Yahoo Lifestyle The Biggest Star in 'No Good Deed' Is a Los Angeles Dream Home
In No Good Deed, three families vie for the same Los Angeles dream house. Located in the covetable Los Feliz neighborhood, the 1920s Spanish-style villa has an undeniable appeal to all its prospective buyers. It comes with a newly renovated kitchen and exudes character thanks to an original fireplace, stained glass windows, and romantic archways. But unfortunately, viewers have no hope of one day getting into a bidding war over the property.
Production designer Nina Ruscio and her team built all of the home’s interiors on a soundstage for the dark Netflix comedy. The exterior is a real house—but it’s actually located in Hancock Park, a roughly 20-minute drive southwest of Los Feliz. That’s in part for logistical reasons; the neighborhood has flatter streets, which are better for filming, Ruscio says, but also because “there's a finite number of Spanish houses, really, in the world, and there's a finite number of Spanish houses that are fabulous in Los Angeles.”
Finding a home on a corner lot that draws in passerby was also a priority. “I wanted to find a house that felt like it had a soul,” says creator and showrunner Liz Feldman. Feldman credits director Silver Tree with encouraging her to find a house that felt like it was opening its arms out like a hug. “And then we found that house,” Feldman says, “literally situated on this picturesque corner with wings that really do reach out to you.”
While the facade was striking at first glance, it was also significantly dolled up for the series. “We added, really, truckloads of greens to the outside of that location, and we added tile and all the work,” Ruscio says. “And the second that you open up the door, I actually built a set piece inside of there. So there's no part of that real practical exterior that we use as an interior at all, not even one inch into the front door.”
The on-screen interiors—which are much more spacious than those of the home’s real-life counterpart—needed to hit on a lot of emotional levels to make potential buyers hungry for it. They gave the kitchen a sizable island, updated appliances, plenty of natural light, and a charming tile backsplash—catnip to families who love to cook and share meals together. “What makes you not buy a home? Renovations that need to be done,” Ruscio says.
Unique architectural elements and other satisfying details ensure the home is seductive. In the living room, the fireplace is a historic centerpiece. With soft curves and a wooden mantel, the fireplace actually works and features tiles that were custom made to depict a mandarin tree and peacocks (Easter eggs to plot points in the series). Throughout the house, leaded stained glass windows play up character.
While the furnishings aren’t technically offered with the house, the grand piano stops buyers in their tracks. The instrument is actually from the 1800s. “It had an extremely unique sound, a little off kilter,” says Ruscio. “A lot of the music that you hear is from that actual piano.”
Although the dream house isn’t real, No Good Deed was inspired by Feldman's personal search for a Los Angeles home during the pandemic. “We were all literally locked down inside of our houses, and suddenly our homes took on this almost kind of supernatural meaning, like it was the only place where we were safe,” she says.
Like many, Feldman went Zillow surfing. The pastime became “a great escape because you could sort of walk into other people's houses and just for a moment feel like you're visiting somebody else and not in your own house,” Feldman says. “And then [my wife and I] started looking at houses, and every time we walked into a new door, I could just feel that there was a story there, especially during such a tumultuous and difficult time like the pandemic.”
She began to imagine the many stories behind every real estate transaction. “There's a reason why people sell, and it's not always a happy reason. Sometimes it’s a very loaded reason or sometimes a fairly tragic reason. And I realized there was an opportunity here to use the backdrop of buying and selling a house to tell a lot of interesting, intersecting stories that people can relate to.”
As longtime owners Paul and Lydia Morgan (Ray Romano and Lisa Kudrow) go through the process of selling their residence and eager families make determined grabs for it in No Good Deed, the series explores the complicated relationship we have to our homes. Lydia compares selling the house—where her family has made good and bad memories—to lobbing an appendage off. To that, Paul, who has lived in the home since he was a kid, declares it’s time to amputate.
You Might Also Like
