The Benson House

A few weeks ago while out stalking in Pasadena I stopped to take some pics of the mansion that was used as the home of Governor Gatling in the 1979 television series  Benson.  I had actually stalked this mansion eight years before when I first moved to Southern California, but had yet to blog about it.  So here goes.  🙂  Growing up, Benson  was one of my very favorite shows, but to tell you the truth it’s been so long, I barely even remember what it was about now!  But I sure do remember loving it as a kid.  🙂  The series, which ran from 1979 to 1986, was a spin-off of the show Soap.  Jerry Seinfeld’s very first acting gig was actually on Benson, where he played a character named Frankie.  According to IMDB, Jerry was unknowingly fired from the show after three episodes.  He apparently showed up to work one morning only to find out that he no longer had a job and that producers had forgotten to let him know!  LOL  Sounds like a plotline straight out of Seinfeld.  🙂

In reality, the Benson  mansion is known as the Bundy House, named for its original owner, Harlow E. Bundy, inventor of the time clock.  Harlow, a resident of Endicott, New York built the mansion in 1914 after deciding he wanted to retire to Pasadena.  After retiring to the West Coast in 1915, he became involved (surprise, surprise) in the motion picture industry.   Sadly, though, he passed away in 1916, a brief year after moving into his Pasadena mansion.  The Bundy House is absolutely HUGE – almost unbelievably so!   According to Zillow, the ten bedroom, ten bathroom home is a whopping 15,878 square feet and sits on an 87, 070 square foot lot.  I highly recommend stalking the place as pictures just simply don’t do it justice. 

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Benson  house is located at 1365 S. Oakland Avenue in Pasadena.