The Untold Truth Of The Bachelor Mansion

The Bachelor mansion is located in Agoura Hills of Southern California, home to reality dating show sensation The Bachelor. The house has become a television landmark since its season 11 debut back in 2007. Since then, a slew of Bachelors and Bachelorettes, their suitors, thousands of roses, and cocktail parties have graced the luxurious mansion, all in the name of love. Here's how The Bachelor has changed since the first ever season.

At a sprawling 7,590 square feet, The Bachelor mansion is the perfect place for the big personalities that walk up the glistening driveway season after season. With six bedrooms, nine bathrooms, and beautiful views of Malibu, the home has become an honorary cast member in and of itself. But beyond the grand pool, spacious rooms, and dozens of rose bushes, there's another story behind this mega-bachelor pad. While fans of the show know what happens on-screen in the opulent home, it's time to find out the untold truth of The Bachelor mansion.

Starting with Brad Womack's season of The Bachelor in 2007, Marshall Haraden and his family have been giving up their home to The Bachelor masterminds. Haraden revealed that at one point, the constant moving became too much for the family, and they decided to move out semi-permanently while their kids were still in school.

Now that their children are grown, the hassle of uprooting their lives twice a year for The Bachelor and The Bachelorette isn't so hard, but Haraden called the process a hassle "because [the] kids start school right when they start filming, and it would disrupt them going back to school," he explained to US Weekly. "And then [for The Bachelorette], it's right when they're getting ready to go back to the next [semester]." 

The Haraden family lived elsewhere six years so the children could continue through their middle school years uninterrupted. They eventually moved back in when the kids were in high school, and could better handle the demanding filming schedule of The Bachelor.

With almost 8,000 square feet, six bedrooms, nine bathrooms, a sprawling pool, and stunning Malibu Canyon views, The Bachelor contestants are living a life of luxury while competing for their potential future fiancé's heart. And though the spacious, villa-like house has much to offer to its residents, some may be surprised to find out that the 25-30 contestants don't have access to every part of the mansion. 

Contestants do have full access to the kitchen at The Bachelor mansion. And even though the home boasts plenty of bathrooms, all the contestants have to share space in just four of those bathrooms (via E! News). Additionally, according to Molly Mesnick, the winner of season 13 of The Bachelor, the contestants have limits when it comes to working out since the mansion doesn't have a gym. That means they have to get creative when it comes to exercise. "There's no workout room here, but there's a hill in the back that girls would run up to exercise," she explained in a chat with The Ashley.

Along with getting repainted, The Bachelor mansion also gets a complete interior transformation so it fits the mood of the show. To that end, everything the Haraden family owns gets completely moved out in order to make room for production.

The Bachelor takes up residence in the mansion twice a year, each time for 42 days apiece. The first part of each session is dedicated to remodeling, according to Marshall Haraden. "They take two weeks to put it together the way they want it, and they shoot for X amount of days, and then they spend two weeks to put it back," he explained to Us Weekly.

So what do they do during those first two weeks? Haraden says they completely strip down his home. "Everything leaves — everything that's not tied down, that's not part of the home," he continued. "Curtains, TVs, pots and pans, clothes — everything in one day goes out." So the house we're seeing on TV is nothing like the one the Haraden family lives in. For instance, the room where the rose ceremony is held is actually Haraden's den, complete with a pool table and a bar.

The Bachelor didn't start using Marshall Haraden's mansion as the set until 2007 (for Brad Womack's season), but a scout for with The Bachelor production actually had an eye on the estate before it was even built. In 2001, Haraden had just started building his now-famous home, when the scout (who was looking for a location for an unrelated project nearby the Haraden residence) expressed interest in the lot. "[The show's location scout told me,] 'I might use it — I might not," Haraden told US Weekly. "Give me a couple high ceilings, some extra power and some extra bathrooms, and we'll make it work.'" 

Then, when The Bachelor mansion was done, production sent over an agent to survey the newly-built home. The rest is history, as the home has been used for years, and has housed hundreds of contestants for the hit show.

The contestants on The Bachelor aren't allowed to leave the The Bachelor mansion unless they're on a date, so the production team has the task of making sure the stars have everything they need. This includes stocking up the kitchen with any kind of food that the contestants want — and, of course, enough booze to keep them busy.

Season 16 winner Courtney Robertson opened up about her time in the mansion in an interview. "I gained weight through the process," she confessed to Allure. "There's a lot of food and alcohol at your disposal, which is hard." Additionally, another former contestant also verified that she was fully taken care of when it came to a stocked kitchen. Jaclyn Swarts, also from season 16, detailed the snacks that were at their disposal. "They had huge glass jars filled with cheese balls, pretzels, and things along those lines," she explained to Refinery 29. 

While The Bachelor doesn't provide private chefs for the contestants, they do have the added perk of giving producers grocery lists for whatever types of food they want, as long as they cook it themselves.

The Bachelor mansion is complete with sprawling acres, high-ceilings, and an infinity pool for days, which makes it the object of attraction for shows other than The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. In fact, the mansion has also made appearances in another big name show.

In addition to the now-defunct Bachelor Pad, The Bachelor mansion has been featured in several commercials and shows, according to Today. But its biggest claim to fame other than The Bachelor is that it was used in episodes of Quantico, which stars Priyanka Chopra — who's undergone a stunning transformation. The mash-up was taken a step further when both shows filmed a cross-promotion commercial featuring Chopra and former Bachelor, Nick Viall. The promotion was filmed inside the mansion, making Chopra one of the biggest stars grace the mansion halls. 

So in addition to the show being used for private events and a national dating competition, the mansion can also add to its repertoire its appearance in another smash TV hit.

The Bachelor mansion is nestled in the canyons of Southern California, and reportedly gives occupants sensational views of rolling hills. But in 2018, the mansion, which has served as the backdrop for The Bachelor since 2007, was in an active fire area during the Woolsey fire. Although the Haraden family wasn't at home at the time, the stunning Malibu residence wasn't spared from the fire's wrath.

The Hollywood Reporter confirmed the Woolsey fire occurred during the filming of season 23 of The Bachelor, which featured Colton Underwood as the lead, in one of the most dramatic Bachelor and Bachelorette seasons ever. Fortunately, the show wasn't filming at The Bachelor mansion during the time of the fire. That turned out to be a stroke of luck for the show, though not so much for the owners of the property. "The back patio was burning and the flames were moving toward the house," a source confirmed. The lower guest house that is used by production was also burned down in the fire.