Brenda Leigh Johnson’s House from “The Closer”

I thought I'”‘”‘d take a little break from writing about my nuptials today as I figure there are more than a few stalkers out there who are not at all interested in reading about wedding planning, even when there is a filming location element tied in to it.  Anyway, a few days ago I was going through some old photographs on my computer when I came across a location that I stalked way back in November of 2008, but for whatever reason had completely forgotten to blog about – the adorable Craftsman-style house where Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson (aka Kyra Sedgwick) lived during the first three seasons of the TNT drama The Closer.  When my dad and I saw the series being filmed in Pasadena back in October of 2008, I happened to ask one of the crew members if he knew where Brenda'”‘”‘s house was located.  And while he couldn'”‘”‘t remember the exact address, he did tell me that the property could be found on Gramercy Place in Hollywood, not too far from Raleigh Studios where the series is lensed.  Even with that detailed information, though, it took me quite a while to track down the house.

Gramercy Place actually begins at Marathon Street, just one block north of Melrose Avenue where Raleigh Studios is located, so I decided to begin my search there.  Because I happened to be in the area at the time, this particular stalking venture took place in person in my car, rather than via Google Street View.  Armed with a screen capture of the house, I drove south on Gramercy Place keeping my eyes peeled for the brown bungalow and was quite shocked to discover that, after only three blocks, the street ended – and, sadly, the property was nowhere to be found.  I immediately called up Mike, from MovieShotsLA, to ask if there happened to be two streets in Hollywood with the name Gramercy, but he said there were not. He also informed me that Gramercy was a long street, which only added to my confusion, as I was ON Gramercy at the time and could only drive three blocks. So, a bit deterred, I returned home and set about doing some cyber-stalking on my computer. What I soon discovered was that Gramercy WAS, in fact a fairly long street, as after it stops at Maplewood Avenue it picks up again four blocks later at Beverly Boulevard.  Because I am absolutely TERRIBLE with directions (my mom says I couldn'”‘”‘t find my way out of a paper bag), that thought had never even occurred to me!  And, yes, I really am that blonde!  Anyway, once I figured out that bit of information, it didn'”‘”‘t take me long to locate Brenda'”‘”‘s house and I dragged the Grim Cheaper right out to stalk the place just a few days later.

Brenda moved into the Craftsman-style home pictured above in the Season 1 episode of The Closer titled “The Big Picture”, after the previous owner was found dead inside of it.  After deciding that she and her fiance, Fritz Howard (aka Jon Tenney), need a larger abode a few seasons later, she moved out of this location and into a duplex located two miles away.

While we were stalking Brenda'”‘”‘s house, some people happened to be standing outside and I asked them if they were the owners. They weren'”‘”‘t, but, as it turns out, they knew the owner quite well.  I, of course, immediately started asking them all sorts of questions about The Closer being filmed on the property and, amazingly enough, not a one of them had any idea what on earth I was talking about.  Then, one of the guys said, “Oh wait, a couple of years ago a TV show did film here, but I have no idea what it was.”  Then as the group walked away I heard one of the ladies say to the other, “What in the heck is The Closer ?” LOL Some people, I swear!!!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Closer house is located at 133 S. Gramercy Place in Hollywood.

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