Rose Towers from “CSI: Cyber”

Spanish-style courtyard apartment complexes are my jam (as evidenced here, here, here, here, here, here, and here).  One that I became especially enamored of a little over a year ago was the pink-hued building where Tristan Jenkins (fave actor Matt Lanter) lived on the Season 2 episode of CSI: Cyber titled “Corrupted Memory.”  While I don’t typically watch CSI: Cyber, when I learned that ML would be guest-starring I made sure to tune in – and was not disappointed.  Not only did Matt do a fabulous job portraying an agoraphobe, but my jaw dropped during one of the opening shots when cameras swooped in to reveal the colorful terraced apartment complex his character called home.  I immediately pulled out my laptop to try to figure out where filming had taken place, which my instinct told me was somewhere in West Hollywood.  I came up completely empty-handed, though.  I even tweeted Matt to ask about the locale, to no avail.  It wasn’t until early this year that I was finally able to identify the place, via a rather circuitous route.

A couple of months ago, the Grim Cheaper and I were watching an episode of Scorpion (our latest obsession) and I spotted what I thought was the exterior of the apartment building where Mia (Emma Stone) lived in La La Land.  I did a quick Google search for “La La Land apartment building” and was shocked when photos of what I immediately recognized as Tristan’s complex from CSI: Cyber were kicked back!  As it turns out, Tristan and Mia’s buildings are one and the same!  (Though I was wrong on the whole Scorpion thing.)  I was thrilled with the discovery and added the place’s address – 1728 East 3rd Street in Long Beach – to my To-Stalk List.  Well, imagine my surprise when just a few days later, my friend Nat, who lives in San Francisco (you may remember her from Wednesday’s post), texted to let me know she was heading down to the LBC.  While she was hoping we could meet up during her visit, I couldn’t make it out there.  But I did ask if she’d be willing to stalk Tristan’s apartment on my behalf and she happily agreed.  Thank you, Nat!  (For those keeping track, this is the second locale that she has stalked for me over the past few months.  I’ve taken to calling her my field correspondent and the GC has suggested I get her a press pass.  )

In real life, Tristan’s apartment building from CSI: Cyber is known as Rose Towers.  The complex was originally built in 1928 as El Cordova Apartments.  Designed by George D. Riddle, the 20-unit Spanish Colonial Revival-style property boasts Moorish influences, wrought-iron balconies, lush landscaping, a terraced central courtyard with a tiled fountain, and arched entryways.

In 1955, El Cordova was transformed into an own-your-own apartment complex and then was transitioned once again in 1992, this time into condos.

In 2006, the homeowners association decided to re-stucco the building and, in doing so, discovered that there was also some water damage, wood rot, and minor structural issues that needed attention.  The group banded together, performing much of the general contractor work themselves, to restore the property to its original glory.  Their efforts, which took 4 months to complete at a cost of $150,000, earned them a preservation award from the Los Angeles Conservancy.

In “Corrupted Memory,” a woman is murdered at Rose Towers, which is said to be located at 1298 Horizon Court in Tampa, Florida, and the only witness is her agoraphobic neighbor Tristan, who is so traumatized by the event that his entire memory of it is blocked.

Quite a bit of the complex was shown in the episode.

I am fairly certain that the inside of two of the building’s actual condos were also utilized in the production.  You can check out interior photos of a couple of the complex’s units here and here.

The exterior of Rose Towers was only shown once in La La Land, during the “Someone in the Crowd” musical number at the beginning of the movie.  Very little of the structure was featured in the scene and none of the courtyard area, which is why I didn’t recognize it from CSI: Cyber.

While several websites report that Mia lived in Unit #16, her actual apartment exterior never appeared in the movie.  Apparently, the portion of the “Someone in the Crowd” sequence shot at Rose Towers was originally supposed to be much longer -with Mia shown exiting her unit, dancing on the terrace, down the stairs, and past the fountain – but most of it wound up on the cutting room floor, leaving audiences with only a very brief view of the complex from the street.

You can watch a video put together by the Gazettes website about the filming of the “Someone in the Crowd” scene, in which host Jo Murray talks with homeowners about how the segment was shot and the cuts made, by clicking below.

The back alley behind Rose Towers was also shown briefly in a later La La Land scene in which Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) picks Mia up for a date.

Only the exterior of the complex was utilized in La La Land.  Sadly, Mia’s brightly-colored apartment interior was just a studio-built set.

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Big THANK YOU to my friend Nat for stalking this location for me! 

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Rose Towers, aka the former El Cordova Apartments from the “Corrupted Memory” episode of CSI: Cyber, are located at 1728 East 3rd Street in Long Beach.

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