Year: 2012

  • Another Day Off!

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    Because I spent all day yesterday doing some location scouting with Mike, from MovieShotsLA – including an amazing visit to the WB Ranch!!!! – I was not able to write a new post for today.  But I promise to be back tomorrow with a whole new location.  So until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

  • Café-Club Fais Do-Do from “Crossroads”

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    One location that I blogged about way back in March of 2009 and had been dying to re-stalk ever since – in order to snap some interior pictures – was Café-Club Fais Do-Do, the supposed New-Orleans-area karaoke bar that appeared in the 2002 movie Crossroads.  (For those who did not catch my original post on the place, in the Spring of 2001 I was an extra in Crossroads and spent a full three days filming at the Fais Do-Do – a magical experience that I will never forget.)  Because the club is typically only open at night for concerts and events, though, and because the Grim Cheaper has a major aversion to paying any sort of a cover charge, since the filming I had never been able to get back inside.   Until last Wednesday afternoon, that is, when I tagged along with fellow stalker Mike, from MovieShotsLA, on a scouting expedition.  A couple of months back, Mike actually joined the Location Managers Guild of America under the title of Apprentice and, when I heard that he was in the process of building his portfolio, I immediately (and a bit selfishly) suggested that he visit Café-Club Fais Do-Do – with me accompanying him, of course.  Don’t get me wrong – the place is incredibly unique and visually stimulating and I knew that he would not only shoot some incredible photographs of it, but that it would also be a highly useful locale to have in his scouting arsenal.  But mostly, I just really wanted to stalk it myself.  Winking smile

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    The Art Deco building which currently houses Café-Club Fais Do-Do was originally constructed in 1930 and is actually comprised of two separate sections – The Club (pictured above) and The Ballroom.  In its original incarnation, The Club was a branch of the First Citizens Savings Bank and Trust, which explains the structure’s uniquely rich and ornate interior.  Sometime in the 1960s, the bank was converted into a jazz bar/underground club, but thankfully most of its architecturally and historically significant detailing was kept intact.  During its years as a jazz club, such musicians as Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, BB King, Pearl Bailey, John Coltrane, and Billy Preston were all said to have hung out there.

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    The Ballroom (pictured above) was originally constructed as the single-screen Variety Movie Theatre and was where the filming of Crossroads took place.  I am unsure of when exactly the Variety ceased showing movies, but in 1990 the entire building was purchased by a new owner who, while still keeping the two distinct areas separate, decided to turn the venues into a nightclub and bar which collectively would be known as Café-Club Fais Do-Do – “Fais Do-Do” meaning “nighty-night” in French.  And while this post on the Lon’s Place blog states that The Club area was sold to a new owner in 2010, according the film liaison that we spoke with, the same person who bought the building back in 1990 still owns it to this day.

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    While we were stalking the Fais Do-Do, I was extremely sad to discover that the huge two-story bar that used to be located in the center of The Ballroom and on which I had sat in Crossroads had since been removed.  To me, that bar, which had a dance floor on top of it, was the coolest, most unique aspect of the entire club and I cannot believe the owner did away with it!  So incredibly sad.

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    In Crossroads, Café-Club Fais Do-Do’s Ballroom was used for the interior of Club Bayou, where Lucy Wagner (Britney Spears), Kit (Zoe Saldana) and Mimi (Taryn Manning) competed in a karaoke contest in order to win money to fix their car which had just broken down.

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    That’s me in the blue pants standing next to Ben (Anson Mount) in the above screen capture.  Smile

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    The Fais Do-Do dressing room, which you can see a photograph of here, was featured in the scene in which Kit, Mimi and Lucy get ready to go onstage.  Sadly, a film crew was using that area at the time that we were stalking the club so we were unable to take any pictures of it.

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    The GC and I recently started watching fave show The O.C. again from the beginning and, let me tell you, I just about fell off my chair when I spotted Café-Club Fais Do-Do pop up in a Season 1 episode.  In “The Escape”, the Fais Do-Do’s Ballroom stood in for “Boom Boom”, the supposed-Tijuana-area club where Marissa Cooper (Mischa Barton) caught Luke Ward (Chris Carmack) cheating on her.

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    And, while scanning through “The Escape” to make screen captures for this post, I was shocked to discover that the little bar where Marissa almost overdosed on pain pills later in the episode was none other than the Fais Do-Do’s Club!  The Club was remodeled in 2010 (as you can see in these photograph on the Lon’s Place blog) and looks a bit different now, but, amazingly enough, the actual bar where Marissa sat still looks exactly the same today as it did when the episode was filmed back in 2003!

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    After reading my original post on the Fais Do-Do back in 2009, fellow stalker Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, figured out that The Ballroom also stood in for Delloser Hall, the reggae club where Josie Geller (Drew Barrymore) got stoned after inadvertently eating a pot-laced cake, in fave movie Never Been Kissed.

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    In the extremely odd 2006 film The Gymnast, the Fais Do-Do’s Ballroom was used extensively as the place where Jane Hawkins (Dreya Weber) and Serena (Addie Yungmee) learned aerial fabric acrobatics.

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    In the flick, you can clearly see the club’s former bar . . .

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    . . . as well as the dance floor above it.

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    Café-Club Fais Do-Do’s dressing room also appeared in The Gymnast.

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    And in one scene, a business card featuring the club’s actual address, fax number, and website was even shown.  So incredibly cool!

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    Fellow stalker Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, also let me know that the Fais Do-Do had appeared in the Season 2 episode of Arrested Development titled “Queen for a Day”.  In the episode, the exterior . . .

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    . . . as well as The Ballroom stood in for The Queen Mary, the bar that Tobias Funke (David Cross) purchased.

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    The Club was also used in that episode as the restaurant where Byron “Buster” Bluth (Tony Hale) took his new girlfriend, Starla (Mo Collins), out for a milkshake.

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    And the dressing room stood in for the Hot Cop stripper club, from which Lindsay Bluth Funke (Portia de Rossi) hired strippers to scare her husband into selling The Queen Mary.

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    Back in February of 2011, while doing research for my post on The Little Door restaurant, I discovered that Café-Club Fais Do-Do’s Club room was used in the Season 2 episode of Entourage titled “The Abyss”, in the scene in which the boys – Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier), Eric Murphy (Kevin Connolly), Johnny ‘Drama’ Chase (Kevin Dillon), and Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) –  gather together to watch Saigon perform.

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    I was shocked to discover (thanks to the Ron’s Place blog) that in 1994’s Reality Bites, The Club stood in for the bar where “Hey, That’s My Bike!”, Troy Dyer’s (Ethan Hawke’s) band, regularly played.  The room was heavily dressed for the filming, though, and is almost unrecognizable in the movie.

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    The Fais Do-Do Club was also featured in the Jane’s Addiction video for “Underground”.

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    As was the dressing room area.

    Jane’s Addiction “Underground” Music Video–Filmed at Café-Club Fais Do-Do in Los Angeles

    You can watch the “Underground” video by clicking above.

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    The Club also appeared in the Destiny’s Child “No, No No, Part 1” music video.

    Destiny’s Child–”No, No, No Part 1” Music Video Filmed at Café-Club Fais Do-Do in Los Angeles

    You can watch the “No, No, No, Part 1” video by clicking above.

    This Is 40, the yet-to-be released sequel to 2007’s Knocked Up, also did some filming in Café-Club Fais Do-Do’s Ballroom in 2011.  And while the Ron’s Place blog stated that The Big Lebowski and American Gangster were also filmed at the Fais Do-Do, I scanned through both movies while doing research for this post and did not spot the place anywhere.

    Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

    Stalk It: Café-Club Fais Do-Do, from Crossroads, is located at 5253 and 5257 West Adams Boulevard in Los Angeles.  You can visit the club’s official website here.

  • Taking Another Day Off!

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    I, unfortunately, bit off a bit more than I could chew once again with the post I had planned on publishing today and did not finish it in time.  Sad smile But I will be back on Monday with a very lengthy article on a very cool location.

    So until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

  • La Villa Consolata – The Day Spa from the “Driven” Episode of “CSI: Miami”

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    Back in January, a fellow stalker named Brandi left a comment on my post about the mansion from The Beverly Hillbillies movie informing me that the property’s indoor spa had not actually been used in the Season 4 episode of CSI: Miami titled “Driven”, as I had originally presumed, but that that spa could actually be found at a different ostentatious estate, this one on Mapleton Drive in Beverly Hills.  One quick online search and I discovered that Brandi was, indeed, correct and I immediately added the residence to my “To-Stalk” list.  As fate would have it, just a few days later, the Grim Cheaper and I happened to be watching the 2001 romantic comedy Good Advice (for about the hundredth time, mind you – it is one of our favorite movies EVER!) and I just about fell off the couch when I spotted the very same spa from CSI: Miami!  So I decided that I just HAD to stalk the estate as soon as possible and dragged the GC right on out there this past Saturday afternoon.

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    As you can see above, in real life, the “Driven” mansion is absolutely GINORMOUS and actually looks more like a palace than a private residence.  In fact, according to the Wikinfo website, the property is one of the largest single family homes in all of the United States!  Ironically enough, while we were stalking the dwelling, a Hollywood tour van happened to pull up and the guide announced that the estate had once been leased by Donatella Versace, to which the GC yelled out, “It was also featured in an episode of CSI: Miami!”  Thanks for having my back, honey!  Smile And while I cannot find any information online to back up the Donatella Versace claim, it does look like exactly the sort of place that I would imagine her living.  There are also a few internet reports floating around that the home was lived in (at different times, of course) by both Janet Jackson and Tommy Hilfiger, but I believe that information is incorrect.  According to CurbedLA, the residence was originally built in 1993 by Pacific-Brokerage-Services-founder Steven Wallace and was awarded to his ex-wife, Jo-Anne, in their divorce shortly thereafter.  Current property records show that Jo-Anne still owns the mansion to this day, although it is possible she rented it out to various celebrities over the years.

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    As you can see in the above photographs from the home’s MLS listing, the 6-bedroom, 7-bath, 27,816-square-foot abode, which sits on 1.15 well-manicured acres of land, is nothing short of unbelievable!  The property, dubbed “La Villa Consolata”, features a whopping eight fireplaces!, a domed entryway, a gourmet kitchen, formal gardens, a gym, an indoor and an outdoor pool, a massage room, a game room, a two-level library (which I would give anything to have in my own home!), a master bedroom wing, three elevators!, staff quarters, three family rooms, a detached theater, a guard house, a wine cellar, and a three-level underground disco named “Atlantis”!  Who knew that those kinds of amenities were even available in homes?!?!  And while the residence has been on and off the market for a couple of years now, it seems to currently be back on again at the bargain price of $27.5 million.  You can check out the dwelling’s real estate website and see more photographs of it in all of its ornate grandeur here.

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    In the “Driven” episode of CSI: Miami, La Villa Consolata stood in for a supposed Dade-County-area day spa where a group of wealthy women are robbed at gunpoint.

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    The mansion’s indoor lap pool was used extensively in the episode.

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    That pool area is pictured above and I have to say that it is pretty darn magnificent!

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    The interior of La Villa Consolata also masqueraded as a second location in “Driven”.  Towards the end of the episode, the mansion stood in for the residence belonging to Cynthia Gilmore (Jacqueline Pinol), where a home-invasion robbery took place.

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    In Good Advice, La Villa Consolata’s indoor pool is where Cathy Sherman (Rosanna Arquette) attends a yoga class and gets interrupted by a phone call from her husband, Barry Sherman (Jon Lovitz).  I SO love that Cathy has a coffee with her while practicing yoga, by the way!  SO something I would do!  Smile

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    In the Season 1 episode of Charmed titled “The Wedding from Hell”, La Villa Consolata’s front exterior;

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    interior;

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    and backyard stood in for the mansion where Mrs. Grace Spencer (Barbara Stock) lived.

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    Oddly enough, though, the mansion grounds shown in the beginning of the episode are unmistakably those of The Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, which I blogged about way back in October of 2008.  I have no idea why two different locations would be used to stand in for the same backyard, but I am guessing that it was some sort of a timing issue in which La Villa Consolata was not available for the entire stretch of time that was needed to film “The Wedding from Hell”, so producers found a similar-looking spot to double for it in certain scenes.

    Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Brandi for finding this location!  Smile

    Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

    Stalk It: La Villa Consolata, aka the mansion from Good Advice, the “Driven” episode of CSI: Miami and “The Wedding from Hell” episode of Charmed, is located at 330 South Mapleton Drive in the Holmby Hills section of Los AngelesThe home used for all of the backyard scenes in Mommie Dearest is located across the street at 355 South Mapleton Drive.

  • The “Pretty Woman” Party House

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    Over the past few weeks, fellow stalker Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I have been on an extensive hunt for several unfound locations from the 1990 classic romantic comedy Pretty Woman. And the locale that I was most interested in tracking down, you ask?  Why, the huge, modern-style abode where Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) attended a party in the film’s opening scene, of course.  You all know how this stalker absolutely loves herself some movies houses!  Anyway, after doing some extensive digging online, purchasing the Pretty Woman 15th Anniversary Special Edition DVD, watching each and every one of the special features included in it, and still coming up completely empty-handed, Mike decided that we had to change our course.

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    Mike had noticed a smattering of tall buildings in the background of the Pretty Woman party scene and, although the view of them was not entirely clear, he had a hunch that they were located in Century City.

    Pretty Woman Party House map

    So using an aerial map of West Los Angeles, he drew an angled line based on those views from Century City outward and it led him straight to the hills of Bel Air.  He then zoomed in on the spot where the line had pointed and immediately noticed a huge white mansion that was very reminiscent of the Pretty Woman party house.  And, sure enough, upon closer inspection, he found that it was, indeed, the right place!  Wahoo!  So I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out there to stalk the place this past weekend.

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    The opening scene of Pretty Woman centered around a party held at a large house high up in the hills above Hollywood, thrown in honor of Edward’s arrival in Los Angeles.  I believe that the residence was supposed to belong to Edward’s lawyer, Philip Stuckey (Jason Alexander), in the flick, but that was never actually specified.

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    Sadly, not very much of the property is visible from the street, but, as you can see above, the bush where the valet stand was placed, the double windows located above the garage, the brick driveway, and the bent tree on the side of the driveway, all still look exactly the same as they did onscreen way back in 1990.  So incredibly cool!  In real life, the Pretty Woman party house, which was originally built in 1988 and sits on an almost 3/4-acre plot of land, measures 5 bedrooms, 8 baths, and a whopping 10,650 square feet of living space.

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    As you can see in the above aerial views, both the home and its surrounding property are absolutely ginormous!

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    According to director Garry Marshall’s commentary on the Pretty Woman 15th Anniversary Special Edition DVD (which I highly recommend, by the way – the special features are fabulous!), the real life interior of the home was also used in the filming.  Man, what I wouldn’t give to see the inside of that place!

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    Amazingly, when Mike went to stalk the house a few days after I had, the gate just happened to be open and he was able to snap a few pictures of the front of it!  WHOO-HOO!

    Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for finding this location!  Smile

    Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

    Stalk It: The party house from the opening scene of Pretty Woman is located at 650 Sarbonne Road in Bel Air.

  • The “Nanny and the Professor” House

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    Last week, fellow stalker James posted a comment on my site challenging me to find the residence where the Everett family – widowed Professor Harold Everett (Richard Long) and his three children, Hal (David Doremus), Butch (Trent Lehman), and Prudence (The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ Kim Richards), and their nanny, Nanny Phoebe Figalilly (Hayley Mills’ sister, Juliet Mills) – lived in the 1970s television series Nanny and the Professor. And while I had never before even heard of the Mary-Poppins-like comedy, I was immediately intrigued and added the location to my “To-Find” list. Fellow stalker Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, beat me to the punch, though, and sent me an email in which he informed me of the address to the home less than 24 hours after James had posted the challenge! Nice! Thank you, Geoff! So this past weekend, I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out there to stalk the place.

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    In the short-lived Nanny and the Professor, which only lasted two seasons and ran from January 1970 to December 1971, the Everett family lived in an idyllic white clapboard residence supposedly located at 10327 Oak Street in what, I believe, was Los Angeles.

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    You can see the “10327” address placard pictured in the background of the above screen captures.

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    Thankfully, the house is also numbered 10327 in real life, which is how Geoff was able to track it down. The Colonial-style residence, which was originally built in 1935, measures 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, and 2,128 square feet. And, amazingly enough, it still looks EXACTLY the same today as it did in 1970 when the series was taped, despite the fact that a whopping forty-two years have since passed.

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    Even the decorative light post which appeared in the show is still there in real life! So incredibly cool!

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    As you can see above, the Nanny and the Professor house truly is idyllic in real life.

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    So much so that the homeowners even posted a sign in the front yard which reads, “Please . . . Do Not Disturb! This House is Not For sale.” LOL I guess they had quite a few people stopping by wanting the buy the place.

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    Kim Richards was only five years old – and absolutely adorable – when the series began filming and, although she had already acted in over 20 commercials by that time, “Prudence Everett” was the future child star’s first major role.

    Big THANK YOU to Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, for finding this location! Smile

    Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

    Stalk It: The Nanny and the Professor house is located at 10327 Glenbarr Avenue in the Cheviot Hills section of Los Angeles. Claire and Phil’s house from Modern Family is located just a few blocks away at 10336 Dunleer Drive.

  • Offshore – Liam’s Bar from “90210”

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    One of the many locations that Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I stalked last week while hanging out in the Redondo Beach area – and the one that I was most excited about – was Offshore, the bar owned by Liam Court (cutie Matt Lanter – sigh!) on fave show 90210.  I had been absolutely itching to stalk the fictitious watering hole ever since it first appeared in the series’ Season 4 premiere episode back in September of last year.  Thankfully, fellow stalker Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, had quickly tracked the place down and, as soon as he posted the address, I immediately added it to my “To-Stalk” list.  Because the Grim Cheaper and I do not get down to the South Bay very often, though, the bar had, sadly, remained unstalked until last Wednesday afternoon.  And, let me tell you, when I finally saw it in person, I could not have been more excited!  I was practically busting at the seams!

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    Offshore first showed up in the Season 4 episode of 90210 titled “Up In Smoke”, as the spot where Liam and his friends, Navid Shirazi (Michael Steger), Dixon Wilson (Tristan Wilds) and Teddy Montgomery (Trevor Donovan), lamented over their various end-of-the-summer blues.  In the episode, the beachside watering hole was named “Salty’s Place” and it included an on-the-sand hut.  And while that hut seems to have subsequently disappeared, I am sure it will be brought back during the summer months.

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    After Liam purchased the bar at the very end of the “Up In Smoke” episode, he renamed it “Offshore” and the place now shows up weekly as the gang’s regular hangout.

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    As you can see above, the Offshore building looks much the same in person as it does on TV.

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    Don’t go looking for the interior of Liam’s bar there, though, as it is, sadly, just a set that exists inside of a soundstage at Manhattan Beach Studios where the series is lensed.

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    The ground floor space that supposedly houses Offshore is, in reality, the rear entrance to a storefront that is, I believe, currently vacant.  As you can see from above photograph of the back of the building, the place is currently undergoing some major construction, so I was, unfortunately, unable to venture any closer to the see what the Offshore space actually looks like in real life.

    Big THANK YOU to Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, for finding this location!  Smile

    Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

    Liam's Bar location - 90210

    Stalk It: Offshore, Liam’s bar from 90210, is located at 100 Fisherman’s Wharf, at the end of the Redondo Beach Pier, in Redondo Beach.  Its exact location is marked with a pink arrow in the above aerial view.  You can catch a good view of the place from the spot where North Harbor Drive meets West Torrance Boulevard.

  • Villa Sophia from the Final Episode of “Entourage”

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    A couple of weeks ago, while the Grim Cheaper and I were out doing some stalking in the Hollywood area, I received an email from Constantine Vlahos, the owner of a Los Feliz mansion named Villa Sophia.  Constantine was writing to let me know that his home had been featured in the final episode of Entourage and that I might be interested in stalking it.  Now, I just have to say here that that was most definitely a first – a homeowner not only seeking me out to inform me of his property’s filming history, but also encouraging me to stalk the place!  Oh, how I wish more people would do the same!  And interested in stalking it, I surely was, so I dragged the GC right on out there later that same day.

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    In real life, Villa Sophia is quite breathtaking.  And while the Mediterranean-revival-style mansion, which was originally built in 1927, appears to be absolutely gargantuan from the street, in reality it “only” boasts 3 bedrooms, 4 baths, and 4,525 square feet – which is large, don’t get me wrong, but from the looks of the exterior, I expected the place to be a whole lot bigger.

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    As you can see in the above aerial view, the residence seems to be massive!

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    Villa Sophia was originally designed by Henry Harwood Hewitt, the L.A.-area architect who also gave us The Ebell Club of Los Angeles (an oft-used filming location that I really should have already blogged about being that I have stalked it twice!), the L.A. County Hall of Justice (also an oft-used location that was featured in the television shows Dragnet and Get Smart), and Bob Hope Patriotic Hall (yet another filming location that appeared in the movies Patton and Flashdance).  Villa Sophia was commissioned by Clement E. Smoot, an Olympic-gold-medalist golfer turned industrial lighting manufacturer, and his wife, Margaret Miller Smoot.  During the 1930s, the property became home to James Whale, the famed British film director who made Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, Show Boat, and The Man with the Iron Mask, and who was also the subject of the 1998 flick Gods and Monsters.  In the late 90s, the dwelling was purchased by Constantine, my new favorite homeowner Smile, who had spent years fantasizing about owning the place and who immediately began a massive renovation and restoration process, during which he added on a 15-foot retaining wall, a pool, a pool house, upper and lower rear terraces, a loggia, and a dining pavilion.  Constantine even rents the 750-square-foot pool house out to vacationers, so if you are in the area and would like to stay at an Entourage filming location, you can book a reservation here.  And you can see some fabulous close-up pictures of the home here.

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    In the final episode of Entourage, which was appropriately titled “The End”, Villa Sophia was featured in the very last, post-credits scene in which Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) and his wife, Mrs. Ari (Perrey Reeves), are shown living their new life in Florence, Italy.  It is at the home that Ari receives a phone call from Time Warner chairman John Ellis (Alan Dale), who announces that he is retiring and wants Ari to take over his job.  Dun-dun-dun!  As you can see above, the landscape of Florence was digitally added to the background of the scene.

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    Villa Sophia was also the site of a Victoria’s Secret “Bombshell Summer” commercial starring Candice Swanepoel, Chanel Iman, and Erin Heatherton that was filmed in May 2011.

    Victoria’s Secret Bombshell Summer commercial filmed at Villa Sophia

    You can watch a behind-the-scenes video of that shoot by clicking above.

    Constantine also informed me that the home will be featured in the near future in a yet-to-be-released movie starring Kate Bosworth.

    Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

    Stalk It: Villa Sophia, from “The End” episode of Entourage, is located at 4565 Dundee Drive in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles.  You can visit the mansion’s official website here.  The Lovell Health House, aka Pierce Patchett’s home from L.A. Confidential, is located just up the street at 4616 Dundee Drive.

  • Taking the Day Off

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    I do not have a new blog to post for today as I spent all day yesterday in the South Bay doing some stalking with Mike, from MovieShotsLA, but I do promise to be back tomorrow with a whole new location.  So until that time . . . Happy Stalking!  Smile

  • George’s Childhood Home from “Blow”

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    This past Saturday morning, after waking up to a torrential downpour and then waiting a few hours for it to pass, the Grim Cheaper suggested that we head south to the city of Whittier to do some stalking of Whittier High School, aka Hill Valley High School from Back to the Future, which, amazingly enough, in all my years of stalking I had yet to visit.  And I should mention here that while I do absolutely love me some BTTF and have stalked quite a few of its locales, I have yet to blog about any of them as The Big Waste of Space Photologue features a Back to the Future Tour in which each and every one of the movie’s sites is painstakingly documented.  I have long been of the opinion that, unless I have something to add to the mix, there is no reason to blog about places that have already been reported on and since BTTF has been done, and done quite well, I figure my stalking “talents” are best left to more uncharted territory.  Anyway, the GC and I had an absolute blast stalking Whittier High School and while I might do a blog on my experiences there sometime in the future, for now I thought I would write about the other places we visited, one of which was the childhood home of George Jung (Johnny Depp) from the 2001 movie Blow.

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    While doing some stalking on Painter Avenue in the Whittier Historic Neighborhood Association area, I happened to run into a homeowner who informed me that one of the properties on a nearby street had been used as George’s childhood home in Blow.  And while she did not remember the exact property used, she pointed me in the right direction.  From there, I contacted Mike, from MovieShotsLA, to see if he would email me some screen caps of the residence in question so that I could attempt to track it down while I was in the area.  Mike’s response?  “Oh, I know where that house is – it’s at 6216 Friends Avenue.”  LOL  I really should have known – if a property has anything to do with filming and is located anywhere in the vicinity of greater Los Angeles, chances are Mike is going to know about it.  So, with the address firmly in hand, I immediately dragged the GC right on over there.  On our way, I just had to pull over and take a picture with the Friends Avenue street sign – for reasons that should be imminently clear to all of my fellow stalkers.  Winking smile LOVE IT!

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    George’s childhood home, where he lives with parents Ermine Jung (Rachel Griffiths) and Fred Jung (Ray Liotta) and which is said to be located in Weymouth, Massachusetts, shows up quite a few times in Blow.  It first pops up at the very beginning of the movie in the scene in which George is describing his background to the audience.

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    It is next featured in the scene in which George skips bail to go see his parents after the death of his girlfriend, Barbara Buckley (Franka Potente).  While there, Ermine calls the police on him and he winds up being rearrested.

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    It later appears in the scene in which George visits his parents yet again in order to tell them that he is going on the lam and might not be in touch for a while.

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    And it lastly pops up towards the end of the movie in the scene in which Fred listens to a message that George has tape-recorded for him.

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    In real life, the Blow house, which was originally built in 1924, boasts 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, and 2,734 square feet of living space.  And while it does look similar to how it appeared onscreen, I actually much prefer the color scheme from the movie to the colors it is currently painted.

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    And while I am fairly certain that the real life interior of the residence was also used in the filming, I was unable to find any interior photographs of the house online with which to verify that hunch.

    Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for telling me about this location!  Smile

    Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

    Stalk It: George’s childhood home from Blow is located at 6216 Friends Avenue in Whittier.