Dave’s Apartment from “Alvin and the Chipmunks”

My mom often calls me “DB” for Dumb Blonde.  I can’t be offended as I’ve certainly earned the nickname thanks to countless airheaded antics over the years.  Case in point – I recently got a request from @nic_fury on Instagram to dedicate a blog post to the apartment complex where David Seville (Jason Lee) lived in Alvin and the Chipmunks.  As fate would have it, I stalked the locale years ago, but somehow never wrote about it.  I decided to amend that and, since I had never actually seen the 2007 film, promptly streamed it.  The only trouble was, I rented Garfield, another live-action/computer-animated flick from around the same time, instead.  It took about twenty minutes of watching before I realized my mistake.  Thankfully though, while I had the wrong movie, I had the right location.  In Alvin and the Chipmunks, Dave lives at St. Andrews Bungalow Court in Hollywood, a charming complex that I stalked way back in 2009.

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The U-shaped site, consisting of 15 bungalows built around a lush courtyard hidden away from the street, was commissioned in 1919 by Fay Sudrow as an investment property.  Per a National Register of Historic Places registration form compiled by the United States Department of the Interior, “The court is an example of an ‘owner/builder’ construction, a common practice in early Hollywood.  Builder-built (as opposed to architect-designed) housing employs standard, inexpensive, wood-frame construction with minimal architectural and decorative refinements.  The ‘agent’ employed to construct the complex is identified as W. Jones, and the eight-room duplex in the back was built by a contractor identified as Frank Pece.  No architect was identified, which suggests that Frank Pece may have purchased architectural plans from a design service.”

That design service must have been top-notch because, “minimal decorative refinements” notwithstanding, the complex is nothing short of idyllic!  Each of the 14 standalone bungalows, as well as the duplex units, originally boasted one bedroom and one bath, but many have since been transformed via the installation of an interior wall into two-bedroom spaces.  According to the NRHP registration form, the Colonial Revival-style cottages feature coved ceilings, crown moldings, built-in buffets with glass-fronted cabinets, and front porches with “nine unique gable treatments.”

Due to shifts in the neighborhood and severe negligence, St. Andrews Bungalow Court fell upon hard times in the 1980s.  It hit the auction block in 1987 and was set to be razed the following year.  Demolition permits were even filed and, though they were fortunately revoked, the site was abandoned in 1989.  Vandals soon descended, hurling the place into further disrepair.  A guardian angel came in the form of the Hollywood Housing Community, which acquired the complex in 1992 and completely restored it, transforming the 700-square-foot bungalows into residences for those with special needs.  The new and improved St. Andrews Bungalow Court opened for occupancy in December 1995.  It remains in the hands of the Hollywood Housing Community today.

 

 Per the NRHP registration form, the complex is an “outstanding example” of a bungalow court and is “unusual for its size and for the attention to individual detail bestowed upon each unit by its anonymous designers.”  Situated just steps off Sunset Boulevard and across from a strip mall with a Burger King and a 7-Eleven, it is a bucolic little sanctuary, hidden away behind a white picket gate and arched hedges.  One could easily pass right by without realizing the tiny oasis is even there.  It reminds me quite a bit of the apartments where David Silver (Brian Austin Green) lived during the later years of Beverly Hills, 90210, which can be found less than half a mile away at 1547 North Serrano Avenue.

St. Andrews Bungalow Court pops up countless times throughout Alvin and the Chipmunks and, in fact, is a focal point of the movie.

Though the front gate was swapped out for the shoot . . .

. . . little else was altered.

The complex is just as adorable in real life as it appeared onscreen!

In the movie, David lives on the southern side of the complex, towards the rear.  In real life, his unit is numbered 1520.

It is denoted with a white arrow in the Bing aerial below.

Onscreen though, the cottage is addressed 1958, which is a nod to Chipmunks creator, singer-songwriter Ross Bagdasarian Sr.  His son, Ross Bagdasarian Jr., served as executive producer on the film and threw in many tributes to his father, 1958 being the year that two of his big hits, “Witch Doctor” and “The Chipmunk Song,” first reached number 1.  (Side note – David Seville is actually Bagdasarian Sr.’s stage name.  Figuring his full moniker was too long to fit on a 45, he went with a pseudonym, one that paid homage to the city in Spain where he was stationed during WWII.)

Only the exterior of St. Andrews Bungalow Court appeared in Alvin and the Chipmunks.  The inside of Dave’s home was a soundstage-built set.  Per Brian Carroll, assistant to the film’s Animation Supervisor, Chris Bailey, “The entire interior and walkway in front of the house was built on a soundstage at Sunset Gower Studios in Hollywood.  The director, Tim Hill, did a great job of mixing the exteriors shot at the apartment complex with the footage shot on stage.”  The fact that a set was used is quite apparent while watching, though, as Dave’s residence is obviously larger than 700 square feet.

You can check out what a portion of one of the real bungalow interiors looks like here.  The production team incorporated some of the actual design elements into the set, namely the built-ins, glass-fronted cabinets, and checkered kitchen floor.

St. Andrews Bungalow Court was also featured in 2009’s Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, though the footage, featured solely in establishing shots, looks to have been re-used from the first movie.  It doesn’t appear that any actual filming of the follow-up took place on the premises.

In an odd twist, at one point in the “squeakquel,” Toby Seville (Zachary Levi) is shown walking to his car, supposedly parked outside of St. Andrews Bungalow Court.  The vehicle is actually a good three miles away on the 1300 block of North Ogden Drive, though.  (Parking in Dave’s neighborhood must really suck!)  I recognized the spot where filming took place immediately thanks to the house visible behind Toby, which is one of my favorite movie residences of all time!  Long time readers of the site should recognize it, as well – it’s Stu’s (Ed Helms) home from The Hangover!

The interior of Dave’s apartment in Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel was also a set, albeit slightly altered and enlarged from the one in the original movie, but no less charming.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking! 

Stalk It: St. Andrews Bungalow Court, aka Dave’s apartment complex from Alvin and the Chipmunks, is located at 1514 –1544 North St. Andrews Place in Hollywood.