Stranger Things: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About the Byers House

At the end of Stranger Things season three, fans watched as the Byers family, along with Eleven, left Hawkins, and the Byers home, behind them in hopes of moving away and moving on from the insane happenings and trauma experienced by everyone in their orbit. But the like the Upside Down itself Hawkins, and the Byers house, may not be done with the family, or the show, just yet.

It will forever be the place where Will contacted his mom from the Upside Down and where much of the Upside Down connected to the real world of Hawkins. Like Eleven herself there is more to the Byers house than originally meets the eye.

10 The House Could Have Been Inherited

Back before Will and Jonathan’s dead beat, dad hit the road, it’s not clear if Joyce and Lonnie bought or actually inherited the Byers home. While it was never as large or as well maintained as the Wheeler or Henderson homes, it’s still would have been quite a gift to inherit, rather than having to buy a home to raise a family in.

We don’t know how long Joyce has been in possession of the home, only that she and the boys definitely owned the building before 1982, as Will was not new to town when Stranger Things first season premiered and depicted the year of 1983.

9 The Byers House is in Georgia

If you ever want to visit the real Byers house, literally the building that was filmed and stood in for the home of the Byers family, you would have to visit Atlanta Georgia. The building is actually located in Fayetteville, Georgia.

The home only stood in for the exterior of the home though. All interior scenes were shot on sets at Screen Gem Studios in Atlanta. Apparently the property’s real-life owners are less than thrilled with their home’s newfound notoriety and are not very appreciative of fans and visitors coming out to view the property.

8 There is a Lego

In 2019 Lego released a set depicting the Byers house as well at its Upside Down version for fans to purchase and assemble for themselves. It was the first-ever Lego set created for the series and included mini-figures of Eleven, Will, Dustin, Mike, Lucas, as well as Joyce Byers and Hopper.

The set costs about $200 dollars and can be flipped over so either the house or the Upside Down is right-side up. Both sides have a stable base created by the Lego trees that surround the property.

7 The Alphabet Lights

The alphabet light wall created by Winona Ryder’s Joyce Byers in season one, so she can communicate with her son Will while he is trapped in the Upside Down, was inspired by another children’s horror classic of the 1980s.

The communication through light was inspired and is relatively similar to the way young Carrie Anne, in Poltergeist, tries to communicate with her family through their television set. In a flashback season during Stranger Things season one, there is also a scene where Joyce Byers gets Will tickets to see Poltergeist in theaters.

6 Unstable Portals

In season one of Stranger Things, the Byers house was home to a number of portals/gates that were used by the Demogorgon to move between the real world and the Upside Down. Only Eleven, the Demogorgon are known to be able to create gates, though the Demogorgon’s always seem to close eventually.

It was these portals that allowed Will to be taken into the Upside Down as well as allowing him to communicate from the beyond.

5 The Porch Swing

In season one of Stranger Things, there are quite a few shots of the porch swing that hands in front of the Byers home. This was done purposefully, as another callback to a 1980s classic, The Evil Dead.

Like Poltergeist above, The Evil Dead is specifically mentioned in season one as well, as Will’s older brother, Jonathan Byers, has a poster for the film on one of the walls of his room within the Byers house. The Evil Dead was released in theaters in 1981, premiering one year before the beginning of the timeline in which the Stranger Things story is set.

4 The Shower

Despite the fact that the Byers family home is depicted as considerably smaller and more run-down than the Wheeler home (where Mike and Nancy live) both seem to have used the same bathroom designer and plumber.

There are two scenes in season one in which characters are seen taking a shower, one is Joyce’s ex-husband Lonnie and another is of Nancy at the Wheeler house. Despite the different locations, both scenes were filmed using the exact same shower set up, making it appear as if both homes have at least one identical bathroom.

3 The Ouija Wall

On the set the wall decorated in the alphabet that Joyce Byers creates in her attempt to allow Will to communicate with her was dubbed “The Ouija Wall”. Even though the letters are supposed to look as if they were painted very quickly and roughly, they still had to be done correctly the first time.

There was only ever a single alternate wallpapered wall for the Stranger Things team to use if the initial look was off or not successful. And yes, it was up to actress Winona Ryder to get the lettering correct herself during her scene.

2 A Hole in the Wall

Winona Ryder’s Joyce Byers first successful communication with her son Will takes place in a cubby in the Byers home while she holds a mess of lightbulbs in her hand, asking Will yes or no questions so he can flash her answers.

The lights flash once for yes and twice for no. To film the scene the crew was forced to drill a hole in the wall of the cubby so they could film Ryder close up and successfully without finding a way for the camera to reach Ryder while she performed in such an enclosed space.

1 The Address is Unknown

The Byers house is clearly located in a wooded area and closer to the outskirts of town than the homes of the other main cast members, who seem to live much more in the center of Hawkins.

Yet, the exact location and address of the Byers home is never revealed on Stranger Things. Even the road Will rides his bike down to get home from Mike’s is nicknamed “Mirkwood” by the group of friends rather than given an actual street name by Hawkins itself. While no one knows the address the house’s number is 149.

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