They're real and they're spectacular: How to book picture-perfect recreations of 'Seinfeld' and 'Friends' apartments (photos)

Jerry and Kramer spend much of their on-screen time near the door of the comedian's apartment. (Photo: Carin Baer/Castle Rock Entertainment/Courtesy Everett Collection)
Jerry and Kramer spend much of their on-screen time near the door of the comedian's apartment. (Photo: Carin Baer/Castle Rock Entertainment/Courtesy Everett Collection)

You don't have to time travel back to the '90s to make a Kramer-esque entrance through Jerry's door, or to hang out inside the purple walls of Monica and Rachel's apartment. You don't even have to go to the soundstages where Seinfeld and Friends were filmed.

Cereal boxes fill a shelf in the
Cereal boxes fill a shelf in the Seinfeld-themed kitchen. (Photo: Hailey Bollinger)

A couple has recreated both famous residences, complete with Easter eggs for hardcore fans, at an apartment building in Cincinnati, now offering bookings on Airbnb. The Suite About Nothing, of course, is the tribute to Jerry and friends, complete with a bike hanging on the wall, cereal on the kitchen shelves and Superman details throughout. The Purple Suite is, natch, a copy of the Friends location, complete with that retro refrigerator, turquoise cabinets and a wooden table. They're delightfully similar.

The
The Friends characters hang out in the kitchen in Monica's apartment. (Photo: Paul Drinkwater/Warner Brothers/courtesy Everett Collection)

It took "a lot of watching the show and then screenshots and try to shop the exact thing or get pretty close," Brenda Baum, who, along with her husband, Otto, is behind the suites, tells Yahoo Entertainment. "Shopping a lot on Facebook Marketplace to find furniture and going all over the country to find the right pieces. A lot of thrift stores, because it's, you know, '80s, '90s stuff. It's been fun."

"The Purple Suite" is filled with the pastel colors of <em>Friends</em>. (Photo: Hailey Bollinger)
"The Purple Suite" is filled with the pastel colors of Friends. (Photo: Hailey Bollinger)

For instance, a friend, Katy Dika, with Katy Dika Designs, provided custom curtains that cleverly refer to the characters' names and custom posters with Cincinnati references.

Notice anything odd about the types of flowers? (Photo: Hailey Bollinger)
Notice anything odd about the types of flowers? (Photo: Hailey Bollinger)
Owners Otto and Brenda Baum made sure to pay tribute to Cincinnati and to their neighborhood, Pleasant Ridge. (Photo: Hailey Bollinger)
Owners Otto and Brenda Baum made sure to pay tribute to Cincinnati and to their neighborhood, Pleasant Ridge. (Photo: Hailey Bollinger)

While his wife worked on the decor, Otto Baum, who owns a small real estate company, renovated and converted a building into one with four separate apartments. He said the idea of making them, the Sitcom Suites as they call them, came about during the COVID pandemic.

"There were less sports on TV, and sports is what I would be watching when I get home from work," he says. "Whether it’s basketball or football, whatever season it's in. And that ground to a halt, and we were finding ourselves watching a lot of older television… and that sort of led to like the idea of, 'These are fun to watch, but what if you actually experienced one of these shows? What if you could build a set and sort of become part of the show?'"

The TV sets to emulate were easy to choose; like all of us, they saw merchandise for Friends and Seinfeld everywhere. The Baums also are working on another pair of apartments in the same building based on two other fan favorites: The Golden Girls and Schitt's Creek.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, as Elaine, stands in front of Jerry's bike. (Photo: Carin Baer/Castle Rock Entertainment/Courtesy Everett Collection)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, as Elaine, stands in front of Jerry's bike. (Photo: Carin Baer/Castle Rock Entertainment/Courtesy Everett Collection)
Jerry's bike, as well as his beloved Superman, are part of
Jerry's bike, as well as his beloved Superman, are part of "The Suite About Nothing." (Photo: Hailey Bollinger)
The
The Seinfeld-inspired space comes complete with an "ASSMAN" license plate. (Photo: Hailey Bollinger)
Brenda Baum said she knew she had to get a door similar to the one at Jerry's place, since we see it in almost every episode. (Photo: Hailey Bollinger)
Brenda Baum said she knew she had to get a door similar to the one at Jerry's place, since we see it in almost every episode. (Photo: Hailey Bollinger)

Fans can book the Seinfeld and Friends suites now, with stays beginning April 1. Recreations of Dorothy, Rose, Sophia and Blanche's Miami bungalow (The Golden Suite) and the Roses' humble accommodations at the Rosebud Motel (The Creek Suite) will also be available April 1; bookings for them will open early next month. The listed price is $175 a night.

Already, though, the first offerings are a hit.

"April's already sold out for Friends," Brenda says. "And weekends are booking up quick, too."

The replica of Monica and Rachel's apartment features a copy of actor Matthew Perry's memoir,
The replica of Monica and Rachel's apartment features a copy of actor Matthew Perry's memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing. (Photo: Hailey Bollinger)
Anyone want to watch Joey on
Anyone want to watch Joey on Days of Our Lives? (Photo: Hailey Bollinger)

The true measure of their success, they say, is that the friends and family members who've previewed the suites have been wowed.

"That's what we’re trying to do," Otto says, "is to transport you, take you to another place in another time. I think that’s why [the suites] resonate, and why, when people see them for the first time and they walk in, it's a shocking kind of thing, where you're like, 'Whoa, I'm in it.' And that's what we were going after."