Year: 2019

Disney’s Grand Central Air Terminal

I am one of the few people lamenting the upcoming opening of Disneyland’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Though renderings certainly look cool (it is Disney, after all!), I fear the massive crowds the new 14-acre land is expected to draw are going to ruin the park. The Happiest Place on Earth is crowded enough! The powers that be majorly blundered on this one, IMHO. Galaxy’s Edge should have been its own park, a la California Adventure, leaving DL a separate entity for purists like myself. One thing The Walt Disney Company did get right recently? The restoration of Glendale’s historic Grand Central Air Terminal. The former airport/prolific film star, now part of Imagineering’s Grand Central Creative Campus, had been sitting boarded-up and vacant for years, as I chronicled in both a 2012 blog post and a 2015 Los Angeles magazine article. When my friend/fellow stalker John informed me that it was finally ready for its close-up once again following a painstaking renovation, I knew I had to get back out there to document its new look.

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Though I covered the history of Grand Central Air Terminal in both my previous articles, I figured a recap was in order here. The land where GCAT is now situated was originally part of what was to be Glendale Municipal Airport, a plan that never really, ahem, got off the ground. In 1928, investors bought the site (which at the time basically consisted of a hangar and a 1,200-foot runway that private pilots had been using since 1923) and began a major overhaul to transform it into a modern commercial airport.

Architect Henry L. Gogerty was brought in to design the main terminal building. His creation combined Spanish Colonial Revival, Art Deco and Zigzag Moderne styles.

The interior boasted such modern amenities as a coffee shop, a checkroom, a spacious waiting area, and, after Prohibition ended, a bar. You can check out what the inside looked like in these historic images, though I am unsure of when exactly they were taken.

Grand Central Air Terminal opened to the public on February 22nd, 1929 and quickly cemented itself as Los Angeles’ main airport. Its tenure didn’t last long, though.

During WWII, the site was transformed into a military base and its runway extended to accommodate large P-38 fighters. The move would have been crucial to GCAT’s survival, but when the war ended, the city demanded the runway be returned to its previous length, which was too short for modern jets, essentially rendering the facility obsolete. Commercial air travel migrated to the larger Hollywood Burbank Airport and Los Angeles International Airport and GCAT was finally shuttered in 1959. Its runway was subsequently removed, as were several ancillary buildings, but the terminal was left intact and transformed into offices. Walt Disney Imagineering leased much of the space in 1961 before purchasing it in its entirety in 1997. Following the acquisition, plans were announced to redevelop the former airport into a 125-acre creative campus featuring 3.6-million-square-feet of offices, production space, and soundstages. Local citizens balked at the idea, though, and plans were stalled, leaving the once grand terminal building boarded-up and vacant. I visited the locale in May 2012 and found it looking like this.

In 2013, the city finally approved a new renovation plan and Disney got to work. The revamped Grand Central Air Terminal, which consists of a visitor center, event space and offices, was completed in late 2015. As you can see, the finished product is phenomenal! What a difference!

Unfortunately, the property is not open to the public, but tours are offered monthly. You can find out more information on visiting GCAT here and you can check out some post-renovation interior photos on the Disney Tourist Blog here.

Considering its proximity to Tinseltown and its gorgeous architecture, it is no surprise that location scouts came a-knocking on Grand Central’s doors from the beginning. The place was such an onscreen stalwart in the ‘30s and ‘40s, in fact, that for those partial to Old Hollywood, it should be deemed a must-see.

Grand Central Air Terminal pops up at the beginning of the 1933 drama Air Hostess.

Thomas (Walter Johnson) and Shirley Blake (Shirley Temple) pick Adele Martin (Judith Allen) up there in 1934’s Bright Eyes. (Off subject, but could Shirley Temple have been more of a doll?!? Talk about adorable!)

Rosero (Luis Alberni) lands at GCAT, said to be in Texas, in the 1936 comedy Hats Off.

Ronny Bowers (Dick Powell) also lands there in 1937’s Hollywood Hotel.

That same year, GCAT portrayed the Le Bourget Airport in Stolen Holiday.

Thanks to fellow stalker Constant who commented on my 2012 post, I learned that the terminal also appeared in the 1939 thriller Five Came Back.

I am unsure if the interior shown in the movie was Grand Central’s actual interior or a set, but portions of it do seem to match these images.

GCAT very briefly masked as Transatlantic Airway’s London Terminal in 1943’s Sherlock Holmes in Washington.

Grand Central has appeared in more recent productions, as well. In the 1985 comedy My Science Project, it portrayed the Carson Police Department.

That same year, in arguably its most famous role, the terminal popped up as the Texas bus station where Pee-wee Herman (Paul Reubens) ran into Simone (Diane Salinger), who was finally on her way to Paris, in Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.

GCAT also played a bus station in the Season 6 episode of Simon & Simon titled “Ancient Echoes,” which aired in 1987.

And in 2004’s The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, the terminal served as the inspiration for Genovia International Airport, which was actually just a backdrop. For whatever reason, the orientation of the building was flipped for the scene. You can check out a photo that shows a matching (but non-flipped) angle of Grand Central for comparison here.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker John for letting me know the renovation of this location was complete!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Disney’s Grand Central Air Terminal is located at 1310 Air Way in Glendale. You can find out more information about tours of the property here.

May 3, 2019
Dale’s Party House from “St. Elmo’s Fire”

If stalking is my number one love, organizing ranks a close second. This weekend, I went full-on Monica Geller with all of my filming location spreadsheets and it. was. glorious. Not only did the process give me hours upon hours of enjoyment, but it made me realize how many sites remain sitting in my backlog waiting to be blogged about, the vast majority from my 2016 trips to New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. In the interest of purging, so to speak, I thought I’d dedicate today’s post to one of them – the Georgetown residence where Kirby Keger (Emilio Estevez) follows his crush, Dale Biberman (Andie MacDowell), to a party in the 1985 classic St. Elmo’s Fire.

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Very little of the home is actually shown in the movie, though the scene shot there is pretty darn memorable (“I’m obsessed, thank you very much!”). In fact, the view below is the only real glimpse we get of the place.

I learned about the pad (along with Third Edition bar, another St. Elmo’s Fire locale that I blogged about on Friday) thanks to my friend Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, who emailed me a long list of D.C.-area stalking sites just prior to my trip. At the time, I had yet to see the film and, when I finally sat down to do so recently, I was left wondering how on earth Owen had managed to find the place when so little of it was visible – not to mention how on earth I was going to verify its cameo in a post. It was not until re-watching the segment while simultaneously poking around Street View that I was able to corroborate things thanks to the unusual property situated across the street, which can be seen behind Kirby at one point.

In real life, Dale’s party house, which is largely hidden from view thanks to the surrounding foliage, boasts 9 bedrooms, 8 full baths, 3 half baths, 6,372 square feet, 3 stories, a formal living room, a banquet-sized dining room, a breakfast room, a library, a gym, a parlor, hardwood flooring throughout, an elevator (!), a fully-finished basement with a wine cellar, a 2-bedroom staff apartment, a walled garden, terraces, a veranda, a pool, and parking for 6 cars.

The 1875 property last sold in January 2018 for a whopping $7.37 million.

Thanks to the real estate listing photos posted online – which you can see here and here (and you can take a virtual tour here) – I was able to ascertain that the interior of the home was also used in St. Elmo’s Fire. Though very little of it can actually be seen and what is seen is blurred due to Kirby’s movements, the party house’s general layout matches what is shown in the MLS images.

Certain architectural details match, as well, namely the large pocket doors leading from the living room to the dining room.

I so love that there is a piano on display in the same exact spot as in the movie!

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, for telling me about this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The house where Kirby follows Dale to a party in St. Elmo’s Fire is located at 3053 P Street NW in Georgetown.

May 1, 2019
Third Edition from “St. Elmo’s Fire”

A couple of weeks ago, Rob Lowe posted an Instagram selfie taken in Georgetown with the caption “Return to the scene of the crime. #StElmosFire,” and I was instantly reminded that I had stalked some locations from the seminal 1985 drama while back east in April 2016. I learned about the locales thanks to my buddy Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, who emailed me a virtual catalog of D.C.-area filming sites prior to my trip. One of the spots listed was Georgetown’s former Third Edition restaurant (now El Centro D.F.) at 1218 Wisconsin Avenue Northwest, the exterior of which he noted had appeared in the flick. I had yet to see St. Elmo’s Fire at the time, but was familiar enough with it to know that much of the action takes place at a bar. I assumed that bar was Third Edition – and many online sources backed up that notion. When I finally sat down to view the film last week, though, I was shocked to see that Third Edition was only briefly featured and that St. Elmo’s Bar, where Billy Hicks (Lowe) and his fellow Brat Packers regularly hung out, was nothing more than a backlot façade. Reports of which backlot in particular varied and I figured, since there was so much confusion surrounding the subject, it was high time to step in and settle the matter of the St. Elmo’s Fire bar once and for all.

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Just to be clear – Owen never stated that Third Edition was the main bar from the movie – that assumption fell on me and was then verified – incorrectly – by a few sources online. The list Owen sent me prior to my trip contained numerous addresses of sites and corresponding descriptions of their onscreen roles, and his notation about Third Edition was entirely correct – while not the gang’s main hangout, its exterior did appear in St. Elmo’s Fire. Twice, in fact. The restaurant first pops up in the film’s opening montage in which shots of Georgetown are splashed across the screen. That’s it on the very left of the still below. (My corresponding photo is a bit off from the angle shown in the movie.)

Third Edition is then featured again in a later segment in which Jules (Demi Moore) picks up Billy and Alec Newbary (Judd Nelson) to go for a ride in her Jeep with the rest of the gang.

I find it amazing that despite the fact that the brick is now painted over and there has been a change of occupant, the place is still recognizable from its cameo 35 years ago! Even the menu display case, albeit a different one, is still affixed to the exterior of the restaurant in the exact same spot!

Third Edition was a Georgetown staple for more than four decades, running from 1969 through 2013. You can see what it looked like when it was still in operation here.

The three-story casual eatery/bar served comfort food and libations and was popular among locals and tourists alike. Much like St. Elmo’s Bar in the movie, it was also a haven for college students and featured multiple drink stations, a dance floor, DJs spinning music nightly, and an outdoor tiki lounge. As one Yelper reported, “It reminded me of a college fraternity party with random girls dancing on top of a platform and guys trying to dance with them,” which might as well be a description of Billy and Jules’ regular hangout.

When Third Edition moved out in January 2013, Mexican restaurant El Centro D.F. (the D.F. stands for “Distrito Federal,” meaning “federal district”) moved in. It remains in operation today.

St. Elmo’s Bar, on the other hand, was entirely movie magic. Both the interior and exterior were nothing more than studio-built sets – the former constructed inside of a soundstage at (I believe) Warner Bros. Studio, which was then The Burbank Studios, in Burbank . . .

. . . and the latter, as I came to discover, on the backlot of Universal Studios Hollywood.

An entire half-block section of Universal’s New York Street area, in fact, was made over to resemble Georgetown for the shoot and, when production wrapped, was left intact for future filmings, becoming known as “Georgetown Avenue.”

The St. Elmo’s Bar façade, as well as the rest of the block, popped up several times throughout the movie . . .

. . . and was also featured on the poster.

Sadly, Georgetown Avenue was severely damaged in the fire that ravaged Universal’s backlot in November 1990. Though it was subsequently restored, it was again destroyed in the studio’s 2008 blaze and was not rebuilt. You can check out a map of where it used to be situated, in the upper left portion of New York Street, here. Because it no longer exists, and hasn’t existed in its St. Elmo’s Fire-state since the 1990 fire, figuring out if filming took place there, as several online sources claimed, proved difficult. Thanks to The Studio Tour website and its catalog of historic photos of the lot, though, as well as a 1989 episode of Quantum Leap that filmed near Georgetown Avenue, I was able to do so by pinpointing a few identifiers. As you can see in the still from the movie below, St. Elmo’s Bar sat on a small street that dead-ended at the façade of a large brick townhome. I found that same very façade pictured in this 1984 aerial of New York Street featured on The Studio Tour! Visible in the mid/lower left section of the aerial, the structure boasts three stories, a porticoed front door, and sculpted lips in between levels – all of which match what appeared in St. Elmo’s Fire. The window layout is also identical.

Next to the façade in the 1984 aerial is a stretch of brownstones. Such was the case with the movie façade, as well. You can see those brownstones and a portion of the brick townhome (it’s on the extreme left) in this 1984 photograph, also featured on The Studio Tour.

I was thrilled to discover that the brick townhouse is also partially visible in the Season 1 episode of Quantum Leap titled “Double Identity,” which was filmed at Universal in 1989.

Though shown from the opposite angle and dressed quite differently, the corner store situated across from the brownstones in St. Elmo’s Fire can be seen in Quantum Leap, as well.

When Georgetown Avenue was rebuilt after the 1990 fire, it looked significantly different, as you can see in this image which matches the angle of the screen capture below. Though the townhouse façade was re-created as well as the brownstones next to it, numerous changes were made.

Here’s another shot showing the rebuilt Georgetown Avenue along with a corresponding screen capture below. Why the street was not once again re-created after the 2008 fire, I am unsure, but I am guessing it is because not many productions are set in Georgetown. The studio likely figured it could get a lot more mileage out of a New York scape and, as such, did away with the D.C. set.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, for telling me about this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: El Centro D.F., aka Third Edition from St. Elmo’s Fire, is located at 1218 Wisconsin Avenue Northwest in Georgetown. St. Elmo’s Bar from the movie was a façade that once stood on Georgetown Avenue in the New York Street portion of the Universal Studios Hollywood backlot at 100 Universal City Plaza in Universal City. Unfortunately, that area of the lot was damaged in both the 1990 and 2008 fires and no longer stands.

April 26, 2019
Coachella 2019

Longtime readers of this site know that my musical tastes do not run the gamut. As I’ve said many times, if it is not sung by Britney Spears, Michael Bublé or Michael Jackson, or was produced in any decade other than the ‘80s, odds are I don’t know it. But when I was offered the chance to go to Coachella this past weekend (thanks to Amazon Locker!), I jumped at it. While I would never consider myself a “festival” person, I figured seeing the spectacle of the whole thing would be a huge thrill – not to mention the fact that three days of mandatory glitter and flower-crown-wear is pretty much my dream come true! I enlisted my mom to be my plus-one (she was more excited than I was!) and last Friday afternoon the two of us headed out to the Empire Polo Club in Indio for Day 1 of Weekend 2 of the 2019 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. While not really a filming location (though a scene from A Star Is Born was shot on the festival grounds in between Weekends 1 and 2 in 2017), I figured detailing our experience would make for a good blog post. So here goes . . .

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My mom and I decided early on that we only wanted to be at Coachella during daylight hours, when the crowds would be less intense. Those words must have the eyes of any music lover reading this post bulging right out of their head. Yes, I know – all the good bands play at night. We weren’t there for the music, though. Because our main goal was to see the grounds, enjoy the scenery, eat some festival food, and do a lot of people-watching, our scheduling worked perfectly.

I can’t express how nice it was to be able to walk the venue easily, avoid lines, and get to experience all that was offered at a calm pace.

Upon walking through the entrance gates, we were greeted by the famous Coachella Ferris wheel and, like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, I knew I was not in Kansas anymore.

The venue is massive, whimsical, vibrant, splashy, and oh-so-picturesque.

It is not hard to see why the festival is a mecca for Instagrammers.

The backdrop is pretty darn spectacular no matter which direction you turn.

There’s just something about that combo of blue skies, palm trees, dramatic mountains, and colorful works of art.

My mom and I ended up only going to the festival on Friday and Sunday because the temps on Saturday ran too high. (That’s Day 3 – Day 2 for us – below.)

But over those two days, I took almost 500 pictures!

Needless to say I was just slightly enamored with the grounds. The views alone are worth the price of admission!

It’s no wonder the place is selfie Ground Zero.

The unique art installations, which reminded me quite a bit of Desert X, only added to the spirited aura.

Dedo Vabo’s H.I.P.O Hazardus Interstellar Perfessional Operations (pictured above and below), which featured a live element involving actors dressed as hippos (natch), was definitely the oddest of all the works.

And Colossal Cacti (which stretched up to fifty-two-feet tall) the most colorful.

Other installations included Mismo . . .

. . . Brighter in the Dark – an interactive sight and sound experience . . .

. . . and, of course, Spectra, a seven-story rainbow tower that debuted at the 2018 festival and wound up being left on the premises for good.

My mom and I were told the NEWSUBSTANCE-designed structure was a must-see.

And though it is very cool from the outside . . .

. . . and the inside does provide some fabulous vistas . . .

. . . and views of the concert grounds (not to mention stellar air conditioning), I can’t say it is really worth waiting in the long lines required to enter.

Also on display this year was Beyoncé’s 2018 Coachella stage, now aptly named Pyramid.

The piece served as the central backdrop during her groundbreaking performance, which you can see in its entirety in the new Netflix documentary Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé.

Overview Effect was by far my favorite work on display, though.

Initially installed at the 2014 festival, the seventy-foot-tall animatronic astronaut moved throughout the festival grounds, hovering above concert-goers.

I literally could have followed him around all day!

He even had Coachella wristbands!

By the end of the weekend, he had picked up various other accountremants, as well, and, like most festival-goers, was looking a bit worse for wear.

Truth be told, everything at Coachella is artistic – right down to the food stands!

And yes, there is coffee – but it doesn’t come cheap!

This cost me $9!

The stages themselves (there are eight total) are like works of art, too.

The main stage, aka “Coachella Stage,” is pictured below.

And that’s the “Outdoor Theatre.”

My mom asked me at one point why there was so much open space around each venue. It wasn’t obvious at first, but it’s for the crowds – which is actually a bit terrifying.

Imagine this entire venue filled with people.

Or this one. Actually, you don’t need to imagine it – here’s a pic.

I am pretty sure I wouldn’t enjoy that. But being at Coachella during the day when crowds were light was a dream.

Things were just starting to get busy as we made our way to the exit both nights, which suited us just fine.

All in all it was a fabulous weekend and I am so thankful for the experience! Until next time, Coachella!

And thank you, Amazon Locker!

Until next time, Happy Stalking

April 24, 2019
The Cohen Mansion from “The O.C.”

Fire has ravaged far too many landmarks as of late – Paramount Ranch, Casey’s home from Scream 2, and now, Notre Dame Cathedral! The latter, at least, fared better than the Malibu estate that portrayed the Cohen residence on fave show The O.C., which was completely destroyed by the Woolsey Fire last November. I was alerted to the sad loss by a fellow stalker named Steve and was shocked at the news, especially considering I was fortunate enough to visit the home several years back thanks to a very lucky twist of fate – one that I can still hardly believe occurred. While eating lunch with the Grim Cheaper and my friend Erika (you may remember her from this post) at the Malibu Country Mart in September 2011, I happened to bring up my love for the Fox series. The friendly couple at the adjacent table overheard and broke into our conversation to inform us that they owned the Cohen house! Absolutely flabbergasted, I peppered them with questions and then the unimaginable happened – after chatting for a bit, they asked if we wanted to come over to see the pad in person! I don’t even think I answered in the affirmative before making a Lindsay-shaped hole in the door on my way out to the car. The rest of our afternoon was like a dream, which made the recent loss of the property all the more heartbreaking. Though I detailed the experience in a 2015 column for Los Angeles magazine, since the locale is no longer, I figured an update was due.

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The Cohen residence is actually a mash-up of two different dwellings, both situated in a small gated community of four properties off the Pacific Coast Highway. Most recognizable is the large two-story home at 6205 Ocean Breeze Drive which appeared in exterior and establishing shots.

Only the front of the 6-bedroom, 7-bath, 6,376-square-foot manse appeared on the series. [I absolutely love that there was a Range Rover just like Sandy’s (Peter Gallagher) parked in the driveway when we visited!]

A one-story home three doors down at 6210 Ocean Breeze Drive was utilized in The O.C.’s pilot for the interior and backyard scenes. Once the show got picked up, a set modeled after that residence was constructed at Manhattan Beach Studios (now MBS Media Campus). Why the two different locales, you ask? Producers loved the look of the inside and backyard of 6210, but ultimately wanted the Cohen family to reside in a two-level home. So they featured the front of 6205 and the interior and rear of 6210. It is the 6210 house that we were invited to tour. That’s it below.

The inaugural episode made significant use of the opulent pad. For me, the most recognizable spot was the kitchen. (That’s Erika pictured with me below. We are just a little bit thrilled to be standing in the famous Cohen kitchen!)

Stepping into it felt like walking right into my TV screen. I half expected Ryan Atwood (Benjamin McKenzie) to come waltzing out to grab his morning cereal.

Because the set re-creation of the kitchen (which was used in all episodes following the pilot) was such a near replica to that of the actual home, being there was both incredible and surreal. As our new friends pointed out to us, a few portions of the kitchen were changed when the set was built. One of the main alterations was the tilework behind the stove. At the actual residence, there was a large painted piece on the wall behind the range, which was visible in the pilot. (I hate that the past tense is now required when speaking about the house. I still can’t believe it is gone.)

For the set, that painted piece was swapped out with a more simple backsplash.

The color of the island countertop was changed, as well, and the sink situated there moved to the opposite side. The Cohens were also given a stainless steel dishwasher. Other than those elements, though, it was a pretty spot-on re-creation.

The nook off the kitchen, which became the Cohens’ main dining spot in later episodes, also appeared in the pilot. Producers even chose to leave the owners’ real life hutch and decor intact for the shoot!

When the set (top image below) was built, that area was changed fairly significantly – but more on that in a minute.

The family room at the real house was situated off of the kitchen. It was there that Seth Cohen (Adam Brody) played video games with Ryan in the pilot.

For the set, though, the family room was moved adjacent to the kitchen nook, creating one big, long, open space. And the fireplace was also done away with.

Seeing the nook closed off in real life was utterly jarring!

The residence’s formal living room, which was connected to the family room in real life, was also re-created in another spot on set – just off the Cohens’ kitchen.

One of the home’s bedrooms was utilized as Seth’s room in the pilot, as well.

It, too, was then re-created on the studio set.

Even the pad’s main hallway was re-built in exacting detail!

Amazingly (and as most O.C. fans already know), the most famous element of the Cohen home, the pool house, was never an actual part of the property. It was constructed, fully-functional (meaning both the interior and exterior could be used for filming), in the yard of 6210 for the pilot and then was disassembled and subsequently rebuilt as part of the set when the series got picked up. There I am in the photo below standing at the edge of where it was situated in the inaugural episode. “Utterly jarring” is, again, the only way I can describe how odd the backyard looked without it.

The pool and spa of 6210 were also re-created on set . . .

. . . as was the rest of the backyard . . .

. . . including the BBQ island.

The Cohens’ backyard was actually quite a bit smaller than the real one.

And, because the soundstage floor could not be dug into to install the pool on set, it was actually built above ground. Hence the steps leading up to it on the show. In actuality, the home’s backyard was all one level.

Other than those alterations, though, it was such a dutiful re-creation that standing in the backyard of 6210 felt like being in an episode of the show.

I was pinching myself the entire time!

Tragically, all that is left of the house now is the backyard and pool, as you can see in the aerial view below which Steve got from an insurance website that provided real-time imagery of areas ravaged by the Woolsey Fire. (That website is no longer active, so I can’t link to it.)

The home used for front shots of the Cohen pad, fortunately, still stands, as does the property where Marissa Cooper (Mischa Barton) lived on the series, which is located next door at 6201 Ocean Breeze Drive.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Steve for letting me know about this home’s sad fate.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The exterior of the Cohen mansion from The O.C. can be found at 6205 Ocean Breeze Drive in Malibu. The home used for interiors and backyard scenes in the pilot was just down the street at 6210 Ocean Breeze, but was, sadly, destroyed in the Woolsey Fire. Marissa Cooper’s house is on the same block at 6201 Ocean Breeze.

April 19, 2019
The Complete Guide to the Season 1 Filming Locations of “Big Little Lies”

As longtime readers know, I watch a LOT of TV. Only a handful of shows have ever become full-fledged obsessions, though, Beverly Hills, 90210, The Hills, and Big Littles Lies among them. The second season of the latter will finally be debuting in June and I am beyond excited! I cannot wait to revisit the women of Monterey! Can we just fast-forward to summer already? To stave off my anticipation, I recently did some more digging into locations from the show’s inaugural season and figured I should update my 2017 round-up of spots featured on the series accordingly. So here goes! As was the case with that post, because I have not visited the majority of these sites in person, I am relying on screen captures instead of photos for imagery. And be forewarned – there are spoilers galore ahead! If you haven’t seen Big Little Lies and are planning to, I’d hold off on scrolling any further.

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1. Madeline’s House (30760 Broad Beach Road, Malibu) – Easily my favorite locale of the entire series, the Cape Cod-style pad where Madeline Martha Mackenzie (Reese Witherspoon) and husband Ed (Adam Scott) live can be found in Malibu. The beachfront property, which serves as a vacation rental IRL, is no stranger to the screen boasting countless cameos in such productions as Models Inc., Diagnosis Murder, and Hannah Montana. You can read a more in-depth post on it here.

Interestingly, a different spot was utilized as the front of Madeline’s home in a few episodes. And that pad can actually be found in Monterey. It’s at 2830 14th Avenue in Carmel-By-The-Sea.

2. Renata’s House (27326 Winding Way, Malibu) – Renata (Laura Dern) and Gordon Klein’s (Jeffrey Nordling) massive modern home can also be found in The ‘Bu. And it’s an oft-filmed spot, as well, with roles in everything from 90210 to Brothers & Sisters to Revenge.

3. Jane’s House (161 North Chester Avenue, Pasadena) – The modest cottage where Jane Chapman (Shailene Woodley) resides with son Ziggy (Iain Armitage), which I wrote about here, can be found on a sleepy, tree-lined street in Pasadena.

4. Bonnie’s House (636 Crater Camp Drive, Calabasas) – The bucolic bohemian bungalow belonging to Bonnie Carlson (Zoë Kravitz) and her husband, Nathan (James Tupper), sits tucked away in a wooded area of Calabasas.

5. Celeste’s House (40 Yankee Point Drive, Carmel) – Celeste Wright (Nicole Kidman) and husband Perry’s (Alexander Skarsgård) stunning cliffside estate, another of my favorites from the series, is the sole residence that can actually be found on the Central Coast (not counting the front of Madeline’s). Only the exterior (both front and back) and lower floor of the property appeared on Big Little Lies. All of the other portions of the Wright home were studio-built sets.

6. Otter Bay Elementary School (Kenter Canyon Elementary School, 645 North Kenter Avenue, Brentwood) – Otter Bay, the elementary school attended by all of the children on the series, is actually Kenter Canyon Elementary in Brentwood. The site’s exterior and interior, including the principal’s office, library and auditorium, appear on the show.

7. Blue Blues Restaurant (The Culver Studios, 9336 Washington Boulevard, Culver City) – Though the actual Old Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey (101 Washington Street) is shown as the ladies walk up to Blue Blues, their regular hangout owned by Tom (Joseph Cross), in “Somebody’s Dead” . . .

. . . . the actual café can’t be found there. As I covered in this post, the coffee shop was just a set built entirely inside of a soundstage at The Culver Studios, where the series is lensed. Fans can still get their Blue Blues fix by visiting Paluca Trattoria (6D Old Fisherman’s Wharf, Monterey), which served as the inspiration for the bayside eatery.

The pathway leading to Old Fisherman’s Wharf is also where Jane and the girls run in “Once Bitten” . . .

. . . and the adjacent parking lot is where Madeline and Joseph Bachman (Santiago Cabrera) get into an accident in the same episode.

The same parking lot is also where Joseph confronts and kisses Madeline in “Push Comes to Shove.”

8. Side Door Café (Happy Trails Garden, 207 South Fair Oaks Avenue, Pasadena) – Side Door, the ladies’ other regular hangout, is an actual restaurant. Or, at least, it was. Pasadena’s Happy Trails Garden, which was very reminiscent of Carmel’s popular Hog’s Breath Inn, shuttered much to my dismay in 2018 and now sits vacant. The bucolic site, which was outfitted with a plethora of firepits for the shoot and is said to have been modeled after Monterey’s Restaurant 1833, popped up three times on the series – once in “Serious Mothering” and twice in “Push Comes to Shove.” You can read my 2017 post on it here.

9. Madeline’s Fall (Intersection of Esplanade Street and Ocean View Drive, Pacific Grove) – The spot where Madeline “rolls her ankle” in “Somebody’s Dead,” thereby setting off the entire storyline, can be found on Ocean View Drive in Pacific Grove. A stop sign was installed for the scene just north of where Madeline falls, at the intersection of Ocean View Drive and the north end of Esplanade Street. In real life there is a parking sign standing in that spot.

10. Liberation Yoga (124 South La Brea Avenue, Hancock Park) – The yoga studio that Bonnie owns, which pops up in both “Everybody’s Dead” and “Push Comes to Shove,” is actually Liberation Yoga in Hancock Park.

11. Wanderlust Hollywood (1357 North Highland Avenue, Hollywood) – The above is not to be confused with the other yoga studio shown on the series. In “Serious Mothering,” Madeline and Celeste run into Bonnie and Nathan while taking a class at Wanderlust Hollywood.

12. Lovers Point Park & Beach (631 Ocean View Boulevard, Pacific Grove) – The popular shoreline retreat Lovers Point makes several appearances in Big Little Lies. In “Serious Mothering,” Nathan and Ed have a rather terse tête-à-tête in the park area situated above the beach.

Jane and Ziggy visit Lovers Point in both “Living the Dream” and “Push Come to Shove.”

And it is at Lovers Point that Jane tells Celeste that her son Max (Nicholas Crovetti) is the one who has been bullying Amabella Klein (Ivy George) in “You Get What You Need.”

13. Gordon Klein’s Office (1999 AOS, 1999 Avenue of the Stars, Century City) – In “Living the Dream,” Renata heads to Century City office building 1999 AOS for a mid-day visit with her husband. Only the exterior and lobby of the property were utilized for the scene, though.

Gordon’s actual office can be found on the 26th floor of nearby Century Park Plaza (1801 Century Park East, Century City).

14. Monterey Bay High School (Ulysses S. Grant High School, 13000 Oxnard Street, Van Nuys) – Screen favorite Grant High School in Van Nuys portrays Monterey Bay High, the school attended by Madeline’s eldest daughter, Abigail Carlson (Kathryn Newton), which pops up in “Living the Dream.” Areas used in the episode include the principal’s office, a hallway and the main quad. You may recognize Grant from its myriad of cameos in such productions as Saved by the Bell, Clueless, The Office, Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy” music video, and Crazy. Stupid. Love. You can check out an in-depth post I wrote about the place for Los Angeles magazine here.

15. Studio City Recreation Center (12621 Rye Street, Studio City) – In “Living the Dream,” Ziggy hits a home run during his first Tee-ball game at Studio City Recreation Center, aka Beeman Park. The site is also very briefly featured via flashback in “Push Comes to Shove.” You can check out an in-depth post I wrote about the park, detailing its appearances in Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Scrubs and Role Models, here.

16. Colton Hall Museum (570 Pacific Street, Monterey) – Another Central Coast location, Colton Hall Museum masks as Monterey City Hall, where Celeste acts as Madeline’s lawyer in “Push Comes to Shove.”

The interior of the museum, which you can see a photo of here, was also used in the episode.

17. Bixby Creek Bridge (CA-1, Big Sur) – In “Once Bitten,” Madeline has a bad dream that takes place at Bixby Bridge, the same span shown in the series’ opening credits. The picturesque structure, one of the most photographed bridges in California, can be found in Big Sur, about twenty miles south of Monterey.

18. Saxon Baker’s Interior Design Office (1035 East Green Street, Pasadena) – In “Once Bitten,” Jane heads to a supposed San Louis Obispo interior design office to confront her possible rapist, Saxon Baker (Stephen Graybill). In reality, filming took place at a quaint brick building on Green Street in Pasadena where Albert Einstein once worked.

19. Celeste and Perry’s Therapist’s Office (130 Fountain Avenue, Pacific Grove) – Perry and Celeste start seeing marriage counselor Dr. Amanda Reisman (Robin Weigert) in “Living the Dream,” but the exterior of her charming office, another of the show’s Monterey locales, isn’t shown until “Once Bitten.”

20. Cypress Community Hospital (Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, 23625 Holzman Highway, Monterey) – After their car accident in “Once Bitten,” Madeline and Joseph are taken to “Cypress Community Hospital,” which is actually the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula. Only the exterior of the facility was featured on the series.

I believe that interiors were shot at Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital (333 North Prairie Avenue, Inglewood), which was, sadly, razed in late 2017.

21. Monterey Regional Airport (200 Fred Kane Drive, Monterey) – This spot, where Celeste and her boys surprise Perry when he returns home from a business trip in “Once Bitten,” plays itself.

The airport’s interior appeared in the scene, as well.

22. Celeste’s New Apartment (1 Surf Way, Monterey) – In “Burning Love,” Celeste attempts to break away from Perry by renting an oceanside apartment. Her new place is another of the series’ Monterey locations. Known as Ocean Harbor House in real life, the picturesque complex, which is made up of condos, sits overlooking Del Monte Beach.

23. Madeline’s Community Theatre/Trivia Night Costume Gala – Barnsdall Art Park (4800 Hollywood Boulevard, East Hollywood) – Easily the series’ most memorable locale, Barnsdall Art Park serves as two notable spots on Big Little Lies. In virtually every episode it pops up as the community theatre where Madeline works. The constantly broken stairs she is regularly forced to walk up can be found on the eastern side of the park, adjacent to the Junior Art Center.

The theatre itself is a mash-up of two Barnsdall spots – interiors were shot at the Barnsdall Gallery Theatre (which you can see photos of here) . . .

. . . while exteriors were filmed at the adjacent Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery.

Most notably, though, Barnsdall Art Park is where the Audrey and Elvis Trivia Night costume gala is held in “You Get What You Need.”

The community theatre’s broken stairs are the very same ones that figure so heavily in the episode’s climax.

Barnsdall also appears in Big Little Lie’s opening credits. You can read an in-depth post on the park here.

24. Mountain View Cemetery (2400 North Fair Oaks Avenue, Altadena) – Toward the end of “You Get What You Need,” Perry is laid to rest at one of L.A.’s most oft-used locations, Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena, which has appeared in everything from The Office to Seinfeld to A Lot Like Love. You can read a post I wrote on it here.

25. Garrapata State Park Beach (CA-1, Carmel-By-The-Sea) – The series comes to an end with the women and their children frolicking on the picturesque beach at Garrapata State Park (which is also where Jane, Celeste and Madeline run in “Once Bitten”). The scene was such a perfect closing to the show, I am almost fearful to have the story opened up again for Season 2. Though I truly can’t wait to revisit the women of Monterey, in some ways I would like to just be able to picture them forever standing together on that beach, bittersweetly frozen in time.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

April 15, 2019
JFK and Jackie’s Former Georgetown Homes

Considering how much I love history, I know shockingly little about former President John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline. So I was thrilled when the Grim Cheaper gifted me with Jackie, Janet & Lee: The Secret Lives of Janet Auchincloss and Her Daughters Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Lee Radziwill last Christmas. The 2018 biography and its depiction of the women’s intensely complicated relationships with each other as well as with their significant others was fascinating all the way through. And it even reminded me of two residences related to the former First Lady that I stalked during my visit to Washington, D.C. in September 2016. I learned about the homes thanks to my friend Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, who just prior to my trip emailed me a list of area attractions he had compiled. Even though I was not well-versed in anything pertaining to Jackie O at the time, I decided to add the addresses to my stalking itinerary which turned out to be quite foresightful.

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Upon returning home from World War II, John Fitzgerald “Jack” Kennedy worked for a brief time as a foreign correspondent for Hearst Newspapers prior to embarking on his political career which brought him to Washington D.C. After landing a seat in the House of Representatives in 1946, he moved around to a couple of different Georgetown properties until ultimately leasing a picturesque pad at 3260 N Street NW in 1951.

He would remain there for the next two years.

It proved an eventful time in young Jack’s life. During his tenure at the 5-bedroom, 2.5-bath, 2,220-square-foot dwelling, not only did he meet his future wife, Jacqueline Bouvier, who was then working at the Washington Times-Herald, but he also won his 1952 Senate seat.

Jack proposed to Jackie in June 1953 (supposedly at neighborhood favorite Martin’s Tavern, which I blogged about here) and vacated the N Street house that same year. After dotting around to different residences, the newlyweds settled into an estate in McLean Virginia known as Hickory Hill. The sprawling property soon proved too large for the fledgling couple, though, and they sold it to Robert F. Kennedy in 1956 before heading back to Georgetown, eventually moving into a mansion at 3307 N Street NW, just one block over from their old house.

Standing at four stories, the handsome Federal-style residence, built in 1811, boasts 4 bedrooms, 4 baths, and over 4,000 square feet of living space. Along with JFK and Jackie lived the couple’s daughter, Caroline, and their nurse, cook, butler, and maid.

The family’s time at 3307 also proved eventful. While there, JFK announced his candidacy for president, ran a successful campaign, was elected to office, and, on November 25th, 1960, celebrated the birth of son John F. Kennedy Jr.

It was also from the stately pad that Jack and Jackie left for the inauguration on the snowy morning of January 20th, 1961, at which time they moved into their most famous home, the White House.

Countless pictures were taken of the Kennedys outside of 3307 N Street during their years there, including this one snapped by JFK’s official campaign photographer Jacques Lowe. Jack was also often documented addressing the press right from the front door. As Thomas Wolfe wrote in a 1960 Washington Post article, “Our next president doesn’t take the old, easy way of making his announcements about new cabinet ministers, the fate of the new frontier, etc., from his office on Capitol Hill — where, if one need edit, the corridors have steam heat. He just steps right out on the old front porch at 3307 N St. NW and starts talking. And disappears back into the manse.” Seeing the brief happy moments captured at the residence is jarring considering the tragedy that will befall the family in such a short time and the eerie realization they bring that the man standing front and center is gone while the house remains virtually untouched.

After the assassination in 1963, Jackie returned to Georgetown, first moving into the home of a friend and then, in February 1964, to a Colonial dwelling just a few blocks east of her previous residence at 3017 N Street NW with her sister, Lee. (I failed to stalk that particular location while in D.C., but an MLS photo featured on Zillow is pictured below.) The 12-room manse was selected by Radziwill and, per Jackie, Janet & Lee, of the choice, designer Billy Baldwin said, “It had been chosen for Jackie with the greatest possible bad decision by her sister. I think the home was designed by someone for purposes of publicity. There was no hope for privacy, it was out in the open, high atop a mountain of steps. When I saw it, it looked like a monument. I thought, ‘Why, Lee, why? Why?’” As predicted, the place did quickly become an attraction for lookie-loos, with tour buses stopping by throughout the day and people camping out on the sidewalk in front hoping for a glimpse of the resplendent Jackie. Needless to say, she didn’t last long there. In July 1964, she took her two children and moved to a spacious apartment at 1040 Fifth Avenue in New York.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Big THANK YOU to my friend Owen, from the When Write Is Wrong blog, for telling me about these locations!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: From 1951 to 1953, while serving in Congress, John F. Kennedy lived at 3260 N Street NW in Georgetown. In 1958, JFK and Jackie settled into a pad one block over at 3307 N Street NW where they remained until moving into the White House in January 1961. The property Jackie briefly called home following the president’s assassination is about four blocks east at 3017 N Street NW. Martin’s Tavern, where JFK is said to have proposed to Jackie, is located nearby at 1264 Wisconsin Avenue.

April 10, 2019
The Queen Mary Observation Bar from “He’s Just Not That Into You”

I am beginning to discover that The Queen Mary is a lot like the Millennium Biltmore Los Angeles in that every square inch of it has appeared onscreen in multiple notable productions. Case in point – while scanning through Adaptation to make screen captures for my post on Zipper Concert Hall last week, I noticed that the 2002 drama’s opening scene took place in the ship’s Observation Bar & Art Deco Lounge. I had long been aware of the watering hole’s appearance in favorite movie He’s Just Not That Into You (which I detailed in a 2014 article for L.A. magazine), but immediately got curious about what other productions made use of it. When I got to digging, I was shocked at the number of big and small screen hits that feature the bar. So I figured it was only right to dedicate a post to it.

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When we lived in Los Angeles, The Queen Mary was one of my and the Grim Cheaper’s favorite places to staycation. Originally a Cunard-White Star Line luxury liner, the grand 1934 ship is permanently moored just south of downtown Long Beach.

She was purchased by the city after making her final voyage (the last of 1,001 Atlantic crossings) in 1967. Following a painstaking three-year renovation, The Queen Mary opened as a hotel and tourist attraction. The restored vessel is nothing short of stunning inside and out and stepping aboard immediately transports one back in time to the grand old days of ocean travel. I first visited the ship with my parents for my birthday in June 2000, at the height of my Titanic obsession, and honestly felt like I had wandered right onto one of the film’s opulent sets.

On that visit, the Observation Bar & Art Deco Lounge quickly became one of our favorite spots on the boat. Originally a first class parlor (you can see what it looked like in its early days here), the gilded space appears to have been ripped right out of the pages of an Art Deco magazine. Shockingly, during The Queen’s time as a troop ship in World War II, the ornate room was utilized as a dormitory for soldiers. I can’t even imagine bunking amid all that glitz!

For some inexplicable reason, as the ship was being renovated into a hotel, it was decided that The Queen Mary should take on an Old English theme (which explains the extremely odd grouping of fairy-tale-like storefronts that dot the parking lot). As such, all of the Observation Bar’s glam Art Deco furnishings were removed (but thankfully not thrown away) and replaced with Old English décor, giving the space a pub-like feel.

Fortunately, the watering hole was returned to its initial grandeur in the early ‘80s and, though it has gone through some additional revamps in the years since, it remains an utterly glorious space.

Today, the semi-circle-shaped site boasts massive red torchiere lamps, a carved balustrade, a Massacar ebony bar, silver and bronze detailing, maple and cedar woodwork, an original mural that hangs above the bar, 21 windows, and amazing views of Queensway Bay.

It is in the elegant space that Anna (Scarlett Johansson) sings at the end of 2009’s He’s Just Not That Into You.

Back in 1981, Dr. R. Quincy, M.E. (Jack Klugman) discovers what has been ailing his fellow cruise passengers when a woman goes into premature labor in the Observation Bar in the Season 7 episode of Quincy M.E. titled “Slow Boat to Madness: Part 2.” (Spoiler – it’s contaminated tortillas!)

The Observation Bar portrays the New York cocktail lounge where NYPD detective Mike Keegan (Tom Berenger) takes murder witness Claire Gregory (Mimi Rogers) for drinks on his last night of protecting her in the 1987 thriller Someone to Watch Over Me.

In 1989, the Observation Bar popped up a couple of times in the Season 6 episode of Murder, She Wrote titled “The Grand Old Lady.”

The site masks as the New York bar where Garland Stanford (David Warrilow) tells Barton (John Turturro) that Capital Pictures wants to put him under contract in 1991’s Barton Fink.

In the Season 6 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 titled “You Say It’s Your Birthday: Part 1,” which aired in 1996, Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth) and Valerie Malone (Tiffani Thiessen) discuss Colin Robbins’ (Jason Wiles) disappearance with FBI agent Richard Ballen (Jon Hensley) while at the Observation Bar. (Don’t mind the craptastic screen captures below. Unfortunately, the episode is not available to stream anywhere, not even on Hulu which inexplicably has all of the others from Season 6, so I had to settle for grabs from a poor-quality Dailymotion upload.)

Later in “You Say It’s Your Birthday: Part 1,” Kelly grabs breakfast with Andrea Zuckerman (Gabrielle Carteris) at the bar.

In 1999’s Being John Malkovich (such a great movie!), John Malkovich (playing himself) enters the portal to his own head and winds up seeing himself everywhere at the Observation Bar.

The 2002 film Adaptation opens with actual behind-the-scenes footage of the Being John Malkovich segment lensed at the lounge. (I apologize for the blurry screen caps below, but the scene has a lot of movement.)

Howard Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio) also celebrates the wrap of Hell’s Angels at the Observation Lounge in the 2004 biopic The Aviator.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Observation Bar & Art Deco Lounge, from He’s Just Not That Into You, is located on the bow of The Queen Mary’s Promenade Deck at 1126 Queens Highway in Long Beach. You can visit the ship’s official website here. Tickets or hotel reservations are required to venture aboard.

April 8, 2019
Hotel Constance from “Café Society”

It is always such a thrill to discover that a beloved restaurant, building, bar or boutique I wasn’t aware was a filming location has actually appeared onscreen. Such was the case with Hotel Constance, one of my favorite Pasadena-area lodgings. You’ve seen me talk about the place before in My Guide to L.A. – Hotels post back in 2015 (it’s number 9 on the list). I’ve stayed there with my family on numerous occasions and have always gushed about it, but somehow was unaware it boasted any film cred. So I was ecstatic to recently come across a mention on The Woody Allen Pages website that the locale was featured in the 2016 drama Café Society. A bit more digging led to some additional onscreen appearances, so I figured it was high time I dedicate a post to the place.

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Hotel Constance originally opened to the public on December 3rd, 1926. Commissioned by and named for Pasadena entrepreneur Constance V. Perry, the seven-story Mediterranean Revival-style property was the city’s most modern lodging at the time. You can check out what it looked like in its early days here.

Perry sold the hotel, as well as the adjoining one-story commercial building situated next to it on Colorado Boulevard, in 1930 in order to dedicate her time to other business ventures. At some point, the property was transformed into a retirement home known as the Pasadena Manor, a role it held for the next several decades. (While I am unsure of exactly when the retirement-home transition took place, the earliest mention of the Manor I could find on newspapers.com was in 1970.)

Though I lived just a few blocks from the building for several years and walked past it often, it was not until it was sold to Singpoli, a Hong Kong-based real estate investment firm, in 2007 and plans to revitalize it were talked about that I first took notice. I’ll never forget walking by the boarded-up structure one sunny afternoon and becoming completely enthralled with the historic images of the place pasted in the front windows, along with the placard announcing that the property would soon be restored and turned into a hotel once again.

It was thrilling to pass by the site in the years that followed and witness the new developments regularly taking place.

Amazingly, because no major renovations had ever been done to the property prior to the 2007 sale, much of its original detailing was intact, albeit covered over with carpet, plaster and wallpaper. Preservation architect Peyton Hall, who spearheaded the restoration, told the Pasadena Star News, “The interior of the lobby has (green-painted) paneled columns, and the mirrors on them are not original. The original terra-cotta tiles were covered with vinyl tile, and we’ve uncovered them . . . and the coffered ceiling and the stairway will all remain.” You can see what the lobby looked like mid-renovation here. An image of that exact same area in its post-rehab state is pictured below.

After the $60-million revamp, the hotel opened to much fanfare as the DusitD2 Constance Pasadena on July 31st, 2014. An arm of the Thai-based Dusit International, it was the luxury hospitality company’s first U.S. lodging.

The hotel’s interior aesthetic, envisioned by Hong Kong designer Joey Ho, is ultra-modern with nods to its historic past.

Check out that coffered ceiling!

The adjacent commercial building also underwent a large-scale renovation. While most of it was razed, the original storefronts were preserved. Per an Arcadia Historical Society post, “The six retail stores attached to the hotel had prior face-lifts and were scheduled for demolition. When the surfaces were removed, however, statuettes on columns were uncovered on the original façade. These statuettes were extensively damaged when someone literally took a hammer and knocked off pieces so that they could be boarded up, with a new storefront.” Thankfully, they were repaired and incorporated into the new design, which you can see almost completed in the Google Street View imagery below.

A second tower with additional guest rooms, a fitness center, meeting space, and a rooftop pool, hot tub, sun deck and bar, was also just completed last year.

In all, the property boasts 136 rooms and suites, a Cal-Asian eatery known as Perry’s Restaurant, the swanky Blue Room cocktail lounge, and many modern appointments including in-room iPads that control lighting and on which guests can order room service or read daily newspaper publications.

At some point, Dusit International ceased operating the site and today it is known simply as Hotel Constance. My family has stayed at the lodging numerous times and I can honestly say it is one of the best hotels we have ever had the pleasure of checking into. As I recounted in My Guide to L.A. post, during one of our visits, while the bellman was walking us to our room, my dad mentioned to my mom that he had forgotten to pick up a special cereal he likes on the way into town. The bellman overheard and, incredibly, said he would be happy to go pick it up for us – at no charge! I’ve never known a hotel to offer that kind of service, but at the Constance, they do. Sure enough, not 15 minutes later, my dad had his special cereal in hand! It truly is a remarkable place.

In Café Society, Hotel Constance portrays the supposed Wilshire Boulevard office of talent agent Phil Stern (Steve Carell), who Bobby Dorfman (Jesse Eisenberg) visits in the hopes of getting a job. For the shoot, filmmakers made use of the building’s Mentor Avenue side.

Only the exterior of the hotel appears in the film. Per The Woody Allen Pages, interiors were lensed at the Brooklyn Public Library located at 10 Grand Army Plaza near Prospect Park.

In the Season 2 episode of Jane the Virgin titled “Chapter Thirty-Six,” which aired in 2016, Rafael Solano (Justin Baldoni) briefly meets with Avery Van Allen (Shvona Lavette Chung) at Hotel Constance’s Blue Room Lounge.

In 2017, the Lounge portrayed the InterContinental Miami hotel restaurant where Charlie Murphy, Cedric the Entertainer, George Lopez, D.L. Hughley and Eddie Griffin grabbed breakfast in the Season 1 episode of The Comedy Get Down titled “Black Wives Matter.”

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Hotel Constance, from Café Society, is located at 928 East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. You can visit the property’s official website here.

April 5, 2019
The Derby from “Book Club”

They say that laughter is the best medicine. For me, it’s laughter coupled with stalking. While recovering from a minor surgery last October, I hunkered down in bed for a couple of days watching movies. The flick that brought the most healing was easily Book Club thanks to both its humor and the fact that it was lensed in Los Angeles. As such, I paused the 2018 romcom countless times throughout my viewing in order to research its locations, much to the Grim Cheaper’s chagrin. A few I was thrilled to recognize from the outset, including Hummingbird Nest Ranch, which I blogged about in March, and The Derby, one of Arcadia’s most historic and popular restaurants where Sharon Meyers (Candice Bergen) goes on a blind date with a man she meets though a dating app in the film. Though I dedicated a post to the eatery back in 2013, I figured it was worthy of a re-do.

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The Derby was originally opened as Proctor’s Tavern, a small steakhouse established by Arcadia Rotary Club charter member Hudson M. Proctor on Foothill Boulevard near Santa Anita Park in 1922.

It was moved to its current home, a sprawling brick building at 233 East Huntington Drive, in October 1931.

The restaurant did not become The Derby until December 1938 when it was purchased by Bill Peterson and his business partner, famed jockey George “The Iceman” Woolf, who rode such stallions as Seabiscuit and Azucar to victory.

Woolf filled the intimate, dimly-lit interior with memorabilia and bric-a-brac from his illustrious racing career, most of which is still on display today.

The Derby was hit by tragedy on January 4th, 1946 when George was killed during a race at the tender age of 35, shocking the equestrian community, the city of Arcadia, and the restaurant’s longtime patrons. Though his widow, Genevieve, continued to run the place for several years, she wound up selling it to Dominic and Lorene Sturniolo in 1951.

The Sturniolo family enjoyed a 50+-year tenure at The Derby until they, too, sold to the restaurant’s current owners, Dustin Nicolarsen and Michael Thomas, in 2007.

Today, the place is still going strong, almost one hundred years after its inception! In fact, it is one of my and the GC’s favorite Pasadena-area spots. Though it is on the pricey side, its happy hour can’t be beat!

In Book Club, The Derby is where Sharon meets up with her Bumble date, “bald tax attorney” George (Richard Dreyfuss).

In the scene, the two sit in the restaurant’s main dining room, which in the Proctor’s Tavern days was known as the “Spanish Room.”

After their date, Sharon and George head outside to The Derby’s parking lot where things get a bit – ahem – amorous.

The Derby was also the site of Derek’s (Adam Scott) birthday party in the 2008 comedy Step Brothers.

Though Seabiscuit did not do any filming on the premises, costume designer Judianna Makovsky spent time at the restaurant researching Woolf’s former racing uniforms. As she told the Los Angeles Times in a 2003 article, the experience was “completely invaluable.” Dominic and Lorene Sturniolo’s son, Charles, who was running the eatery at the time “even let us come over and dig through boxes and scrapbooks. In racing museums, they save the shirts and hats but not what’s underneath. Nobody had the britches or shoes. People just didn’t save it. We were thrilled to find The Derby. It brought to mind that George Woolf was a real man, not just a character in a story.”

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Derby, from Book Club, is located at 233 East Huntington Drive in Arcadia. You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.

April 3, 2019