Lindsay

April 13, 2020April 11, 2020

Tilly’s House from “Flaked”

I never thought I’d say I’m in love with a gate, but here we are. Back in March 2016, my Los Angeles magazine editor assigned me a piece chronicling the locations from the then-new Netflix series Flaked. I got to work researching right away and one spot immediately stood out among the rest – the manse belonging to Chip’s (Will Arnett) estranged wife, Tilly (Heather Graham). Or I should say the gate of the manse belonging to Chip’s estranged wife, Tilly. The shiny blue wall of glass was impressive, to say the least, and I promptly labeled it a must-see. I finally made it out there last September and, though I briefly featured the pad in my L.A. mag article, figured it was worthy of a post all its own.

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In person, Tilly’s gate did not disappoint!

Sleek, polished and striking, the reflective blue wall pretty much commands the street.

Spanning twelve feet, the enclosure is made up of Cobalt blue glass.

The rich coloring and sheer size of it make for some pretty arresting onscreen imagery.

While not visible from the street, the house that sits behind the gate is pretty darn impressive, as well. Designed by architect Paul McClean in 2014, the massive estate boasts 6 bedrooms, 8 baths 9,393 square feet of living space, white slab marble flooring, walls of glass, a chef’s kitchen with 2 islands, a built-in wine station and a coffee bar, a movie theatre, an atrium, a game room, a bar, a massive glass wine room, a cigar lounge, a gym with a steam room, a 0.56-acre lot, a courtyard, a 2-story fountain, outdoor living spaces, an outdoor kitchen, a negative-edge infinity pool, a spa, a BBQ, and panoramic views of Los Angeles, the Pacific Ocean, and Catalina. The ultra-modern estate is currently on the market for a cool $19,995,000. You can check out some interior photographs of it here.

A very traditional looking pad sat on the lot before McClean got his hands on it, as you can see in the Google Street View imagery from 2011 below.

While I much prefer the new house, the geometrically-paneled window that formerly overlooked the street is pretty darn spectacular.

The property pops up twice on Flaked – first in Season 1’s “Rose,” in the scene in which Chip visits Tilly, a massive television star, in the hopes that she can help him save his business.

Along with the gate, the home’s actual interior also appears in the scene.

Chip later returns to the pad in the episode titled “7th,” though Tilly refuses to let him in.

While Tilly makes an appearance in Flaked’s second season, sadly her fabulous residence does not.

The home’s real estate listing states, “Proven filming history provides substantial income for investors,” but, unfortunately, there is no specific mention of what productions have shot on the premises, so I am unsure if the place has any additional cameos on its resume.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Tilly’s house from Flaked is located at 1620 Carla Ridge in Beverly Hills’ Trousdale Estates neighborhood.

April 10, 2020April 9, 2020

The Fine Arts Building from “The Morning Show”

Considering I’ve been at this crazy hobby of mine for twenty years now, you’d think I’d have stalked every square inch of Los Angeles. While watching the second episode of The Morning Show, though, I was reminded of a site I had yet to set foot in – downtown’s Fine Arts Building. I’d heard of the celebrated property countless times, seen photos of its impressive lobby online and read up on its history, but somehow had never visited. So while in the area last December, I decided to amend that and got my first look at the marvel that is the Fine Arts Building.

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The landmark structure, a commission of the Fine Arts Building Company, was erected in 1926.

The 12-story, 107,000-square-foot property, designed in the Romanesque Revival style by architects Albert R. Walker and Percy A. Eisen (who also gave us the Oviatt Building, the Gaylord Apartments and the Beverly Wilshire, aka the Pretty Woman hotel), initially housed studios, workshops, and galleries for local Los Angeles artists.

The impressive terra cotta exterior features castings by Burt William Johnson, including two figures perched on either side of the third-floor overhang, one symbolizing architecture and the other sculpture.

Though the ornate façade is nothing to sneeze at . . .

. . . the sweeping two-story lobby, designed in the Spanish Renaissance style, is the real stunner.

Almost unbelievably so!

Featuring tile work by Pasadena artist Ernest Batchelder, paintings and murals by Anthony B. Heinsbergen, a beamed ceiling, a blue-tiled fountain, and 17-foot-tall glass display cases which initially served as a place for resident artists to exhibit their wares, the 3,000-square-foot chamber truly is a sight to be seen.

Sadly, the Great Depression hit the artisans who rented space in the structure hard, causing many of them to terminate their leases and the property to be sold in 1930. It was then rebranded the “Signal Oil Building.” It went through numerous ownership and name changes in the years that followed until being taken over by the Ratkovich, Bowers Inc. development firm in 1983, at which time it was heavily rehabilitated and its original moniker restored.

Today, the Historic-Cultural Monument houses business offices, though the lobby remains a place for local artists to exhibit their works.

The Fine Arts Building serves as the office of Mitch Kessler’s (Steve Carell) business manager, where he gets some bad news regarding his financial status following his firing, in the Season 1 episode of The Morning Show titled “A Seat at the Table.” It is as Mitch is walking out of the structure that he is accosted by a stranger who screams “Rapist!”, to which he not-so-calmly replies, “I’m not even accused of rape! Sexual misconduct is what I’m being accused of! Don’t you wave your f*cking hand at me! Have a nice day, you f*cking asshole!” I spotted the “811” address placard and the ornate carvings flanking the front doors as Mitch exited the building just before being yelled at and recognized the place immediately.

I believe the interior scene involving Mitch’s business manager’s office may have been shot elsewhere, though I am not sure where.

The Fine Arts Building is no stranger to the screen.

The site portrayed a Swiss Embassy in the 1997 action film Spawn.

It popped up as the location of Jane’s (Angelina Jolie) I-Temp Technology Staffing office in 2005’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

And Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) shows Summer (Zooey Deschanel) the building, which he misattributes to architects Walker & “Eisner,” in the 2009 drama (500) Days of Summer.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Fine Arts Building, from the “A Seat at the Table” episode of The Morning Show, is located at 811 West 7th Street in downtown Los Angeles. The lobby area is open to the public daily. 7th Street/Metro Center Station, aka Penn Station from Cruel Intentions, is right next door at 660 South Figueroa Street.

April 8, 2020April 7, 2020

The McCullough Residence from “Little Fires Everywhere”

I knew I would love Little Fires Everywhere long before it premiered. One look at the trailer had me drooling! A confounding mystery at its center, Reese Witherspoon at the helm, a setting that is almost a character, and two of my favorite cuties, Joshua Jackson and Geoff Stults, in lead roles. What’s not to like? (Though I have to say I really could have done without seeing Jackson in those tighty-whities in episode 1. That’s an image I’ll never be able to get rid of!) The fact that the new Hulu series is lensed in Los Angeles is just the cherry on top! I was fortuitously given intel on several of its locales late last year, months before its March 18th debut. So I, of course, did some major LFE stalking while I was in L.A. in January for my dad’s many pre-surgical doctor appointments. One of the spots I hit up was the massive brick estate belonging to Mark McCullough (Stults) and his wife, Linda (Rosemarie DeWitt).

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Though set in the real-life town of Shaker Heights, Ohio, the McCullough pad can actually be found at 120 South June Street in Hancock Park. It is just a few blocks away from the series’ central locale, the Richardson residence, an oft-shot dwelling at 511 South Muirfield Road that is most famous for having portrayed the Tate mansion on the 1970s television series Soap.

The two properties bear an uncanny resemblance to each other, as you can see below – so much so that I am surprised they were both chosen for use on the series. Shaker Heights is repeatedly noted as being “the first planned community in America” on Little Fires Everywhere (in reality, it’s just one of the first), so I guess it somewhat makes sense that two residences would be similar. But from what I’ve seen online of the real town, while all the homes are stately and handsome and quite a few are even Tudor in style, they seem to have fairly distinct looks. So I definitely find the utilization of two such similar spots odd.

The McCullough house initially pops up in the third episode of Little Fires Everywhere, titled “Seventy Cents.” In it, Linda and Mark throw their adoptive daughter, Mirabelle, a first birthday party, which winds up going horribly wrong when (spoiler alert!) her birth mother unexpectedly appears at their door.

The residence is also featured in episode 4, “The Spider Web,” though as was the case in “Seventy Cents,” we only see a very tight shot of it.

Even when Linda is hounded by news crews outside of the house in the episode, we aren’t shown much other than the driveway.

It is a pretty fabulous pad, so it is surprising that we have yet to get a full shot of it.

In real life, the 1927 residence boasts 6 bedrooms, 8 baths, 2 stories, a whopping 6,177 square feet of living space, 2 fireplaces, a 0.40-acre plot of land, a tennis court, a pool, a hot tub, and a detached 3-car garage with what looks to be an in-law unit above it.

As shown in the police report detailing the birthday party fiasco, which Elena Richardson (Witherspoon) reads in “The Spider Web,” the McCullough’s house is said to be at 120 Brighton Road, so the property’s real life address number is being utilized on the series.

I am fairly certain that the actual interior of the home is also being used.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Mark and Linda McCullough’s house from Little Fires Everywhere is located at 120 South June Street in Hancock Park. Melanie Cave’s (Elizabeth Perkins) home from Truth Be Told is just up the road at 509 North June Street. And the Richardson residence from Little Fires Everywhere (aka the Tate mansion from Soap) can be found a few streets over at 511 South Muirfield Road.

April 6, 2020April 9, 2020

Hotel Barclay from “Little Fires Everywhere”

Not only do The Morning Show and Little Fires Everywhere share a leading lady, Reese Witherspoon, but the two new series also seem to be sharing locations! Both made use of The Wolves, an insanely beautiful downtown Los Angeles bar that I blogged about in December, as well as Hotel Barclay, a historic and oft-filmed DTLA lodging that I covered way back in 2011. Considering the latter’s recent screen cred, though, I figured it was worthy of a redo.

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Hotel Barclay, which is also referred to as the “Barclay Hotel,” began life in 1897 as the Van Nuys Hotel.

Commissioned by businessman Isaac Newton Van Nuys, the Beaux Arts-style property was designed by the Morgan & Walls architecture firm.

During its early days, the 6-story hotel was the epitome of luxury, boasting a light-filled lobby lined with stained glass windows, a Ladies’ Parlor, a 150-seat formal dining room, a casual grill, a bar, a billiard room, a cigar stand, a newsstand, a buffet, a barbershop, and 160 rooms, each with both a long-distance and local telephone, as well as electric service. Per the Los Angeles Conservancy, the Barclay was, in fact, the first hotel in the city to provide those last two luxuries.

In 1929, ownership changed hands, the fancy dining room was closed and the property re-dubbed Hotel Barclay. The move kicked off a decline not only in the building’s exclusivity, but also its patronage.

Though it fell into some disrepair in the years that followed, eventually becoming a residential hotel (you can read up on the more sordid parts of its history here), the Barclay’s original interior somehow remained intact and still, miraculously, looks much as it did on opening day over 120 years ago!

During my 2011 stalk of the place, the manager invited me inside for a look at the lobby, which is where the interior photos in this post come from. I was practically giddy walking around snapping pictures of all of the historic enclaves! The hotel is like a time capsule come to life!

The Barclay, which, again per the Los Angeles Conservancy, is the city’s oldest continuously operating hotel, was put on the market in 2016 for $40 million and eventually sold in 2018 for $21 million. There are currently plans in the works to turn it into a luxury boutique lodging, though it does not appear as if that project has gotten off the ground yet.

In the “Duo” episode of Little Fires Everywhere, Hotel Barclay stands in for the exterior of New York’s fictional Varick Hotel, where Elena Richardson (Witherspoon) stays while visiting Manhattan.

Interiors were shot at The Mayfair Hotel, another historic DTLA lodging that has been completely revamped since my 2012 post on it, meaning I have to get back out there stat!

On The Morning Show, the Barclay also portrays a New York locale – the Manhattan apartment building where Hannah Shoenfeld (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) lives, said to be at 103 Wooster Street in SoHo. The site initially appears at the end of episode 7, “Open Waters,” in a scene that continues into episode 9, “Play the Queen,” in which Mitch Kessler (Steve Carrel) asks Hannah to come forward and say that the network bosses were complicit in his predatory behavior.

The Barclay is also featured in The Morning Show’s Season 1 finale, “The Interview” in which (spoiler alert!) Claire Conway (Bel Powley) shows up to discover than Hannah has overdosed.

In the episode, it is apparent that a façade containing a fake set of stairs and an elevator was added just beyond the hotel’s front doors for the shoot.

In real life, the Barclay’s front doors open directly into the lobby, as you can see in the photo below.

Only the exterior of the Barclay was utilized on The Morning Show. I believe interior scenes involving Hannah’s apartment may have been shot at the Pan American Lofts, located at 253 South Broadway. You can check out what a unit in that building looks like here.

Hotel Barclay has quite an extensive film and television resume – so much so that it would be impossible for me to chronicle all of its appearances here. A few of the more notable include . . .

Way back in 1975, Det. Ken ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson (David Soul) and Det. Dave Starsky (Paul Michael Glaser) chased a suspect through the hotel in the pilot episode of Starsky & Hutch.

The lobby is used extensively as Café 24 Heures, where Carol Connelly (Helen Hunt) works and where Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson) regularly dines, in 1997’s As Good As It Gets.

Frank Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio) gets kicked out of the place for writing bad checks at the beginning of Catch Me If You Can.

Hotel Barclay is the Columbian lodging where John (Brad Pitt) and Jane (Angelina Jolie) meet in 2005’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

The lobby masks as the café where Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and his friends hang out in the 2009 drama (500) Days of Summer.

Also in 2009, Detectives Flynn (Tony Denison) and Provenza (G.W. Bailey) dine in the hotel’s former restaurant, which sits vacant in real life, in the Season 5 episode of The Closer titled “Tapped Out.”

Leonardo DiCaprio visits the Barclay once again as Cobb in 2011’s Inception. This time it’s posing as a casino in Africa. (One of the hotel’s 2nd floor rooms is also where Cobb was dunked into a bathtub in an earlier scene).

Fellow stalker Anne informed me via a comment on my original post that a now-vacant anteroom at the lodging masked as Drake’s Magic Shop in the Season 3 episode of Castle titled “Poof, You’re Dead,” which aired in 2011. The show’s production team must really love the Barclay! The hotel was also featured in the episodes titled “Ghosts,” “Knockdown,” “Swan Song,” “Sleeper,” “XY,” and “The Blame Game.”

NYPD detectives interview a bunch of clowns outside of the Barclay in the Season 7 episode of CSI: NY titled “To What End,” which also aired in 2011.

In 2018, Hotel Barclay popped up as the supposed San Antonio, Texas-area Gunter Hotel in the Season 2 episode of Timeless titled “The King of the Delta Blues.”

And it portrays the supposed Lahore hotel where Bravo Team captures a terrorist in the Season 2 episode of Seal Team titled “Never Out of the Fight,” which aired in 2019.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Hotel Barclay, aka the Varick Hotel from the “Duo” episode of Little Fires Everywhere, is located at 103 West 4th Street in downtown Los Angeles.

April 3, 2020April 2, 2020

Le Petit Paris from “Little Fires Everywhere”

Reese Witherspoon is deserving of a major ‘thank you’ from me! Per the actress’ recent productions, I have been introduced to two fabulous downtown Los Angeles restaurants! The first, The Wolves, popped up twice on her Apple TV+ series The Morning Show. And now, via Little Fires Everywhere, I’ve discovered Le Petit Paris, a striking French brasserie situated on the ground floor of the El Dorado Lofts building. I was actually tipped off about the eatery and the filming that took place there last year by a fellow stalker who works in the area. Though I had never heard of the place, one look at Google images had me transfixed! I was fairly certain I had never come across a more gorgeous space in my life. So my mom and I headed out there for happy hour mid-January while in town for one of my dad’s pre-surgical doctor appointments. We returned the following week for dinner after a long day at the hospital just prior to my dad’s surgery. Neither time did it disappoint.

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The El Dorado Lofts building was originally constructed as the Hotel Stowell in 1913. The 12-story, 264-room lodging, commissioned by financier Nathan Wilson Stowell, was designed in the Art Nouveau and Gothic Revival styles by architects Frederick Noonan and William Richards. You can see what the exterior looked like in its early days here.

Upscale and ornate, the hotel catered to wealthy businessmen called to the area for work, though some celebrities also checked in. Charlie Chaplin even lived there for a time, though, surprisingly, per the Paradise Leased blog, he later described it as “a middle-rate place but new and comfortable.” It sure looks like it was pretty fancy to me! Constructed with all locally-sourced materials, the sweeping two-level lobby boasted a grand staircase, gold leaf columns, and a plethora of Batchelder tilework.

Patronage declined during the Great Depression resulting in the building being sold in 1938. It eventually became a low-budget residential hotel known as the El Dorado. The place continued to deteriorate in the years that followed and by the 1980s, it sat abandoned and remained so for the next two decades. The Gilmore and Associates development team finally stepped in, purchasing the building in 2000 and transforming the former hotel rooms into luxury condos, a project that was completed in 2010. (You can check out images of two of the revamped units here and here.) The once-grand lobby was made available as a possible restaurant space and it was then that David and Fanny Rolland set their sights on it. (You can see what it looked like at the time here.)

The husband and wife duo, who hail from France and previously founded two eateries in Cannes, began transforming the 8,000-square-foot space into a magical Parisian-inspired oasis.

Le Petit Paris opened its doors in September 2015.

To say that the 300-seat restaurant is striking would be a gross understatement.

I mean, come on!

With massive skylights, sparkling crystal chandeliers, two bars, a large patio, a fireplace, a towering split staircase, subtle pink and red accents, and a spectacular mosaic floor, Le Petit Paris is easily one of L.A.’s most gorgeous spots!

I especially loved the painting of Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby hung near the bar.

Had to do it!

The food at Le Petit Paris is as delicious as the place is beautiful! Both the executive chef and the executive pastry chef hail from France and all of the menu items are homemade on the premises. During our initial happy hour visit, I had a glass of champagne (natch!) and my mom ordered the carpaccio, which she was thoroughly obsessed with. She talked about it for days afterward! So on our second visit, in which we grabbed dinner in the dining room, she was seriously bummed to discover that the carpaccio was only available on the happy hour menu. (She did love the French onion soup she wound up ordering, though.) The following morning, when we arrived at the hospital, my dad asked how our dinner was. When my mom expressed her extreme dismay at not being able to order her beloved carpaccio, my dad looked down at his hospital gown and many IVS, turned to her and said, “Yeah, I feel so sorry for you.” We laughed about that one for days afterward. Smile

In Little Fires Everywhere, Elena Richardson (Reese Witherspoon) meets up with her former boyfriend, Jamie Caplan (Luke Bracey), at Le Petit Paris, which is said to be in New York, in the episode titled “Duo.”

During our first visit, I asked the bartender about the filming of Little Fires Everywhere and he informed us that while he did not work at the restaurant at the time, ironically he was an extra in the scene that shot on the premises! When he applied for a job at Le Petit Paris months later, he did not realize it was the same place. It was only when he showed up for his interview that he made the connection.

Sadly, Le Petit Paris is currently closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the world gets back to normal (oh, what a fabulous day that will be!), I am very much looking forward to sipping a glass of bubbly in one of the restaurant’s plush chairs, soaking up the magical ambiance of the place.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Le Petit Paris, from the “Duo” episode of Little Fires Everywhere, is located at 418 South Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles. You can visit the restaurant’s official website here. Please be advised that the eatery is temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Check its website for any updates.

April 1, 2020April 1, 2020

Hilton Checkers Hotel from “The West Wing”

One of the best parts about finally watching The West Wing for the first time is all of the L.A. locales I’ve been able to identify and stalk (you can read about a few of them here, here, and here). One spot that I recognized on sight was Hilton Checkers Los Angeles, which masked as a supposed Washington D.C.-area hotel in the Season 1 episode titled “Take This Sabbath Day.” I’ve had the pleasure of staying at Checkers several times over the years (even once in the penthouse!), so it was not hard to ID it when it appeared onscreen. Though I blogged about the lodging back in 2009, I figured it was worthy of a redo, so while staying at the Millennium Biltmore, which is across the street, back in December of last year, my mom and I headed over to Checkers for a cocktail and to do some stalking! I was shocked when I walked in to discover that the place had been completely revamped and looked quite a bit different than it did during my last visit in late 2017.

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Initially opened as the Mayflower Hotel in 1927, the property was designed by architect Charles Whittlesey.

Built on a lot measuring a scant 60 by 160 feet, the skinny lodging towers over the street below at 12 stories, which was the city’s height limit at the time.

The Mission Revival-style façade boasts amazingly intricate Spanish Moorish ornamentation with a nautical theme. Sadly, the bas-relief sculptures of the Mayflower and the Santa Maria that once flanked the hotel’s front doors have since been removed.

The Los Angeles Conservancy describes the building’s original interior as “Pilgrim Revival.” With restaurants named Mayflower Tavern and Ye Bull Pen Inn (you can check out what the latter looked like here), The Mayflower certainly had a different aesthetic than it does now. At some point, Chart Room, another bar with a maritime slant, opened on the premises. You can see the exterior of it here. It’s quite a leap from the hotel’s current state!

The Mayflower shut its doors in 1985 at which point it was purchased by a group of developers who began a massive $49-million, 4-year renovation. Two floors were added to the top of the structure to house the property’s mechanical appliances as well as a new gym and spa. (You can see those two rather boxy floor additions in this side image of the hotel.) The lobby area was also revamped to include a new bar, a new restaurant and a library lounge. Rooms and suites were expanded considerably, bringing down the total units from 348 to 188. The site re-opened as Checkers in December 1989. The Hilton eventually took over the property in 2002 and it became known as Hilton Checkers. The AAA Four Diamond lodging boasted a very upscale European interior, with ornate mirrors, plush seating and dark wood tables scattered throughout, as you can see in the pictures below, which were taken during a 2009 stay.

I loved the look of the place, but in 2019 management embarked upon yet another massive renovation.

Several lobby walls were removed in order to open up the bar (now named 1927 Bar+Kitchen) and library. The bar circa 2009 is pictured below.

And there it is today.

Yes, the interior is sleeker, brighter and airier, but I think it has lost quite a bit of its charm.

Per aerial views and this image, the rooftop pool, one of my favorite aspects of the hotel, also appears to have been filled in (the photo below is from 2009).

Though the hot tub remains.

I still consider the place one of downtown L.A.’s top lodgings, despite the changes. As my mom and I discovered, 1927 Bar+Kitchen serves up some fabulous fare and libations, the onsite Zagat-rated restaurant, Checkers Downtown, remains one of the area’s top eateries, and the hotel is within walking distance to pretty much every local attraction.

In the “Take this Sabbath Day” episode of The West Wing, which aired in 2000, Checkers masks as the D.C. hotel where Joey Lucas (Marlee Matlin) stays while in town. It is in the lobby bar that Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford) apologizes to Joey on behalf of the president.

The West Wing was not Checkers’ first rodeo.

The hotel served as the outside of San Francisco’s Bix restaurant in the 1992 thriller Final Analysis.

In the Season 1 episode of Shark titled “Fashion Police,” which aired in 2006, Sebastian Stark (James Woods) dines with the mayor in Checkers Downtown . . .

. . . and later crashes a party on the rooftop deck.

Checkers appears as the exterior of The Algonquin Hotel in the Season 7 episode of Mad Men titled “Field Trip,” which aired in 2014.

It pops up as the New Amsterdam Hotel, where Vikram Singh (Sunkrish Bala) hacks into the mainframe of the attorney general’s office, in the Season 8 episode of Castle titled “XX,” which aired in 2015.

Irvin Irving (Lance Reddick) and Jun Park (Linda Park) also dine on Checkers’ rooftop patio in the Season 3 episode of Bosch titled “Right Play,” which aired in 2017.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Hilton Checkers Los Angeles, from the “Take This Sabbath Day” episode of The West Wing, is located at 535 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles. You can visit the hotel’s official website here. Please be advised that the hotel is temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Check the website for any updates.

March 30, 2020March 30, 2020

Mitch’s House from “The Morning Show”

My dad is unfortunately back in the hospital and right now this blog is one of the main things keeping me sane. Being able to research, track down and write about filming locations, trivial as that may be, sparks major joy for me and has provided a much-needed distraction from all that is going on with my dad, not to mention the world. So I’ll be here, blogging away. Hopefully my posts will provide my fellow stalkers with a bit of joy and distraction, too. Last week, I received an email from a reader named Esteban letting me know that he had tracked down the house where Mitch Kessler (Steve Carell) lived on The Morning Show. I had actually IDed the locale and stalked it a while back, but had not gotten around to blogging about it. So thanks for the reminder, Esteban! I became extremely mesmerized with Mitch’s massive home as soon as it popped up in the first episode of The Morning Show, titled “In the Dark Night of the Soul It’s Always 3:30 in the Morning.” Thankfully, finding it was a snap – after I overcame an initial hurdle at least.

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The first glimpse we are given of Mitch’s pad is the aerial view below. Purported to be located in a wealthy suburb of Manhattan, with its expansive yard and Cape Cod detailing, the place definitely has an East Coast feel. So much so that when I initially saw it, I became convinced filming of the series had taken place in New York! It was not until I spotted Cicada restaurant pop up in episode 2 that I figured out The Morning Show had actually been shot in Los Angeles.

In that same episode, I also noticed an address number of 4019 visible on the gate in front of Mitch’s estate. Considering the four-digit number, the size of the house and the large yard, I decided to take a look in the Encino area first. Armed with an address number and an aerial view, it did not take long to find the right place at 4019 Valley Meadow Road.

In real life, the extremely private residence, which was built in 2007, boasts 8 en suite bedrooms including a 3-room master suite with a sitting room, upstairs office, his and her bathrooms and a walk-in closet, 14 baths, 15,000 square feet of living space, a formal living room, a formal dining room, a 2-story library, 5 fireplaces, a cook’s kitchen with 2 islands, 2 refrigerators, 2 dishwashers and 4 ovens (!), coffered ceilings, wainscoting, a maid’s room, a gym, a home theatre, a 1.46-acre lot, a tennis court, a basketball court, a pool, a pool house, a waterslide, a waterfall, a fire pit, an outdoor kitchen, a dog run, and a home generator that can run the property for several weeks without power. Talk about amenities galore!

Sitting perched behind a plethora of foliage and a large gate, virtually none of the place is visible from the street, though, sadly.

But we do see plenty of it on The Morning Show, including the front exterior . . .

. . . the expansive backyard . . .

. . . and the real life interior, which you can check out some photos of here. It even looks like some of the homeowners’ actual furniture was utilized in the shoot!

Mitch’s pad is a pretty special place. It’s exactly the type of spot I’d love to shelter-at-home in over the next couples of weeks, amirite?

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Mitch’s house from The Morning Show is located at 4019 Valley Meadow Road in Encino. Steve’s (James Marsden) mansion from Dead to Me can be found just a half a mile north at 4230 Valley Meadow Road.

March 27, 2020March 25, 2020

Mia’s House from “Little Fires Everywhere”

Reese Witherspoon certainly is the darling of streaming TV! First Big Little Lies (that’s HBO, but still), then The Morning Show, then Truth Be Told (which she executive-produced) and now Little Fires Everywhere. The latter, which is currently airing on Hulu, is an adaptation of Celest Ng’s 2017 book of the same name. Centering around two very different families living in the upscale town of Shaker Heights, Ohio (where Ng grew up), the series had me hooked from episode 1. I only grew more obsessed when I learned that filming took place in L.A.! The opulent home where Elena Richardson (Witherspoon) lives is a locale I was familiar with and recognized on sight – it’s the Tate mansion from Soap at 511 South Muirfield Road in Hancock Park. But the charming duplex Elena rents to Mia Warren (Kerry Washington) in episode 1, “Spark,” said to be on Windsor Avenue, is a spot I had never seen before. So I promptly began hunting it down.

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An address number of 2008 was clearly visible next to the front door of the adorable property in several scenes. And thanks to an Architectural Digest article I came across, I knew that Mia’s rental was somewhere in Pasadena. I had an inkling it was actually in South Pasadena, which is often confused with Pasadena proper, so I began my hunt there. The first result kicked back when I searched “2008,” “Street” and “South Pasadena” was a listing for a home at 2008 Fremont Street, which Google Street View showed me was not the right spot. So I started popping the little yellow man over to the adjacent 2800 blocks and found Mia’s pad just 3 blocks over at 2008 La France Avenue. Being that I had no plans to head to L.A. at any point (stay home, people!), I enlisted my friend Anne, of The Drewseum, who lives in the area, to stalk the place (at an appropriate social distance, of course) on my behalf, which she did the very next day! Thank you, Anne!

In real life, Mia’s rental is a single-family home, not a duplex as depicted on Little Fires Everywhere. The reason that producers chose a house to portray the multi-family dwelling was actually derived straight from the script. As Elena explains to Mia upon first showing her the property, “Every house on Windsor has two families in it, even though it appears to only have one. It was actually designed that way to avoid any stigma of renting instead of owning.” On Little Fires Everywhere, Mia and her daughter, Pearl (Lexi Underwood), are said to live in the top unit.

Only the exterior of the house was used in the production.

The inside of Mia’s rental was a set. As production designer Jessica Kender told Architectural Digest, “Mia is more transient, and her house has a warm feel as they travel only with their clothes and her art supplies. The character found furnishings at the thrift shop and turned the sunroom into her art studio. She found natural objects like branches [and] feathers, and hung a fishnet from floor to ceiling and her artwork on the painted accent walls.” Kerry Washington also apparently had a hand in the design of Mia’s place. Kender furthers, “Kerry did not want a lot of furniture in the bedroom as it would feel too permanent. Her character’s space was a bed on the floor, a side table, and artwork above the bed. She didn’t even want incidental chairs to show that [her character] was staying.”

Originally built in 1923, the 2-story traditional-style home boasts 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, 2,160 square feet, a fireplace, and a 0.17-acre lot.

The pad has curb appeal for days, so it is not at all hard to see how it wound up on a drama set in the idyllic community of Shaker Heights.

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

Big THANK YOU to my friend Anne, of The Drewseum, for stalking this location on my behalf and taking the fabulous pictures that appear in this post!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Mia’s rental from Little Fires Everywhere is located at 2008 La France Avenue in South Pasadena. The Simpson house from She’s Out of Control is one block north at 1960 La France.

March 25, 2020March 24, 2020

The Baldwin Home from “For All Mankind”

Apple TV+ is seriously setting the bar high when it comes to original content! Every program I’ve come across on the streaming platform has been excellent. I first got hooked on The Morning Show, then Truth Be Told and, most recently, For All Mankind, a 1960s/1970s-set series that focuses on an alternate reality in which Russia wins the space race and the United States struggles to keep up. I love anything having to do with NASA (The Astronaut Wives Club is another favorite). Add to that incredible set design and costumes and a fascinating premise and it is not hard to see how I became obsessed. I was also thrilled to discover while watching that, though set in Texas and Florida, the show was filmed entirely in Los Angeles, So I, of course, immediately began tracking down its locales. The first spot I set out to find was the supposed Houston home belonging to the Baldwin family – astronaut Ed (Joel Kinnaman), his wife, Karen (Shantel VanSanten, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Meghan Markle), and their son, Shane (played by both Teddy and Tait Blum).

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Fortunately, an address number of “3345” was visible on the front of the Baldwin house in several scenes, which made IDing it a snap.

The huge front yard, abundance of foliage and traditional architecture led me to believe the property was most likely in Pasadena, so I began searching 3300 blocks there and quickly found the Baldwin pad at 3345 Lombardy Road in the desirable Chapman Woods neighborhood.

The sprawling one-story residence looks much the same in person as it did on For All Mankind.

Originally built in 1949, the dwelling has retained its mid-century look, making it a perfect fit for the series. Producers really did not have to do much to make it screen-ready.

Throw in a few period cars and, voila, they had themselves a very seemingly retro home.

The property’s massive backyard, which you can see images of here, was also featured on For All Mankind, in the second episode titled “He Built the Saturn V.”

Only the exterior of the house was utilized on the series. The inside of the Baldwin residence was a studio-built set. You can check out what the actual interior of the home looks like here. Though portions of it are a bit dated, it does not resemble the Baldwins’ place in the slightest.

In real life, the pad boasts 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2,844 square feet, a formal dining room, 3 fireplaces, French doors, bay windows, a plethora of built-ins, a 3-car garage, and a 1.29-acre lot with expansive lawns, a tennis court, and a large patio.

The Baldwin residence is currently for sale for a cool $2,688,000. Shockingly, the listing makes no mention whatsoever of the place’s recent small-screen role! I would think such a thing would only up the property’s value! If I was the agent, I’d have the information splayed across the sign in the yard! I mean “1+ acres” is great, but so is a film history and the income that comes along with it. Man, why do I always have to think of everything?

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Baldwin residence from For All Mankind is located at 3345 Lombardy Road in Pasadena. Nora Walker’s (Sally Field) house from Brothers & Sisters can be found two miles east at 1640 Lombardy.

March 23, 2020June 12, 2020

Entertainment Recommendations to Beat the Shelter-at-Home Blues

These definitely are some uncertain, scary times, to say the least. The one silver lining to my dad’s recent hospital stay is that I binged a lot of TV, read quite a few books and listened to a bunch of podcasts, which means I have a slew of new entertainment favorites to share with my fellow stalkers. I hope these recommendations make your self-quarantines a bit more enjoyable and bring some laughs, smiles and distractions in the coming weeks. In the meantime, please take care of yourselves and stay healthy. Note – I’ll keep adding to this list as I make new discoveries for the duration we are on lockdown, so check back for updates!

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1. Truth Be Told (Apple TV+) – All hail Apple TV+! Not only did the network create The Morning Show, one of my favorite series of 2019, but two of my picks for this list! The first, Truth Be Told, is the story of a journalist who, believing a man has been wrongly convicted, begins investigating a 20-year-old murder and podcasting about it. Word of warning – while the show starts out strong, it does get a little slow in the middle and I almost tapped out. But I’m so glad I stuck with it because after episode 5, it really picks up again and kept me enthralled to the very end. If you enjoyed Serial, you’ll love this series.

2. For All Mankind (Apple TV+) – This one is a departure from my typical picks because, while no doubt uplifting, it is also decidedly depressing and tragic at times. Overall though, the series, about the space race that would have been had Russia made it to the moon first, is so worth it! The storyline is gripping, the set design drool-inducing, the costumes perfection, and the acting bar none.

3. Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector (NBC and Hulu) – This network adaptation of the 1999 movie The Bone Collector is fantastic! A little bit Law & Order, a little bit CSI, Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector is a gripping character-driven procedural that just seems to get better and better each week.

4. Catch and Kill (Amazon) – Though I’d read excerpts of Ronan Farrow’s groundbreaking 2019 book, which spearheaded the #metoo movement, nothing prepared me for what was covered in its actual pages. Catch and Kill is a riveting account of harrowing abuse, aggressive manipulation, and massive cover-up attempts by many political and Hollywood elite, namely, of course, Harvey Weinstein. The lengths the studio mogul went to silence his victims is mind-boggling, as is the fact that he got away with it for so long. Kudos to Ronan – and the journalists he collaborated with, many of whom had tried to reveal the Harvey allegations years prior – for bringing it all to light. The podcast based on the book is fabulous, as well.

5. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon Prime) – This comedy series kept me sane during the initial portion of my dad’s almost two-month-long hospital stay. My mom and I spent countless hours sitting by his bedside in the ICU watching episode after episode of the hilarious Amazon original on my laptop. The uh-ma-zing costumes, zingy dialogue and heartfelt relationships between characters had me completely distracted and regularly laughing out loud. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is honestly one of the best shows to ever hit the small screen and Rachel Brosnahan in the title role is absolute perfection. You’ll be hard-pressed not to fall immediately in love with her.

Image result for marvelous mrs maisel

6. Schitt’s Creek (Netflix) – This show is, ahem, “simply the best” though it took me a full season to really get into it and I wasn’t truly hooked until the Season 2 finale. The characters are so unique, quirky and well-cast that it’s impossible to pinpoint a favorite, though I love anything involving David (Dan Levy) and Patrick (Noah Reid). My mom and I binged this one at the hospital upon finishing Mrs. Maisel, and Moira (Catherine O’Hara), Alexis (Annie Murphy), John (Eugene Levy) and the gang kept us laughing for the long haul.

Schitt's Creek (2015)

7. Your Own Backyard (all podcast platforms) – Before listening to this podcast, I was unfamiliar with the 1996 disappearance of Cal Poly freshman Kristin Smart. Journalist Chris Lambert had me hooked from the first word, though. His research skills are unparalleled (there’s literally no stone he leaves unturned and no avenue he won’t venture down on his journey to get to the truth) and he does an incredible job of breaking down the decades-old unsolved case via seven gripping episodes. His thoroughness is so extent that it has resulted in San Luis Obispo PD stepping up its investigation. A search warrant was even recently served on the main suspect’s home. I truly believe this is one cold case that will be solved in the near future and we’ll have Lambert and his podcast to thank for it.

Image result for your own backyard

8. Chasing Cosby (all podcast platforms) – I read quite a few articles on the sexual assault allegations against Bill Cosby back in 2014, but had no idea of the full story until listening to this new podcast. Journalist Nicki Weisensee Egan, who actually began reporting on the Cosby case in 2005 (though her words were largely brushed aside), blows the lid off the countless egregious claims against the once-beloved comedian. Most episodes left me dumbfounded. Cosby’s assaults, manipulations, and retaliation against a plethora of women are as bad as those of Harvey Weinstein, if not worse. Chasing Cosby is an enthralling and oftentimes disturbing listen.

9. Little Fires Everywhere (Hulu) – This new Hulu series, about a mysterious single mom who moves into a small town and befriends a well-connected socialite, has a very Big Little Lies vibe and I am so here for it! Bonus – it was shot in L.A.! I’ve already stalked quite a few of its locations, so expect to see those popping up on the blog soon. So far only three episodes of the thrilling program have aired, but I’ve loved every minute and am eagerly awaiting the final five.

10. Home Before Dark (Apple TV+) – Though I didn’t love the somewhat open ending of this new Apple TV+ series, I ate up pretty much every other minute. Centering around a young girl’s attempts at solving a decades-old cold case that involves her father, the show, partly based on a true story, is definitely worth a binge-watch. It’s like a modern-day Nancy Drew and Brooklynn Prince in the lead role is pure joy.

Image result for home before dark apple tv

11. Some Good News (YouTube) – Proving that good can definitely come out of a bad situation, John Krasinski has spent his time in quarantine creating a show that features only cheerful news! To say the weekly series sparks joy is a massive understatement. I find myself both laughing and crying happy tears throughout each episode. And his A-List guests are pretty incredible, too. Some Good News is a must-watch during these uncertain times!

12. The Holdout (Amazon) – A mix of Serial and 12 Angry Men, this thriller centers around a jury holdout who succeeds in changing the minds of her eleven peers, rendering a not-guilty verdict in a landmark murder trial. Ten years later, as the group reunites for a reality show/podcast, the holdout wonders if she made the right call – and tries to solve the mystery of a dead fellow juror found in her hotel room. I couldn’t put The Holdout down!

13. Hollywood (Netflix) – Ryan Murphy’s latest series, the Netflix original Hollywood, is a delightful re-imaging of the Golden Age of Hollywood. I’m all about feel-good stories, especially during these tough times, and this show definitely fits the bill! As Ryan told Salon, “I wanted to give a happy ending to so many people who didn’t have it.” The result is a fun look at what might have been had the Hollywood brass fought convention from the get-go. As well as a fabulous storyline, the acting is superb, the costumes are divine, and the locations are stunning! There’s nothing better to binge right now.

14. Blue Bloods (CBS and Hulu) – Though this series started airing ten years ago, the GC and I only just discovered it while sheltering at home with my parents. The NYC police procedural has pretty much been on constant loop whenever my dad is awake and it did not take us long to get hooked, not to mention fall in love with the Reagans. Those family dinners, amirite? We’ve started watching it from the beginning and every season is better than the last! Consider us smitten. Bonus – thanks to its long run, there are currently over 200 episodes to binge!

15. Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives: Takeout Edition (Food Network) – I am continually impressed by the creativity that has been exhibited while people shelter at home! The college student who designed face masks for the hearing-impaired, the Massachusetts family that built a “hug curtain” to safely embrace loved ones, and the TV chef who completely revamped his most popular show in order to record it from the safely of his own residence. I’m talking about Guy Fieri with that last one. Instead of rolling out to visit America’s best diners, drive-ins and dives, the frosty-tipped Food Network host enlisted chefs from some of the past restaurants he’s covered to cook with him via Zoom for a special set of Takeout Edition episodes. The chefs send all the ingredients for their chosen dishes to Fieri and he boils, braises and blanches away in his outdoor kitchen while they instruct him virtually. It’s truly a family affair with Guy’s eldest son, Hunter, assisting at the stove and youngest, Ryder, operating the camera. The episodes are incredibly well-done, just as fun to watch as the regular shows (if not more so), and provide much-needed publicity for the restaurant industry, which is suffering terribly right now.

16. Building the Perfect Squirrel-Proof Bird Feeder (YouTube)– During quarantine, popular YouTuber/engineer Mark Rober set out to do some bird watching, but instead found himself observing – and attempting to thwart – neighborhood squirrels’ amazingly ingenious attempts at breaking into his backyard bird feeders. Never in a million years did I think a 21-minute video about squirrels would keep me entertained (I was actually slightly annoyed at the GC when he pulled it up for us to watch), but it hooked me from the start! The well-produced, hilarious and informative segment is the squirrel video I never knew I needed! It is honestly one of the best things I’ve watched over the past two months of sheltering-at-home. Who knew squirrels were so smart – and entertaining!

17. Upload (Amazon Prime) – Amazon’s new series about a virtual reality alternative to death may not sound heartwarming, feel-good, or funny, but it truly is! The characters are so perfectly cast (which isn’t surprising being that The Office creator Greg Daniels is at the helm) that I found myself looking forward to my nightly viewings just to spend time with them. At 18 minutes, each episode makes for a quick binge, too. Though I was not at all happy with the season-ending cliffhanger, Upload still definitely makes for a fabulous watch.

Amazon.com: Watch Upload - Season 1 | Prime Video

18. Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story (USA Network) – True crime fans – the latest season of Dirty John is for you! A dramatization of the murders of prominent San Diego attorney Dan Broderick and his mistress-turned-wife, Linda Kolkena, at the hands of his first wife, Betty Broderick, the anthology series sticks very close to the actual details of the case. Only two episodes have aired so far, but I am all in! It doesn’t hurt that Amanda Peet and Christian Slater are perfection in their roles as Betty and Dan, respectively. Peet even manages to make ‘80s clothing seem chic again! I’m expecting her simple gold necklace to start trending à la Connell’s Normal People chain any day now!

Dirty John (TV Series 2018– ) - IMDb

19. Simon Beckett’s David Hunter Series (Amazon) – I just finished reading The Scent of Death, the latest in Simon Beckett’s series about forensic anthropologist David Hunter, and, if it’s any indication, the popular British author isn’t slowing down anytime soon! Though the titles – Whispers of the Dead, The Restless Dead, Written in Bone – are incredibly dark, as are the subject matters, as my best friend recently said, Beckett’s books are somehow “cozy.” It’s an odd phenomenon, but the author is a master at creating intoxicating settings, ones you want to dive right into. While I don’t necessarily remember all the storylines of his books after the fact, I vividly remember the locations. The mysteries at the center of each novel are incredibly gripping, as well. Note – the series definitely should be read in order, starting with The Chemistry of Death.

19. All Rise Zoom Episode (CBS All Access, Amazon, YouTube) – I’ve been a fan of All Rise since the beginning and the freshman series’ latest episode, “Dancing at Los Angeles,” only served to make me a bigger one. Shot entirely via Zoom at the actors’ homes, at first I didn’t think it could possibly hold my attention. But I was patently wrong. The episode took four weeks to execute – with location scouts of each actor’s residence, costume consultations, and rehearsals all held virtually – and it shows. “Dancing at Los Angeles” is incredibly well done! The chemistry of the cast is still evident in spades, the topical storyline flawlessly fits in with the series’ overall arc, and it is thoroughly engaging from start to finish. Necessity is the mother of invention, as they say, and kudos to the cast and crew of All Rise for, ahem, rising to the occasion so adeptly. Even if you aren’t a regular viewer of the series, the groundbreaking episode is still worth a watch. And you can read a great article about how it was created here.

All Rise': How CBS show cast made finale amid coronavirus - Los ...

20. Defending Jacob (Apple TV+) – Thanks to its rather sinister trailer, I almost chalked this one up as far too dark for my tastes, especially during these scary times. But thanks to a recommendation from a friend, I reconsidered and am so glad I did. The limited drama series, about the son of a district attorney accused of killing a classmate, is utterly mesmerizing and beautifully shot! Though (spoiler!) the open ending left me thoroughly frustrated, Defending Jacob makes for an extremely compelling watch. Bonus – shot in and around Newton, Massachusetts, the scenery and locations are stunning.

21. The Healer (Netflix) – A feel-good story is just what the doctor ordered right now! And this film, about a curmudgeonly young man gifted with the ability to heal, certainly delivers! Mid-viewing, I worried The Healer was going to end sadly, but it wound up being a sweet, heartwarming tale. It doesn’t hurt that leading man Oliver Jackson-Cohen is easy on the eyes. Winking smile And the Abigail character, played by Kaitlyn Bernard, is a dead ringer for Marty (Natalie Portman) in fave movie Beautiful Girls.

The Healer (2017)

22. Natalie Wood: The Complete Biography (Amazon) – This newly-updated biography of film star Natalie Wood is explosive, to say the least! It has been keeping me up way past my bedtime! I first heard about the tome thanks to an excerpt published in the June issue of Los Angeles magazine and was immediately hooked. My fingers could hardly type an order to Amazon fast enough! The book itself does not disappoint. At times, it’s hard to believe it’s a true story! If you’re looking for a literary escape to keep your mind occupied during quarantine, this is it!

Honorable Mention – 22 Hours: An American Nightmare (all podcast platforms) – Initially I loved this podcast about a grizzly home-invasion-turned-quadruple-homicide, but listening to it during the long, dreary days my dad spent in the ICU eventually wore on me and I had to stop tuning in. Had I been in a better headspace, though, I am pretty sure 22 Hours would be a top pick. That being said, considering the difficult days we are currently experiencing, this might not be the best podcast to recommend, which is why it is listed as an honorable mention. If you enjoy true crime, though, and your spirits aren’t easily dampened, 22 Hours is an incredibly well-produced glimpse at the investigation into one of Washington D.C.’s most disturbing cases.

22 Hours: An American Nightmare

Looking for additional recommendations? Be sure to check out My Favorite Entertainment Finds of 2018 and 2019.