Category: TV Locations

Strand Book Store from “Sex and the City”

I have made no secret of my love for bookstores on this blog, especially in recent weeks (as evidenced here and here). I literally cannot get enough of them! So when I spotted a book boutique pop up in the Season 2 episode of Sex and the City titled “The Freak Show,” which I was re-watching shortly before my trip to New York last April, I knew I had to track it down and stalk it. Come to find out, the place is one of NYC’s most famous and historic book sellers!

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Thankfully, the locale was not very hard to identify. While scrutinizing “The Freak Show,” I spotted a red oval-shaped logo situated next to Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) with the word “Strand” centered in it and recognition immediately clicked. I had come across mentions of Strand Book Store, or “the Strand” as it is more commonly known, countless times over the years while researching interesting spots to check out in the Big Apple. Touted as one of NYC’s oldest and largest book shops, the place intrigued me and its name stayed lodged in my brain, but somehow I never made it a point to see it in person during any of my trips back east. So I decided to remedy that and put the site at the very top of April’s New York To-Stalk List.

Originally established in 1927, Strand Book Store was the brainchild of 25-year-old bibliophile Benjamin Brass. The shop was initially located on Fourth Avenue’s Book Row, a six-block area in Greenwich Village comprised of no less than 48 book sellers. Brass dubbed his emporium, which back then sold only used tomes, in honor of the famed Strand street in London where countless notable writers, including Charles Dickens, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Virginia Woolf, have lived over the years.

In 1956, Benjamin’s son, Fred, took over management of the Strand and moved it to its current home on the corner of Broadway and East 12th Street the following year. Though Book Row and the 47 other boutiques once located there are no longer in existence, the Strand managed to not only survive throughout the years, but thrive.

Fred eventually purchased the building housing the store and expanded his retail space. Today, the Strand encompasses three and a half levels comprised of more than 2.5 million new and used titles – or as the Strand’s tag line states, “18 miles of books.” The boutique, which is now co-run by Fred and his daughter Nancy and tended to by 240 employees, also stocks gifts, cards, and various other sundries.

Unfortunately, the employee that I spoke with told me no photos were allowed inside the store, so I was only able to snap pics of the exterior.

In “The Freak Show” episode of Sex and the City, which aired in 1999, Carrie dates a succession of men who all turn out to have freakish habits. The segment shot at the Strand involved a broker named Max (Thomas Pescod) who, as Carrie learns, has a penchant for pilfering books. The brief scene took place outside of the store among the bargain dollar carts stationed on Broadway.

Sex and the City is hardly the only production that has been lensed at the Strand. In the 1993 drama Six Degrees of Separation, Ouisa (Stockard Channing) visits the bookstore with some friends to look for a copy of Sidney Poitier’s biography in order to see if her houseguest, Paul (Will Smith), is lying about being his son.

It is at the Strand that Julie Powell (Amy Adams) laments the unfavorable New York magazine article written about her to her friend Sarah (Mary Lynn Rajskub) in the 2010 biopic Julie & Julia.

Tyler Hawkins (Robert Pattinson) works at Strand Book Store in the 2010 drama Remember Me.

While the exterior of the Strand was featured briefly in the 2014 comedy They Came Together . . .

. . . interior filming took place at Community Bookstore, located at 143 Seventh Avenue in Brooklyn.

In the Season 1 episode of Master of None titled “Finale,” which aired in 2015, Dev (Aziz Ansari) contemplates his life choices while reading The Bell Jar at the Strand.

That same year, Bryan Robbins (Josh Helman) popped into Strand Book Store while looking for his sister, Claire (Sarah Hay), in the Season 1 episode of Flesh and Bone titled “Reconnaissance.”

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Strand Book Store, from “The Freak Show” episode of Sex and the City, is located at 828 Broadway in New York’s Greenwich Village. You can visit the shop’s official website here.

March 8, 2017
The High Line from “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”

I absolutely love the great outdoors. In fact, alongside Starbucks and stalking, there’s pretty much nothing I enjoy more than being outside. So when I read about a former-elevated-train-track-turned-urban-park in NYC prior to my trip to the Big Apple last April, I knew it was a spot I had to check out. At the time, I did not realize the place was a filming location, but since returning home, I’ve seen it pop up in several productions, including fave show The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. So I figured it was definitely worthy of a blog post.

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The High Line saw its beginnings in 1929 when the city of New York decided to build an elevated railway via its West Side Improvement Project. Completed in 1934, the High Line viaduct, as it came to be known, was part of New York Central Railroad’s West Side Line and was mainly used to transport food products from factories to warehouses.

Thanks to the rise of the trucking industry, the High Line saw a vast decline in use beginning in the 1950s and was shut down altogether in 1980. Portions of the elevated track had been torn down in the interim and while many New Yorkers lobbied for the rest of railway to be razed, as well, others fought the demolition. As the debate over what to do with it lagged on, the site was left to deteriorate, sitting abandoned, overgrown, and weed-strewn for decades.

In 1999, neighborhood denizens Joshua David and Robert Hammond joined forces with other preservationists to establish Friends of the High Line in the hopes of turning the former railway into a public park. The group’s plans were eventually approved and in 2006 work on the project began. The High Line was completed in three stages, opening sections in 2009, 2011, and 2014. Today, the 1.45-mile span, which stands 30 feet above ground, is a bustling oasis, visited by more than 5 million people each year.

The picturesque site boasts more than 600 varieties of plants;

countless benches and chaises for lounging;

a walking path;

and views of both the Hudson River . . .

. . . and the streets of Chelsea.

Considering its beauty, it is not surprising that the High Line has been featured in countless productions since its revitalization – so many productions, in fact, that it would be impossible for me to chronicle them all here. But I have compiled a list of a few of the highlights. As I mentioned above, the park popped up in an episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. In Season 7’s “Going Commando,” Kyle Richards and her daughter Sophia Umansky took a walk there during a visit to New York.

In 2008, before the site’s transformation was complete, it was featured in the Season 5 premiere of CSI: NY titled “Veritas” as the spot where Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise) and Stella Bonasera (Melina Kanakaredes) searched for a mimosa pudica plant. The episode provided a great visual of how different the High Line looked prior to its reimagining.

Louie (Louis C.K.) goes on a rather depressing “non-date” at the High Line with Janice (Kelly McCrann) in the Season 2 episode of Louie titled “Bummer/Blueberries,” which aired in 2011.

In the Season 4 episode of Glee titled “Makeover,” which aired in 2012, Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) and Brody Weston (Dean Geyer) dance and frolic on the High Line during a musical montage set to Sheryl Crow’s “A Change Would Do You Good.”

John Reese (Jim Caviezel) takes Sofia Campos (Paloma Guzman) to the High Line in the Season 2 episode of Person of Interest titled “Masquerade,” which also aired in 2012.

The park pops up briefly in the 2013 thriller Side Effects.

Abbi Abrams (Abbi Jacobson) and Illana Wexler (Illana Glazer) visit the High Line to discuss a plan of attack after losing Kelly Ripa’s jacket in the Season 2 episode of Broad City titled “Coat Check,” which aired in 2015.

Harper (Zoey Deutch) and Charlie (Glen Powell) confer about “Parent Trapping” their bosses while walking on the High Line in the 2018 Netflix romcom Set It Up.

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 High Line, from the “Going Commando” episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, runs from Gansevoort Street to West 34th Street, between 10th and 12th Avenues, in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood. You can visit the park’s official website here.

March 1, 2017
Library Bar from “Parenthood”

In his bestselling book Outliers: The Story of Success, author Malcolm Gladwell asserts that a person needs 10,000 hours of practice at something in order to become an expert. I’ve been writing my blog for about nine years now, working on it at least eight hours a day, five days a week, which translates to roughly 19,000 stalking hours under my belt. That number is probably a vast understatement, but I think we can all agree that I am an expert on filming locations. Even experts make mistakes, though. Last week, while watching the most recent episode of fave show Vanderpump Rules (Season 5’s “Into the Closet”), a “Coming Up” teaser was shown prior to a commercial break in which Tom Schwartz and Katie Maloney argued (shocker, I know!) at a dimly-lit restaurant lined with books. I excitedly turned to the Grim Cheaper and said, “That’s Library Bar!” – a dimly-lit, book-lined downtown L.A. haunt that we visited a few years back. When the segment aired a few minutes later, though, I saw I was mistaken as the camera panned to a sign reading “The Wellesbourne” at the top of the scene. Whoops! After, of course, adding The Wellesbourne to my To-Stalk List (the place seriously looks so cool!), I decided to do a post on Library Bar ASAP.

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The GC and I stumbled upon Library Bar by chance one evening in 2011 while on our way to stalk/eat dinner at Takami Sushi & Elevate Lounge (which, ironically, later appeared in a Season 1 episode of Vanderpump Rules). Because I am obsessed with books, the name of the place intrigued me and, as we walked by, I told the GC that I wanted to grab a post-meal cocktail there.

What we wandered into later that night felt like the cozy book-lined living room of a friend. For me, it was love at first sight.

The intimate lounge is dotted with cushy couches, a fireplace filled with candles, and lots and lots of books. And yes, the tomes are all real. Patrons are permitted to peruse them while sipping libations. How incredibly cool is that? Bartender Brianna Rettig told the Los Angeles Times in 2007 that one customer even asked her out on a date by putting a note in a romance novel and later telling her to find the book and turn to page 40.

Library Bar was established in 2006 by Will Shamlian and Michael Leko, restaurateurs who originally met while working at Mezzaluna, the Brentwood eatery where Nicole Brown Simpson ate her last meal. The successful duo also gave us Spring St. Bar, 4100 Bar, and Sixth Street Tavern, among others.

Library Bar, which you can check out some more photos of here, has popped up a couple of times onscreen, though not as often as I would expect considering its unique aesthetic. In the Season 5 episode of Parenthood titled “Fraud Alert,” Julia Braverman-Graham (Erika Christensen) asks Ed Brooks (David Denman) to meet up with her at Library Bar, after learning that her husband, Joel Graham (Sam Jaeger), does not want to work on their marriage. Only the exterior of the lounge was shown in the episode.

In the Season 8 episode of 24 titled “Day 8: 9 a.m – 10 a.m.,” Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) gets into a taxi outside of Library Bar while talking on his cell with Chloe O’Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub). Because the scene involved a telephone call, it was shown in a split-screen format, which explains the odd screen capture below .

Charlie (James Wolk) attempts to win his ex-girlfriend Lauren Powell (Lauren Miller) back while at Library Bar in the 2012 comedy For a Good Time, Call . . . , though not much of the lounge can be seen in the scene. (Special thanks to Instagram user Cherryeco5 for letting me know about this one!)

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Library Bar, from the “Fraud Alert” episode of Parenthood, is located at 630 West 6th Street, Suite 116-A, in downtown Los Angeles. You can visit the lounge’s official website here.

February 13, 2017
Avalon Hotel Palm Springs from “The Hills”

Sometimes I stalk places unknowingly. Such was the case with Avalon Hotel Palm Springs, which I visited back in June 2013 when it was known as Viceroy. I was quite taken with the property’s yellow-hued Old Hollywood Regency-style theme and took a myriad of photographs while there, though I did not plan on blogging about the site because I did not realize it was a filming location. As it turns out, it is – from one of my favorite shows, no less! Last week, my good friend Steffi, who lives in Switzerland, randomly messaged me to ask if I had ever stalked Avalon. She thought I might be interested in doing so being that it was at the hotel that Justin Bobby famously gave his on-again/off-again girlfriend Audrina Patridge a diamond ring in the Season 4 episode of The Hills titled, “I Heidi Take Thee Spencer . . . “ I just about fell out of my chair upon learning the news. I mean, how did I miss that one? I immediately headed over to Hulu to re-watch the episode and, sure enough, there was Avalon! So I decided it was high time I blog about the place.

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Avalon Hotel Palm Springs was originally built as the Estrella Inn in 1933. Initially consisting of 13 standalone Spanish-style bungalows, several two-story Mid-Century-esque buildings were added to the property in the 1950s. Though rather non-descript from the outside . . .

. . . one step through the hotel’s main entrance and you are transported back in time to the days when Garbo, Gable and Gardner ruled Tinseltown.

Avalon’s expansive grounds are characterized by red-roofed bungalows, sprawling lawns, and towering palms.

And, as I mentioned earlier, a lot of yellow.

The site’s distinctive Old Hollywood motif came courtesy of interior designer Kelly Wearstler, who purchased the Estrella in 2001 along with her husband, Brad Korzen, CEO/founder of Viceroy Hotel Group and The Kor Group. (Kor also owns Avalon Hotel Beverly Hills.) The couple re-branded and re-styled the inn, opening it as Viceroy Palm Springs in 2003.

Korzen left Viceroy Hotel Group in 2012, but continued to own Viceroy Palm Springs and three years later re-named the property Avalon Hotel Palm Springs. Despite the name change, Kelly’s unique décor was largely left intact.

Today, the 3.5-acre site boasts 3 pools, meeting and event space, the award-winning Estrella spa (the name is a nod to the hotel’s history), and on-site restaurant Chi Chi.

The thirteen one- and two-bedroom bungalows feature fireplaces, full kitchens, private patios, and, my personal favorite, a “bungalow manager,” to take care of guests’ every need. Sign me up!

The hotel’s expansive gardens feature fruit trees, aloe and agave plants, and palms, which join the rose bushes and bougainvillea vines to create a green and pink oasis.

The property has long been popular with the Hollywood set. Back in the Estrella days, luminaries such as Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, Joan Crawford, Ann Miller, Bing Crosby, Tyrone Power, William Powell, Desi Arnaz, Lucille Ball, Orson Welles, Lupe Vélez, Elvis Presley, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Errol Flynn were all known to check in.

In more recent years, such stars as Katharine McPhee, Becca Tilley, John Mayer, B.J. Novak, Whitney Port, Lea Michele, Hannah Simone, Stassi Schroeder, Ashley Benson, Troian Bellisario, Jesse Metcalfe, Katy Perry, and my man Matt Lanter have all been spotted on the premises (though many were there attending Coachella parties, not necessarily staying at the hotel).

In “I Heidi Take Thee Spencer . . . ,” which was The Hills’ Season 4 finale, Justin and Audrina headed to Viceroy for a “drama-free” vacay away from their friends.

Though the scenes taking place at the hotel were short, as well as few and far between, quite a lot of the property was shown in the episode, including the front entrance, one of the bungalows, the courtyard, and the gardens.

It is while seated next to one of Viceroy’s pools that Justin, in a seeming act of commitment, gave Audrina a gorgeous pavé diamond ring. (The guy may be a total douche, but he sure has great taste in jewelry.) The commitment didn’t mean much, though, obviously, as the two were broken up by The Hills’ Season 5 premiere.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Avalon Hotel Palm Springs, aka the former Viceroy from the “I Heidi Take Thee Spencer . . . ” episode of The Hills, is located at 415 South Belardo Road in Palm Springs’ Tennis Club neighborhood.

February 8, 2017
Skylight Books from “Veep”

While we are on the subject of historic book shops featured in Washington, D.C.-based productions (you can read my post on Idle Time Books from A Few Good Men here), I would be remiss if I did not mention a bookseller that popped up on my new favorite show, Veep. The Grim Cheaper and I recently became obsessed with the HBO series thanks to a recommendation from my good friend Lavonna and blew through all 48 episodes in about 2 weeks. It is easily one of the best-written, best-acted, most hilarious shows I have ever had the pleasure of watching. I mean, any production that pretty much starts out with the main character sh*tting their pants at a public event is something I am going to be all over! I, of course, started researching its locations right out of the gate and was a little heartbroken to discover that the first four seasons were shot in the D.C. area, especially considering we had only just returned from the District a few weeks prior. There was a silver lining, though – Veep relocated to Los Angeles for Season 5. But somewhere along the way I forgot that fact and viewed all of the L.A.-based episodes without paying any sort of attention to the locales. It was not until we completed our binge that I remembered, which meant I had to go back and re-watch all of the fifth season (though that was by no means a chore). During my second go-around of the episode titled “C**tgate,” I recognized Skylight Books, one of my favorite L.A. bookstores, featured in a scene. Though I stalked and blogged about the place long ago, way back in 2011 (hence why I look so different in the above pic), I figured it was worthy of a re-do.

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Skylight Books was established at the former site of another landmark bookstore, Chatteron’s, which shut its doors in 1994 upon the death of its owner after two decades in business. The space remained vacant for the next two years before eventually being brought back to life thanks to the efforts of a group of twelve people, including actors Milton Katselas, Tony Danza and Jeffrey Tambour, who banded together to create Skylight Books. The shop opened its doors to the public on November 1st, 1996.

Skylight Books quickly became a Los Feliz staple and remains so today.

The store is known for its bright and airy aesthetic, the hundreds of signings with notable authors it hosts each year (you can check out the Skylight Books events page here), and the 20-foot tall ficus tree that stands at its center.

Its book inventory is also unparalleled. I always stumble upon the most unique and noteworthy finds while there. I once walked away with a fold-out map of famous literary locations. You just don’t see stuff like that anywhere else. The shop has a fabulous selection of cards and gifts, as well.

In “C**tgate, President Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) heads to a D.C.-area bookstore with her boyfriend, Charlie Baird (John Slattery), for a holiday shopping photo-op. While there (spoiler alert!), Charlie learns that Selina has decided not to bail out his bank, forcing him into bankruptcy. (Because as much as Selina hopes “to fiscal f*ck the Fed has a trillion dollars stuffed in a mattress somewhere,” that sadly isn’t the case.) Needless to say, the outing does not end well. Not only does Charlie storm out, but he plastic-surgery shames the president over her recent eye lift. And I just have to say here that Louis-Dreyfus is sheer magic as Selina. I mean is there any role she doesn’t absolutely nail? From Margo Chester in Christmas Vacation to Elaine Benes on Seinfeld to Vice President/President Meyer on Veep – she is perfection in every part.

Little of Skylight Books was shown in Veep, but I immediately recognized the space’s light wood shelves, brickwork, and the ficus tree branches that canopy the stacks.

Only the interior of the shop was featured in the episode. For the exterior establishing shot, an actual D.C. bookstore named Kramerbooks & Afterwords was utilized. That location can be found at 1517 Connecticut Avenue Northwest in Dupont Circle.

As mentioned in my 2011 post, Skylight Books was one of the main locations used on Joan of Arcadia. In the pilot, Joan Girardi (Amber Tamblyn) got a job at the bookstore, which was referred to by its real name, but was said to be located in Arcadia, Maryland. She continued to work there throughout the series’ two-year run. During the show’s first season, filming took place regularly at the Los Feliz shop.

But for Season 2, a set re-creation of Skylight Books was constructed on a soundstage. As you can see, production designers changed things up quite a bit with the set. Though similar to Skylight, the re-creation is much larger and features more brickwork. You can read an interesting article on the store’s use in the series here.

Calvin Weir-Fields’ (Paul Dano) book signing at the end of the 2012 dramedy Ruby Sparks takes place at Skylight Books, as well.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Skylight Books, from the “C**tgate” episode of Veep, is located at 1818 North Vermont Avenue in Los Feliz. You can visit the store’s official website here. The oft-filmed Fred 62 restaurant can be found a few doors away at 1850 North Vermont. You can visit Fred’s official website here. The Dresden, another oft-filmed restaurant, is located a block south at 1760 North Vermont. You can visit that eatery’s official website here.

February 3, 2017
Orcutt Ranch Horticultural Center & Community Garden from “La La Land”

On paper, La La Land looked like my perfect movie. I love Ryan Gosling. I love Emma Stone. I love musicals. And I LOVE L.A. The film just didn’t work for me, though. I realize mine is a vastly unpopular opinion, but I found La La Land to be too long, too slow, and too melancholy. My main beef, though? For a flick that purports itself to be a love letter to Los Angeles, it certainly did not showcase many real area locations. Sure there was the Griffith Observatory – I’ll give you that one. It’s a real site – and a great one at that. (Though the planetarium featured was a set re-creation.) What about the Rialto Theatre? Yes, the Rialto is an actual movie house, but it’s closed and has been since 2010. You can’t actually see a film there. Angels Flight? That’s real and historic – but, again, shuttered. Watts Towers and Grand Central Market were utilized, but their appearances were fleeting at best. Not even all of the scenes purported to take place on the Warner Bros. backlot were actually shot there. [And no, the coffee shop where Mia (Stone) worked isn’t real, either, though its facade can be seen on the WB Studio Tour.] And while a couple of area restaurants (like the Smoke House) did make the cut, most either played fictitious eateries or were never referred to by name. So basically everything the movie showcased was fake. Southern California is chock full of vibrant, picturesque, dramatic, historic, very real sites that are accessible. Why not celebrate the city and all of its glory by featuring them? A couple of years ago, I stalked one of the few La La Land locales that is actually open to the public (though it did not play itself in the movie) – Orcutt Ranch Horticultural Center & Community Garden. I was familiar with the property thanks to its appearance in an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210, so I recognized it immediately when it popped up onscreen. I had never gotten around to blogging about it, though, and figured what better time than now?

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Orcutt Ranch was originally established by Union Oil Company president/geologist William Warren Orcutt and his wife, Mary Logan. The couple purchased and developed a 210-acre plot of land in what is now West Hills and commissioned architect L.G. Knipe to built a large adobe-style residence on the site. The home, which they dubbed “Rancho Sombra del Roble” (Spanish for “shaded oak ranch”), was completed in 1926 and still stands today. That’s it below.

The Orcutts first used the dwelling as a vacation home before eventually retiring there.

William passed away at the residence in 1942 and Mary continued to live there until 1966, at which point she sold the ranch to the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department.

By that time, a 24-acre portion of the property, which included the house, had already been declared a Historic-Cultural Landmark.

The city dubbed the site “Orcutt Ranch” and opened the grounds to the public.

When I stalked the place in August 2014 (along with Mike, from MovieShotsLA), I was thrilled to discover how open and accessible it is.

Even the Orcutt’s historic adobe was unrestricted, though we were not able to venture inside.

Besides the adobe, a large barn, and several other buildings, the sprawling property also boasts a myriad of gardens, groves, and green expanses, each dotted with countless varieties of plants and trees including birch, wisteria, dogwood, purple lily magnolia, oak, sycamore, and eucalyptus.

Orcutt Ranch is a beautiful place to peruse nature, sit and reflect, or wander aimlessly.

It is also a popular wedding venue.

And filming location! Orcutt Ranch actually portrayed two different places in La La Land. (For those who have yet to see the movie, be forewarned, the paragraphs that follow contain spoilers.) The interior of the Orcutt adobe first masked as the inside of the Chateau Marmont bungalow where Mia was staying at the end of the film. (Why the scene wasn’t shot in an actual room at the historic hotel is anyone’s guess.) Sadly, I do not have any screen captures of that particular scene to post here, but you can see images of the room used in it here and here. Later, in La La Land’s dreamy final montage, during which Mia and Sebastian (Gosling) imagine what could have been, the adobe portrays the couple’s home. Thankfully, I do have screen grabs from that scene thanks to this YouTube video.

It was the adobe’s unique arched door that I recognized while watching La La Land.

The interior of the Orcutt residence was also used in the sequence, including the solarium (which you can see a photograph of here) . . .

. . . and the living room (which you can see a photo of here). You can check out some more images of the adobe’s interior here.

The property’s courtyard and fountain made an appearance in the scene, as well.

As did the lush grounds. (My imagery below isn’t the best because that portion of the scene was shot on a 16mm movie camera and is therefore a bit grainy.)

As I mentioned in my intro, Orcutt Ranch also appeared in an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210. In Season 10’s “Laying Pipe,” it masked as the supposed Ojai-area church where Steve Sanders (Ian Ziering) and Janet Sosna (Lindsay Price) took Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth) and Dylan McKay (Luke Perry) to meet their minister.

Only the exterior of the ranch appeared in the episode.

The gazebo where Janet and Steve had a mini wedding rehearsal was not a set piece brought in for the shoot, but is an actual element of the property, which I was thrilled to see! It does look a bit different today, though, than in 1999 when the episode was shot.

The ranch’s gardens made an appearance in “Laying Pipe,” as well.

A couple of Orcutt Ranch’s outbuildings also masked as the Thomas family farm in the Season 1 episode of Deadtime Stories titled “Grandpa’s Monster Movies.”

One of the buildings used in the episode is pictured below.

For those who felt like I did about La La Land (or who are completely flummoxed as to why I didn’t like it), this The New Yorker review is a great read. As author Dale Robinette states, “I saw La La Land in a theatre, sitting up close to a big bright screen, and couldn’t tell whether it was filmed on location or in a studio in front of a green screen. If [director Damien] Chazelle’s intention was to celebrate, among other things, the public face of the city, he failed miserably at it.” I couldn’t agree more. Chazelle really should have taken a note from Swingers. The 1996 film brilliantly showcased a very real L.A., featuring actual area restaurants, bars and landmarks to such perfection that many still draw fans to this day, twenty years after the movie originally premiered.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Orcutt Ranch Horticultural Center & Community Garden, from La La Land, is located at 23600 Roscoe Boulevard in West Hills. The site is open daily from dusk until dawn and admission is free. You can visit the property’s official website here.

January 30, 2017
Donna’s House from “Rosewood”

I’ve never met a police procedural I didn’t like. When one centers around an insanely charming male lead who constantly (and comically) spars with his cynical female partner, it’s a guarantee it will make my top ten. Such was the case with the FOX drama Rosewood, which began airing in 2015. For those who don’t watch, the insanely charming male lead in this instance is Dr. Beaumont “Rosie” Rosewood, Jr. (Morris Chestnut) and his cynical partner is Det. Annalise Villa (Jaina Lee Ortiz). An additional bonus – though the series is set in Miami, it is lensed primarily in Southern California. So I, of course, became obsessed with finding its locations at around the same time I became obsessed with the show. The one spot at the top of my track-down list was the large Craftsman-style home belonging to Rosie’s mom, Donna (Lorraine Toussaint), aka “Mama Rosewood.” It was not until the seventh episode of the series aired in November 2015 that I was able to locate it, though.

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In the episode, titled “Quadriplegia and Quality Time,” an address number of 521 was visible on the front of Donna’s house. I knew from researching the show that filming mainly takes place in the Anaheim area. I also knew, from the shots of the residence shown in previous episodes, that it was situated on a corner. And, because the dwelling is large, grand, and such an amazing example of Craftsman architecture, I had a hunch it was a historical landmark of some sort. So, armed with that information, I started searching the 500 blocks of historic areas of Anaheim for a large Craftsman home located on a corner. It was not long before I found the right place at 521 North Lemon Street.

Because I so rarely find myself in Orange County, I did not make it out to see the residence in person until this past October, almost a full year after tracking it down. But it was worth the wait. As you can see, the home is absolutely stunning.

My hunch about it being historical turned out to be correct! Known as The Duckworth House, the 1922 pad was originally built for food merchant/land developer William E. Duckworth and, as the sign affixed to the front porch states, has been designated as “historically significant to the Anaheim Colony Historic District.”

The sprawling property boasts 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 3,701 square feet of living space, and 0.39-acres of land complete with fruit trees and rose gardens.

In person, the residence is massive – even larger than it appears to be on TV.

Aside from that, though, it looks much the same as it does on Rosewood.

Donna’s home is featured regularly on the series, typically during the scenes involving the Rosewood family’s weekly dinners.

In an April 2016 The Orange County Register article about the show’s locations (which I wish had been published at the time I was looking for Donna’s house as it would have saved me some time), Rosewood co-executive producer Vahan Moosekian said that “The house (on Lemon Street) looked like it belonged in Florida.” That statement is rather surprising to me because, being Craftsman in style, the residence, in my opinion at least, couldn’t be more quintessentially Californian.

I believe that the real life interior of The Duckworth House is used as the interior of Donna’s home on the series, which is unusual. Don’t quote me on that, though. The inside of Mama Rosewood’s residence could also very well be a set at MBS Media Campus in Manhattan Beach where the show is lensed. From the way episodes are shot, though, it appears that the property’s actual interior is utilized.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Donna Rosewood’s house from Rosewood is located at 521 North Lemon Street in Anaheim.

January 9, 2017
The Burr House from “The Twilight Zone”

After what amounted to a nearly two-year stalking hiatus, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, is finally back! Let me reverse a bit and explain. Over the past couple of years, Mike has been busy working in production (yep, he actually toils away on movie sets now!), which hasn’t left much time for tracking down locations. I was having some trouble with a locale this past week, though, and on a whim decided to see if he could lend a hand. Mike was game and, lo and behold, the two of us were on the hunt once again, just like old times! The story of our quest, which is a bit of a long one, is detailed below.

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While doing some research on Say Anything . . . locations back in January, I came across a 1990 Los Angeles Times article which made mention of an old Victorian house in Monrovia that had been featured in an episode of The Twilight Zone. Perfect for my Haunted Hollywood postings, right? Though the exact episode was not named, the column stated that parakeets were flown through the residence during the shoot, so I assumed it would not be hard to figure out. I did a little digging, pinpointed the address of the property, headed right on over to Monrovia to stalk it shortly thereafter, and did not think much more about it until sitting down to write this post. As it turned out, even armed with such specific information regarding parakeets, identifying the episode proved arduous. My first course of action was to Google “The Twilight Zone episode” and “parakeets,” which yielded nothing. Then I literally spent hours scanning through old TTZ episodes and reading recaps, but came up with nada. Enter Mike. Literally five minutes after I texted him and told him of my quest in tracking down the “parakeet episode,” he texted me back with an answer. As he discovered, the episode was Season 1’s “Still Life,” which originally aired on January 3rd, 1986. I felt like a complete blonde when he told me his search process, which involved inputting the sentence “Which episode of The Twilight Zone filmed in Monrovia, CA?” The third result to be kicked back was a synopsis of “Still Life” on The New Twilight Zone website. Actor Robert Morris had provided the site with a behind-the-scenes photograph of the shoot which was posted with the caption, “ . . . the episode was shot in Monrovia, California in this beautiful home.” D’oh!

In real life, the dwelling is known as the Burr House and it was originally built in 1893 for Frank W. Burr and his family. The 18-room Queen Anne-style residence was constructed entirely of redwood at a cost of $2,800. At the time of its inception, it did not have heating, electricity, or even indoor bathrooms. Yep, the Burrs had to use an outhouse! That outhouse is still currently located on the property. The Burr family owned the site until 1975, which explains how so much of the home’s original detailing remains intact today, 123 years after it was built.

In 1979, Mary Ann and Ramon Otero purchased the residence and began an extensive renovation and restoration process. Today, the property boasts 5 bedrooms, 4,700 square feet of living space, several bathrooms (there are 4.5 to be exact), a pool, extensive gardens, a detached garage, and a half-acre plot of land.

In “Still Life,” the Burr House belongs to photographer Daniel Arnold (Robert Carradine), who, after visiting an estate sale, brings home an antique trunk which he later discovers has a secret compartment containing a camera that was last used during a 1913 National Geographic Society expedition to the Amazon River Basin.

As Daniel soon learns, during the expedition the camera captured the souls of several Curucai Indian tribesmen whom he inadvertently brings back to life.

The Burr House was used extensively in the episode.

The home’s actual interior was also featured throughout.

You can watch “Still Life” by clicking below.

As was noted in the Los Angeles Times (as well as in this Monrovia Patch article), the Burr House has appeared in countless movies, TV shows, and commercials over the years. In 1988, it was used as the Boon residence in a scene in Sweet Hearts Dance. Because most filming of the Boon home took place at a similar looking Victorian dwelling located at 113 Eden Street in Hyde Park, Vermont, I am guessing that the Burr House segment might have been part of a reshoot.

Mike Donnelly (Chris Farley) voted – and got stuck in the voting booth – outside of the property’s garage in the 1996 comedy Black Sheep.

You can see the garage in the photos below.

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

Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for his help in tracking down the correct The Twilight Zone episode!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Burr house, from the “Still Life” episode of The Twilight Zone, is located at 150 North Myrtle Avenue in Monrovia.

October 10, 2016
The House from “The Brady Brides”

I’m sad to say that we’ve arrived at the final day of my friend Michael’s guest post week. I have thoroughly enjoyed all of his fabulous articles (you check them out here, here, here and here – as well as his prior The Brady Bunch-related guest articles here, here, here and here.). Today we are coming full circle with a return to The Brady Bunch franchise. So without further ado, here’s the story of a lovely location . . .

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Now that I’ve done a few non-Brady Bunch guest-posts, it doesn’t mean that I’ve abandoned the grooviest of sitcom families. In 1981, a Brady Bunch spin-off, The Brady Brides, was launched with a multi-part television movie, The Brady Girls Get Married. The telefilm, in which Marcia and Jan are married to Wally Logan and Phillip Covington, is also notable in that it’s the last Brady enterprise to feature the entire original cast.

In the first episode of the The Brady Brides, Carol, now a realtor, shows Marcia and Wally a home that she’s trying to sell. Jan loves it, too…and well, the opening theme song (sung to the tune of the The Brady Bunch theme) explains it best.

A house was too expensive for each couple,
The only way to buy would they decide,
Is to share the cost by moving in together,
That’s the way that they became the Brady brides,
The Brady brides,
The Brady brides,
That’s the way they became the Brady brides.

By the end of the first episode, the four had purchased the house and moved in together. Add one nosey neighbor, an occasional cameo by Carol or Alice, and the comedic hijinks write themselves. Or maybe not; the sitcom was canceled after only ten episodes.

Establishing shots of a home were sprinkled through the series and the program’s opening titles show Marcia, Wally, Jan, and Phillip standing, on location, in its yard.

I stayed at The Garland last winter and took a number of walks around Studio City, North Hollywood, and Valley Village. From those walks I had a hunch that the Brady Brides house might be located in Valley Village where I’d seen many similarly styled homes. As luck would have it, I happened upon the house pretty quickly while looking through aerial maps of the area. And when I was last in Los Angeles, I Ubered out to Valley Village to have a look for myself.

I was excited to see that the house looks nearly identical to when it was filmed 35 years ago. Even the decorative iron columns are still standing in the same spot. And although the tree near the driveway has grown, you can still recognize it.

My apologies for the poor quality screen grabs. The Brady Brides hasn’t cornered the syndication market like its progenitor and is one of the few Brady-related properties not currently available on DVD.

Editor’s Note – Poor-quality screen grabs or not, this post was exceptional, per usual! I honestly cannot thank you enough, Michael, for sharing these locations – and your locations expertise – over the past week with us. I’m already eagerly awaiting your return!

Stalk It: The Brady Brides house is located at 11813 Hartsook Street in Valley Village.

September 30, 2016
“Too Close for Comfort” Final Season Filming Locations

It’s Day 4 of my friend Michael’s fabulous guest post week here at IAMNOTASTALKER! (You check out his other columns from this week here, here and here, and his previous guest articles here, here, here and here.). Today’s locale is a longtime unknown site from a show I loved as a kid! Enjoy!

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Although I’m a Ted Knight fan, I never watched much of his final television show, Too Close for Comfort. I remember reruns of the show airing in the 90s, but I could never get into it for one very superficial reason—I hated the set design. Specifically, I didn’t like the daughters’ apartment with its rusty maroon walls and and zigzag rainbow zipping around the room. It felt like every color clashed with the next and the color timing that resulted from the show being shot on tape rather than film didn’t help make the decor any more palatable for me.

The first five seasons of the show were set in San Francisco, where a house at 171-173 Buena Vista Avenue East was shown in establishing shots. But in 1986, for the sixth and final season, the program was renamed The Ted Knight Show, and the plot moved the characters across the bay to Mill Valley where Henry (Ted Knight) had purchased a minority share in a local newspaper, the Marin Bugler. In real life, Ted Knight passed away at the end of the season, concluding the series. Subsequently, the sixth season was renamed “Too Close for Comfort,” and is included along with the rest of the series in syndication packages.

With the fictional move to Mill Valley came new establishing shots and an updated opening title. The real-life location of the primary characters’ main residence—a grand Victorian, complete with a turret and perched on a hill—seemed to go unidentified for years. While planning a trip to California this summer, I made a point to see if I could finally track it down.

A Mill Valley newspaper wrote a piece three years ago contemplating the home’s true location. According to the article, Mill Valley Library’s history exports didn’t recognize the house and suspected it was located elsewhere in the county. With this in mind, I started looking at nearby towns where the production crew could have filmed the establishing shots. I first ruled out Sausalito, thinking that since it’s such a popular destination, if the house were there, it surely would have been discovered and linked to the show by now. Instead, I concentrated on the towns of Almonte, Tiburon, Larkspur and Greenbrae. After a lot of dead ends, I decided to circle back and see if it had been hiding in plain site all this time. I started searching for houses with turrets in Sausalito aerial maps and remarkably, it was the second house I zeroed-in on.

Last month while I was in San Francisco, I hoped on the Sausalito ferry and went to see the house for myself.

Thanks to poor cell phone data reception, it took me awhile to find the house on foot without my trusty Google Maps. But, once you know where it is, it’s actually very easy to get to (How’s that for a truism?). If you’re in downtown Sausalito, you’ll notice a staircase at the corner of Bridgeway and El Monte Lane (next to Casa Madrona Hotel & Spa). Take that staircase up 100-or-so steps, and while possibly out of breath (I was), you’ll be right in front of the Victorian on Bulkley Avenue.

Although plant growth conceals more of the structure than in the 1980s, I’m happy to report that the house looks like it’s been taken very good care of.

I had slightly bad timing with my visit. The sun had started to set behind the house (never a good situation for photography) and a neighbor’s gardener had just cut down a tree and was blowing the detritus off the street. He didn’t seem too concerned with my presence as he, with great velocity, blanketed me with sawdust.

In addition to the house, producers filmed an assortment of establishing shots in downtown Sausalito.

Footage filmed on Bridgeway near Bay and Anchor Streets and next to Vina Del Mar Park were often used to establish scenes set at the newspaper.

An elevated view of Sausalito closed out the opening titles. You can see a similar vista today on Ebbtide Avenue and Stanford Way.

Although the Victorian was located in Sausalito, Mill Valley wasn’t completely left out of Too Close for Comfort. The town, six miles north of Sausalito, with a population hovering around 14,0000, was seen via establishing shot in nearly each episode of the sixth season. A shot of The Depot (currently a bookstore and cafe, and previously a train station) was frequently shown before scenes set at home.

And in the opening titles, the camera pans across the intersection of Throckmorton Avenue and Bernard Street (panning north starting at The Depot). The town looks just as quaint today.

I’m also happy to report that Mill Valley is a charming town. I’d never been before and had a wonderful time visiting for the afternoon. Delicious lunch, nice shops, friendly people, plus I’ve never seen so many well-groomed dogs in one place.

Editor’s Note – Thank you, once again, Michael for another entertaining and illuminating post! Being that I grew up just outside of San Francisco and watched Too Close for Comfort regularly, this one was particularly close to my heart.

Stalk Them: The Too Close for Comfort “Mill Valley” house is located at 141 Bulkley Avenue in Sausalito. The Too Close for Comfort Sausalito aerial view was shot near Ebbtide Avenue & Stanford Way in Sausalito. The Too Close for Comfort Sausalito Establishing Shot Number 1 was taken at Bridgeway between Bay and Anchor Streets in Sausalito. The Too Close for Comfort Sausalito Establishing Shot Number 2 was taken at Bridgeway near Vina Del Mar Park in Sausalito. The Too Close for Comfort Mill Valley Establishing Shots were taken at 87 Throckmorton Avenue in Mill Valley.

September 29, 2016