This Is Where Little House On The Prairie Was Actually Filmed

California has stood in for many faraway locations in movie history, and "Little House on the Prairie" was no exception. The TV series' exterior shots were filmed in Simi Valley at Big Sky Movie Ranch, which is located at 4927 Bennett Road (via The Cinemaholic). The ranch, located on 7,000 acres in the 30-mile L.A. "studio zone," has been the site of many Hollywood productions, from "Transformers" and "Men in Black" to "Westworld" (via The Simi Valley Acorn). The ranch, now over 40 years old, is part of a storied Hollywood tradition: movie ranches were once the preferred sites for many Westerns and other large-scale productions that weren't so easy to imitate indoors. 

Simi Valley can be a hot place, with temperatures into the 80s and 90s in summer (via Weatherspark). The official "Little House on the Prairie" Twitter page notes that Alison Armgrin, who played Nellie Oleson, passed out on the first day of filming. But "Little House" exteriors were also filmed at a few other locations, including Red Hills Ranch in Sonora, California; Lake Sherwood, California; and Old Tuscon Studios in Tuscon, Arizona (via The Cinemaholic). Interior shots were done at sound stages on the Paramount Studios lot (via Wide Open Country).