9 real homes of fake TV stars

Homes play a big role on TV.

When they're chosen correctly, they give the look and feel of the characters' lives in one exterior shot. Sprawling mansion? Rayna Jaymes on "Nashville" has done quite well for herself. Smaller middle-class home? The Conners on "Roseanne" are barely making ends meet.

But sometimes to set a particular tone, shows take major liberties with real-world real estate prices. The Dunphy home on "Modern Family" and Carrie's notorious "Sex and the City" apartment, for example, would be way too pricey for their fictional inhabitants.

Because those homes really exist with real, very big price tags, it's easy to see exactly how much the shows exaggerated their affordability using easy-fix plot devices like "rent control."

Here are nine TV homes that are very real. Could their characters afford to live there?

Modern Family

The exterior of this two-story traditional home in the Cheviot Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles is used as the home of Phil, Claire, Haley, Alex and Luke Dunphy on the sitcom "Modern Family."

The four-bedroom, 4.5-bathroom, 2,792-square-foot property has two covered parking spaces, a fireplace, pantry, laundry room, private balcony off the master suite, patio, marble countertops, French doors, crown molding and mahogany hardwood flooring. It last sold in May 2014 for $2.15 million.

Considering that wacky real estate agent Phil was likely the sole income-earner when the Dunphys closed on their LA dream home (Claire was a stay-at-home mother before she went to work for her father's cabinet company) the price tag on this house would likely have been out of reach.

True Blood

This palatial seven-bedroom, eight-bathroom estate in Malibu, appropriately known as "La Villa Contenta," was the perfect fit for the indulgent Vampire Queen of Louisiana Sophie-Anne Leclerq on seasons two, three and four of "True Blood."

Currently on the market for a whopping $28.5 million, the property features a library, wine cellar, home theater, gym, wading pool, guesthouse, tennis courts, several terraces, fireplaces and Italian marble.

Money is, of course, no object for the fictional vampire government, but the real-life buyer of this manse may have to financially bite the bullet.

Grey’s Anatomy

Meredith Grey's house on the medical drama "Grey's Anatomy" has had a lot of inhabitants over the course of its 11 seasons. In the first season, it's where then-surgical resident Meredith lived with two of her co-workers. Currently it's the home of snarky pediatric surgeons Alex Karev and Arizona Robbins and brainy surgical resident Jo Wilson.

The exterior of this actual four-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom property in the Lower Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle is used for the revolving-door residence on the show. It was built in 1905 and features a deck, attached parking garage, fireplace and an unfinished basement. It hasn't been on the market recently, but according to Zillow's "Zestimate" value for the property, it's worth about $1.2 million.

On the show, the "Harper Lane" home was first purchased by Meredith's innovative surgeon mother Ellis and academic father Thatcher -- probably in the '70s. They could possibly have afforded a down payment on this house with Ellis' high salary. And with so many top-earning surgeons coming in and out over the years, Meredith likely wouldn't have to deal with a mortgage payment.

Mary Tyler Moore

TV producer Mary Richards' apartment from the '70s sitcom "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" is actually located in Minneapolis. This seven-bedroom, 6.5 bathroom single-family home was where Mary, her photographer friend Rhoda and landlady Phyllis supposedly hung their hats for seven seasons.

The property, which was built in 1900, features a covered patio, backyard patio, large eat-in chef's kitchen, several fireplaces, a finished basement, ornate glass and woodwork, and three-car garage. It's currently on the market for $2.25 million.

It's possible that Mary and Rhoda would have been able to afford to rent the top two levels of this enormous home. In today's dollars, Zillow estimates that renting the whole property would cost about $4,694 per month. That would put each of their shares at about $1,564.

Nashville

Entrepreneur and country music superstar character Rayna Jaymes supposedly lives in this house with daughters Maddie and Daphne on the drama series "Nashville."

According to Trulia, this real Georgian-style house in the Belle Meade neighborhood of Nashville was shot as-is for several months before the rooms were recreated on a sound stage. The large manse has six bedrooms, 9.5 bathrooms and sits on six acres of land. Other features include a wine cellar and tasting room, a spiral staircase, brick columns, imported marble flooring, several fireplaces, a covered patio, a pool with fountains and a patio. It was on the market for about $18 million starting in November 2013, but the listing was removed this month.

Top-earner Jaymes could probably afford a sprawling house like this one, if real-life country queen Faith Hill's past $20 million real estate dealings are any indication.

Twin Peaks

This 1930s, two-story property in the Rucker Hill neighborhood of Everett, Washington, stood in for Laura Palmer's house in the surreal '90s TV murder-mystery movie and "Twin Peaks" miniseries prequel "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me." The fictional home was in the town of Twin Peaks, Washington, where the young Laura Palmer lived with her stay-at-home mother Sarah and attorney father Leland.

The real house has four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a two-car garage, hardwood flooring, an enclosed sunroom, several fireplaces, an eat-in kitchen, finished basement, a backyard and radiator heating. It sold for $500,000 in September.

On an attorney's salary back then, keeping in mind that the national average is currently around $150,000 according to Glassdoor, the Palmers feasibly could have paid for this comfortable home.

Roseanne

In the 1980s and '90s, the sarcastic sitcom "Roseanne" used this modest Evansville, Indiana, home for its establishing shots. The rest of the show -- depicting the lives of the sporadically employed, blue-collar married couple Roseanne and Dan and their children Becky, Darlene and DJ -- was filmed on a Los Angeles sound stage.

The three-bedroom, two-bathroom property less than a quarter mile from the University of Evansville has a rec room, front porch, jetted bathtub, partial basement and detached parking garage. It sold for $129,000 in May 2013.

It's hard to say whether the classic TV family could have afforded this place in the fictional Lanford, Illinois, pre-1988. Given the financial struggles portrayed on the show, it probably would have been a stretch. But that was the point.

Beverly Hillbillies

When a poor mountaineer named Jed struck oil and moved with his family to a mansion in Beverly Hills on "The Beverly Hillbillies," this is where they went. The exterior of this 10-bedroom, 12-bathroom property on Bel Air Road was used as the home of Jed, Daisy, Elly May, Jethro and all the animals they didn't shoot for nine seasons beginning in 1962.

The two-story house sits on about 6.5 acres of land with extensive landscaping and has a gated entry, winding staircase, at least one fireplace and a formal dining room. It was last listed for sale in July 2007 for $30 million and was taken off the market a month later.

With all the "Texas tea" the family controlled, they no doubt could have afforded the sprawling property with all its trimmings.

Sex and the City

"Sex and the City" fans know expensive-shoe-lover and newspaper columnist Carrie's Upper East Side digs very well. It had an enviable walk-in closet and plenty of space to pace around before sitting down at her laptop to reflect on her relationship woes. And she could supposedly afford it all because of "rent control."

In real life, the building used for the exterior of Carrie's relatively fancy abode is in the West Village (and the owners are none too happy about all the fans flocking to the site). It's a three-story triplex, built in 1899. Apartment one has two bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms, several fireplaces, hardwood flooring and a washer and dryer. In February 2014, it was listed for rent at $16,000 per month.

Despite rent control, there's no way Carrie could have afforded all that shoe space on a writer's salary.