Be sure to check out today’s Scene It Before post for L.A.mag.com, about the house from the new movie The Gift. My articles typically get published in the late morning/early afternoon hours.
Category: This and That
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Going on Vacation!
I am currently on vacation in L.A. with my family and will not be publishing any new blog posts for the next week or so. Our trip is planned to last two weeks, but we are keeping things up in the air depending on how my dad is feeling. I will definitely be back to regular postings the week of August 17th, but could also be back sooner. Either way, my weekly articles for Los Angeles magazine will still be posted each Thursday, so don’t forget to check them out. I hope all of my fellow stalkers have a fabulous two weeks!
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Movie Locations in the Great Outdoors
Be sure to check out my latest post for Discover Los Angeles, about L.A. movie locations that celebrate the great outdoors.
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Latest “L.A.” Mag Post – About the “Vacation” House
Don’t forget to read my latest post for L.A.mag.com, about the Griswold house from National Lampoon’s Vacation. My articles typically get published in the late morning/early afternoon hours.
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The Complete “Clueless” Guide to L.A.
I could NOT be more excited about my latest Discover Los Angeles article. In fact, it might be my favorite blog post that I have ever written! I present to you The Ultimate (and Complete!) Guide to Clueless Movie Locations in Los Angeles: Part I and Part II. This one was truly a labor of love and took me countless hours of research to put together, but I don’t think I’ve ever had more fun stalking! I cannot tell you the number of emails I sent out, people I talked to, doors I knocked on, or time I spent on Google Street View, but in the end it was worth it as my list includes every. single. locale. featured in the movie – right down to the pot Cher (Alicia Silverstone) hits on her way to school. I hope all of my fellow stalkers enjoy reading the post as much as I enjoyed putting it together.
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That Pink Door
I have yet to really hop aboard the Pinterest bandwagon, but I know I’m in the minority on that one. Those who are Pinterest-philes are most definitely familiar with what has come to be known as “That Pink Door.” That Pink Door is actually the brightly-hued front door of a residence in the Indian Canyons neighborhood of Palm Springs. The home also pops up regularly on Instagram (do a search for #thatpinkdoor and you’ll be inundated with blush-colored images) as well as on countless fashion blogs, which is how I came to discover it. I have long been obsessed with fashion blogger Julia Engel, of Gal Meets Glam. Back in May, Julia, her BFF Jordan Jones and their friend Vero Suh visited Palm Springs for what they dubbed a “Best Bebs Weekend.” While in town, they snapped some photos at That Pink Door. When I saw the pics pop up on Julia, Jordan and Vero’s respective websites, as well as the Style Me Pretty website, a few weeks later, I became enamored of the place – and was shocked that I had never heard of it before. So I immediately added it to my To-Stalk list and finally made it over there last week.
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I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that I totally stalked Julia while she was in town. I follow her on Snapchat (@galmeetsglam) and could tell from one of her videos that she was eating at Norma’s at the Parker Palm Springs. So I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on over there in the hopes of getting a pic with her. As it turns out, Julia could not have been nicer! Jordan and Vero were incredibly sweet, as well, and we all wound up chatting for a good ten minutes. I also ended up later purchasing the romper that Julia had on when we met, much to the GC’s chagrin. As I said, I am obsessed! I just think she’s adorable and has such a fabulous and unique fashion sense. If you haven’t checked out her website before, you definitely should! But I digress.
The That Pink Door residence is absolutely massive in person, much larger than I expected it to be.
The post and beam-style home was originally built in 1968 and boasts four bedrooms, five baths, 5,310 square feet and a 0.57-acre plot of land.
The pad’s pink door came courtesy of interior designer Moises Esquenazi, who purchased the residence with his partner, Bryan Graybill, in 2004. At the time, the property was unkempt, outdated and begging for a remodel. The two quickly began redesigning the space into a mid-century modern dream home with such features as glass walls, two fireplaces, a billiard room with a sunken bar, a 75-foot pool with an inlaid tanning shelf, a 12-person spa, two outdoor bars, three fire pits, and an outdoor movie theatre. You can check out what the interior of the home looks like here. While pretty, I had hoped there would be a lot more pink.
The home’s cherry on top, of course, is the pastel pink front door. While Moises and Bryan sold the pad for a whopping $1,820,000 in 2008, the new owners have, thankfully, not touched the color of the door.
The residence has won many accolades, including being featured as one of the “Best Homes in America” in the 25th Anniversary issue of Metropolitan Home magazine. Palm Springs Life also published a piece on it in November 2006. And while the property is said to have been featured on an HGTV program, for the life of me I cannot figure out which program. If anyone happens to know, please fill me in.
For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: “That Pink Door” is located at 1100 East Sierra Way in the Indian Canyon area of Palm Springs.
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The Bates Motel
Today’s location would be better suited for a Haunted Hollywood post, but because it is set to be torn down by the end of the year, I figured time was of the essence. While spending the week in L.A. last month with my good buddies Kim and Katie (that’s Katie pictured above), a friend named Becky mentioned that I should stalk the abandoned Sunset Pacific Motel in Silver Lake. The property is more commonly known as the “Bates Motel” thanks to both the fact that it sits at the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Bates Avenue and that it has been in a decrepit state for decades. The 3-story, 37-room structure was recently painted white as part of a temporary art exhibit, which only serves to make it all the more eerie. Becky thought I would enjoy seeing it in person and she was right! The place did not disappoint!
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From what I can gather from the Historic Aerials website, the Sunset Pacific Motel was built sometime between 1954 and 1964. While the property provided a home away from home for tourists in its early years (it even had a pool that has since been cemented over), by the 1980s it had fallen into a serious state of disrepair and had become a haven for drug use, prostitution and violent crime. A 2002 Los Angeles Times article described it as “one of the city’s most dangerous properties.” Concerned neighbors had been trying to get the facility shuttered for decades, to no avail. Finally, in December 2000, longtime owner Edward Eng was charged with two dozen housing code violations at the property and was eventually forced to close it in March 2002 when the city revoked his operating license. The Sunset Pacific Motel has sat boarded up ever since. You can check out what it looked like during its boarded up phase here and here.
In September 2009, the Board of Commissioners of the Department of Building and Safety voted to raze the motel. Before the demolition took place, though, the site was purchased by Frost/Chaddock Developers with the intent of building a large mixed-use project on the site. Those plans have met with some opposition, though, and while on hold, Frost/Chaddock decided to allow French artist Vincent Lamouroux to paint the property as a temporary art instillation.
In mid-April, Lamouroux began his instillation which he titled Projection. He and his crew used sprayers and hoses to coat every square inch of the Sunset Pacific Motel with an eco-friendly lime wash.
Lamouroux also painted the back of the motel’s billboard;
its sign;
and its palm trees.
It really is a sight to see!
The lime wash will fade over time (it has already begun to disappear from the palm trees) and the motel is slated to be demolished at the end of the year, so if you would like to see it in all of its blindingly white glory, I would get over there as soon as possible.
For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.
Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Becky for telling me about this location!
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: The Sunset Pacific Motel, aka the Bates Motel, is located at 4301 Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake.
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Happy Fourth!
I would like to wish a very happy Fourth of July to all of my fellow stalkers. I hope everyone has a fun and safe holiday weekend.
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New “L.A.” Mag Post – About the U.S. Bank Tower from “Independence Day”
Be sure to check out today’s post for L.A.mag.com, about the U.S. Bank Tower from Independence Day. My articles typically get published in the late morning/early afternoon hours.
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The Neon Museum Las Vegas
I was able to check two major items off of my Stalking Bucket List while I was in Sin City this past March. First was seeing Britney Spears’ “ . . . Baby One More Time” costume at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Second was touring the Neon Museum Las Vegas. Both experiences definitely lived up to the hype.
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I first learned about the Neon Museum – aka the Neon Boneyard, aka the Neon Graveyard – years ago while watching the 1989 New Kids on the Block documentary Hangin’ Tough. In the short, Donnie, Joey and the gang visit the Boneyard during a tour stop in Las Vegas. I have never been a huge NKOTB fan so I am not sure how I came to watch the documentary, but I vividly remember drooling upon seeing the Graveyard. I thought it was one of the coolest places I had ever laid eyes upon and had been itching to stalk it ever since.
You can watch the Hangin’ Tough documentary below. The segment filmed at the Neon Boneyard begins at 1:45.
Speaking of boy bands, do my fellow stalkers remember this gem? I was obsessed with this song for a good year – and I was in my mid-twenties at the time! But I digress.
When Hangin’ Tough was filmed in ‘89, the Graveyard was known as the YESCO (Young Electric Sign Company) Boneyard and it was located at 5119 Cameron Street. YESCO was originally founded by Thomas Young in Utah in 1920. The company opened an outpost in Las Vegas in 1945 and went on to create some of the city’s most iconic signage, including that of the Pioneer Club, Golden Nugget, Glitter Gulch, Stardust, and the Silver Slipper. As casinos were torn down or signage replaced, many of the old signs were relocated to a vacant plot of land at YESCO headquarters. That land became known as the Neon Boneyard. It was not open to the public, but was used occasionally as a filming location.
In 1996, the Neon Museum was established to “collect, preserve, and exhibit neon signs, the classic Las Vegas art form.” The museum leased a 2-acre plot of land on Las Vegas Boulevard South to house the signs it had collected, many of which had been donated by YESCO. Tours of the site were given on a by-appointment basis.
When the La Concha Motel, which originally stood at 2955 Las Vegas Boulevard South, was set to be demolished in 2005, its owners donated its former lobby building to the museum to be used as a visitors’ center. The structure was dismantled in 2006 and reassembled the following year on the museum property.
The arresting shell-shaped building was designed by architect Paul Revere Williams in 1961. It was constructed out of concrete and glass, with wings rising 28 feet above the street.
The Neon Museum Las Vegas finally opened to the public on October 27th, 2012.
The facility’s sign makes use of several fonts and symbols featured in famous Las Vegas signs. The first N is modeled after the Golden Nugget signage, the E is a la Caesars Palace, the O is in the style of Binion’s Horseshoe, the final N is from the Desert Inn, and the star is a la the Stardust.
Besides restoring signs to feature in the Boneyard, the museum, along with the City of Las Vegas, has also restored various signs that are now displayed along Las Vegas Boulevard. One such sign is that of the former Silver Slipper.
The Neon Museum actually boasts two different graveyard sites as you can see below. The north one, named the Neon Boneyard North Gallery, is, I believe, used solely for photo shoots and is not accessible to the public.
Tours of the Boneyard, which last an hour, are offered throughout the day and night and run $18 a person. And, let me tell you, they are worth every penny!
With more than 150 signs on display, every inch of the place is just screaming to be photographed. I took over 200 pictures while there and have already bookmarked about 30 that I want to blow up and frame! And I am absolutely itching to go back for a night tour to see the signs lit up in all of their neon glory.
While the photos I took are pretty darn stunning (if I do say so myself!), none of them even mildly do the place justice. The Neon Museum is exponentially cooler in person! I cannot more highly recommend a visit!
A few things to keep in mind before embarking upon a tour yourself – the Graveyard is comprised of gravel pathways, so female stalkers should avoid wearing heels.
It is also HOT out there, so adjust your wardrobe accordingly. We visited the Boneyard in March and it was ungodly warm, so I cannot even imagine what it is like during the summer months.
Tours also sell out regularly, so I would highly recommend booking tickets well in advance.
Some of the tour highlights include a humongous skull that was formerly displayed on the Treasure Island (now TI) Hotel & Casino sign. You can see a photograph of what the sign used to look like here.
The skull is situated facing upward, which makes for some pretty cool aerial views of the Boneyard.
Also on display is the former Stardust Resort and Casino sign.
Measuring 216 feet in length and 27 feet in height, at the time of its construction in 1958 it was the largest electric sign in the entire world.
I was especially enamored of the sign from the Moulin Rouge Hotel, which opened to the pubic on May 24th, 1955 and shut its doors by November of that year, a scant six months later.
Both the YESCO Boneyard and the Neon Museum have been featured countless times onscreen. In the 1995 thriller Beyond Desire, Rita (Kari Wuhrer) took Ray Paterson (William Forsythe) for a brief visit to YESCO.
In the 1996 comedy Mars Attacks, Rude Gambler (Danny DeVito) meets his demise at the YESCO Graveyard after running there while trying to escape from Martians.
YESCO was also featured in the 1997 romcom Fools Rush In, in the scene in which Jeff (The Closer’s Jon Tenney) tries to convince Alex Whitman (Matthew Perry) to divorce Isabel Fuentes Whitman (Salma Hayek).
That same year, Audrey Griswold (Marisol Nichols) and Cousin Vicki (Shae D-lyn) attended a party at the YESCO Graveyard in Vegas Vacation.
The Lady Luck sign that Vicki danced on in the movie is visible below. Our tour guide informed us that Shae D-lyn did actually dance upon the actual sign during the filming of the scene.
By the time the Season 4 episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation titled “No More Bets” was shot in 2004, the Graveyard had been moved to its current location.
In the episode, the body of a murder victim is found at the Boneyard.
The body is found propped up against a large neon W, which is said to be a former part of the Whisky Town Casino sign in the episode. That W was not a prop, but is an actual sign displayed at the Graveyard, though I am uncertain of what hotel it actually came from.
The W is currently displayed behind the Stardust sign.
Though not immediately noticeable, our tour guide pointed it out during our tour and mentioned its appearance in CSI. Um, LOVE it!
The Boneyard was featured in The Killers’ 2005 music video for “All These Things That I’ve Done.”
You can watch that video by clicking below.
Anthony Bordain visited the Neon Museum in the Season 1 episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations titled “Las Vegas,” which was shot in 2005.
The Graveyard was the site of the 2007 music video for Jimmy Eat World’s “Big Casino.”
You can watch that video by clicking below.
Laura Pausini’s 2013 “Se Fue” music video, which featured Mark Anthony, was also shot at the Neon Graveyard.
You can watch that video by clicking below.
In the 2013 comedy Last Vegas, the Neon Museum was where Billy (Michael Douglas) told Diana (Mary Steenburgen) that he had only ever been in love once.
According to a Las Vegas Review-Journal article, the ending of the 2013 thriller Now You See Me was supposed to take place at the Neon Graveyard, but the production ran out of time and was unable to shoot the full sequence. The cast and crew did film on the premises for half of a day, but needed a good three days to complete the scene. Star Isla Fisher said, “It looked so good. I saw the footage. It’s so magical. You just wanna do a photo shoot out there and capture all the faded, rusted, old, incredible … you know, it’s like being in another world. Another era.” The footage that was shot was thankfully included as a special feature on the Now You See Me DVD.
For the scene, CGI was used to make the Graveyard appear as if it was located in the middle of nowhere.
The La Concha Motel has also appeared onscreen – it was there that Ginger McKenna (Sharon Stone) rendezvoused with Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci) in the 1995 drama Casino.
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 Neon Museum Las Vegas is located at 770 Las Vegas Boulevard North in Las Vegas. You can visit the museum’s official website here. I highly recommend purchasing tickets far in advance as tours sell out quickly and often.
