7 times the house from Alfred Hitchock’s ''Psycho'' appeared on TV

The iconic mansion played many haunted houses but also appeared in Westerns and historical miniseries.

When it comes to horror movie houses, there is perhaps none more iconic than the towering mansion overlooking the Bates Motel from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. But the building’s instantly recognizable looks didn’t stop producers from using it over and over again.

Originally built as a two-sided façade that could only be shot from one angle, the full structure was completed later on to better suit the needs of different productions. The house was put to use on TV immediately after Psycho’s release, appearing in the Old West, on creepy anthology shows and as a historical mansion.

Take a look at seven shows that reused the famous Victorian!

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1. Thriller

One of the first shows to use the Bates house was Thriller. The two-season anthology hosted by horror legend Boris Karloff actually used it twice. In “The Purple Room,” which aired just a month after Psycho’s initial release in 1960, a skeptic must stay in a haunted Baton Rouge mansion willed to him by his brother. The next season, the house was featured in “An Attractive Family” about a household that was more homicidal than hospitable.

2. Wagon Train

In between its two appearances on Thriller, the house showed up in the classic Western Wagon Train. “The Eleanor Culhane Story” revolves around an old flame of Flint McCullough who lives in a crumbling mansion, shunned by everyone in town. Though not haunted in the episode, the off-kilter shots of the house still make it look quite ominous. The view of the house in these early TV appearances is the same angle seen in Psycho, as it was likely still just a two-sided façade.

3. The Alfred Hitchcock Hour

It seems like a no-brainer that the house should be on one of Alfred Hitchcock’s shows, but it took five years and a switch from 30-minute episodes to full hour installments for it to happen. In “An Unlocked Window” nurses working at a large private home lock themselves in to escape a serial killer on the loose.

4. Laredo

In 1967, the Bates house finally appeared on TV in color. The short-lived Western Laredo used it as part of a ghost town in “The Small Chance Ghost.” Even with the paranormal pretense of this episode, the house looks far less creepy in color. The white picket fence makes it look downright inviting compared to other appearances!

5. Night Gallery

The Bates house continued its prolific TV career into the 1970s. In the second season of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, it appeared again as a haunted house that someone must spend the night in, this time to win a bet. Naturally, the at-first fearless Colonel, played by Leslie Nielsen, gets more than he bargained for by the night’s end.

6. Emergency!

In the first-responder series Emergency! the house is threatened by a wildfire. Paramedics John and Roy help an elderly woman in the mansion get to safety. And no, the woman lives there with her sister — not a homicidal son.

7. Captains and the Kings

Like many miniseries from the time, Captains and the Kings brought together a star-studded cast to tell an epic story from the past. Richard Jordan starred as a poor Irish immigrant in the 1800s who built an empire of enormous wealth. Robert Vaughn, Patty Duke and Jane Seymour also appeared along with the Bates house, which got its own rags-to-riches makeover.

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95 Comments

ernieworld 16 months ago
The Psycho house was modeled after the 1925 painting by Edward Hopper, “The House by the Railroad,” the first painting ever acquired by New York’s Museum of Modern Art, in 1930. The house was also seen in the “Masquerade” episode of Thriller (Season Two/Episode 6, 1961) starring Elizabeth Montgomery and Tom Poston, as well as Swamp Thing and America’s Top Model. The attached “Birds”-eye view of the Psycho house, reveals that, like most movie sets, the exterior was basically an empty structure.
scp 18 months ago
It also appeared in an episode of The Munsters Today where Grandpa's ex-wife and he go out and end up making out in front of the house.
PernellDH 20 months ago
The Psycho house also appeared on an episode of "Diff'rent Strokes", Hooray for Hollywood Part 1 in 1984 in which Arnold and Dudley (Gary Coleman and Shavar Ross) visited the house to ask someone on where to find Knight Rider (David Hasselhoff).
Felixharry123 20 months ago
Also, a 1964 episode of the Outer Limits entitled, "The Guests".
DeborahRoberts 20 months ago
"Murder, She Wrote" built a mystery around the Bates house in the 1992 episode "Incident in Lot 7," guest-starring Stuart Whitman and Paula Prentiss. The episode included a clip from "Psycho." I didn't realize "An Unlocked Window" from "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" used the Bates house as a backdrop. That was a terrifying episode.
tootsieg 20 months ago
The Bates house is going to be on tomorrow’s episode of Wagon Train. Friday, 7/15. 4pm Eastern time. Looking forward to checking it out.
hyppymom 20 months ago
I love that house! As creepy as it's been portrayed I'd love there!!
327053 20 months ago
Saw the house in 1986. I thought I saw Mrs. Bates in the window. 😱
PinBurrito 20 months ago
If I remember correctly, it showed up in the "Halloween Knight" episode of Knight Rider also.
MichaelFields 20 months ago
I use to go to Universal Studios in the late 70's and 80's and the tour would always go past this house and it STILL looked creepy in the daylight. And During Halloween time, they use to have a "mom" in the top window, never knew if it was a real person of just a dummy, but just think if it was a real person who had to stay there in this dark place inside and staying there until the last tram went by at night
Arturus 20 months ago
Amazing how color filming and a little bit of paint cane Change something.
Randall 20 months ago
#8 Murder She Wrote used THE HOUSE and THE MOTEL! I am quite sure it was in the third season around 86 or7"
JHP Randall 20 months ago
hmmm murder she wrote - how ironic
lildisney15 20 months ago
The house also appeared on an episode of Murder She Wrote.
Randall lildisney15 20 months ago
Yes, I am sure it was the third season and the motel was also featured!
cperrynaples 20 months ago
Still remember that Hitchcock! The big twist is that one of the nurses is hiding shall we say a BIG secret...LOL!
Runeshaper 20 months ago
That is 1 very cool, beautiful, and useful house!
jimmy 20 months ago
I also just seen it recently in an episode of Tales of Wells Fargo.
Dcasta jimmy 14 months ago
Me too
ChuckNeumann 20 months ago
The house also appeared on a "Murder She Wrote" episode as itself on the Universal backlot. Jessica (Angela Lansbury) was in Hollywood when a producer was murdered in the house. Stuart Whitman was a guest star.
MADnNOLA 20 months ago
It also appeared in two episodes of The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Mysteries in the 70s (S Cassidy, P Stevenson Hardy Boy Episodes) and an episode of Murder She Wrote in the 80s.
cperrynaples MADnNOLA 20 months ago
Yes, and of course it was seen in the 3 Psycho sequels as well as that horrible reboot! But how could you leave out Bates Motel with a future "good doctor"?
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