For Sale: The Victorian Home from “A League of Their Own”

It had been years since I saw the 1992 movie A League of Their Own, about the first professional women’s baseball league in the U.S. But when a reader told me that the Victorian mansion that doubled as their boarding house was on the market for $799,000, I sat down and watched it again.

It was a great old house in Henderson, Kentucky, that they filmed in. Here’s how it looked in the movie, when stars like Geena Davis, Rosie O’Donnell, and Madonna were playing the members of a baseball team who were living in it:

And here’s the house as it’s pictured in the listing today:

The place is huge, with nearly 17,000 square feet. (*Update: one listing I saw said 16,800. Another says 8,400 square feet. That sounds much more likely to me, so I’m thinking the 16,800 must be the incorrect number. Thanks to Margot for pointing that out!)

It has 3 stories and a full basement that have all been restored and updated.

Here’s how it looked in the movie, when it was decorated to look like a 1940s boarding house:

Madonna reportedly was not happy to spend so much time filming in such a small town. Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.

You can see how Madonna was used to living at the time–in her chic Manhattan apartment–here.

I love the double glass doors:

I tried to lighten these movie snapshots, but these scenes were all filmed at night and they still look dark. Sorry for making you squint!

Set decoration was done by George DeTitta Jr., who also worked on films like Sabrina and–one of my favorites–Stepmom. (The real Stepmom house was for sale earlier this year–you can see the photos here.)

There aren’t a lot of listing photos, and the ones they have aren’t great. But we can see the staircase (sort of–it’s pretty dark):

It’s just enough to tell that they apparently filmed inside the mansion (or replicated the staircase, which is less probable).

Here’s a shot of it from the movie:

The home was built in 1894 and has 9 fireplaces. One of them is shown in the listing:

The kitchen and bathrooms have all been updated. Again, I wish the photos were better. I’ve been checking every day for the last two weeks to see if they’d add new ones. I guess these are the ones they’re sticking with!

On the third floor is a great big ballroom that looks like a rehearsal hall-slash-saloon:

The ceilings are enormous!

The house looked really charming in the movie, setting the mood for the story and time period perfectly.

Tom Hanks played their manager with a drinking problem.

I thought this balcony was in the back of the house, but a reader just pointed out that it’s the front, and that the railing has just been changed. I think that’s right–thanks, Arie.

It looks like there could be individual apartments in the back of the house, although that’s not mentioned in the listing.

I always tear up at the end of the movie when all the players get together again years later as old women for their induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (in real life they were honored with a permanent exhibit in the museum). And I love the “Old Timers’ Game” played during the final credits.

The property is listed by Paula Johnston of F.C. Tucker, and there are a few additional photos on Trulia if you want to see them. (Thanks to Joan for telling me about it!)

Click here to see a list of all of the movie houses I’ve featured so far!

Tagged as: A League of Their Own, Famous Houses, Geena Davis, Kentucky real estate, Madonna, movie house, movie sets, Real Estate, Rosie O'Donnell, set decoration, Tom Hanks, Victorian mansion