Adult Film Locations – Part 19: The Grand Island Mansion (and Marilyn Chambers)

President Ronald Reagan called it “the Western White House”.

Celebrities, politicians, and heads of state attended functions there.

So how did the Grand Island Mansion become such a regular feature of adult films, such as Insatiable (1980), almost 50 years ago?

Plus: The Rialto Report recently acquired a significant collection of photographs of Marilyn Chambers and Miracle Films productions, the company that made ‘Insatiable.’ In this article, we present a sample of previously unseen pictures taken at the Grand Island Mansion during the ‘Insatiable’ shoot.

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Insatiable (1980), Coed Fever (1980), Society Affairs (1982). These are just some of the XXX films shot at the Grand Island Mansion in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Located just 25 miles outside of Sacramento near the town of Walnut Grove, the property is a spectacular Italian Renaissance styled villa, the largest private estate in Northern California, with many features of classical architecture and expert craftsmanship.

It was built by Mr. Lewis W. Meyers, a successful Californian businessman, who acquired 865 acres of land on Grand Island, where he built a profitable fruit farm (pears, peaches, plums, cherries, and asparagus – in case you were wondering). But Meyers’ wife Henrietta longed for more than trees, bushes, berries – and in 1917, she persuaded her reluctant husband to let her build an opulent residence for the family. He consented, and with the assistance of renowned San Francisco architect J. W. Dolliver, she embarked on the construction of a four-story, 24,000 square foot, 58 room villa, which was completed in 1920. Lewis Meyers was begrudgingly happy with the result – at least for eighteen months, at which point he died in 1922, at the age of 51.

Following his father’s passing, Myers’ son, Louis J. Meyers, turned the mansion into a hub of high society, and it became a favorite haunt for celebrities of the 1920s and 30s, playing host to such luminaries as President Franklin D. Roosevelt, actress Greta Garbo, and mystery writer Erle Stanley Gardner. Unfortunately, the Meyers’ good times came to an end along with so many others’ with the arrival of the Great Depression. As their fortunes suffered, they could no longer afford to live in the Mansion they called home, so the house and orchards were parceled off.

The property was sold in the 1950s and passed through different hands. By and large, it proved to be too expensive to be owned by a single family and so was often used as a commercial dining experience or corporate entertainment venue.

In 1978, the Mansion underwent a refurbishment and was turned into a dining, wedding and event venue, featuring in publications such as National Geographic and Architectural Digest. (It even had a brief spell as ‘Xanadu’, an exclusive private club for ‘VIP singles.’)

The new owners main priority was to keep the property afloat commercially, and didn’t object it became a popular venue for shooting adult films.

Publicity photos for the Grand Island Mansion (outdoors):

From the ‘Insatiable’ (1980) shoot:

Publicity photo for the Grand Island Mansion (indoors):

From the ‘Insatiable’ (1980) shoot:

Publicity photos for the Grand Island Mansion (swimming pool):

From the ‘Insatiable’ (1980) shoot:

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