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.

Meet the man behind The Bachelor mansion, Marshall Haraden, president of the general contracting and construction company The Marshall Group. Haraden started building the home in 2001, which completed construction in 2005 (via CheatSheet). And while it's hard to picture anyone other than Chris Harrison and the gang in The Bachelor mansion, Haraden, his wife, and their four kids live in the home during the 10 months the show isn't filming

Haraden has never disclosed how much his family is compensated for giving up their home for The Bachelor, but one can only imagine it comes with a pretty hefty price tag.

Haraden is also, unsurprisingly, a fan of The Bachelor, but he told US Weekly that it's strange coming back to the house after seeing some of the things that happen during filming. But ultimately, Haraden loves working with The Bachelor and Chris Harrison, who he says is a "super nice guy." When asked if he'd approve of his kids going on the show, Haraden had a cheeky response. "They'd probably be pretty good at playing the game, after having seen it so many times," he revealed.

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.

The Bachelor mansion is known for many things other than being the home for finding love, such as the gorgeous rose bushes that surround the house, the infamous pool, and the glittering driveway that contestants walk up (some in chicken costumes) each season to meet their prospective husband/wife.

But as iconic as the shimmering driveway to The Bachelor mansion is, many have wondered how it maintains its shine throughout the entire opening segment of the show. Fortunately for the curious, host Chris Harrison revealed the secret behind the driveway in an interview. "Television. There's no other reason than it looks pretty on TV," he told Entertainment Weekly. "And now it's funny, cause I know people talk about it so much that every time they hose the driveway down, I just laugh cause I'm like oh, they're gonna be talking about this." 

Harrison went on to say that a dry driveway wouldn't look good on television, which is why producers make sure it's hosed down for the dramatic Bachelor and Bachelorette entrances on night one.

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.

Contestants on The Bachelorette and The Bachelor are not the only ones who go through a beauty routine before appearing on the show. The Bachelor mansion also gets repainted and redecorated, depending on which show is filming there. While the home to the starlets goes through various renovations before it's camera ready, the owner of the home, Marshall Haraden, revealed that repainting is one of the more intricate tasks.

The Bachelor mansion gets two coats of paint, and it changes depending on the gender of the lead, according to Haraden. "They'll paint it to the colors they want, whether it's a man or it's a woman — Bachelor/Bachelorette, they'll change the motif," he shared in an interview with US Weekly. 

With each season, production creates the tone for the show, adjusting to the theme they want to carry out — and that equals a whole lot of paint. '"They paint it back and forward a lot, so [in total the show has given it] about 44 coats of paint," Haraden continued.

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.

Seeing your home on national television might sound like a dream come true, but for Marshall Haraden and his family, it comes with some strange occurrences during The Bachelor off-season. Specifically, sometimes fans will find their way to The Bachelor mansion when Haraden and his family are living there.

Haraden opened up about the experience in a chat with Good Morning America. "There's people outside the gate climbing over the fence or on top of their cars trying to take pictures," he revealed. Imagine their surprise when they are met with a family instead of a gaggle of young 20-somethings on a journey to find love!

Haradens' kids also mentioned that sometimes their dad wants nothing to do with the fans trespassing, but occasionally, he lets fans come onto the property to look around. "Other times he's like, 'Yeah, come on in, I'll show you around," they shared.

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.

Few things are as crucial to The Bachelor as the iconic red roses that the Bachelor/Bachelorette hands out throughout the season. Interestingly enough, the flowers that are given to the contestants also come with a hefty price tag. According to PopSugar, throughout 38 seasons, The Bachelor is estimated to have spent over $25,000 on roses alone.

Additionally, The Bachelor mansion is also surrounded by rose bushes and flowers, which give the home its signature look. However, Entertainment Weekly revealed that not all of the flowers you see around the estate are real. Specifically, some of the roses in the backyard area of the house are actually tied onto stems in the bushes among the real ones. While that's impossible to notice from a seat on your couch at home, this shows the great lengths The Bachelor production goes to make everything look perfect, even down the smallest detail.

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.

With fans climbing over walls and standing on cars just to get a peek at The Bachelor mansion, it's no surprise that the gorgeous villa is available for anyone to rent — as long as they're willing to shell out a pretty penny for it. The mansion, which is actually named "Villa De La Vina", can be rented for corporate parties, event dinners, and team-building workshops, according to the estate's website.

Not surprisingly, renting out an extravagant Malibu mansion for a party isn't going to be cheap. One night at the villa costs $2,100, and it's over $13,000 for the entire week (via People). And these are just prices for untelevised cocktail parties! 

Marshall Haraden has never revealed how much the show compensates him for giving up his home, but with prices like these just for one night, The Bachelor is more than likely paying a hefty price tag to host the show there.

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.

Superfans may remember former Bachelorette contestant David Ravitz, who first appeared on Becca Kufrin's season of the show. The Bachelorette alum first made his appearance waltzing up the glistening driveway in a chicken costume to meet Kufrin in season 14. That's definitely one of the weirdest contestant entrances in Bachelor history! 

However, Ravitz left a different impression on The Bachelor mansion than he originally hoped for, in addition to his memorable entrance. On an episode of The Bachelorette, Ravitz fell from the top of a bunk bed while he was sleeping. The chicken-suit-guy fell face-first on the ground, earning himself a bloody nose and a trip to the hospital. With over 40 seasons of the show in the books, many of them taking place in The Bachelor mansion, it's rather surprising this was the first time something like this happened. 

Nevertheless, production made sure history wasn't doomed to repeat itself. According to Entertainment Weekly, all of the bunks now have safety railing which are nicknamed, "chicken rails."

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.