TV Locations – Page 10 – IAMNOTASTALKER

June 17, 2019July 16, 2019

Blissful Drip Café from “Big Little Lies”

Big Little Lies producers sure like their fake coffee shops! In the hit HBO series’ first season, Madeline Martha Mackenzie (Reese Witherspoon), Celeste Wright (Nicole Kidman) and Jane Chapman (Shailene Woodley) regularly hung out at Blue Blues, a supposed Old Fisherman’s Wharf restaurant that, as I mentioned here and here, was actually a studio-built set situated in front of a green screen. This season, the trio frequents Blissful Drip Café, another faux spot that was installed, not on a soundstage, but on location at Lovers Point Park in Pacific Grove. I learned about the prop coffee bar thanks to several articles written about its construction back in April 2018 (you can read one here and one here) and I, of course, made note of it. So when my friend Nat headed out to Monterey a couple of weekends ago and asked if I needed anything stalked, Lovers Point Park was the first thing I mentioned!

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Lovers Point Park and Beach is an area I am very familiar with. Growing up in nearby San Francisco, Monterey was a favorite vacation spot for my family. Countless hours were spent at the Pacific Grove retreat, namely at the snack bar overlooking the water where my dad and I would always order an extra helping of fries to feed the seagulls that would inevitably join us.

The bucolic 4.4-acre site, which regularly plays host to sunbathers, scuba divers, windsurfers, swimmers, bicyclists, runners, and fishermen, boasts a large beach surrounded by a rocky cove, a pier, a children’s swimming pool, a volleyball court, picnic areas, a restaurant, the aforementioned snack bar, and a large park situated on a grassy bluff fronting Monterey Bay.

It is the park area that serves as the home of Blissful Drip Café on Big Little Lies. In the Season 2 premiere titled “What Have They Done?”, Madeline and Celeste pop by the funky seaside coffee shop (which per Madeline “smells like weed”) after dropping their kids off for their first day of school.

While there, Madeline runs into Mary Louise Wright (Meryl Streep), who curtly informs her that she finds “little people to be untrustworthy.”

Celeste and Jane also meet up at Blissful Drip in “Tell-Tale Hearts.”

In “The End of the World,” Jane and Mary Louise have coffee and discuss Perry (Alexander Skarsgård) there, though not much of the place can be seen.

And in “She Knows,” Celeste and Mary Louise have a tense tête-à-tête at Blissful Drip.

Though the café is charming and boasts stellar views, I can’t help but miss Blue Blues while watching – not to mention Tom (Joseph Cross), the eatery’s cutie owner who struck up a romance with Jane toward the end of Season 1. Why Tom isn’t making an appearance this time around, I am unsure. (Yes, I do know that Cross landed a leading role in the upcoming Netflix series Medal of Honor, but Iain Armitage, who plays Jane’s son, Ziggy Chapman, somehow made S2 of Big Little Lies work despite being the star of Young Sheldon and I feel Joseph could have done the same.) I do have an answer for Blue Blues’ absence, though. Per a Monterey County Now article, current director Andrea Arnold, who was brought on to replace Jean-Marc Vallée, wanted to showcase more outdoor locations than were featured in Season 1. Blue Blues, therefore, was scrapped and replaced with Blissful Drip. The fake café stood at Lovers Point Park for a total of 12 days (including installation and dismantling) and cost the production $44,077.50 in park use fees. (You can check out a breakdown of those costs here and here.) According to Monterey County Now, Madeline and the gang will be hanging out at the coffee bar throughout Season 2. In fact, HBO donated the café set to Pacific Grove after filming wrapped with the understanding that the company would have access to it if the show gets picked up for a third season. What the city will end up doing with it, I don’t know, but how cool would it be if it became a real coffee shop?

In reality, the area where Blissful Drip was installed (denoted with a pink arrow below) is nothing but an empty (albeit very picturesque) patch of grass.

The exact spot where the café was built is denoted in the aerial view below, with the pentagon representing the eatery’s gazebo and the attached rectangle its trellised patio.

The very same area of Lovers Point Park was featured in Big Little Lies’ Season 1 finale titled “You Get What You Need,” in the scene in which Jane tells Celeste that it is her son, Max (Nicholas Crovetti), who has been bullying Amabella Klein (Ivy George).

The spot where Blissful Drip was constructed (denoted with a pink arrow below) was visible behind Celeste in the segment.

As I detailed in my comprehensive list of locales from the series’ first season, Lovers Point Park and Beach popped up in additional episodes of Big Little Lies, as well.

Ed Mackenzie (Adam Scott) and Nathan Carlson (James Tupper) almost go to blows on the northern edge of Lovers Point Park, just due north of where Blissful Drip was built, in “Serious Mothering.”

Jane and Ziggy hang out at Lovers Point Beach in “Push Comes to Shove” . . .

. . . and in the area just south of the beach in “Living the Dream.”

Big THANK YOU to my friend Nat for stalking this location for me!

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: Lovers Point Park, where the Blissful Drip Café set was built for the second season of Big Little Lies, is located at 631 Ocean View Boulevard in Pacific Grove.

June 7, 2019June 5, 2019

The Friends of Heaven Grief Retreat Hotel from “Dead to Me”

You wouldn’t expect a show centered around grief to be funny. But the Netflix original Dead to Me, about the recently-widowed Jen Harding (Christina Applegate) and her new BFF Judy Hale (Linda Cardellini), whom she meets in the Laguna Beach chapter of the Friends of Heaven grief group, is downright hilarious! One episode in particular, “I’ve Gotta Get Away,” in which Jen and Judy attend a Friends of Heaven-sponsored retreat, had me LOLing throughout. So I, of course, had to blog about the supposed Palm Springs hotel where the event took place, which, as it turns out, is a mash-up of several different L.A. spots. Two I’ve previously blogged about and recognized on sight (that’s the Sportmen’s Lodge above, which you may remember from this post) and the third I did a bit of digging to track down. What can I say – I always go the extra mile for my fellow stalkers. Winking smile

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The bulk of the Friends of Heaven Grief Retreat took place at The Garland Hotel Studio City, a spot I spent a few days at in 2015 and later blogged about. Numerous areas of the retro-fabulous property, which does have a very Palm Springs feel, were utilized in the episode including the Cabrillo ballroom, where Jen follows her new crush, Jason (Steve Howey), to a seminar titled “Big Question.” Though I stalked the space during my Garland stay, unfortunately the photos I took don’t jibe with the angles shown onscreen. Regardless, you can still see that the carpeting, wall color and chair railing match.

And while I failed to snap an image of the Cabrillo’s entrance, which appeared on Dead to Me, I did get a pic of the doors to another of the hotel’s venues, the Beverly Garland Theatre, which bears the same look.

The lodging’s Garland Ballroom was utilized for the Lost Angels: Finding Yourself After Pregnancy Loss workshop that Judy attends.

Again, my photos were taken from different angles than what was shown onscreen, but you can see that the chandeliers, mirrored paneling and carpet all match.

One of The Garland’s hallways was utilized in “I’ve Gotta Get Away,” as well.

And the hotel’s picturesque courtyard pops up twice in the episode.

It first appears toward the beginning of “I’ve Gotta Get Away,” in the scene in which Judy and Jen head to their respective seminars.

Later, Jen has a talk with Pastor Wayne (Keong Sim) there.

I am unsure if the two hotel rooms featured on Dead to Me are actual Garland rooms (which you can see images of here) or studio-built sets.

Though both suites do look very much like those of the hotel, there are some structural differences. For instance, Jason’s room on the show has louvered double closet doors . . .

. . . while The Garland’s rooms feature flat single closet doors with raised blue paneling.

On Dead to Me, similar blue paneled doors instead lead to the bathroom.

But The Garland’s bathroom doors are made of frosted glass.

Jason’s room also boasts crown molding and numerous ceiling beams . . .

. . . which the actual rooms do not, as you can see in the image below from the hotel’s website.

While I’m leaning toward the Dead to Me rooms being sets, the wallpaper and carpeting in both suites match those of the hotel precisely. It seems like duplicating those two décor items in such exacting fashion would not only be difficult, but rather pointless considering most viewers have likely never been to The Garland and would have no idea what the accommodations look like. So I’m really torn on this one.

And oddly, while The Garland does have a beautiful pool . . .

. . . for whatever reason, cast and crew headed three miles west to the Sportsmen’s Lodge for Dead to Me’s pool scene.

I have stalked Sportmen’s Lodge countless times in the past (you can read about one instance here), so I recognized the pool – and its signature orange chaises – immediately. Somehow though, I had never taken any photos of the area and when I recently headed back to the hotel to do so, I found it under massive construction. Despite the detritus, the pool is still recognizable from its appearance in “I’ve Gotta Get Away.”

In another odd twist, producers chose not to utilize any of the restaurants located at either The Garland or Sportsmen’s Lodge for the Carry On-Oke event that supposedly took place at the hotel bar. They instead made use of a Hollywood watering hole named Black. Though I have yet to stalk the place and actually had never heard of it prior to researching for this post, it was not very hard to identify thanks to its unique retro aesthetic. You can check out some photos of it here.

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 Friends of Heaven Grief Retreat from the “I’ve Gotta Get Away” episode of Dead to Me took place at these three spots – The Garland Hotel at 4222 Vineland Avenue in Studio City, Sportsmen’s Lodge Hotel at 12825 Ventura Boulevard in Studio City, and Black bar at 6202 Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood.

June 5, 2019June 3, 2019

Steve’s House from “Dead to Me”

I have a major thing for modern houses. So it’s no shock that my favorite locale from the new Netflix series Dead to Me is the uber-contemporary abode belonging to Judy Hale’s (Linda Cardellini) ex, Steve Wood (James Marsden). Huge, avant-garde and decidedly unique, I fell in love with the place as soon as it came into view in the pilot episode and set out to find it immediately. Though an address number of “232” was clearly visible on the front of the residence in many scenes, it turned out to be fake – which thankfully did not lead me astray. From the start, I had an inkling that the obviously newly-built home was located in the San Fernando Valley, most likely Encino. So I inputted “large modern house” and “Encino” into Google and the second result kicked back was this Peerspace listing for an “Ultra Modern Huge Mansion with Pool and Tennis.” One look at the photos posted told me it was the right spot! Though no address was given, the copy below the images stated that the pad was in Encino’s Royal Oaks neighborhood and from there it did not take me long to pinpoint its location as 4230 Valley Meadow Road. I ran out to stalk it a few days later and that’s when fate stepped in!

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While the Grim Cheaper and I were out front snapping photos, the owner happened to pull up. As he got out of his car, he noticed us and inquired as to what we were doing. Bracing myself for being told to leave immediately, I explained that I was visiting the house because of its appearance in Dead to Me and, amazingly, without hesitation, he invited us right in!

Yes, you read that right – he invited us inside the residence to take a closer look! I could not believe my luck!

Nor could I believe how impressive the house was in person! Though it obviously looked stellar on Dead to Me . . .

. . . close-up it was even far more remarkable!

The 3-story property, which is currently for sale, boasts 8 bedrooms (all en suite and with walk-in closets), 11 baths, 9-foot ceilings, a grand entry, multiple fireplaces, a theatre, a gym, an elevator, a laundry room, an entertainment area with a built-in bar, a detached in-law unit, and an 8-car garage!

All 10,400 square feet of it is stunning!

Everywhere you turn is like a work of art!

Even the hallways are dramatic.

And the theatre! Oh my gosh, the theatre! Can you imagine having that in your house?

Or the gym?

It is the master bedroom, though, that really had me drooling.

The spacious suite boasts both his-and-her bathrooms AND his-and-her walk-in closets.

While the male bathroom (pictured above and below) is nothing to shake a stick at . . .

– the GC was especially impressed with the fact that there was a urinal (me, not so much) –

‘

. . . and the male closet is nice, as well . . .

. . . the female bathroom is the stuff dreams are made of!

I mean!

When can I move in?

And don’t even get me started on the attached bathed-in-pink female closet!

The 0.92-acre grounds are pretty extraordinary, as well, with a 60-foot lap pool, a spa, a wading pool, a fire pit, a 70-foot waterfall, a built-in BBQ and bar, a tennis court, and a large cabana area situated off the master bedroom.

Yeah, I could hang here.

The home somehow manages to be sleek and modern yet warm and inviting at the same time.

And it can all be yours for a cool $7,495,000, which honestly I think is a bargain, considering.

As it turns out, the super-friendly owner was also the home’s builder. The lavish pad, completed in 2018, replaced the 1952 ranch house pictured below (which you can see more photos of here).

Producers made fabulous use of the property throughout Dead to Me’s ten-episode run.

Said to be in Newport Beach’s Harbor Ridge area, the home’s exterior appeared numerous times on the series.

The interior did, as well.

You can see why I fell in love with the place.

The landing just outside the elevator on the residence’s second floor was the site of one of my favorite scenes from the show in which the recently widowed Jen Harding (Christina Applegate) hosts an open house where she runs into her ex mother-in-law, Lorna (Valerie Mahaffey), and gets pressured into having a birthday party/memorial for her dead husband.

I was just a little thrilled to pose in that same spot, though my photo was taken from the opposite angle from which the scene was shot.

Interestingly, producers did not make use of the home’s master bedroom on the show. Instead, a set was built to portray Steve’s bedroom. Said set was much less plush than that of the actual house, as you can see below.

According to the owner, the pad will be making an appearance on the upcoming season of The Affair, as well.

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: Steve’s house from Dead to Me is located at 4230 Valley Meadow Road in Encino.

May 31, 2019May 30, 2019

Jen’s House from “Dead to Me”

The Grim Cheaper and I admittedly become obsessed with a lot of shows. But it is a rare occasion (at least as of late) to find ourselves consumed by a series filmed entirely in L.A. (Bosch and Brooklyn Nine-Nine notwithstanding). Darn runaway production! So I was ecstatic to discover the thrilling, hilarious AND locally shot Dead to Me. A few sites from the new Netflix original I recognized immediately, like The Warehouse Restaurant which masked as Dana Point eatery Point Bliss, where Bambi (Olivia Macklin) worked. Other spots I set about tracking down as soon we finished binging it. At the top of my list of to-find places was the supposed Laguna Beach abode where widow Jen Harding (Christina Applegate) lived with her two sons, Charlie (Sam McCarthy) and Henry (Luke Roessler), and new BFF, Judy Hale (Linda Cardellini). Fortunately, it was a snap to pinpoint.

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While plowing through the series’ ten episodes (which the GC and I did in just two days), I noticed an address number of “3847” visible on the curb in front of Jen’s house in several establishing shots. I had an inkling the pad was located somewhere in the Studio City/Sherman Oaks/Encino vicinity and hit pay dirt when I entered “3847,” “house” and “Sherman Oaks” into Google. An address of 3847 Deervale Drive was kicked back and, sure enough, it was the right place!

Aside from the front door which was painted bright yellow for the production, the Cape Cod-style dwelling looks exactly the same in person as it did onscreen . . .

. . . right down to the script on the mailbox.

In real life, the charming property boasts 5 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, 4,909 square feet of living space, a kitchen featuring Carrara marble and Caesar stone counters, a breakfast nook, French doors throughout, multiple fireplaces (including one outside), a formal dining room, a media room, a butler’s pantry, a pool, a spa, and a covered backyard loggia.

The 1960 pad, which was heavily remodeled in 2010, last sold for a whopping $2.5-million in January 2011.

Only the exterior of the home appeared on Dead to Me. All interiors were filmed on a studio-built set.

Said set was modeled very closely upon the residence’s actual inside, as you can see in the screen captures as compared to the MLS images from the 2011 sale above and below. In fact, the home so closely resembles its TV counterpart that at first I thought filming had taken place on location there. Upon closer inspection, though, I noticed a few differences. In the actual kitchen, for instance, there is no spacing between the windows and the upper cabinets that frame them, but the set windows are surrounded by a perimeter of wall space. And while the actual home’s real life lower cabinets are made up of drawers, the set’s aren’t.

Other than that, though, Jen’s kitchen is a dead ringer for that of the actual house.

As is the breakfast nook area just beyond it.

The living room set also closely matches the actual living room, though I am unsure why production added that odd yellow window-like insert to the otherwise sleek built-ins.

Lacking wallpaper, curtains and a shelving unit, the home’s dining room is much less ornate than its television dupe, though its shape, layout and wainscotting are the same.

Jen’s master bedroom also bears a similar layout and window/French door schematic to that of the actual house . . .

. . . though her bedroom’s side wall has a cut-out, which the real residence does not.

While the interior of 3847 Deervale was not utilized for filming, its backyard was.

The pool got a lot of airtime . . .

. . . and the outdoor fireplace made an appearance in the pilot (although it was closed off with white cabinet doors and a television installed above it for the shoot).

Shockingly, the guest house where Judy lived is not a real element of the residence. Much like the Cohen family’s pool house on fave show The O.C., the structure was a just a façade built for the production in the area adjacent to the pool.

The spot where it was constructed is home to a patch of grass in real life.

As was the case with Jen’s residence, the interior of the guest house was a studio-built set.

Jen’s pad is not the only Dead to Me location to be found on Deervale Drive! The property belonging to her neighbor, Karen (Suzy Nakamura), aka the Mexican Lasagna Lady (who Redditors have some interesting theories about), is right next door at 3869 Deervale.

It, too, looks much the same as it did onscreen.

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: Jen Harding’s house from Dead to Me is located at 3847 Deervale Drive in Sherman Oaks. Karen’s home from the series is right next door at 3869 Deervale Drive.

May 29, 2019May 31, 2019

Hoose Library of Philosophy from “What Women Want”

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

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

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

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

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

. . . and a central courtyard with a fountain.

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

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

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

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

. . . a massive carved fireplace . . .

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

. . . stained glass windows . . .

. . . tile mosaic designwork . . .

. . . rich wood paneling . . .

. . . and reading nooks galore . . .

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

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

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

I mean!

That tiling!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

April 19, 2019April 19, 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. Winking smile 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! Smile

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 15, 2019August 5, 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! Smile

April 1, 2019March 30, 2019

Zipper Concert Hall from “The West Wing”

Most actors will tell you that extra work is the worst. But when I first landed in L.A. back in 2000, I did quite a bit of it and couldn’t have enjoyed myself more. Just being on a movie or television set was surreal and provided an indelible opportunity to observe the inner workings of a production, watch my favorite actors live and in person (and sometimes even interact with them), and be truly immersed in the filmmaking process. I ate it all up with a spoon. One of my more memorable experiences took place on April 24th, 2000 (yes, I remember the date) when I sat in the audience of a supposed live town hall meeting with President Josiah ‘Jed’ Bartlett (Martin Sheen) for the Season 1 finale of The West Wing titled “What Kind of Day Has It Been.” I was not a viewer of the hit NBC series at the time and, despite my extraordinary experience on set, did not watch the episode when it aired and, shockingly, did not end up seeing it until last month when the Grim Cheaper and I went on a West Wing binge. Even though 19 years had passed, I was immediately brought right back to the day of the shoot and decided that I had to write a post on the auditorium where filming took place. While I did not remember its exact location, I did recall that it was in downtown L.A. near the U.S. Bank Tower. So I got to Googling and amazingly the first result kicked back when I inputted “auditorium” and “downtown Los Angeles” was a link to Zipper Concert Hall which turned out to be the right spot!

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Zipper Concert Hall is located on the campus of The Colburn School, a performing arts institution originally founded in 1950 as part of the USC School of Music. Initially housed in a warehouse across from the Shrine Auditorium in University Park, the facility offered piano lessons to young children. At some point, the curriculum was expanded to include college-level courses and the place re-branded as the Community School of Performing Arts. The academy broke away from USC in 1980 thanks to a sizeable donation from philanthropist/music enthusiast Richard D. Colburn and six years later it was renamed in his honor. Twelve years after that, The Colburn School was relocated to a new, larger custom-built campus at the corner of South Grand Avenue and East 2nd Street in downtown L.A., where it remains today.

Designed by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates, at its inception the modern complex boasted a library, a rehearsal hall, two dance studios, a piano lab, 28 teaching spaces, and the 415-seat Zipper Concert Hall. The auditorium (it’s the sloped structure with the sheet metal roof below) was named after Vienna-born musician Herbert Zipper who served as The Colburn School’s artistic advisor from 1980 until his death in 1997.

Interestingly, the Lloyd Wright-designed former studio of violinist Jascha Heifetz was also incorporated into the layout of the campus. Initially situated on the grounds of Heifetz’s Beverly Hills estate (at 1520 Gilcrest Drive), the standalone structure, which was connected to the main residence via a breezeway, was saved from demolition by a very unlikely source. Upon Heifetz’s passing in 1987, his home was sold to none other than James Woods, who set about tearing the place down. The actor recognized the significance of the studio, though, and offered it up to anyone who was willing to pay to have it relocated. The Colburn School’s then dean, Joseph Thayer, jumped at the chance. The small edifice was subsequently deconstructed and transported to a storage facility where it sat until the new campus was completed. It was then reassembled on the third floor of the Grand Building. You can check out some images of it in its original form and its current state here and here.

In 2007, the Colburn campus was expanded by the Pfeiffer Partners architecture firm at which time a 384,000-square-foot, 12-story building was added, as were a 3,900-square-foot rehearsal hall, residential housing for 147 students, a cafeteria, offices, an art park, and numerous practice and performance spaces. And the school is still growing. Just last year, prolific architect Frank Gehry was tapped to design yet another addition, this one bringing in 200,000 square feet, an additional concert hall, and a theatre. You can check out some images of what the school currently looks like here and here.

In the “What Kind of Day Has It Been” episode of The West Wing, Zipper Concert Hall masks as Virginia’s Newseum. Though exteriors were filmed at the museum’s former location at 1101 Wilson Boulevard in Rosslyn . . .

. . . all interiors were shot at Zipper. It is there that President Bartlett speaks to a large audience about the apathy of America’s youth when it comes to government and politics.

The hall appears prominently at both the beginning and end of the episode. Sadly, Zipper was closed when we showed up to stalk it so I did not get to revisit the inside, but you can check out some photographs of it here.

The Colburn School’s Grand Foyer (which you can see images of here) was also featured in “What Kind of Day Has It Been” . . .

. . . as was its Mayman Recital Hall (photos here and here).

I can still remember the filming of the episode as if it was yesterday. I even recall exactly where I was sitting – fourth row, right. (That’s me below!) During the shoot, I became completely enamored with Martin Sheen, who is very much like his presidential character in real life – gregarious, warm, witty, chatty, and a wealth of random knowledge that he loves to share. Throughout breaks in filming, he actively engaged the extras, both individually and as a group, and discussed everything from how he spent the day prior, Easter Sunday, memorizing the speech we were now listening to him perform to behind-the-scenes tidbits (like the fact that Dr. Josiah Bartlett, Jed’s supposed great-grandfather’s great-grandfather and the New Hampshire delegate to the second Continental Congress in 1776, whom he mentions in the speech, was, in fact, a real person) to Elián González, the young Cuban boy who had been seized by federal agents and returned to his father just a few days prior. To see him seamlessly transition between his character and his actual self, turning Jed Bartlett on and off like a switch, was incredible. The president’s speech in the scene was long (much longer than what was actually shown in the episode), detailed, wordy, and full of facts and figures. Martin knew it inside and out, though, and nailed it on every.single. take. The fact that he could be jovial and joking with us one minute and then, as soon as “action” was called, be immediately in character and 100% on-point the next was thrilling and fascinating to watch. It was a long day, too, but Martin was just as fresh on his first take as he was on his last, a good ten to twelve hours later. Witnessing his creative process was an incredible experience – truly a once-in-a-lifetime. I’ll never forget coming home that night and telling my parents that I had learned more about acting (not to mention the way an actor should behave on set) from one day of observing Martin Sheen than I had in my four years of college as a theatre major. They were not pleased by the news considering they footed the bill for the latter. Winking smile

The West Wing is not the only production to feature The Colburn School. In the 2002 drama Adaptation, Charlie Kaufman (Nicolas Cage) attends Robert McKee’s (Brian Cox) Story Seminar at Zipper Concert Hall.

The school masks as the Museum of Design, where Milly Wilder (Mandy Moore) and Jason (Tom Everett Scott) go to see an art exhibit, in the 2007 romcom Because I Said So.

And in the Season 7 episode of Castle titled “Castle, P.I.,” which aired in 2015, Colburn portrays The Eastbourne School, where Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) and Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) investigate the murder of admissions director Shana Baker (Gia Mora). (Note – the exterior seen in the episode is the school’s Olive Street entrance.)

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: Zipper Concert Hall, from the “What Kind of Day Has It Been” episode of The West Wing, is located on the campus of The Colburn School at 200 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles. You can check out the hall’s upcoming events on the school’s official website here.

March 27, 2019April 2, 2019

The “Young Sheldon” House

I don’t think I’ve ever hated a television character more than Samantha Ruland on Scandal (though Beverly Hills, 90210’s Kelly Taylor ranks a close second). Played by Zoe Perry, Samantha represented pure evil – there was literally not a single redeeming thing about her. It got to the point that even hearing her voice had a Pavlov’s-dog-like effect on me, making me want to throw my television out a window each time she spoke. So when I learned that Perry had been cast as Mary Cooper, mother to Sheldon Cooper (Iain Armitage), on Young Sheldon, I did not have high hopes for liking the CBS series, which premiered in September 2017. I still gave it a shot, though, and was pleasantly surprised. While not as good as its parent show, The Big Bang Theory, it is still enjoyable and, amazingly, I have even come to like Zoe! So I was thrilled when fellow stalker Julie posted a comment on my site recently supplying the address of the supposed Medford, Texas home of the Cooper family on the series (spoiler – it’s actually in Valley Village) with the request that I stalk it. Your wish is my command, Julie!

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In real life, the Cooper house, which was built in 1949, boasts 2 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, 1,335 square feet of living space, and a 0.18-acre plot of land. It was sold early last year for a whopping $827,000, though surprisingly there was no mention of its current onscreen role in any of the listing information I came across online.

The new owners appear to be doing some remodeling, but hopefully they are only making changes to the interior and not the exterior. You can check out what the inside of the residence looked like in the 2018 listing photos here.

The ranch-style property is used regularly on Young Sheldon in both establishing shots . . .

. . . and for occasional on location filming.

The pad looks much the same onscreen as it does in person aside from a few minor changes including the removal of the stop sign out front and the red paint on the curb (I believe the latter is taken away digitally), and the addition of the family’s tire swing.

Though Julie surmised that the inside of the home had been utilized in the Young Sheldon pilot, upon close inspection it appears that the Cooper house interior has been a set from the get-go. As you can see in the screen capture from the inaugural episode as compared to the MLS photo below, though similar, the two interiors are not one and the same. Page 30 of Assistant Art Director Andrew Sloane’s online portfolio also notes that the inside of the Cooper residence was built for the pilot. As regular readers of my site know, sets for television shows are typically not constructed until a series is picked up by a network, which is why the vast majority of pilots are filmed on location inside of actual residences. In this case, though, Young Sheldon was a spin-off of the highly popular The Big Bang Theory and therefore came with a built-in audience, so CBS ordered a run of episodes before the pilot had even been shot. As such, the show’s sets were assembled from the outset.

Though the general layout and look of the Cooper house is the same as the Valley Village pad, there are many differences.

The set, which exists on Stage 6 at Warner Bros. Studio in Burbank, is much more dated than the actual house, which makes sense being that Young Sheldon takes place in the late 80s/early 90s.

It does certainly echo the real life home, though.

Even the bathroom (visible in the background of the screen capture below) largely resembles that of the house.

You can check out a video tour of the set given by Raegan Revord, who plays Sheldon’s twin sister, Missy, here.

The picturesque Colonial home belonging to Meemaw (Annie Potts) on the series, said to be located across the street from the Cooper residence, can actually be found about four miles away.

It is none other than the Partridge House on Blondie Street at Warner Bros. Ranch (albeit with a small front porch added). You can read a bit about the property’s history and its other onscreen appearances in this 2016 post I wrote for the Mike the Fanboy website.

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

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Julie for telling me about this location and asking me to stalk it!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Cooper family home from Young Sheldon is located at 5501 Morella Avenue in Valley Village.

March 18, 2019March 17, 2019

The “George Lopez” House

The Grim Cheaper and I watch a LOT of television – something I’ve mentioned many times on this blog. Somehow we still miss quite a few shows, though, like George Lopez which ran on ABC from 2002 to 2007. Nonetheless, when a fellow stalker named Jonathan emailed me back in 2016 to let me know that he had managed to track down the main house from the series on a quiet road in San Fernando, I was thrilled as I figured many of my fellow stalkers would be interested in the find. One look at Street Views images of the pad had me immediately interested, as well. The picturesque Victorian was easily one of the most charming abodes I had ever laid eyes on. So onto my To-Stalk List it went!

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The George Lopez house was originally built in 1885, making it the second-oldest home in San Fernando. (Ironically, the property that outranks it is known as Lopez Adobe. Located at 1100 Pico Street, the dwelling was constructed in 1882 for Valentin Lopez – no relation to George, at least not that I could find – whose family founded the area’s first post office and English-speaking school.)

Per a 2002 Chicago Tribune article, the idyllic Victorian was commissioned by Senator Charles Maclay, a founder of San Fernando, and his wife, Catherine Paxton Maclay.

The once grand home started to fall into disrepair in the 1960s, sadly, and by the time it hit the market in the late ‘90s, had become severely dilapidated. Gretchen and Abraham Guerrero saw through the rotted wood, shattered windows and cracked paint, though, and purchased the pad in 1997, immediately setting about on a massive restoration project that lasted more than five years. During the renovation, paint layers were stripped away, many original elements restored or re-created, two bathrooms were added (the pad initially only had one), and the attic space turned into a master suite. The result of their efforts is stunning.

Today, the 1,761-square-foot abode boasts 4 bedrooms, 3 baths (one with a footed tub), a 0.39-acre lot, a wraparound front porch, a fireplace, red oak flooring, 12-foot ceilings, and a modern kitchen with marble counters.

Considering George Lopez grew up in San Fernando, it is no surprise that the pad came to be used on the series, which was largely based on his life.

The property looks much the same in person as it did onscreen, though it has since been painted green, which Gretchen and Abraham believe is its original coloring. During their lengthy renovation, the couple happened to come across a stack of laurel-hued wood stashed away in an exterior closet which led to their hunch. They had the color matched and subsequently repainted the house, bringing it back to its initial glory.