The residence of the Wheeler family was in Hawkins, Indiana. Their house was on Maple Street, and in close proximity to the Sinclair and Blackburn houses.
History[]
Background[]
At some point, Karen and Ted Wheeler bought the house and began living there with their children. This house was likely an attractive option for a family home, as each child could have a bedroom of their own.
1983[]
On November 6, 1983, Mike Wheeler and his friends ran a campaign of Dungeons & Dragons. The campaign was cut short by Mike's mom, Karen, and Mike's friends had to leave.
The next day, Karen announced that neither Mike and Nancy were to leave the house without her permission, as she was concerned about their safety following Will Byers's disappearance. However, Nancy made up lies and excuses to get out and see her new boyfriend, while Mike found ways to sneak out unnoticed.
After Mike and his friends found Eleven, they let her stay in Mike's basement. Mike regularly provided her food as she stayed at his house as well as accommodated Eleven by skipping classes. Eventually, they grew fond of each other and formed a strong bond. When Will was presumed to be dead, Eleven convinced Mike that Will was still alive by channeling him through the Supercom from the basement. However, the Department of Energy quickly tracked her down and arrived at the Wheelers' doorstep, forcing Mike, Eleven and his friends to escape. Meanwhile, the Department of Energy questioned Ted and Karen as they searched the house for evidence relating to Eleven.
One month after Eleven's presumed sacrifice and Will's return, Mike and his friends hosted another campaign of Dungeons & Dragons in the basement. As the game concluded and his friends left, Mike longingly stared at the pillow fort. Mike, who clearly missed Eleven, had kept Eleven's basement pillow fort just as it had been when she used it.
1984[]
Mike made nightly attempts to contact Eleven using his Supercom.
On day 352, Mike, as usual, went to the pillow fort and attempted to contact her. As he walked away, he heard a brief crackle of static and thought El said his name. Mike answered, but found out that it was his friend Dustin Henderson and was disappointed.
On Halloween night, Mike brought Will back to the Wheeler's basement after Will experienced another vision of the the Upside Down. Will explained that he felt stuck in between the real world and the Upside Down. Will said he saw a large shadow that tried to catch him, but requested Mike not to tell the other boys.
Late on Halloween night, Mike attempted to contact Eleven using the Supercom. Eleven was also simultaneously visiting him on her mental void. Mike revealed that he'd been trying to contact her for 353 days and wished that she was there. Mike briefly thought he sensed her presence. However, before she could attempt contact, Mike left.
In December, Mike was at the house preparing for the Snow Ball.
1985[]
On July 1, Mike, under Hopper's instructions, called El on the telephone and told her he could not see her because his grandmother had not been feeling well, which Karen overheard, much to Mike's annoyance. Later, Mike invited Lucas and Will to his house and told them how he was ordered by Hopper to lie to El so they could spend less time together. Though Mike was feeling guilty for lying to El, Lucas advised Mike to go get El a gift as a way to make up for lying so they left to go do some shopping at Starcourt Mall, leaving Will behind as he had been setting up a Dungeons & Dragons campaign while the two were talking.
Later that night, Mike, Lucas, and Will return to the house after Max and El break up with them as they had spotted them at the mall, seeing through their lies. The boys ate and talked how they were going to deal with the girls, which they were unknowingly watched by El as a joke.
1986[]
After Max Mayfield realized she was falling victim to Vecna's curse on March 23, 1986, Max, Dustin, Lucas, and Steve stayed over at the Wheeler house, sleeping in the basement. In the morning, she wrote letters for her loved ones, fearing that death might be imminent. Nancy and Robin put together a plan to visit Victor Creel at Pennhurst Mental Hospital; they made "formal" outfits out of Nancy's spare clothes, in an attempt to pose as high-achieving students.
After Max survived Vecna's psychic attack, she and Dustin stayed over at the Wheeler basement another night, with Nancy also sleeping in the basement (apparently out of concern for Max).
The next morning, at the Wheeler's dining table, Max tried to draw the strange environment she saw herself in when Vecna attacked her. Nancy took Max's drawing and modified it, realizing she had drawn a fractured version of the Creel House.
Later, Nancy, Steve, Robin, Eddie, Dustin, Lucas, and Max went to Lover's Lake, as they were attempting to find a gate at the exact spot Vecna had killed Patrick McKinney. While the older teens ventured through the gate to the Upside Down, the others were caught by Hawkins police and brought to the Wheeler house to be questioned.
In the Upside Down, Nancy, Steve, Robin and Eddie eventually made their way to the alternate version of the Wheeler house, hoping to find Nancy's guns. However, Nancy soon realized this plan was futile, as the alternate version of her bedroom was somehow stuck in 1983, meaning the guns weren't there. Moments later, they communicated with the younger teens through electrical interference, first through a light fixture and later through Holly's Lite Brite. The two groups made a plan to meet at Eddie's trailer, the hypothesized location of another gate. The younger group escaped police custody on the Wheeler's bikes, with Erica slashing the police car tires. In the Upside Down, the older group cycled to the trailer park using alternate versions of the same bikes.
Later, when the four curse gates converged upon downtown Hawkins, the whole town rattled as if a earthquake had hit, terrifying Holly. Several days later, Holly watched as "snow" began to fall outside the house.
Profile[]
- Foyer
- Downstairs hallway
- Kitchen
- Dining room
- Living room
- Basement
- Basement bathroom
- First floor landing
- Mike's bedroom
- Nancy's bedroom
- Holly's bedroom
- Master bedroom
- Main bathroom
- Carport
Basement[]
The Wheeler basement was the Party's designated hangout spot. It is where they played Dungeons & Dragons and had sleepovers. Besides miscellaneous household objects, the basement contained many of Mike's toys, along with his Supercom and D&D campaigning equipment. The basement included a bathroom, as well as a door leading to the Wheelers' backyard. A stairway led up to the first floor of the Wheeler house.
When Mike and his friends found and brought Eleven to the basement, Mike constructed a pillow fort so that she could sleep in it. When Eleven showed Mike the dire situation that she was in, Mike, despite Dustin and Lucas's cautioning, decided to let her stay. After Eleven vanished,[1] Mike tried to contact Eleven on his Supercom every night, sitting inside the still intact pillow fort.[2]
Gallery[]
Behind the scenes[]
The house used for filming the exterior shots is located on 2530 Piney Wood Lane in East Point of Georgia, while the interior of the house is built on a stage in EUE/Screen Gems Studios in Atlanta.
Trivia[]
- During the presidential election of 1984, the Wheelers had a Reagan sign posted in front of their residence, indicating that Ted, Karen or both supported the Republican candidate, Ronald Reagan.[3]