Jessica Fletcher’s white Victorian is an iconic element of Murder, She Wrote. It’s a pivotal location for many episodes set in Cabot Cove. The Blair House in Mendocino, CA, was used for the exterior shots.
Many of the scenes in the second episode of the series, “Deadly Lady,” were set in and around Jessica’s house. I’ve started working on a floor plan based on the exterior and interior shots so far presented. As the MSWSW project progresses, I’ll continue to build out the floor plan and add in more details.
MSW did a very good job of marrying the layout of the set used for the interior with the shots of Blair House used for the exterior. This isn’t always the case. (I’m looking at you, Brady Bunch House.) So far, the only noticeable departure is the elevated floor used for the front entry. While it’s not impossible that this is true to the original building, it’s almost certainly a change made for ease of staging. You often see elevated entries on interior sets during this era of television.
The Entry
In S1 E7: “Hit, Run and Homicide” we get a good look at Jessica’s elevated entry.
The Kitchen
Jessica’s kitchen is truly the heart of her home in Cabot Cove. It’s far and away the room that appears most frequently, and it’s the room in which we see her typewriter, so we can imagine the many hours she spends in her kitchen writing.
As well as “Deadly Lady,” which is set in Cabot Cove, the opening scenes of “Hooray for Homicide” feature Jessica’s Cabot Cove kitchen in detail. The following stills give us roughly a full rotation of the room, as well as enough information for a basic floorplan.
The Range
Jessica’s beautiful antique range appears to be either a Magic Chef or Glenwood six-burner circa 1920-1940.
According to antiquestoves.com, the Magic Chef dimensions are 60.75″ width, 30″ depth, 57.25″ height, which helped in determining the dimensions of the kitchen floorplan.
Unfortunately, both the Magic Chef and the Glenwood pictured above appear to be very close, but not exact, matches to Jessica’s range. Any antique range experts out there? I welcome your guidance.
The Dining Room
Jessica’s dining room is modest in size, and a pass through from the kitchen to the parlor. In S1 E7: “Hit, Run and Homicide”, one of Jessica’s dinner parties offers a detailed look at the dining room:
Murder, She Wrote, She Wrote 