A. A residential home.

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

A. In a modest residential neighborhood, in Dade City, Florida.

Q. When did we see it on the show?

A. In Episode 9 (Season 1), "Father Knows Best".

It's the Dade City house that Dexter unexpectedly inherits from the biological father he never knew.

Dexter goes to the house to investigate, accompanied by Rita & Debra (with Rudy in tow). Dexter looks at his father's stuff (e.g. bowling trophies) which seem to indicate he led a rather boring life.

The others put on some an old record ("Slow Ride", by Foghat) and dance - forcing Dexter to reluctantly play along.

Later, Dexter visits his father's body at the morgue, secretly takes a blood sample and has it tested (proving they were indeed related), and eventually learns that his biological father may have been murdered.

 (Dexter also meets a lonely old lady who lives in the house across the street.)

Q. What is it actually in real life?

A. An actual house, but not in Dade City.

Q. Where can I find it in real life?

A. Although it's supposed to be in another Florida city (Dade City as opposed to the usual Miami), Dexter's inherited house is actually located just a couple of blocks away from some other "Dexter" homes in the 'Los Altos' neighborhood of Long Beach: Rita's house, Dexter's childhood home & Angel's house.


You'll find it at 5570 E. Rolanda Street, in Long Beach, California. It's on the south side of Rolanda Street, near the middle of that short block. Rolanda is an east/west street, just south of the north-west streets containing the other "Dexter" homes - all of which are located just south of the San Diego (405) Freeway near the Bellflower exit.

I shot the photo below in Dec. 2007

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

The majority of location filming for "Dexter" is done in Long Beach.

This Los Altos neighborhood contains at least six different homes used on the TV show, including Rita's house, Dexter's childhood home, Angel's house, the house of the neighbor with the noisy dog, and the Dade City house of the old lady across the street.

It's also close to the intersection where the "Ice Truck Killer" stopped his car to check on his captive (Debra) in the car trunk.

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. I had already found the other four "Dexter" homes in this neighborhood, so I assumed it was a pretty good bet that this new house would be there as well. Fortunately, the scene even showed the house number (5570), as well as the number of the old lady's house across the street. So it was easy to track it down to Rolanda. A preliminary look via Live Local's aerial photos confirmed it, and a visit in person to shoot the photo left no doubt.