What to Know
- FORT LA presents "Lifestyles of the Rich and Murderous: The Mansions, Complexes, and Estates of Columbo"
- Find a free map on the FORT LA site
- The architecture-loving group regularly creates "trails" around Southern California built around a single theme; please view the featured houses from a distance
While TV-watching trends famously wax and wane, mavens of mystery shows are as loyal to their stories as a dogged detective is to his or her case.
These whodunits have staying power, and even if a series concluded several years back, you can count on fans connecting with episodes as they connect the dots alongside the main character.
There have been few fictional television heroes quite as winning as Lieutenant Frank Columbo, the role so fetchingly filled by the charming, trench-coated, can't-be-ruffled Peter Falk.
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The series ran for much of the '70s, an early powerhouse of Peak TV long before the term was coined. Following Columbo as he expertly interviewed suspects, and discovered surprising clues, was something TV viewers adored a half-century ago and still love today.
After all, new fans don't yet know the big reveal at the end of each "Columbo" episode.
Now FORT LA, that architecture-championing outfit, is tracing the good lieutenant's wanderings via a new map, one that features a few of the local mansions seen in the series.
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They still exist, oh yes, and these TV houses seem almost unchanged from when they gained fame as stately stars of the hit show.
You might recognize some of the featured homes — there are five in all — from other TV shows or films you've adored. The Bundy House, a grand Pasadena mansion known for its handsome hilltop setting, served as the Governor's Mansion in the popular sitcom "Benson."
Anupama Mann, a researcher and designer, blazed this tantalizing trail, which rambles from the DeCinces House of Woodland Hills to a trio of sites clustered in the Crown City, sections of which seem as if no time has passed since the series was filmed.
You can find the free "Columbo"-inspired trail, and several others including the popular "Witch" maps that materialize around Halloween, on the FORT LA site.
As always, maintaining a respectful distance when viewing movie or TV homes, or any architectural landmarks listed on a trail, is essential; check out more important trail tips from the FORT LA team.
Donning your lucky trenchcoat as you make your mystery-minded way across LA is up to you, of course.
