You Can Visit ‘The Outsiders’ House – Now Open on Weekends!
From the steps outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art where Rocky did his famous training run, to the house where Jamie Lee Curtis‘ Laurie Strode fought off Michael Myers in 1978’s Halloween, there are tons of amazing film exteriors around the world where fans can get closer to their favorite films (and, let’s be honest, take some cool photos).
But film interiors are a different story. While most interiors are filmed on soundstage sets, the few that aren’t are shot in private homes, whose residents will be none too pleased if you knock on their door and ask to come in and take some fun pictures for Instagram.
There are a few big exceptions to this rule, however — and one is Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Outsiders House Museum, which allows fans almost complete access to the Curtis brothers’ home, where much of Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 hit was filmed.
In order to fully capture The Outsiders world of wealthy Socs and barely-getting-by Greasers, Coppola decided to shoot the entire movie on location in Oklahoma.
“There was this real-life basis of the story because Susie [S.E. Hinton] was from Tulsa,” the director told Rolling Stone in 2021. “When she was writing about high school, the poor kids and the rich kids and that theme, she knew it firsthand, so I wanted to know it firsthand.” He selected the specific house where C. Thomas Howell, Patrick Swayze and Rob Lowe‘s Curtis brothers lived, because it was on a large lot that could accommodate a film crew, and because he liked the way the weeds that sprouted in the yard looked. To increase their connection to the space and each other, Coppola asked the actors playing the Greasers to spend the night in the house, and even cook a meal together (a dinner which Lowe described as “a disaster”).
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The house, which was built in 1919, stood as a private residence for decades after filming finished, falling into a state of severe disrepair. It continued languishing until musician Daniel “Danny Boy” O’Connor encountered the house in 2009. O’Connor, who is best known as a member of ’90s rap group House of Pain, discovered the house while on tour. A huge fan of the film, he posted a photo of it on social media, where it went viral.
Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze/Credit: Warner Bros./courtesy Everett Collection
When O’Connor first purchased the home in 2016, he thought he’d just live in it. But he soon realized that there was enough fan interest to turn the home into a museum dedicated to The Outsiders, and began restoring it to filming condition, a process that began with completely gutting the neglected home. After several years of renovation — some of it supported financially by private donors including musician Jack White and S.E. Hinton herself, and much of it aided by Tulsa locals with the connection to the film — the house opened as a museum in 2019.
Fans who visit the house can expect to see the one-story’s front porch, kitchen, bedrooms, and living room, as well as the yard, all of which have been styled to look like the setting of the film. The home is also stuffed with memorabilia, like Francis Ford Coppola’s director’s chair, cars and costumes used in the film (including Emilio Estevez‘s Mickey Mouse shirt), S.E. Hinton’s high school yearbook, and an autograph wall commemorating the stars who have visited, including Rob Lowe, C. Thomas Howell, Ralph Macchio, and Hinton. There’s even a replica chocolate cake that fans can pose with, to recreate Estevez’s infamous breakfast scene. Though the furniture in the museum was largely not used in the film, O’Connor took pains to find find replicas or recreate furnishings himself, down to the wallpaper. The sidewalk out front features Howell and Hinton’s handprints, pressed into concrete.
The museum is also home to a collection of rare, behind-the-scenes photos from the film shoot, international promotional posters, and over 500 editions of the book from around the world.
Warner Brothers/courtesy Everett Collection
The success of the Outsiders House Museum, which attracted 20,000 visitors in 2022, has influenced a number of other shooting locations to get in on The Outsiders pride. The Admiral Twin Drive-In, where Matt Dillon‘s Dallas tried to start trouble with Diane Lane’s Cherry Valance, didn’t need the kind of TLC that the Curtis home did — it’s been fully functional since 1951, and shows a slate of films every summer. But fans can check out the drive-in’s exterior, which is largely unchanged, and stop in for a screening of The Outsiders, which plays a few times each year.
About 20 minutes north of Tulsa, in the town of Sperry, fans can see the DX Station where Tom Cruise‘s Steve Randle and Rob Lowe’s Sodapop worked; across the street is the Rexall Drug Store shown in the film. Though neither building has had their interiors restored, their outsides are near-perfect recreations from the film — and they too have been graced by a visit from C. Thomas Howell.
Admission to the Outsiders House Museum is $10 for all ages; the museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, and yes, there is a gift shop (Billy Idol has sported one of the museum’s shirts in concert). Since the Rexall and DX Station are exterior only, they can be visited any time you like. Fans who want to make an overnight trip of it can even stay in an Outsiders-themed AirBNB located across the street from the museum (beer for breakfast not included).
A ReMIND Magazine reader, Lisa Lechniak, wrote to us and said of her visit: “The museum is the actual house the movie was filmed at, and when we arrived it was such a surreal feeling — we could not believe we were there. The house looked just like it did in the film, from the fencing outside to the interior, which included relics from the film. When Howell arrived [she was there for a special fan event], he mingled with everyone, and shared many fond stories and experiences while filming. When it was time for pictures, Howell gave big hugs — it felt like meeting an old friend. Danny Boy O’Connor was also gracious and friendly. I purchased a dedication brick prior to going, placed on a walkway at the museum (to help with the preservation of the museum), which mentions my other favorite character, Dallas Winston (played by Matt Dillon), and reads ‘Lisa Lechniak since 1983 at age 14-Dally inspired, still Staying Gold.’” Here is the photo she shared with O’Connor.
Lisa Lechniak with Danny Boy O’Connor / photo credit: Lisa Lechniak