Tori Spelling dished on what it was like to live in the iconic Spelling family home dubbed “The Manor.”
“When I was 12, my parents purchased property that became ‘The Manor,’ and it was Bing Crosby’s house,” Spelling, 51, said on the Monday, August 19, episode of her “MisSpelling” podcast. “Which little known fact my mom loved Bing Crosby, [she was] a huge fan, so that was a fun connection — and then she tore all that s–t down.”
Tori shared that her parents, Aaron and Candy Spelling, brought her and her siblings to tour the estate before they purchased it. For Tori, the home reminded her of a Nancy Drew novel, and she wanted to live in the house.
“There were hidden passageways and an underground library that you pushed on something and it went into these secret rooms,” she recalled. “It was full on to the point where I was like, ‘Oh my god this is my life. Mom, you have to keep it.’”
Tori’s parents ultimately bought the property, which was located on the same street as their original Los Angeles home. However, they decided to bulldoze down everything to create their own home, which took them “six years” to build, according to the actress. Tori shared she officially moved into the home when she was 17.
Once the house was completed, it ended up being a 56,000 square foot home, which included two driveways, two entrances and around “125” rooms, Tori estimated. There was also a “massive” kitchen with a breakfast room attached, dining room, pool, jacuzzi and pool house with a full kitchen and bathroom. The Spelling family had around-the-clock security and staff living with them in their own wing on the second floor.
While the home had a winding and sprawling driveway, Tori shared that her family never used the main entrance and opted for the side door with a side driveway.
One major point of the Spelling’s home was the projection room, which served as the family’s living room. The room had leveled seating with couches for the family to invite their friends over to watch movies on a screen that was set behind a collection of Monet and Renoir paintings that would move down to show the screen.
The home also had an underground level of the estate, which featured all of the extra special rooms.
“When you enter the house, on the ground level there’s everything that you would think of on a ground level,” Tori explained. “And there was an elevator … you would take the elevator [or] stairs [up] for the bedrooms and you would take the elevator downstairs almost like going to the basement level [and] that’s where all these unique rooms you hear about.”
The lower level had a two-lane bowling alley, a “tiny” gym, an arcade, a bar, a pool table room, a doll museum and more. The doll museum featured Candy’s collection of figurines and toys, which also included custom-made dolls of the mother-daughter duo. However, Tori and her brother used the room to play pranks on their friends.
“They would walk into the doll museum and I would be like adjusting the lights to dim them perfectly and they’d be like, ‘This is creepy.’ Everyone was scared [and] terrified,” she said. “My brother and I would mess with them, one of us would take you on a tour and someone [would] pop through the door around the back and [pop out].”
Candy ultimately sold the home after Aaron died in 2006 at age 83. However, Tori didn’t have a strong sentimental attachment to the property since she only lived there for a “year or two” before her career took off with Beverly Hills, 90210.
“I can honestly say I have no emotional attachment to the house and I never did,” she said. “I have good memories there but my best memories with my parents were created at the other house. The house wasn’t my dad’s jam. He liked small and cozy, and my mom loves to decorate.”
