Halliwell Manor

Halliwell Manor
First appearance	"Something Wicca This Way Comes"
Last appearance	"Forever Charmed"
Created by	Constance M. Burge
Statistics
Title	Halliwell Manor
Classification	Victorian house
Ownership or Affiliation	Purchased by the parents of P. Baxter to secure the Nexus for the use of good magic
Traits	The house is built at the center of a spiritual Nexus. It lies equally distant from the five basal elements: Earth Fire Water Wood Metal
Use	The home of The Charmed Ones. As it lies on the Nexus it can be used as a source of power for good or evil

Halliwell Manor is a fictional house, an important setting for the WB television series Charmed. Members of the Halliwell family have owned the Manor property for four generations. The fictional address of the house is 1329 Prescott Street, San Francisco, California.

Manor history

This existing structure was built in 1906 after the Great Earthquake of San Francisco.Paige mentioned to inquiring reporters that the original house was built in 1898.

Professor Whittlesey of Berkeley University visited the Manor and noted its location and beautiful Victorian architecture. Since the ground is exactly situated at the center of five essential life elements (wood, earth, water, fire, metal), it is considered to be a spiritual nexus. The power encased in the Nexus can be accessed by good or evil. The Charmed Ones' great great grandparents, the Baxters, bought the land and built the manor^[1] to prevent it from falling into evil's control. There had been several times that demons have attempted to control the power of the Nexus, including Cole^[2] and Zankou.^[3] These attempts were defeated when the sisters recited a spell their maternal grandmother, Penny, taught Phoebe when she was little^[1] to return the Nexus to the earth. As forces of good are in control of the Manor and therefore the control the Nexus, the Nexus is described as providing an extra boost of power to the sisters. At the end of Season 7, Piper, Phoebe and Paige had no choice but to destroy the Nexus to prevent evil from receiving the same power boost. The Charmed Ones used a spell called "How to Banish a Suxen"—or, the word 'Nexus' spelled backwards—provided by the Elders in the Halliwell Book of Shadows to ensure it would not fall under evil's control.^[3]

Phoebe^[1] and Wyatt^[4] are the only known Halliwell witches born in the manor. As described in "Is There a Woogy in the House?", this means that they can both be easily swayed to become powerful forces of good or evil; Phoebe becomes the Source's Queen and Chris describes Future Wyatt as being the Source of all Evil himself.

In reality, the house is not located in San Francisco where the series is set. The real house can be found in a private property in Los Angeles and its interior is largely different from the ones used in the show. The real interior was used in the pilot episode that featured Lori Rom but when Alyssa Milano took the part and parts of the episode that featured Lori Rom and Chris Boyd needed to be shot again a new set had been built. The real house has been used many times for exterior shots only. It is located at 1329 Carroll Ave in the Echo Park section of Los Angeles, California, near Dodger Stadium.

Changes in layout

a view of the house

The layout of the manor has changed several times, dependent on the needs of each episode. For example:

• Whenever the Manor is shown from the outside, the front porch is about 3–5 feet long, but whenever they show it from the inside, it is at least 10 feet (3.0 m) long. It is noticeable in many episodes, especially The Importance of Being Phoebe, Cat House and Just Harried (where Prue and her 'boyfriend' drive out the front door on a motorcycle and around the corner), and It's a Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad World (Part 2).
• The view from the inside out the front door seems to change. Sometimes it is a clear blue night, other times it is just bright lights. Sometimes greenery, flowers and bushes cover the area, while at other times a blue house across the street is shown.
• The windows in the attic are full length in the first season, but are completely different in subsequent seasons.
• The kitchen counters, as well as the stove/oven change throughout the seasons.
• When looking into the past, the "island" in the middle of the kitchen disappears.
• In some episodes of S5 ceiling panels are missing in some scenes when the camera is at a low angle revealling the open studio space above the set. It is particularly noticeable in some dining room scenes and they are more than likely removed to accommodate lighting/equipment.
• When looking from the outside (such as when Prue shuts the front door with her powers), a wall and stairs seems to appear directly behind her. When shown from the inside, there is no wall and there is a considerably larger amount of space between the front door and the stairs. (NOTE: It could be seen in the first episodes only because those scenes were filmed in the front of the real house. What you can see behind Prue closing the door is the hall of the real manor in Carroll Avenue. In the real house, the staircase is almost behind the front door and there's no large corridor leading through the hall to the stairs like in the set but just a simple wall with a painting on it. The real manor is far smaller than the set. You can especially see it on the first scene of Thank You For Not Morphing.)
• In the episode "The Courtship of Wyatt's Father", a darklighter shoots Leo in the attic; however, there is no window in the attic as it is depicted on the show. The house they use for the exterior does not match up with the sets they constructed for the show. There's no attic atop the Carroll Avenue house with a large window as depicted, only a widow's walk.
• The actual number of bedrooms on the second floor is unclear.
• The location of Wyatt's nursery in is initially situated in the closet adjacent to an exterior window, but is moved to the closet beside Piper and Leo's bed.
• The number of bedrooms on the second floor seemed to be three until "Witchstock", when Phoebe and Paige temporarily moved out of the Manor. Piper converted their rooms into a bedroom for Wyatt and a fitness room. When Phoebe and Paige moved back to the Manor, one room continued to be used as Wyatt's bedroom, but which room either Phoebe or Paige returned to is unclear. Paige and Phoebe discuss their cramped living quarters in "It's a Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad World (Part 1)". In Prewitched^[5], Piper and Phoebe mention they shared a bedroom prior to Grams' death, which would make sense if the Manor is indeed a three bedroom home. The flaw here is that when Patty was alive even if Piper & Phoebe had shared a room there would still have had to be at least four bedrooms since Penny lived with her daughter, 1: Patty & Victor, 2: Penny, 3: Prue & 4: Piper & Phoebe( that last part isn't true because in the season 1 episode Is There a Woogy in The House?, Prue tells Piper about about all three of them sharing a room as kids because Pheobe was scared of the Woogyman).
• In "Scry Hard", Piper tells Leo that Grams used to have a sewing room in the second-floor of the house. This may explain why the manor has three bedrooms but, also, an additional, smaller room which could have been converted into Wyatt's bedroom.
• The view of San Francisco out of various windows has changed over the seasons.
• A downstairs bathroom is located beneath the stairs.^[6] However, this is later changed into a closet without explanation. ^[4]

The largest bedroom initially belonged to Prue, but when Piper and Leo were married,^[7] Prue switched rooms with the newlyweds. Paige now occupies Prue's room after the latter's death. Phoebe also has a bedroom (see above for caveats). The very spacious attic houses the Book of Shadows and many items of old furniture. The door was always kept locked before Grams' death in 1997,^[5] as she told the sisters the attic was sealed off. Additional potion ingredients are kept in the kitchen. The basement is mostly used to store furniture, although it used to house Prue's darkroom for developing photographs. The Woogyman also used to dwell under the earth underneath the manor's basement. The other rooms in the manor are the elongated dining room, the family room, the conservatory or the sunroom, the living room, the foyer, and outside, and a rear flower garden. The garage was shown for the first (and final) time, right before Leo was taken away by the Angel of Destiny But was also shown in Season Five when Piper made the Manor vanish.^[8]

A trademark, the front door closing magically, which Prue started at the pilot and Season One finale, and it's been magically closed every Season finale ever since (Seasons 1 & 2 – Prue; Season 3 – Shax; Season 4 – the Angel of Destiny; Season 5 – Chris Halliwell; Season 7 – It closes apparently without anyone's help, (although fans speculate it to be Prue doing so from the afterlife); Season 8 – Piper's granddaughter) with the exception of Season 6, when they closed the doors of the delivery room at San Francisco Memorial Hospital where baby Chris was born.

Notable events

Notable events occurring to the Halliwell Manor:

• It is revealed that Phoebe was born in the Manor, thus setting up multiple times where she is taken over by evil.
• The eldest sister Prue Halliwell is murdered by Shax, The Source's personal assassin.^[9]
• The manor is vanished by Piper, while under a hex.^[10]
• Piper and Leo get married in the third season episode Just Harried.
• The manor becomes covered and infected by a Slime Demon.^[11]
• Wyatt is born in the manor in season 5, making him also susceptible to turning evil and setting up the Season 6 story arc.
• Older Chris dies here in Leo's arms.
• Another notable event that happens to the Halliwell Manor is when leftover demonic energy from demon vanquishes manifests as an entity and begins to haunt the Halliwell family at the beginning of the episode "House Call".^[10]
• The manor's basement explodes after The Charmed Ones destroy Zankou after he attempts to take control of the Nexus,^[3] rocking the house on its foundations.
• Paige and Henry get married in the Manor in the season 8 episode "Engaged and Confused"
• The manor is destroyed due to enormous powers used during the battle of The Charmed Ones vs. The Ultimate Power.^[12]
• The manor is restored when Piper along with her mother and grandmother go through time to prevent Phoebe and Paige from being killed (and the manor destroyed) during the ultimate battle with Christy and Billie.

Trivia

In the video game L.A Noire, the house that is used for exterior shots of Halliwell Manor can be seen. You can walk up to the house, but you can't go inside. Additionally, Brian Krause is a voice actor for a character in the game, who also has his likeness.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Is There A Woogy In The House?". Charmed.
2. ^ "The Importance of Being Phoebe". Charmed.
3. ^ ^{a b c} "Something Wicca This Way Goes". Charmed.
4. ^ ^{a b} "The Day the Magic Died". Charmed.
5. ^ ^{a b} "PreWitched". Charmed.
6. ^ "Dead Man Dating". Charmed.
7. ^ "Just Harried". Charmed.
8. ^ "Vaya Con Leos". Charmed.
9. ^ "All Hell Breaks Loose". Charmed.
10. ^ ^{a b} "House Call". Charmed.
11. ^ "Witchstock". Charmed.
12. ^ "Kill Billie Vol. 2". Charmed.