halves of eight
Where we read it

Where it is now.

Where it is now

8 places you can visit: three in Culver City, three in Marina del Rey and West LA, and two in Newport Beach. The model home is a private house in Woodland Hills: named, not pinned. The studio and the school are working places: look from the street.

Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.

  • Site reference · Restricted access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working studio lot, closed to visitors. The colonial front and its lawn are on Washington Boulevard, a short walk from the Culver Hotel.

  • Site reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working city hall. The front and the plaza are open to anyone; go in on council business only.

  • Site reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working hotel with a bar and live music in the evenings; anyone can walk in for a drink.

  1. A white colonial mansion with tall columns behind a lawn
    The colonial front of The Culver Studios on Washington Boulevard, November 2013, the year the Netflix season came out. Photo by Rclick-wiki. Rclick-wiki · CC BY-SA 3.0

    9336 West Washington Boulevard, Culver City

    The Culver Studios

    After the pilot, every model-home interior was filmed on a soundstage here.

    A working studio lot, closed to visitors. The colonial front and its lawn are on Washington Boulevard, a short walk from the Culver Hotel.

    Where we read it
  2. Culver City City Hall, a pale civic building with an arched entrance
    Culver City City Hall on Culver Boulevard, July 2022. Photo by Jengod. Jengod · CC BY-SA 4.0

    Culver Boulevard, downtown Culver City

    The courthouse: Culver City City Hall

    Many of the show’s courthouse scenes were shot at Culver City City Hall.

    A working city hall. The front and the plaza are open to anyone; go in on council business only.

    Where we read it
  3. The narrow brick Culver Hotel on a corner, with its rooftop sign
    The Culver Hotel, a 1924 wedge of brick on Culver Boulevard, January 2016. Photo by Mickeypi6fish. Mickeypi6fish · CC BY-SA 4.0

    9400 Culver Boulevard, Culver City

    Deliberations, the lawyers’ bar: the Culver Hotel

    In “Altar Egos”, the 16th episode of the first season, the hotel plays Deliberations, the lawyers’ bar where Michael picks up Maggie Lizer.

    A working hotel with a bar and live music in the evenings; anyone can walk in for a drink.

    Where we read it

Stay

Two hotels from the show.

The bar from season one, and the hotel that held Lucille’s first apartment.

The Culver Hotel

The Culver Hotel, Culver City

9400 Culver Boulevard, Culver City

The 1924 hotel that played Deliberations, the lawyers’ bar, in season one: a boutique hotel of 46 rooms with a bar, dining and live music every evening, a few minutes’ walk from The Culver Studios.

See the hotel
Forbes Travel Guide

The Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey

Admiralty Way, Marina del Rey

Where a suite played Lucille’s apartment in the pilot. Forbes Travel Guide describes nautical rooms with marble bathrooms and a Club Level on the 11th floor, on the marina a short drive from Fisherman’s Village.

Read about it

Go there

A ferry, and boats.

The Balboa Island Ferry every day, and boat trips from both harbours.

Balboa Island Ferry

The Balboa Island Ferry

Balboa Peninsula to Balboa Island, Newport Beach

Not about the show: the little ferry that has crossed the 800 feet between the Balboa Peninsula and Balboa Island since 1919, from 6.30am to midnight every day of the year. The story’s banana stand is on the island side.

Ferry times
Viator · Ad / affiliate

Newport Beach harbour cruises

Newport Beach

Live marketplace results for harbour cruises and tours in Newport Beach, round the islands the story is set on. None is about the show.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

Compare tours
Viator · Ad / affiliate

Marina del Rey boat trips

Marina del Rey

Live marketplace results for boat trips from Marina del Rey, where the banana stand was filmed by the Fisherman’s Village lighthouse. None is about the show.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

Compare tours

What’s on

In the story’s town.

Nothing tied to the show is announced; this is on the water the Bluths are meant to live by.

Checking current event dates…

Take it home

The narrator’s book.

Ron and Clint Howard’s memoir.

Bookshop.org UK · Ad / affiliate

The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family

Ron Howard and Clint Howard

The narrator’s own story: Ron Howard and his brother Clint on growing up as child actors in Hollywood.

Find the book

Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.

The rushes

Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.

9 of 9 places · 9 of 9 Moments

  • The model home’s street: Dolorosa Street, Woodland Hills

    Dolorosa Street, Woodland Hills, in the San Fernando Valley

    • The model home

      A new house in Woodland Hills plays the Bluths’ Sudden Valley model home, inside and out for the pilot.

  • The Culver Studios

    9336 West Washington Boulevard, Culver City

    • The rooms, rebuilt

      After the pilot, the model home’s rooms are sets on a Culver Studios soundstage.

  • The courthouse: Culver City City Hall

    Culver Boulevard, downtown Culver City

    • The courthouse

      Culver City City Hall plays the courthouse in many scenes.

  • Deliberations, the lawyers’ bar: the Culver Hotel

    9400 Culver Boulevard, Culver City

    • Deliberations

      The Culver Hotel plays the lawyers’ bar where Michael picks up Maggie Lizer (season one, “Altar Egos”).

  • The banana stand: Fisherman’s Village, Marina del Rey

    Fiji Way, Marina del Rey, beside the lighthouse

    • The banana stand

      The banana stand on the Oceanside Wharf is filmed beside the lighthouse at Fisherman’s Village.

  • Lucille’s apartment: the Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey

    Admiralty Way, Marina del Rey

    • Lucille’s apartment

      A Ritz-Carlton suite in Marina del Rey plays Lucille’s apartment in the pilot.

  • The high school: University High, West LA

    11800 Texas Avenue, West Los Angeles

    • The high school

      University High plays George Michael and Maeby’s school.

  • The story’s banana stand: Balboa Island, Newport Beach

    Marine Avenue, Balboa Island, Newport Beach, Orange County

    • Where the story puts the stand

      The story sets the family’s frozen banana stand on Balboa Island.

  • The first frozen banana: Balboa Peninsula

    The Balboa Fun Zone, Palm Street, Balboa Peninsula, Newport Beach

    • The first frozen banana

      A real frozen banana stand opens on the Balboa Peninsula around 1940.

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