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Today’s location is a special request from my good friends Katie and Lavonna, who, in a group text, both suggested I blog about some sites from The Craft as part of my Haunted Hollywood postings. Now the 1996 horror flick is not one of my favorites and its locales have been pretty well documented elsewhere online, but I am never one to turn down a stalking plea from friends. So Katie and Lavonna, this one’s for you! Thankfully, I already had a few sites from the film stockpiled, ahem, stalkpiled. Back in May 2015, a fellow stalker named Nathan wrote to me asking for some help in tracking down two locales from the movie, the occult shop (I told the story behind that search here) and the building where Nancy Downs (Fairuza Balk) lived with her mom, Grace Downs (Helen Shaver). Lucky for me, that spot was an easy find thanks to a notation on IMDB which stated that The Craft had done some filming at Long Beach’s HarborPlace Tower. Though Nathan didn’t think that was the right place, one look around the property on Google Street View told me it was. I finally made it out to see the structure in person this past May.
Construction on HarborPlace Tower (and no, that’s not a typo – per the building’s official website, the name is spelled “HarborPlace” with no spacing) began in 1990 and was completed in September 1992.
The modern, Art Deco-ish building is comprised of 225 luxury condos.
The structure boasts 22 floors, though there is no 13th, which I thought was quite fitting being that I am covering HarborPlace as a Haunted Hollywood locale.
Building amenities include a pool, a spa, his-and-hers saunas, concierge service, a gym, an underground garage with parking for 600 cars, a 24-hour security guard, a sun deck, a park with artwork designed by sculptor Ned Smyth (some of those pieces are pictured in the images above and below), an expansive lobby, ocean views, and meeting rooms.
You can check out a video showing the interior of the building and one of the units here.
In The Craft, teen witch Nancy places a spell on her abusive step-father causing him to have a heart attack and die. Thanks to his extensive life insurance policy, Nancy and her mom are subsequently able to move from the trailer park where they live to more upscale digs at HarborPlace Tower.
In the scene in which Sarah Bailey (Robin Tunney), Bonnie (Neve Campbell), and Rochelle (Rachel True) visit Nancy’s new apartment for the first time, the girls enter the property on its East Ocean Boulevard side. The buildings visible in the background (located at 555 East Ocean and 455 East Ocean) still look much the same today as they did in 1996 when The Craft was filmed.
The interior of one of HarborPlace’s actual units stood in for Nancy’s apartment in the flick.
While it was under construction, the building appeared as itself in the Season 10 episode of Columbo titled “Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star,” which aired in 1991.
And in the 1995 action flick Heat, Lt. Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) ambushed Hugh Benny (Henry Rollins) at HarborPlace Tower.
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Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: HarborPlace Tower, from The Craft, is located at 525 East Seaside Way in Long Beach.
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