When celebrity properties go Breaking Bad

The award-winning “Breaking Bad” series drew in millions of fans to watch Walter White tackle his demons and delve into the meth production industry. The subject was controversial, the program was very hard hitting but four years after the show ended property owner Joanne Quintana is at her wits end. Her mother owns the home which featured as Walter Whites family abode and she lives there now. The property is situated in Albuquerque, New Mexico and has become something of a shrine for “Breaking Bad” fans.

Breaking Bad and the price of fame

When the Quintana family agreed to rent out their property to AMC film production back in 2008 nobody could have guessed the massive impact the program would have. We can only guess that the temporary uprooting of the family attracted significant compensation for a series which lasted five years. It is unlikely the family would have been housed elsewhere during the whole five-year period with TV programmes filmed in intensive blocks which would only last part of the year.

It appears that such is the popularity of “Breaking Bad” that it has created its own tourist route. As well as the Quintana house the tour also takes in Jesse Pinkmans’s property, the Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant and Saul Goodman’s fictional law offices.

Taking extreme action

Local press in Albuquerque have reported that resident Joanne Quintana is planning to take desperate measures to try and maintain at least a little bit of privacy. Plans are already in place to erect a six-foot high wrought iron fence around the property which will keep out unwelcome visitors. While 95% of tourists are happy to drive by it appears that a small minority have re-enacted scenes from the TV show, vandalised the property and used the swimming pool without permission.

It does seem as though life in a celebrity property is proving tough for the residents although interestingly there is no talk of selling up and taking advantage of the interest. Why not?

Unwanted attention

The “Breaking Bad” Albuquerque property is not the only former TV set to cause serious problems for the owners and residents. Many of us automatically assume that any link with celebrities or famous TV programmes increases interest and the ultimate value of a property. However, unwelcome visitors often emerge at all times of the day and night and regularly cause havoc.

We know that the original brownstone property in Manhattan which was the fictional home of Carrie Bradshaw in “Sex and the City” has attracted massive attention from fans of the show. Dozens of tourists arrive at the property each day and such has been the intrusion into their everyday life that residents have been forced to put a chain across the bottom of the stairs.

While the “Tanner house” in San Francisco which featured in the 1980s sitcom “Full House” was only used for exterior shots, it still attracts fans to this day. The endless stream of people to the iconic two-storey Victorian property is causing problems within the neighbourhood with fans finding it amusing to blast the theme tune as they pass by. Again, while the famous connections of the property have put the area on the map it has not enhanced the lives of the residents!


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