The true story behind the old Gates' Mansion in the Wednesday TV series

The dark and mysterious allure of the Gates' mansion and horrific family history is a recurring plot theme in Netflix's Addams Family spin-off series starring Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams, prompting multiple glimpses and passing shots of the mansion throughout the series.

After Wednesday has a vision in which her ancestor, Goody Addams, compels her to visit the mansion, she arrives to find Mayor Walker (Tommie Earl Jenkins) leaving and overhears him leave a phone message for Sherrif Galpin (Jamie McShane), saying, "I may have figured out who's behind all of this." He never gets the chance to tell the sheriff his theory.

Tyler (Hunter Doohan) and  Enis (Emma Myers) are upset with Wednesday later that evening when she tricks them into a night prowling expedition at the Gates mansion, but they acquiesce when Wednesday tells them she'd rather be doing this for her birthday than the date or girls' night (respectively) they thought they'd signed up for.

Their exploration is cut short when the Hyde monster chases them from the basement.

The real Gates mansion

The Gates mansion is a real place in Romania named Conacul Olga Greceanu, built in the traditional Moldovan architectural style. Surrounded by gardens and parkland, it was built in the 19th century and is located in the countryside near the northeastern town of Fălticeni, in Suceava County.

The mansion has been restored and is now open to the public as a tourist attraction. For the film production of the Wednesday TV series, however, the interior was destroyed to appear abandoned, and a new entrance and double garage were added.

The mansion is named after Olga Greceanu, a Romanian writer and patron of the arts who lived in the 20th century.

Who was Olga Greceanu, the mansion's namesake?

Olga Greceanu (1890-1978) was the daughter of Constantin Greceanu, a prominent lawyer and politician in Romania. Olga Greceanu was known for her support of the arts and culture, and she was a patron of several cultural institutions in Romania. She was also a writer herself, and she published a number of novels, stories, and plays. Her works often explored themes of love, family, and social change, and they were popular with readers in Romania and abroad.