A. A residential home.

Q. Where is it supposed to be on the show?

A. Somewhere in Miami.

Q. When did we see it on the show?

A. This is the house of Arthur Mitchell (played by John Lithgow), the "Trinity Killer".

We first saw the house at the end of Episode 5 of Season 4 ("Dirty Harry"), when Dexter followed the Trinity Killer home for the first time, and was shocked to discover that he was a family man with a wife & children.

We saw more of the house in the next episode (6, "If I Had a Hammer"), when Dexter wormed his way into Trinity's good graces (by joining his church) and then got inside his home, where he looked for clues.

While inside, Dexter freaked-out Arthur by handling the urn containing the ashes of Arthur's cremated sister.

The house played a big role in Episode 9 ("Hungry Man"), when observed Arthur's teenage son, Jacob, leave the house after an angry argument and then smash up his dad's car.

Dexter came back to the Mitchell house for Thanksgiving dinner, to help protect Jacob from retribution.

While at the dinner table, he observed Arthur's psychotic behavior towards his own family, which climaxed when Arthur's son exploded with anger, Arthur responded by attacking him, and Dexter wound up almost killing Arthur (before family members intervened).

And in the final episode, after Trinity knows that his cover has been blown, he returns briefly to the home to demand money from his family, before disappearing.  The police then show up and smash down the front door in a SWAT raid, hoping to find Arthur - but he's gone.

Outside the house, Debra tells Dexter that she has found out about his birth mother - and about his brother being the Ice Truck Killer. She also tells him he's been a positive force in her life, making him reconsider his role in the world.

Q. What is it actually in real life?

A. A residential home. But nowhere near Miami.

Q. Where can I find it in real life?

A. The house is at 4119 Locust Ave, in northwest Long Beach, CA.

That's on the west side of the street, just five houses south of San Antonio Drive.

It's just two houses to the north of another 4th Season location: the neighborhood vandal's home.
 The block was also used for those Neighborhood Watch scenes where a masked Dexter was chased by a mob of neighbors (who mistook him for the vandal).

In the previous Season Three, Locust Ave contained Maria LaGuerta's house (on the same side of the street).  And just a block to the south, in the same general neighborhood, you can find Miguel Prado's house, the crime scene house of the grieving fiance, and a white house that Syl Prado & Rita were trying to sell. And just a couple of blocks to the east, you'll find the giant donut where Debra watched Ramon Prado kidnap a suspect, and the cafe where she spied on Ramon while he ate.

It's also less than a mile northwest of two other 4th Season locations: the hardware store where Trinity buys the hammer he uses to kill a man, and the breakfast cafe where Trinity forces a waitress to re-cook his omelet.




I shot the photos below in November 2009.



[ Warning: This is a private home.  Do not trespass on their property, knock on their door,
or do anything else that might disturb the residents. ]




Here is an aerial photo of the house. And here is a map link.

Q. How the heck did you figure out where it was?

A.  Before the season began, I got a tip from a fan, Susan Loomis, who told me they were filming a lot this season in her part of Long Beach, including at a home at 4119 Locust. So I took a look at the house (via Google StreetView), then kept an eye out for it once the new episodes started airing.

Naturally, when it showed in Episode 6 up as the Trinity Killer's house, I recognized it. Thanks Suz!