Visiting Walter White’s House in ABQ New Mexico: Be Prepared

Breaking Bad is one of the most popular shows of our time and one of the most iconic film locations of that series is the “Walter White house.” It’s shown countless times during the series and it’s a key location for many pivotal scenes.

It’s an actual house that you can visit in Albuquerque, New Mexico. But it’s also a place that you don’t want to visit unless you are prepared for some of the craziness you might encounter….

Keep reading below for some tips on visiting the Walter White house!

Where is Walter White’s House located?

Walter White’s house is located at: 3828 Piermont Dr, Albuquerque, NM.

Make sure you plug in that address and NOT the fictional address used in the show which was: 308 Negra Arroya Lane.

Be prepared when you visit

Before you head over to Walter White’s house, you need to be prepared for conflict no matter how respectful you plan on being.

Don’t expect a warm welcome and perhaps… tread lightly.

Walter White’s house is now completely barricaded with multiple gates (much like it ended up in the series).

You’ll find security cameras and security signs posted all around the house. There will even be cones or barricades in the street presumably placed there to prevent you from parking or even walking on the side of the street.

All of these measures seem like a bit much but to be honest I don’t blame the homeowners for any of these.

Years ago, idiot tourists reportedly approached the house and would throw pizzas on top of the roof and some even climbed the fence and jumped in the pool.

With people trespassing and acting like utter fools, it’s no wonder the homeowners set up so many barricades to entry to their property.

With that said, you can encounter a whole lot more than no trespassing signs whenever you visit now.

One of the homeowners (the wife) is notorious for sitting out in the garage or in front of the house just waiting for visitors to come by.

Once she notices you, she will do everything in her power to make your experience at the house awkward and uncomfortable.

This could include staring at you, filming you, taking photos, acting like she is calling the police, flipping you off, and yelling obscenities.

This could happen to you even if you park on the opposite side of the street which is what the homeowners request via a large sign plastered on their home’s gate. In fact, even if you don’t get out of your car you could run into this madness!

So my recommendation would be to park on the side of Orlando Pl NE, a good distance from the house. (This is the street perpendicular from the house.)

If the garage is closed and you don’t see anybody sitting in the front yard, you may be able to quickly walk over to the sidewalk across the street from the house and get a few photos.

My suggestion is then to leave as soon as you get your photos because there’s a good chance that she gets notifications whenever someone is detected across the street.

Again, if she notices you, she will likely come out and try to create some type of confrontation.

Is it wrong to visit the Walter White house?

Some travelers may wonder if it is “wrong” to visit the Walter White house.

My personal opinion is that it is not wrong to visit here, just like it’s not wrong to visit the countless other iconic filming locations around the country some of which include private property.

At this point, the house is a piece of TV history and you should be able to enjoy viewing the house as long as you do so respectfully. Since you are in a private neighborhood, the key would be to make your visit as quick and non-intrusive as possible.

While you probably have a legal right to walk on the sidewalk in front of the house, just as a matter of respect I would remain on the opposite side of the street.

From there, you can get your photos or maybe a short video and then be out.

As far as the homeowner goes, I struggle to feel sympathy for her. I recognize that the couple, Frances and Louis Padilla, purchased the house back in the 1970s and so they’ve been attached to the home for a long time.

However, if you are going to make the decision to rent your precious home to a major production company like AMC and make money from that decision, you have to be prepared for your home to be in the public eye.

I understand she probably did not anticipate the show blowing up like it did but you should always know there is a chance of something like that happening.

It seems like she obviously now regrets the decision to rent her home to a major production company, which essentially was just a bad business decision on her end.

But instead of owning up to that mistake and taking action to remedy the problem (e.g., moving somewhere else), she has decided to remain there and take out her frustrations out on every visitor who comes around, including those who show as much respect as humanly possible.

This is a very different situation from someone who lives in a place like Acorn Street in Boston.

In case you’re not familiar, that is a beautiful cobblestone alley that blew up in popularity fairly recently and it gets flooded with tourists. However, some people lived there before it became popular and I truly do feel sympathy for those people because they did nothing to bring about the craziness.

But if you bring the situation upon yourself and then take your anger out on the world, it’s hard for me to feel sorry for you.

Based on everything I’ve seen with my own eyes when visiting, and in a lot of videos and online reports, the homeowner seems like the type of person who enjoys confrontation.

That’s the only way to explain her behavior towards people who are keeping a good distance from the home and not doing anything to disturb someone living a normal existence. People like this will lash out with even the slightest provocation.

What should you do if you encounter the homeowner?

So if you do choose to visit and she comes out to confront you, you can go about it in a couple of ways.

One is to just ignore her and continue taking a couple of photos and then head out. This is probably the best route to go and this is what we did whenever we visited and she was staring us down from about 70 feet away.

Another is to engage with her in a humorous way like throwing out movie quotes. “Are you the one who knocks?”

I’ve seen people do this and I actually thought it was pretty funny with the way she responded. I do think that she has some sense of humor, which gives me some hope for her.

The other way to respond is to reciprocate whatever is thrown out to you. This could end up in some kind of pointless shouting match which I would definitely avoid.

Because she acts this way with so many people, there’s no reason to take it personally and it’s just not worth your energy to engage with someone like this. Plus, that means their neighbors will also have to hear a bunch of nonsense.

Video of encounters with the homeowner

To give you a sense of how things can go, check out some of the clips of others visiting:

Final word

It’s very easy to find the “Walter White House” in Albuquerque, New Mexico and to give it a visit. But if you choose to do so, there’s a good chance you’ll run into some type of bizarre confrontation even if you are being as respectful as possible.

So if you really want to see this iconic house then just be mentally prepared for what is to come, try to ignore it, and get out of there as quickly as you can.