I binge-watched the new Netflix series “Grace and Frankie” this week and couldn’t get enough of their beach house. Judging by the number of emails I’ve gotten from readers asking me to feature it, I’m guessing I’m not the only one who’s a little obsessed!
According to IMDb.com, the real beach house where they filmed the exteriors is on Broad Beach Road in Malibu (not La Jolla like they mention on the show). I looked it up on Google Maps and found the side that faces the street.
Let’s take a closer look at the sets they designed for it!
*2020 Update: See photos of the real beach house and its interiors here!*
Grace & Frankie’s Beach House
“Grace and Frankie” reunites Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, who co-starred in the movie Nine to Five back in 1980. (I keep hoping Dolly Parton will make an appearance, but so far, no such luck.)
The beach house was co-owned by Fonda’s character Grace and husband Robert (Martin Sheen) and Tomlin’s Frankie and her husband Sol (Sam Waterston).
They bought it as a shared vacation home.
When Robert and Sol leave Grace and Frankie for each other, both women retreat to the beach and try to lay claim to it.
When Grace finds Frankie already in the house, she calls Robert and cries, “I want this house!”
I couldn’t blame her. I did, too! 🙂
The shuttered doors over the fireplace open to reveal a flat-screen TV:
Set decorator Beauchamp Fontaine told Houzz she believes that Grace would have had the larger say over the interior design decisions: “I think the only way that Grace would have been comfortable with the arrangement was if she had control over the decor.”
It definitely does look more like Grace’s style than Frankie’s.
Fontaine says she wanted the beach house to have coastal chic: “It needed to be a place that could handle people tracking in sand from the beach and plopping down on furniture with wet swimwear. Therefore, a lot of slipcovered furniture and sisal rugs made sense.”
(BTW, she also did the set decoration for the movie Nebraska. If you saw that one, then you know she has amazing range when it comes to design! The houses could hardly be more different.)
The blue cabinets in the kitchen are very on-trend:
The green and white dishes are part of the Lenox AERIN Emerald Mist collection:
Even the hallway that connects the kitchen to the entry door knows how to frame a shot:
Frankie has a little meditation room with a swing and lots of floor pillows:
In a flashback episode, there are different chairs, as well as a few other changes it’s fun to look for:
“Grace and Frankie” creator Marta Kauffman was also a creator of “Friends.”
You can see my post about those sets here:
There are two main living areas. One with the TV off the kitchen and this larger one:
Grace’s daughter Brianna is played by June Diane Raphael.
The show started kind of slow and a little sad, but the more episodes I watched, the more I liked it.
Fonda and Tomlin are great together. Some of their conversations had me laughing out loud.
I found an exterior photo of Frankie’s art studio at Pierre Steel’s Photography Studio site (click over to see it) that describes it as “the backyard poolhouse.”
The Poolhouse:
When the camera pans up we see it has two more stories above ground level:
Frankie’s Art Studio:
This is the back of the pool house, and the main house is closer to the beach:
The former listing says it has 4 bedrooms, 4 baths, and 3,896 square feet.
You can watch “Grace and Frankie” on Netflix.
I took these screenshots while watching the show.
Now check out photos of Robert & Sol’s Spanish Colonial House:
UPDATE: I found photos of the real beach house interiors.
For more photos and information about the sets:
Beauchamp Fontaine, Houzz, Zillow, and IMDb.
Visit my Houses Onscreen page to see more faves I’ve featured!
Great place! The kitchen cabinets and the covers on the sofas and chairs remind me of IKEA furniture.
Oh, I’ll have to share this with my friend who said the TV series had “house porn” — he was right! Interesting that you should say the series started out sad + slow, as we were very disappointed. I guess we’ll give it another try. TY for this post!
Yeah, I probably wouldn’t have kept watching past the pilot, but a friend insisted that it got better as it went and urged me to stick with it. Also, I had to see more of the sets, ha. 🙂
I just finished up watching the series yesterday and went looking for info on the interiors. I really loved Brianna’s house… that wall of bookshelves?!?!? YUM!
Oh, I know! I loved her place, too. And that episode where she adopted the dog cracked me up.
As Kelly mentioned, Brianna’s house – you know we will be wanting you to do the “house porn” on that one too. LOL
And I too am obsessed with the beach house – oh and the full series is flipping hilarious (says the 51 year old)! Enjoy and thank you for posting this one.
Sure, if they show more of her house in the second season, I’ll try to get photos of it, too! 🙂
Wow! That is gorgeous. Have not seen the show but will look for it. Now I want to redo my entire house !!!
I’d been meaning to email you about that house.
You may be the only person who didn’t, Wendy. Ha. 🙂
As I was binge watching the entire series last week I said to myself … “Julia has to post about this!” I was elated to see that statement come true this morning.
The house is beautiful. If I had $16 million I’d buy it. My new favorite trend is the little plunge pool or cocktail pool. I’m seeing more and more of them show up. They’ve been very popular in Key West for some time now.
I read your mind, Chris! 🙂 And I agree about the little pool. Love it.
Thanks for featuring that house! I love it and the show, too!
I loved the house, imagine waking up to that view and the sound of waves. Such a great location and I am not one who likes neighbors on top of one another. I also loved the show. Lily Tomlin better get nominated for something because she was fantastic.
Julia, this is one of my favorite new TV shows and I love the house too. I was so excited to read your blog about it today. I still have the last two episodes to watch but I’m stalling because I know the season will be over for me when I finally do. I sure hope it’s renewed for more seasons.
I did the same thing !!! Then I watched the last episode over a 2 hour period as I kept pausing it, Season 2 is scheduled for January 2016. I found a group on Facebook that watch and rewatch and discuss it…called Grace and Frankie Netflix but there are others. Jane Fonda’s Facebook page has updates and on set photos too.
Yes yes yes! I loved this series and this house. Also loved Grace’s house as well. Thank you for featuring this! You just made my Thursday!
Yes. Glad I continued watching too. It got funnier.
Love this house too but I like Frankie’s place better.
Also love her pajamas. Do you know what brand they are.
Something tells me they might be John Robshaw
Diane
I don’t know about the pajamas, but all the clothes on the show are pretty great, aren’t they? I wish a fashion blogger would track down some of the outfits for us. 🙂
I really don’t understand what ‘Netflix’ is, I guess. I’ll have to figure that out now because this show looks like something I would really enjoy. Both the story line, the incredible Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin but……… oh, that house. I’m drooling right now. They should be getting over their husbands leaving them pretty darn fast living there. Thanks Julia
Yeah, it doesn’t seem like a bad trade to me, really. Ha. 😉
Netflix is just a DVD and streaming service you subscribe to (you can either have them mail you DVDs to watch or stream shows and movies on your phone, tablet, and TV). They have all kinds of original programming now like this show that you can only find there. I especially love it in the summer when there isn’t a lot of new stuff to watch on network TV!
Thank you so much for posting this, I kept putting the tv on pause to study the wainscoting and mill work, this really helped me out!! Fun post and I too did a binge watching one day of this show, cracked me up!
I figured you’d be posting on this before long. Love the beach house and the show. (I, like Judy above, have two episodes to go but have been delaying watching because then it will be over until next season.) Good detective work. I suppose that 2006 price isn’t too surprising considering location – but gee willikers!
Thank you, thank you for this post! I’ve been obsessing about this beach house. By any chance do you know the brand of the white mugs w/blue flowers? I looked online but couldn’t find them. I love the green and white Lenox, too!
I would also like to find the white china with blue flowers. Does anyone know?
We enjoyed the show and are looking forward to season 2..
LOVE the house..LOVE her studio..
They both look great..
Sam is so endearing..the most sensitive of all.
I was a realtor for 30 yrs..granted not oceanfront..but lakefronts for sure..black kitchen cabinets..blue..green..always a hiccup.If all the cabinets are white..wood or neutral and one unit or the island is a color..it works..
Of course..
I could work around these;)
It’s fabulous! I’d dig my heels in over this one too!!! I haven’t heard of the series though. Might not be screened down in Australia.
It’s only on Netflix. I’m in New Zealand (but I’m an Aussie…hello !!!!) and I watched it here. My subscription to Netflix is only 12 and you get the first month free. Might be worth looking into it 🙂
OMG! I was hoping you would post this. I’ve re-watched the series 3 times now and my husband is like “wow, you really like that show”. I do but I love the house and it’s my deco porn these days. Plus, I love Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. I can’t wait for season 2!
Thank you so much for sharing this! I have watched the series and keep going back to the episodes filmed in this house/set. I love everything about it and also enjoy the series, but who wouldn’t with such a great group of actors.
BTW Julia, I have to point out that the area rug in the room off the kitchen is the very same as one that was posted on another bloggers site……THAT you shared (For the Love of a House). I loved it so much that I was able to track down the source and when they began to deliver to Canada, I snapped one up!
I didn’t catch that — good eye, Anne! 🙂
Hi Julia,
Thank goodness that Netflix finally came to Australia and I know what shows you’re talking about. I haven’t watched this one yet but will.
I was a bit anxious when I checked your post. Would this be the beach house that supercedes “As good as it gets”???? I’m happy this one doesn’t trump my all time favourite but it is very very nice. And to be honest probably has a look that’s more achievable.
It is lovely.
Cheers
Donna from Australia
Thanks! I stumbled across this show last week and also binged watched it. I loved the houses and googled them to see if I could find out more information. My friends thought I was crazy because I was so into the decorating and kept watching because of it rather than the show itself. I was happy to find the designer’s work on Houzz and some sources. Now if you could find out who was responsible for Maggie’s house on the last few episodes of true detective, I wish they had shown more of it but the snippets were intriguing. So glad I found your blog. Have a wonderful weekend.
Thanks, Sarah! 🙂
Hi
Thank you for sharing those pictures of that house. It’s just a beautiful beach house. Love all the decor to he sea horses on the wall, the driftwood and those doors leading to the outside.
Another house I love is a movie with Patricia Clarkson “Last Weekend”. It’s a gorgeous house. The movie is on Netflix. If you haven’t seen it yet check it out . The view la are breathtaking. Take care, Claudia
Thanks, Claudia! 🙂
Beautiful house, but the house form Something’s gotta give is still #1 for me.
Thanks so much for posting this. I was wondering if you were as enamored with the beach house as I was — and yes! Love the show and can’t wait to see more!
Their beach house is GORGEOUS! Honestly this is why I love Netflix-Like you if I had seen this show just on the pilot I wouldn’t have tuned in to see any of the other episodes….BUT since I had the ability to watch an entire series I fell in love with it! Thanks for the post!
I need to know the names of the interior paint colors. Anyone know??
I don’t, but follow the links I gave. Maybe the set decorator mentioned the paint colors in one of them!
And now you’ve got me wanting to join Netflix…
That house is truly swoon-worthy!
I just now watched the first episode and liked the beach house more than the show. This was the first place I came. So glad other people feel the same about the house. Kind of a more sedate, less spectacular home than the Diane Keaton “Something’s Gotta Give” house. Same beautiful colors and feel, though. I’ll probably watch other episodes because the writing was okay and I am interested in the characters. Not a fan of Jane Fonda politically, but, boy, does she look great.
I wondered how long it would be before you featured the beach house. I heard an interview with Lily Tomlin, and she was asked about Dolly Parton making an appearance on the show. Lily reponded that the only issue with working with Dolly is that she will only play a version of her real self. I’m not sure how that would fit into the show either. I’m looking forward to season 2 just to see more of the characters’ homes.
That’s interesting about Dolly wanting to play herself on the show. I hope they can work something out. Thanks, Heather! 🙂
Thank you for featuring this house! I love it and the show. As an ex-resident of LJolla ( sadly) I was pretty sure the house was not really there.
I so enjoy HonH. I have watched “Somethings Gotta Give” many times just to see the house. Also love the cottages. We are in the downsizing phase of life and and enjoying smaller spaces
Hi Julia 🙂
That house is incredible! I wasn’t going to watch the show, but because of you, I will.
xo,
rue
What? Nobody’s mentioned the dual-penis sculpture/vessel that floats through these houses? (Seriously, in the first episode, watch for it on the table as Sol talks to his sons about being gay. Later, it appears in Grace’s studio, in the background, and I’m told it and others make more appearances, kind of an inside joke … kudos to the set designer for that one!)
Thanks for all these photos, though. Because, penis art aside, this is a fabulous house!
Does anyone know the brand/pattern of the blue and white dishes featured in the ice cream scene photo?
It’s Lenox, Kathy Ireland Nature’s Song.
Thanks, Diana!
Thanks for your help! It’s actually Gorham not Lennox, in case anyone else is looking.
Any idea where I can get the chair/settee in the beach-view living room? the one that is directly in front of the windows/doors with the open scroll back is the one I’m looking for!!! Please help?
https://1cqgxm3l59yi2wwbnn3qy35h.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/wide-shot-of-Grace-and-Frankies-beach-house-living-room.jpg
Contact the designer. She kept a log of almost everyone she used on the set. Very nice lady!
Beauchamp Fontaine
[email protected]
Thanks!!
I am on episode 11, admiring the boys’ house and thought “oh, Julia has to be all over this!” It is just….everything! The wallpapers, the woodwork, the everything!
I love Brianna’s house too. The episode where she adopts the dog focused on that property and lots of things caught my eye. One thing in particular – the double oven in her kitchen. Looks new but has some mid-century lines, similar to what would have been found in the era.
Do you know what brand of jeans Jane Fonda is wearing in the last episode “The Vows”? The house is spectacular and full of inspiration- thanks so much for all of the information!
I don’t, but does anyone else have an idea what they might be?