When I was but a wee tot, watching my fave sitcoms, I fantasized about living in the same lush and quirky homes the characters did.

Oh, to sprawl on the sofa in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, asking Geoffrey to top up my hot cocoa (extra whipped cream, please). Or to stage a family airband performance on the stairs of the Huxtable’s Cosby Show abode.

Or to complain about not being able to pay my share of the rent on Three’s Company, and slam the bedroom door in Jack’s face when he got a little too frisky.

As I grew up, itching for independence, my fantasies involved Monica’s purple paradise of a rent-controlled Manhattan apartment on Friends, the Walshes’ Spanish-style digs on Beverly Hills, 90210, and Frasier’s impeccably-appointed Seattle condo on Frasier. I even wanted Martin’s beat-up recliner.

Now, the home featured on ‘80s feel-good sitcom Full House could be mine. OK, clearly I don’t have the money for it, but a girl can dream, can’t she?

The house at 722 Steiner St. in San Francisco, also known as the Shannon-Kavanaugh House, is going on sale for $4 million US, says NBC News Los Angeles. It’s a hefty price tag, since real-estate website Zillow places its worth at just $1.479 million, based on recent sales of nearby houses

"I'm looking forward to finding the next guardian for this special home," said real-estate agent Bonnie Spindler, who is listing the house for sale.

Appearing in the opening credits of Full House (1987-95), while the Tanner and Katsopolis families merrily picnicked nearby, the home is a local landmark. It’s one of the city’s famous “Painted Ladies,” part of the collection of Victorian houses bordering Alamo Square Park, sometimes known as "Postcard Row."

Though these houses were built between 1892 and 1896 by developer Matthew Kavanaugh, about 48,000 similar homes were made between 1849 and 1915, painted eye-popping colours like red, yellow and orange. (During the First and Second World War, those that survived the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake donned a sombre grey hue.)

But, there’s controversy brewing over 722 Steiner’s television cred. An indignant commenter on San Fran’s real estate website SocketSite maintains that the home at 1709 Broderick St. is the real Full House home.

Whatever the case, neither 722 Steiner nor 1709 Broderick actually housed Danny (Bob Saget), Michelle (Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen), Jesse (John Stamos), DJ (Candace Cameron), Comet the dog and the myriad other characters on Full House.

The ABC show was filmed on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, Calif. Doesn’t matter to me, though. As I said, a girl can dream, can’t she?

Thoughts? melissa@tvguide.ca


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RETRO BITS AND PIECES 

Adjust your set: Oh, man. I am so salivating over LG’s newest TV set. Perhaps more than over a bowl of cookie-dough ice cream. Mmm … ice cream. But I digress. The LG Serie 1 Retro Classic TV (right) comes with rabbit ears, detachable chrome legs, and knobs to change the channel and volume. You can even switch between full-colour, black-and-white and sepia modes.

What’s more, the 14-inch set uses old cathode ray tube (CRT) technology with a 4:3 aspect ratio. There are some winks to the 21st century, though – a digital tuner, composite video input, and wireless remote are included. Alas, it’s only in Korea right now, priced at 249,000 Korean won (about CAD$231). Anyone know of any cheap flights to Seoul?
 



 

Whether a show invaded TV in the ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s or ‘80s, Melissa will likely think it’s hep, groovy, dyn-o-mite or totally awesome. Her ever-expanding classic TV on DVD collection includes Three’s Company, Beverly Hills, 90210 and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. She has a soft spot for anything retro – heck, she even married an ex Elvis tribute artist.
Though her fave current series are quirky ones, like Flight of the Conchords, Mad Men, 30 Rock, Reaper, How I Met Your Mother and The Late Late Show, Melissa is on a quest to rediscover forgotten shows and classics of TV screens past. Her RetroChick mission is simple: to dish retro news, tease your brain with trivia, indulge in nostalgia and catch up with past icons. The question is, can you dig it?