1985 Mr Stricklands House

Filming Location from “Back to the Future” part II

Ah, good old alternate 1985. After Marty and Doc come back from the future and drop of Jennifer, and just after Marty is chased out of what he thinks is his house, he runs up a street alongside the school and sits down on a porch to pick up a newspaper (to check the date). As you probably remember, Alternate Mr. Strickland shoves a shotgun into Marty’s face, tells him the school was burned down years ago, and was just about to make Marty into a eunuch, when he was interrupted by a drive-by shooting.

Well, BTTFtour.com is proud to tell you that the house survived the drive-by intact, and is safe and sound in Whittier, California, right next to the real-life high school used for the films. At first, one might not recognize this as being the right location, because the porch looks much different than it did at the time of filming. It was probably changed just after the film’s release, as Whittier High school is no more than fifty yards away, and the owner’s probably didn’t want any “slackers” taking their own newspapers! (Note the gap in the foundation from the old steps!). You can tell from the comparison shots below that little else has changed. I didn’t recognize the house myself the first time I saw it, but after carefully reviewing the scene on the DVD, I concluded this must, indeed be the right place. The Location Manager for BTTFII later confirmed this for me.

When visiting this location, make sure to either come in daylight or with a friend, as this neighborhood seems to go back and forth with various crime problems from year to year. Not only that, but come between 3 and 5 if possible, as school will be out and it doesn’t look strange. People can get weird these days if they see anyone near a school for any reason (And obviously you don’t want to drive right next to Hill Valley High School and not visit there too!).

I have friends who attended to Whittier High School in the 80s, although they don’t remember any filming, since all of it was done over school breaks. Still, though I’m constantly in the neighborhood, for years I managed to miss Strickland’s House, because I didn’t notice that the background of the shot showing Marty approach the house was the side of the High School gymnasium until years later. Now, however, in the DVD version of Back to the Future part II there is a great deleted scene of Marty looking at the burned down High School that fits in just before he gets to Mr. Strickland’s house. Make sure not to sit on this porch. Most likely you will have a similar experience to Marty… if you know what I mean.

Our most recent visit was February 23, 2013. The house was just recently sold, and is looking much better than it has in years. Of course, this means they painted the porch foundation, so you can’t tell where the original steps used to be. We just added some new photos to the archive!

By the way, this was first published on our site. Another location BTTFtour.com broke to the public back in the day! (Although we know now a few people visited it before us) We’re stoked to have been able to put this puzzle piece back in to the BTTF fandom picture. Of course now it’s linked on mega-sites all over the web. Speaking of pictures, we have a lot more coming for our 2013 updates, and would LOVE to see your pictures of this location! Send em to us and we’ll get them up on the site!

ADDRESS: 12511 BAILEY ST, WHITTIER, CA

GPS COORDINATES: +34.105691, -118.141549

Special shoutout to Wesley Treat, who found this location way before us,(although he didnt ever publish it online) and is a supremely cool dude.