Angel's apartment (Buffy S1)

[buffynmarvel]

Hi! Not sure if this is in the right category. Apologies if it isn't!

I'm just wondering if anyone knows anything about Angel's apartment in Buffy season one? I've been on the Fandom site and Google for images, but can't find what I'm after.

We see the cement steps leading down to it, and it's dark inside so presumably it's a basement apartment? But then in Surprise and Innocence, we see the alleyway behind the apartment, so maybe that door he crashed out of is the door that leads down the stairs?

I'm writing my fanfic, and though it's based in Manhattan, NY, not Sunnydale, I'm wondering about the external area. I'm trying to add more description where I can, but I can't seem to find much of anything. I guess this is where I need to make it up which I have no problem doing, but I'm not sure if I'm missing anything first.

If you can shed some light on this, please feel free 😊

Thank you!

 

[thetopher]

All I can really remember about Angel's place is that Darla comments 'you're living above ground, like one of them' and it has a large covered window with southern exposure.
Also it has a functioning fridge (so electricity) and running water/bathroom since Angel is seen post-shower a couple of times in S2.

It could be that its front entrance is slightly below ground/street level but its back entrance isn't, plenty of old buildings/apartment blocks have that set-up.

🙂

 

[thrasherpix]

It's a basement apartment. The window to the sun (since Angel is just getting back, I presume it faces east) is no more than a foot that practically touches the ceiling.

Given all the hills, not so surprising. If you want to take in the underwater sections into account along with nearby beaches and docks (which the writers did only when it served the plot) then it's probably higher up the hill to avoid flooding, but could still be mostly underground. It would need to be for Darla to walk away (presumably back to her own lair).

I never heard of apartments connected to utility tunnels (which it appears to be) but Sunnydale has a lot of "special needs" residents along with people who need to get money wherever they can. And it does look lived in, as opposed to a crashpad (motel).

I suppose you could make him someone who gets room & board by serving as maintenance, not something expected...but it would be brilliant as there probably wouldn't be many around given the vampires that use the tunnels, so there wouldn't be many issues for him to attend to. And if a human owned it, he'd probably be grateful to find someone to live there who didn't vanish inside a month, and might even pay him under the table so HE doesn't have to go down there.

 

[NileQT87]

There are several comments made about Angel's original Sunnydale residence being near the Bronze.

It also clearly opens up into a back alley. And in 1x07, you can see the hallway leading to his room.

Given the amenities it has, it could possibly be a humble caretaker's apartment rented out to him attached to a business of some sort. Maybe he did a favor for, does a service for (like keep vampires/demons away) or saved the owner.

Angel clearly bothered to go collect some of his historical artifacts to decorate (lots of drawings on the wall, probably his, in addition to the statue), so he might have sold some of them to put himself back together and get the apartment in 1996. He must have had a lot of his old things in storage somewhere while he was on the streets. All of his residences seem to have things he didn't just acquire yesterday; many of which seem to have come from his travels dating back to his time as Angelus. Others could very well have been picked up at places that specialize in occult items (the weaponry, especially in L.A.), but his first apartment looks more like travel memorabilia.

 

[thrasherpix]

Looking at Surprise, there are stairs outside his room, which I presume lead up to the alley (and the other direction having an entrance to the tunnels).

Now it's bugging me how consistent this is, but surely it would be more convenient to keep it about the same. Next time I'll do a rewatch I'll try to remember to pay closer attention.

 

[janas]

I'm not able to report the source, because I don't remember it, but it seems that the stairs of Angel's apartment in BTVS, are the same ones used in the fourth season of ATS, that is the stairs that led to the room where Angelus was closed in cage.

However, we can say that Angel has good taste in choosing his apartments.🙂