Pictures of the famous Newville Avenue House

Here are some pictures I took in mid May 1998 of the famous Newville Avenue house, located in Downey California. Karen and Richard Carpenter lived here in the 1970's, first buying the home in 1970, I believe. They lived there with their parents, Agnes and Harold, for several years before moving out on their own. The parents continued to live here until their deaths, with Agnes passing away last in late 1996. Richard sold the house in 1998.

This house is famous to all Carpenter's fans, being featured on the cover of the Now and Then album, shown above, released in 1973. This album has remained one of my favorites.

The pictures here may take a while to download. I have condensed them as much as I feel I can to maintain a reasonable degree of resolution. If you have problems, let me know, however.

As you drive to the home, this is what you will see from Lubeck Avenue as you approch Newville Avenue. I do believe that my heart recognized the home before my brain did, as the prominance of the home took me completely by surprised. It was a very happy heart that skipped a beat, though!
Jeff

The house is very long! Though located very close to the street, it seemed to go on and on. The remaining pictures are taken progressively further down the street towards the end of the cul-de-sac away from Lubeck. From reviewing the PBS special ("Close to You - Rembering the Carpenters") I belive that the farther end of the house is an addition. What I think, and I do not for sure, is that the end of the house closest to Lubeck (shown in the next photo) was the original garage. I believe that very soon after the house was completed the Carpenters converted the garage into a room and added on a new garage at the other side of the house (shown in the last picture). If anyone knows for certain, I would be interested in hearing from you.

See, doesn't this look like it was once a garage? A three car garage, perhaps?

Looking at the bedroom window (?) over the garage(?), I wonder if it belonged to either Karen or Richard.

I think it is fun to compare this picture with the one from the album cover. Certainly, the trees have grown, but the TV antenna is there. As I said in my narrative, you will have no trouble identifying this house if you are familiar with the Now and Then album.

Moving further down, here is the front door of the house. I was a little sad, as it was from here that an ambulance carreid Karen away, never to again return home. But rather than dwell on the sad, it is here that Tony, Bobby, Cubby, Doug, Danny and John used to pass through, and oh what music they were all able to make! Can you imagine living across the street from here, and what all you could have seen and heard!


This is further down some more, but looking back a bit towards Lubeck. You can see the front door and the "garage". You can clearly see the imaculate way the house has been maintained over the years. The Carpenter's took very good care of the house, and the new owners are doing the same.

This is further down even more. I told you the house was looong! Isn't the lawn just beautiful, though?

Finally, we reach the end. Here, you can see the drive way for the "new" garage behind the home. Can't you just image Karen and Richard pulling out of here in his red Ferrari?

I hope you enjoyed this little tour. It was certainly fun to drive by and see the home that has fasinated me for 25 years, and then to come home, drag out my old vinyl copy of the album, and to see what the house looked liked both "Now and Then".

Return to my Karen Carpenter home page.

See pictures of Richard's house!

See pictures of Karen's final resting place.

Return to my home page.

This page last modified on June 17, 2002