Doc Brown's 1955 house — the mansion Marty runs up to after arriving in the past — is the Gamble House in Pasadena, California. It is one of the most significant houses in American architecture, it is a National Historic Landmark, and it is open to the public for guided tours.
Almost everything else in Hill Valley is either a Universal Studios backlot or a scattering of real locations across the Los Angeles area. There is no Hill Valley, and the town square you remember has no town attached to it.
The Gamble House
The house was designed by the brothers Charles and Henry Greene and completed in 1908 for David and Mary Gamble, of the Procter & Gamble family, as a winter residence. It is the defining work of the American Arts and Crafts movement: teak, mahogany and oak joinery throughout, hand-shaped and pegged rather than nailed, broad sleeping porches, and Tiffany-style art glass in the front door.
The family gave it jointly to the City of Pasadena and the University of Southern California in 1966, and it operates as a museum with guided tours. The interiors are largely intact with original Greene & Greene furniture designed for the rooms.
The film uses only the exterior, and only briefly, and the house's custodians have generally been more interested in the architecture than the film — which is fair, given that the building was a landmark for seventy-seven years before Marty McFly ran past it. In 1985 Doc lives in the garage of the same estate, the mansion having supposedly burned down.
Courthouse Square is a backlot
Hill Valley's town square, with the clock tower and the courthouse, is Courthouse Square on the Universal Studios backlot in Universal City. It was built in 1948 and has appeared in an enormous number of productions before and since — it is one of the most heavily used standing sets in the world.
It is still there, and you can see it: the Universal Studios Hollywood tram tour goes through it, and the clock tower façade is maintained with the Back to the Future clock. A fire damaged much of the backlot in 2008 and Courthouse Square was rebuilt afterwards.
The square is a façade set — building fronts with nothing behind them — so the interiors of the café, Doc's shop and the dance are all elsewhere or on stages.
The other Hill Valley locations
Hill Valley High School is Whittier High School in Whittier, used for both the 1955 and 1985 scenes. The Enchantment Under the Sea dance was filmed in the gymnasium at Hollywood United Methodist Church.
Twin Pines Mall, where the DeLorean is first tested and where Doc is shot — later Lone Pine Mall after Marty flattens a tree — is the Puente Hills Mall in City of Industry, about half an hour east of downtown Los Angeles. The car park is instantly recognisable, and for decades fans gathered there every 26 October for Back to the Future Day, with a particularly large turnout for the film's fortieth anniversary in 2025.
Its days are numbered. The mall has been failing for years — down from around 155 stores at its peak to fewer than fifteen by 2026 — and the site is slated for demolition and redevelopment as a data-centre campus. If the car park matters to you, go soon and check first that it is still standing.
The McFly family home is on Roslyndale Avenue in Arleta, in the San Fernando Valley, and is a private house on an ordinary residential street.
Visiting the location
- Where
- The Gamble House, 4 Westmoreland Place, Pasadena, California. Courthouse Square is inside Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal City.
- Getting there
- The Gamble House is a short drive from central Pasadena, about 20 minutes from downtown LA. Universal Studios Hollywood has its own Metro B Line station.
- Access
- The Gamble House runs ticketed guided tours on set days; the exterior and grounds can be viewed for free. Courthouse Square is only accessible on the Universal Studios Hollywood tram tour, which requires theme park admission.
- Book the Gamble House tour ahead — tours are timed, limited in size and often sell out.
- The house is worth it for the architecture regardless of the film; ask about the Greene & Greene joinery and the front door glass.
- At Universal, Courthouse Square is on the standard tram tour — you cannot walk the backlot independently.
- The McFly house in Arleta is a private residence. Look from the street and do not knock.
Frequently asked questions
Can you visit Doc Brown's house?
Yes. The Gamble House in Pasadena is a museum with guided tours on set days, and the exterior can be seen from the grounds for free.
Is Hill Valley a real town?
No. The town square is Courthouse Square, a standing façade set on the Universal Studios backlot, built in 1948 and rebuilt after a fire in 2008.
Can you see the Back to the Future clock tower?
Yes, on the Universal Studios Hollywood tram tour, which passes through Courthouse Square. It is not accessible on foot or independently.
Where is the Twin Pines Mall car park?
Puente Hills Mall in City of Industry, California. It is largely empty as of 2026 — fewer than fifteen stores remain — and the site is slated for demolition and redevelopment, so check before making a trip for it.