Favorite Soap Opera Sets

[j swift]

1. Myrna Clegg's bathroom (Capitol) - remember when it was naughty to be able to talk on the phone from your tub?

 

2.  Capwell living room (Santa Barbara) - I liked both editions of the huge set even though they never seemed to figure out where the dining room should be

 

3. Steffy/Owen/Jackie's loft (B&B) - I think you should decorate around your interests and if you have a hunky boyfriend then you should have a tub in the living room.  It was unfortunate that their upstairs neighbors had to traipse through that living room to get to their apartment. 

 

4. tie - LLandfair (OLTL) & Cortland Manor (AMC) - Both had all of the things I love in a mansion set: a two story foyer for grand entrances and exits, french doors to a pool, and no kitchen

 

5. Iris Carrington Cory's penthouse (AW) - She ate breakfast in a peignoir that matched her dining room and lounged in a sunken living room with a grand terrace.  It was too chic for anyone else in Bay City to ever live there.  Second place to Marlena's (DAYS) penthouse from back when she was a serial killer.  Remember that curved staircase and curved front door; they didn't match architecturally but they were interesting details.

 

6. Maeve Ryan's kitchen (RH) - really the VIP room of Ryan's Bar

 

7. Quartermaine Carriage house (GH) - How romantic is a newlywed cottage; especially one with a full household staff right next door?

 

8. The Goal Post (AMC) - everybody always complained that Pine Valley was a boring suburb but, they had a disco, Kitty and Nick's nightclub, a strip club in Center City, and several fine dining options.

 

9. Miles Cavanugh's penthouse (EON) - I always loved the idea of an elevator that functioned as the front door.  Rae Woodard (RH) had a similar setup.  I also loved the fireplace and floating staircase of Miles apartment, no wonder he moved in after April went to London.

 

10. Abbott pool (Y&R) - gotta love a pool that rocks a speedo-only policy long into the 90's.

 

 

[Soapsuds]

Bob and Kim's dinning room on ATWT. 

[Khan]

From AMC (in no particular order): the original Martin living room, the original Cortlandt Manor, the Tyler mansion, the original Linden House, the original Chandler mansion, McKay's, the Goalpost, the Chateau, the Glamorama, the Boutique....

 

I could go on, I guess, but I think William Mickley did a fantastic job (as AMC's set designer in the late '70's and '80's) of setting a distinct, visual tone for the fictional Pine Valley.  With his designs, PV looked and felt like an honest-to-God real town, and not just a bunch of sets on a studio floor.

[Soaplovers]

Guiding Light:  Bauer Kitchen, Meals n Wheels Diner, Revabend, Towers, The Blue Moon, The Blue Orchid

 

AW: Tops, Cory Living room and pool, Iris' penthouse.

 

Y & R: Nina's original apartment with the spiral  staircase, Abbott living room, Ginas, Original Newman Ranch, Williams living room

 

 

[Khan]

Oh, as far as Y&R is concerned, nothing tops the original Chancellor mansion.

[SoapDope]

I loved that set too. It was classic georgian colonial. I remember when Nina wanted that house and her lawyer Michael Crawford told her it was very old money which she was not.....LOL

 

I also loved Southfork on Dallas. The original Southfork in the first five episode was nice in it's own way too, but they filmed in winter and everything green was dead. I liked Gary and Val's house out of all the houses in the cul-de-sac. 

[Sindacco]

On DAYS, the old Kiriakis Mansion, that Kate set on fire in 2001.

[mango]

Jackie and Kelly Taylor's house on BH90210. Just thinking about it makes me smile because it was 1990s perfection, including those glass blocks and mauve walls.

 

The original Newman ranch on Y&R. There was something about that dark wood. And how many falls did we see on those stairs? During the heyday of Nikki's drinking problem, she was stashing bottles of vodka everywhere -- many places I didn't even know existed.

 

Wyndemere was hauntingly stunning on GH, particularly in the mid-2000s when Nikolas and Emily's romance blossomed. 

 

 

[All My Shadows]

I loved all of the various Valley Inn sets used on AMC in the early 2000s, all of which are prominently featured in this parody episode the show did in 2003. I especially have a soft spot for the red/white wine-colored room in which Tad spends the first half of the episode.

Other AMC sets I've loved - Tom's office at the Goalpost with its chintz wallpaper and wainscoting, the original 80s Chandler mansion living room with the long ivory banister, the Glamorama, the original Martin living room and kitchen, Mona and Erica's kitchen in the early 70s, and Myrtle's boarding house.

Truth be told, though, my favorite soap sets of all time would have to be the living rooms and kitchens from Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. Perfect in every single way.

[SFK]

'80s Linden House

 

Clegg mansion

 

The Abbotts' before it inexplicably became cheap-looking 

 

MANY postmodern penthouses through the years:

Alexis

Iris (Beverlee and Carmen versions)

Dorian (1, which looked a lot like Linden, and 3, the sleek black and gold before she snatched Marty's house)

Sydney Chase (an amazing, large, three-dimensional, eclectic space)

 

Some favorite pieces of furniture that come to mind: Alexis' tusk desk, Sydney's high-back leopard dining room chairs, the Quartermaines' sofa that debuted in the '90s and lasted for several years

[OldGHFan]

I really loved Robert and Holly Scorpio's townhouse.  It had a living room, kitchen, 2 bedrooms, a floating staircase and a state of the art (for the time) computer room.  They also had a sauna where there was a lot of loving.

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[SteelCity]

Easily Sydney Chase's penthouse, or Marlena's penthouse. Alexis had great home too. I guess I have a certain style!

[Gray Bunny]

Marlena's penthouse on DAYS. 

[titan1978]

On GH- I loved the already mentioned Wyndemere.  From the dock to the parapet.  So many great things happened there.  Even when Faison owned it before the Cassadines.

 

Robert’s home with the floating stairs is another favorite, as was Sean & Tiffany’s penthouse (which became Sonny’s).

 

I loved Laura’s house with all the dark wood and the stairs, and the Brownstone.

 

I miss the Monty era nurses station (circular column hub), and the stairs at the Quartermaine mansion.

 

But my favorite GH set is Kelly’s.  Young characters living and working there, Ruby dishing out tough love, and everybody coming through at one point or another.  I believe Lila even cooked up her relish there.

[Gray Bunny]

Perhaps it's nostalgia, but I like larger sets that have various nooks 'n crannies so characters can dip in and out of various areas, to have many characters used at the same time (or eavesdrop on one another, as would happen on many occasions)

 

DAYS' Penthouse Grille, Titan Publishing, the old hospital waiting room area, THE REAL OUTDOOR Salem Place, plus the DiMera mansion before they repainted and shrunk it (back when it was blueish green with grand hallways)

 

GL's Country Club, The Towers, Spaulding Mansion, Josh/Annie's house (a.k.a. The Land Of Wishes Hopes & Dreams), Josh & Reva's house (originally Vanessa's) 

 

With many of these sets, it wasn't just one set either. There'd be other branches that would accompany it. For instance, DAYS' Penthouse Grille also had the terrace outside. GL's Country Club had the outdoor area (with the fountain) as well as the bar to get a drink or eat. 

 

It may mean nothing for some, but to me, stuff like this enhanced the overall feeling that these fictitious locales are real. Instead of everyone bumping into each other at the same damn Town Square or park bench with overgrown shrubbery or living in the same claustrophobic hotel room. People's homes or the places they hung out at became a part of the character themselves.