In most circles, asking someone if they prefer The Munsters or The Addams Family can make for fun dinner conversation. But in Waxahachie, there’s only one right answer. Because even though The Munsters’ beloved sitcom wrapped in 1966, the family’s iconic mansion on 1313 Mockingbird Lane lives on in this growing town south of Dallas.
Pulling up to the house felt like the opening scene to a scary movie, with overgrown trees obscuring the mansion’s dark facade. However when I knocked on the door, I was greeted with a kind Texas smile from owner Sandra McKee, who grew up watching the show and dreaming of someday living in the kooky mansion.
When she had a chance to make her dream a reality, she and her husband, Charles, obsessed over all 70 episodes of the show to recreate the exact layout and dimensions of the haunted abode, which, ironically, never existed in real life but was just a collection of soundstages on a Hollywood backlot. But this home feels as real as Spot, the pet dragon under the stairs. The McKees host paid private tours by appointment only.
Not only has Sandra collected a number of authentic props, such as a complete dining room set, she’s also found life-size mannequins of all the characters, including a towering Herman Munster and his beautiful bride, Lily. Upstairs I found Eddie holding his famous bat and Grandpa tinkering in his lab. I couldn’t believe the details and the true-to-screen secret passages.
Each cobweb-filled room tapped into the dusty vaults of my brain and brought back memories of watching the show from my grandparents’ floor.
Sandra proudly shared the story of the time actor Al Lewis (aka Grandpa) visited, and his eyes filled with tears of joy and disbelief. It seems this spooky reality is better than fiction.
