Hoose Library of Philosophy from “What Women Want”

Those who were impressed by Doheny Memorial Library from Matilda (which I blogged about last November), wait ‘til you get a load of today’s locale!  It’s yet another stunning athenaeum on the University of Southern California campus.  Named the Hoose Library of Philosophy, it boasts some of the most remarkable architecture I have ever laid eyes on!  I first learned of the place while researching for my Doheny post and upon seeing photos of its grand vaulted interior, my jaw practically dropped to the floor.  I was thrilled – but not surprised – to discover while probing further that it had cameoed in numerous productions, including the 2000 romcom What Women Want.  So to the top of my To-Stalk List it went and I finally made it out there last week.

The James Harmon Hoose Library of Philosophy, as it is formally known, is situated on the second floor of USC’s Mudd Hall.

Designed in 1930 by architect Ralph Carlin Flewelling, son of then USC School of Philosophy head Ralph Tyler Flewelling, the striking structure incorporates Romanesque, Byzantine and Arabesque elements.

Modeled after a medieval Tuscan monastery, the building features a 146-foot-tall bell tower . . .

. . . cloisters that seem to stretch forever . . .

. . . and a central courtyard with a fountain.

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As gorgeous as Mudd Hall’s exterior is, though . . .

. . . Hoose Library is the site’s real stunner.

Named for James Harmon Hoose, the founder of USC’s Philosophy Department and its first department head, the dramatic space looks like something straight out of the Harry Potter universe.

With a cathedral ceiling that towers 38 feet above the checkered floor . . .

. . . a massive carved fireplace . . .

. . . a parade of archways at either side . . .

. . . stained glass windows . . .

. . . tile mosaic designwork . . .

. . . rich wood paneling . . .

. . . and reading nooks galore . . .

. . . it is easily one of the prettiest venues I have ever had the pleasure of visiting.

The rest of Mudd Hall isn’t too shabby, either!

I was especially enamored with the stairs leading up to Hoose Library.

I mean!

That tiling!

Hoose, which spans 115 by 22 feet, is currently home to 50,000 tomes, the vast majority related to philosophy.

The locale, which has the distinction of being USC’s oldest continuously operating library, underwent a painstaking four-month seismic retrofitting in 2003.  After the walls were sheared and braced, artisans were brought in to cover any marks left behind as a result of the extensive work.  The outcome is flawless.  Hoose appears completely untouched and frozen in an idyllic past.

It is not at all hard to see how the place wound up onscreen.

In What Women Want, Nick Marshall (Mel Gibson) peruses the Hoose Library of Philosophy stacks in an attempt to “get inside women’s heads” as research for his new ad campaign.

The site’s onscreen resume dates back much farther than that production, though.  In the 1930 short Hog Wild, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy drive by Mudd Hall.  That'”‘”‘s it on the extreme right in the two screen captures below.

Thanks to fellow stalker Mike, I learned that Hoose and Mudd Hall popped up several times in the Season 4 episode of Charlie'”‘”‘s Angels titled “Angels on Campus,” which aired in 1979.

Along with Doheny Memorial Library, Hoose serves as the interior of Brain’s (Harry Dean Stanton) lair in 1981’s Escape from New York.

Mudd Hall is the site of countless hijinks in the 1985 medical school comedy Stitches.

The building’s clocktower makes a very brief appearance in the 1991 horror flick Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare.

In the 2000 comedy Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, Sherman Klump (Eddie Murphy) tries to figure out what went wrong with his hamster experiment while at Hoose.

Rachel (Naomi Watts) researches Pacific Northwest-area lighthouses there in the 2002 thriller The Ring.

Hoose masks as the church where John Constantine (Keanu Reeves) visits Gabriel (Tilda Swinton) in the 2005 drama Constantine.

The site was tapped to portray a portion of the Berkeley campus in the Season 5 episode of Monk titled “Mr. Monk and the Class Reunion,” which aired in 2006.  In the episode, a detective actually refers to Hoose Library as “nothing special,” which is a bit mind-boggling.

In the Season 6 episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine titled “The Bimbo,” which aired this past April, the exterior of Mudd Hall stands in for Columbia University where Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) and Captain Raymond Holt (Andre Braugher) investigate the theft of three ancient coins.

One of the building’s first level rooms was also utilized in the episode.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Hoose Library of Philosophy, from What Women Want, is located at 3709 Trousdale Parkway, inside the Seeley Mudd Hall of Philosophy on the University of Southern California campus, in University Park.  The site is open Monday through Friday from 12 to 5 p.m.

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