Category: TV Locations

Roger Azarian’s House from "Beverly Hills, 90210"

One location that I had wanted to stalk pretty much ever since first moving to Southern California was the mansion where Roger Azarian (a pre-Friends Matthew Perry) lived in the Season 1 episode of fave show Beverly Hills, 90210 titled “April Is the Cruelest Month”. So when fellow stalker Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, managed to track it down a few years back, I was BEYOND excited – until I took a look at the place on Google Street View, that is, and saw that no part of it was visible from the road. Boo! So I never wound up stalking it. Flash forward to a couple of days before my move to the desert, when I grabbed my buddy E.J.’s Hollywood Death and Scandal Sites book and headed to the San Fernando Valley for a solo stalking adventure. At one point I randomly found myself on Louise Avenue in Encino and thought the street name rang a bell. I pulled over to do some searching on my iPhone and quickly discovered that Louise Avenue just so happened to be where the Azarian mansion was located. So, even though I knew the pad would not be at all visible, I decided to head right on over there for a little looksie.

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As it turns out, Google Maps did not lie – Roger’s residence, sadly, cannot be viewed from the street.

But Bing Maps does provide some fabulous aerial views of the place, so I guess there’s that. As you can see below, Roger Azarian’s mansion and the parcel of land that it sits on are both absolutely ginormous!

After doing a bit of research, I believe that the property is actually comprised of two separate dwellings (a main house and a guest house) with two different addresses – one being 4839 Louise Avenue and the other 4825 Louise Avenue.

While the front gate displays a single address, 4839, Zillow shows that the residence located at that number only consists of a scant one bedroom, one bath and 1,200 square feet – far too small to be Roger Azarian’s manse. I believe that those measurements refer instead to a guest house located on the property. According to Zillow, the house at 4825 Louise Avenue boasts seven bedrooms, six baths and 7,186 square feet, which sounds much more like the dwelling that appeared onscreen in Beverly Hills, 90210. For whatever reason, though, the 4825 number is not displayed anywhere on the front gate. You can check out some interior photographs of the property, which was originally built in 1932 and appears to be named “Encino Acres”, here.

In the “April Is the Cruelest Month” episode of Beverly Hills, 90210, Brandon Walsh (Jason Priestley) befriends wealthy budding tennis star Roger Azarian and fairly quickly begins to fear that he is planning to kill to his own father. Quite a few areas of the house were used in the episode, including the front exterior;

the interior;

the pool;

and the pool house.

While doing research for this post, I discovered that Roger Azarian’s manse is quite the oft-used locale. It was also featured on 90210’s sister show, Melrose Place, as the mansion where Arthur Field (Michael Des Barres) lived.

The abode also appeared in another 90210 spin-off, the 1994 series Models Inc., as the home of Chris White (Kurt Deutsch).

In the 1983 television series Emerald Point N.A.S., the dwelling was where Harlan Adams (Patrick O’Neal) lived.

In Seasons 5 through 8 of the television Falcon Crest, the manse was used as the residence of the Agretti family.

In the Season 3 episode of Scarecrow and Mrs. King titled “Welcome to America, Mr. Brand”, the dwelling belonged to Kenneth Clayton-Dobbs (David Fox-Brenton).

Oddly enough, though, a different residence was shown for the establishing shots of the property in the episode.

In the Season 5 episode of Alias titled “Bob”, Encino Acres was where Jack Bristow (Victor Garber) met up with Elizabeth Powell (Caroline Goodall).

You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER. And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, for finding this location and to fellow stalker Gilles in France for finding episodes of Models Inc. and Emerald Point N.A.S. for me on YouTube and for making the Falcon Crest screen captures that appear in this post!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Roger Azarian’s house from the “April Is the Cruelest Month” episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 is located at 4825/4839 Louise Avenue in Encino.

February 12, 2013
Ben and Leslie’s New House from “Parks and Recreation”

Back in October, while watching the fabulous Season 5 episode of Parks and Recreation titled “Halloween Surprise”, I became just a wee-bit obsessed with tracking down the Anywhere, U.S.A.-style home that Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) leased with her longtime boyfriend, Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott – whom I just saw the other day at my local Target, but I digress). I had a pretty strong inkling that the residence was most-likely located in the Sherman Oaks area, in the same vicinity as the dwelling used as Diane’s (Lucy Lawless’) house on the series, where most of the “Halloween Surprise” episode had taken place.

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Luckily, while watching “Halloween Surprise”, I had spotted what I thought was an address number of 4620 on the curb in front of Leslie and Ben’s rental, so I immediately started searching through all of the 4600 blocks in Sherman Oaks. Sure enough, I found the place just a mile or so south of Diane’s home. Woot woot! It was not until two weekends ago, though, that I finally managed to drag the Grim Cheaper out there to stalk it.

In “Halloween Surprise”, Leslie takes her BFF Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones) to look at a home she is thinking of renting because, as she explains it, “Ben is coming back from D.C. in ten days and we are moving into a house together. He would move in my place, but it’s a scary, nightmare, hoarder nest. His words. And Ann’s. And the official report filed by the Health Department.” LOL While there, Leslie decides to lease the place (despite the fact that it does not have her desired “trampoline room”), but those plans get thwarted when Ben is offered a new job in D.C. When Leslie later returns to the residence to tell the agent that they will no no longer be taking the place, Ben shows up and (SPOILER ALERT), in a tear-inducing moment, proposes to Leslie on bended-knee. And while the property has yet to appear in any other Parks and Recreations episodes and it was never actually made clear in “Halloween Surprise” if the newly-betrothed couple did actually lease the place or not, I am assuming that they did.

While the house, which was originally built in 1938, looks very much the same in person as it did onscreen, I was not expecting it to be so large. Because the angle featured in the episode was a tight one, showing only one side, I assumed that it was a fairly modest residence with only one or two bedrooms.

In actuality, though, the house boasts four bedrooms, four baths and a spacious 2,688 square feet of living space.

And while I would have bet money on the fact that the real life interior of the property had been used in the episode, that was actually not the case. As you can see in these photographs of the home, aside from the massive stone fireplace, nothing about the actual interior matches what appeared onscreen.

You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER. And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Ben and Leslie’s new house from Parks and Recreation is located at 4620 Wortser Avenue in Sherman Oaks.

January 7, 2013
Jerry’s House from “Parks and Recreation”

As the song goes, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas and what better way to celebrate than by blogging about holiday-themed locales on each day leading up to the 25th? Hope y’all enjoy them! And now, on with the post! Two Thursday ago, while watching fave show Parks and Recreation, I became just a wee-bit obsessed with the charmingly picturesque home belonging to Jerry Gergich (Jim O’Heir) and his shockingly gorgeous family – wife, Gayle (Christie Brinkley), and daughters, Millicent (Sarah Wright), Gladys (Katie Gill), and Miriam (Maliabeth Johnson) – in the Season 5 Christmas-themed episode titled “Ron and Diane”. I mean look at the place! It’s like it was ripped right out of a Hallmark commercial or something! A-DO-RABLE!

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Thankfully, this one was an easy find. I thought the residence looked slightly familiar and had a vague recollection that I had seen photographs of it online while on the hunt for the Boy Meets World house back in mid-November. So I dashed over to my favorite locations library, Malibu Locations, to search for colonial-style residences in the Studio City area (the same parameters I used to track down the BMW abode) and, sure enough, I came across a listing for the place almost immediately. Fortunately, an address number of 11800 was visible in the listing photos, which made finding the home from there a snap. Yay! So I ran right out to stalk the place just a few days later.

In real life, Jerry’s house, which was originally built in 1939, boasts three bedrooms, three baths and 3,126 square feet of living space. As you can see below, the residence is absolutely idyllic in person – so much so that I am shocked it has not been used in more productions.

Oddly enough, while the house is nestled on what appears to be a gargantuan plot of land, in actuality the property only measures a scant 0.31 acres according to fave website Zillow .

Jerry’s house is featured quite extensively in the “Ron and Diane” episode, as the site of the Gergich family Christmas party where the Parks and Rec Department gang are all guests – well, except for Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari), April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza) and Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt), whom Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones) has banned from attending, and Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) and Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman), who are at the Indiana Fine Woodworking Association Woodworking Awards. LOL

The real life interior of the home, which you can see photographs of here, was also used in the episode.

I so love the fireplace video that played in the background on Jerry’s TV during the party, by the way.

Oddly enough, an entirely different house – one located at 4203 Bellaire Avenue in Studio City – was used as Jerry’s residence in the Season 4 episode of Parks and Recreation titled “Sweet Sixteen”.

You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER. And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Jerry Gergich’s house, from the “Ron and Diane” episode of Parks and Recreation, is located at 11800 Kling Street in Valley Village.

December 17, 2012
Diane’s House from “Parks and Recreation”

Back in mid-November, a fellow stalker named Vinnie tweeted me to ask if I knew the location of the house belonging to Diane Lewis (whom I had no idea was played by Lucy Lawless, by the way!) – aka the spot where Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) fixed a pothole – in the Season 5 episode of Parks and Recreation titled “How a Bill Becomes a Law”. As luck would have it, fellow stalker Owen, from the When Write Is Wrong blog, had tracked down that particular abode and texted me its address on October 2nd, the very same night that the “How a Bill Becomes a Law” episode first aired. So I passed along the info to Vinnie and the following day he tweeted me to let me know that he had visited the location and that the pothole patch was still visible! Well, believe you me, once I heard that, I was bound and determined to stalk the place just as soon as humanly possible. So I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on over there a few days after Thanksgiving.

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Finding this location was a snap for Owen because he had done some previous cyber-stalking on the very same street (Margate Street in Sherman Oaks) a couple of years ago while searching for the house where Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) and Jim Halpert (John Krasinksi) bought a lamp in the Season 4 episode of The Office titled “Fun Run” (which I blogged about here). As it turns out, the “Fun Run” home is located almost directly across the street from Diane’s dwelling. In fact, you can see a sign for Margate Street in the background behind Jim and Pam in the episode. Love it!

In real life, Diane’s house, which was originally built in 1955 and is absolutely adorable in person, boasts three bedrooms, two baths, 2,095 square feet of living space, and a 0.20-acre plot of land. You can check out some interior photographs of the place on an old real estate listing here.

As fate would have it, while we were stalking the house, the super-nice owners came out and chatted with us about the filming of Parks and Recreation and a few other productions that had been shot in the neighborhood. They also mentioned that they had met fellow stalker Vinnie while he was stalking the place just a few days prior.

In the “How a Bill Becomes a Law” episode of Parks and Recreation, Chris Traeger (Rob Lowe) decides to implement a 311 phone line at the Parks Department so that Pawnee citizens can report any municipal-related problems that they might be having. While manning the line, Ron takes a complaint from Diane about a pothole that has remained unfixed for months on the street outside of her home. He responds to that complaint by saying, “Well, Diane, for potholes, you want to speak with Public Works . . . I understand you’ve tried them four times – government is inefficient and should be dissolved.” LOL LOL LOL Gotta love Ron Swanson! Ron then decides to take matters into his own hands and heads over to Diane’s house to fix the pothole himself, along with a little help from Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt). As you can see below, Diane’s residence looks pretty much exactly the same in person as it did in the episode.

I was, of course, most excited to see the pothole patch that Vinnie had told me about, though.

I find it so incredibly cool that a vestige of the filming was left behind for all of us stalkers to appreciate for years to come. LOVE IT!

The house also showed up in the Season 5 episode of Parks and Recreation titled “Halloween Surprise”, in the scene in which Ron apologizes to Diane for ruining her daughters’ Halloween.

While the real life address number of Diane’s residence is 13155, crew members dropped the first 1 to make it 3155 for the filming of the “How a Bill Becomes a Law” episode. Nothing unusual about that – house numbers are often changed for a film shoot. But in an odd twist, that number was changed even further – to 155 – just a few episodes later for “Halloween Surprise”. The Parks and Rec producers must think us stalkers aren’t paying attention or something.

The owners of Diane’s house also informed us that the residence across the street was used in the “Halloween Surprises” episode, in the scene in which Ron breaks Diane’s daughter’s tiara.

You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER. And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

Big THANK YOU to Owen, from the When Write Is Wrong blog, for finding this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Diane’s house from Parks & Recreation is located at 13155 Margate Street in Sherman Oaks. The house where Ron broke Diane’s daughter’s tiara in the “Halloween Surprises” episode is located across the street at 13162 Margate Street. The residence where Pam bought a lamp in the “Fun Run” episode of The Office is located next door to the “Halloween Surprises” house at 5306 Longridge Avenue. And Oscar’s home from The Office is located just around the corner at 5232 Longridge Avenue. Quite a popular neighborhood for filming, I’d say!

December 13, 2012
The “Boy Meets World” House

Last Friday, a fellow stalker named Breanne contacted me to see if I could track down the supposed Philadelphia-area residence where the Matthews family – brothers Cory (Ben Savage), Eric (Will Friedle) and Joshua (Daniel Jacobs), sister Morgan (who was played by both Lily Nicksay and Lindsay Ridgeway), and parents Amy (Betsy Randle) and Alan (William Russ) – lived in the 1993 television sitcom Boy Meets World. Breanne is a huge fan of the series and informed me that on one of the DVD commentaries it was mentioned that the Matthews’ house was located near The Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, where the series was lensed. So I immediately enlisted the help of Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and the two of us spent a few hours scouring the streets near Disney. As we worked our way outward, though, both coming up empty-handed, I had an inkling that we were on the wrong track. So I asked Breanne to listen to the commentary once again and to let me know exactly what was said.

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Breanne wrote back immediately with this, “So I found the part that I had told you about on the commentary. Rider Strong says, ‘Now that house is right next to where we ended up filming, not at this point, but later.’ Then the executive producer says ‘It’s in Sherman Oaks.’ Then Danielle Fishel corrects him and says, ‘Studio City, actually.’ Then it sounds like in the background that Rider Strong then says, “Right across from CBS.’” I was shocked that the cast-members knew in such detail where a house that was only ever used in establishing shots was located, but I took their word for it and Mike and I resumed our hunt, this time in the Studio City area. And, sure enough, I found the place right where Rider said it would be – directly across the street from CBS. Yay! (Come to find out, Boy Meets World was originally filmed at The Walt Disney Studios and then later moved production to CBS Studio Center, which is what Rider was talking about when he said the house was near where they ended up filming. Ironically enough, when Breanne had originally sent me a screen capture of the home, my first thought was that it was located in Studio City. Like they say, one should ALWAYS go with their gut! ) So I ran right out to stalk the place yesterday morning – in the midst of having my car break down . . . TWICE. Not kidding! Thank God for AAA!

In real life, the Matthews’ house, which was originally built in 1940, boasts two bedrooms, two baths, 2,108 square feet of living space, and a 0.27-acre plot of land. And, as you can see below, it is absolutely adorable in person and does have a very East Coast feel to it. It is no surprise at all that producers chose to use it in Boy Meets World. In fact, I am quite surprised that the dwelling has not appeared onscreen more often, except for the fact that it is located on a very busy street, which filmmakers tend to shy away from.

According to the Celebrity Black Book 2008, the dwelling belongs (or at one time belonged) to soap opera star Joseph Campanella.

When I first arrived at the house, I was absolutely amazed – and thrilled! – to discover that it looks pretty much EXACTLY the same today as it did back in 1993 when Boy Meets World started filming (minus the set of shutters that used to flank the front door). LOVE IT! The homeowners should be commended!

Only the exterior of the residence was used in the filming of Boy Meets World. The interior of the Matthews’ house was, of course, just a set that only ever existed on a soundstage.

The Matthews’ backyard and Mr. Feeny’s (William Daniels’) backyard were also just sets.

On a stalking side-note – Earlier this week, Mike re-launched the new and improved MovieShotsLA and I have to say that it is pretty darn amazing. No one takes photographs like him! You can check it out here. As you can see below, MovieShotsLA’s new motto is “A brand you can trust.” I absolutely LOVE that being that Mike is as meticulous about being correct in his reporting as I am. I just started reading fellow stalker E.J.’s (from the Movieland Directory) 2000 book Hollywood Death and Scandal Sites (it’s fabulous, by the way!) in which he writes the following, “That’s how this book came about. There are countless tour guides, maps, and tapes showing where stars lived, worked, or played. Some show where they’re buried. Most are redundant and almost none are very well-researched. A good number are downright fiction. Until now no guide has presented the tour highlights – or lowlights – showing where all this mayhem actually happened.” A man after my own heart, I swear! That paragraph goes for so many of the filming location blogs and websites currently out there, as well – most are redundant, almost none are very well-researched and a good number are downright fiction. But I am very happy to say that MovieShotsLA, The Movieland Directory, and IAMNOTASTALKER are all brands that you can trust!

You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER. And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Breanne for asking me to track down this location and to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for helping me do so!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Boy Meets World house is located at 4196 Colfax Avenue in Studio City.

November 16, 2012
Temple Israel of Hollywood from “Will & Grace”

Earlier this year, fellow stalker Lavonna informed me that she had just tracked down the temple where Grace Adler (Debra Messing) married Leo Markus (Harry Connick Jr.) in the Season 5 episode of Will & Grace titled “Marry Me a Little, Marry Me a Little More”. As it turns out, while the wedding supposedly took place on the island of Manhattan, in reality Leo and Grace tied the knot right here in Los Angeles – at Temple Israel of Hollywood. Because Lavonna has long been obsessed with the series (it is pretty much her Beverly Hills, 90210), she put in a special request for me to stalk the place. So I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out there one (very cold) day in March. Sadly though, the temple was closed when we showed up, so we only got to catch a glimpse of its exterior . . .

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Flash forward to this past October when Lavonna and her good friend Kim came out to L.A. for a visit from Ohio. Lavonna was absolutely dying to see the interior of Temple Israel of Hollywood (natch!) and called up the main office to ask for a tour. Amazingly enough, they told us to come right on over! So we headed out there immediately after our Dearly Departed tour (which I will be blogging about soon) had ended. And I am very happy to report that the place did not disappoint!

Temple Israel of Hollywood was originally founded in 1926 by a small group of individuals, most of whom were involved in the entertainment industry. In fact, the place had such major Hollywood connections that it was quickly given the nickname “Filmland’s House of Worship”. Um, LOVE it! For its early meetings, members rented a now-defunct castle-like mansion that, at the time, belonged to Japanese actor Sessue Hayakawa and stood on the corner of Franklin Avenue and Ivar Street. In 1930, the growing congregation purchased the former First Methodist Church on Hollywood Boulevard and proceeded to hold services there until 1948, when it was decided that a new and even bigger temple – the one that stands today – would be constructed about a mile west. The new synagogue was designed by architects S. Charles Lee (who also designed the Max Factor Building, the Los Angeles Theatre, and the Hollywood & Western Building) and Samuel Lunden.

Today, the Temple Israel of Hollywood congregation consists of over 950 families – and is still a major draw for the entertainment industry. Just a few of the celebrities who have attended services there at some point in time include Eddie Fisher, Tony Curtis, Marlon Brando, Bob Dylan, Al Jolson, Sammy Davis Jr., Eddie Cantor, Leonard Nimoy, Mike Todd, David O. Selznick, Lea Thompson, Amanda Peet, and Ben Stein. In 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech on the premises and, on March 27th, 1959, Elizabeth Taylor converted to Judaism there, taking the Hebrew name Elisheba Rachel. The place definitely deserves its “Filmland’s House of Worship” nickname! In fact, I think I may need to convert and start attending services there!

In the two-part “Marry Me a Little, Marry Me a Little More” episode of Will & Grace, Grace and Leo decide to get married in a temple, after learning that their first wedding, in which they tied the knot on a whim while on The Today Show, was not valid. Only the interior of Temple Israel of Hollywood was featured in the episode, though. For the exterior of their wedding venue, Temple Emanu-El, located at One East 65th Street in New York, was used.

Grace and Leo’s wedding took place in Temple Israel of Hollywood’s Sanctuary area.

Visible in the episode is the temple’s real life Ark, which was constructed out of silver and white Italian marble and is flanked by two large lions representing strength, courage and majesty. The Ark was a bit covered over by a chuppah in the scene, though, as you can see below.

In a perplexing twist, while the real life altar area matches up to what appeared in the episode, the back half of the temple does not. Although it is not readily apparent in my photograph below, the temple’s actual ceiling is much shorter than what was depicted onscreen, due to the existence of a large mezzanine.

And while both the green rug underneath the aisle runner and the velvet and wooden seats match up perfectly to what was shown in the episode, the real life doors of the temple are completely different. I had Mike, from MovieShotsLA, call the temple’s main office for me (for some reason I am petrified of making phone calls to strangers – in person, I LOVE talking to random people, but on the phone I’m a total wuss) to ask if the Sanctuary had been remodeled in recent years and, as it turns out, there was a renovation done in 2009. But, while doing further research, I came across a black and white photograph (from an undetermined year) on the Paradise Leased blog which shows the Sanctuary in the exact same state that it is today. So a few different scenarios are possible here – the Paradise Leased photo may very well be a recent one that just happened to have been taken in black and white, making it possible that the back portion of the Sanctuary was drastically changed during the 2009 remodel OR Grace and Leo’s wedding ceremony was filmed partially on a set and partially in the actual temple. Hey, stranger things have been known to happen in Hollywood.

While I am unsure of the Sanctuary situation, I am almost positive that both the anteroom . . .

. . . and bride’s dressing room that appeared in the episode were sets built at CBS Studio Center, where Will & Grace was lensed.

And I, of course, just had to pose for a pic next to the chair where Will Truman (Eric McCormack) sat after he gave Grace away.

On a Will & Grace side-note – I absolutely LOVE the shearling coat that Grace wore in the “Marry Me a Little, Marry Me a Little More” episode. I want, I want, I want! Oh, GC – are you listening?

You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER. And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Lavonna for finding this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Temple Israel of Hollywood, where Grace and Leo got married in the “Marry Me a Little, Marry Me a Little More” episode of Will & Grace, is located at 7300 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. Their wedding took place in the Sanctuary. You can visit the temple’s official website here.

November 15, 2012
The Kirkeby Mansion from “The Beverly Hillbillies”

Hold on to your hats, my fellow stalkers, ‘cause today’s post is going to be a long one. A few weeks ago, my mom called me up to ask about one of the answers provided in the “Ask Chris” column from the September 2012 issue of Los Angeles Magazine. In the column, an inquiring mind asked associate editor Chris Nichols for the location of the “crazy” abode featured in the 1960 movie Cinderfella. Chris informed him that the property used was none other than the Kirkeby Mansion in Bel-Air, which also stood in for the Clampett residence in The Beverly Hillbillies television series, but that most of the place had been demolished in 1986. Because the magazine had been mistaken in its reporting of locations in the past (you can read my post about the incorrectly identified Leave It To Beaver house here), my mom wanted to know if the Kirkeby Mansion had, in fact, been torn down. And while I had, at the time, never stalked or done any research on the property, come to find out, Chris’ information was indeed erroneous. I am very happy to report that the Kirkeby Mansion is still currently standing at 750 Bel Air Road in Bel-Air in almost the exact same condition (the exterior anyway) it was in the 1960s when The Beverly Hillbillies was filmed. It is, sadly, just no longer visible from the street.

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Construction on the Kirkeby Mansion, which began in 1933 and took five years to carry out, cost a whopping $2 million – and we’re talking 1930s money! The home was commissioned by a wealthy engineer named Lynn Atkinson. When it was completed, the French neoclassical Beaux Arts-style property featured ten bedrooms, twelve baths, 21,523 square feet of living space, a copper roof, walnut paneling, several Baccarat chandeliers, a 150-foot waterfall, gold-plated doorknobs and bathroom fixtures, a pipe organ, an orchestra stage, an elevator that ran seventy feet below ground, underground tunnels that led from the home to the pool area, and a landing pad for autogyros (yeah, I had to look that one up, too). Supposedly Atkinson had the place built for his wife, Berenice, as a surprise and when he first brought her there, under the ruse of attending a party, she took one look at the opulent manse and said, “Who would ever live in a house like this? It’s so grandiose.” Fail! The Atkinsons never wound up living on the premises and the pad was eventually acquired by hotelier Arnold Kirkeby in 1945 for about $250,000.

There are quite a few differing reports as to how and why Kirkeby came to own the mansion, including the rumor that Atkinson owed Kirkeby capital for a gambling debt, that Kirkeby had actually bankrolled the house for Atkinson and, when funds ran out, was given the keys, and that Atkinson had lost a bundle of money that he had borrowed from Kirkeby in order to invest in floating islands during World War II. Whatever the case may be, Arnold and his wife, Carlotta, acquired the manse in 1945 and, from that time on, the pad was known as the Kirkeby Mansion. In a fateful decision, Arnold decided to allow The Beverly Hillbillies to film at his estate at a rate of $500 a day because he apparently thought the show would be a dud. It ended up becoming a colossal hit, turning his house into a major tourist trap, but Arnold never lived to see that day. He passed away in a plane crash on March 1, 1962, several months before the first episode ever aired. Carlotta continued to live in the mansion until her death in 1986, but apparently the countless fans of the series who stalked the abode drove her crazy. After Carlotta passed away, the residence was purchased by TV executive Jerry Perenchio for $13.7 million. And while Jerry did spend the next five years remodeling the interior of the property (which did not appear in The Beverly Hillbillies or Cinderfella), he did NOT demolish it and the exterior was left completely intact (except for the roof area). To deter the hoards of tourists who would stop by to stalk the mansion on a regular basis, Jerry also had the entrance gate moved to a different part of the property, rendering the place invisible from the street. Boo!

While the Grim Cheaper and I were stalking the place, someone opened the gate and started speaking to us in a foreign language. I have no idea what the guy was saying, but the GC proceeded to snap away with his camera anyway. Nice work, honey!

Sadly though, even with the gate open, the only part of the property that was visible was a long driveway and the back of some sort of guard shack.

The exterior of the Kirkeby Mansion was featured each week on The Beverly Hillbillies in establishing shots of the Clampett residence, which was said to be located at 518 Crestview Drive in Beverly Hills. In the second episode of the series, which was titled “Getting Settled”, the Clampetts were told that the manse was originally built for actor John Barrymore, Drew’s grandfather.

The interior of the Clampett house was just a set, though, that was built at General Services Studios (now Hollywood Center Studios) where the series was lensed.

The Clampett’s pool, ahem, ceee-ment pond also only existed at General Services Studios. According to the TV Acres website, the swimming pool set was 27 inches deep, cost $20,000 to construct, and took half a day to heat for filming.

As you can see in the aerial views below, which were featured in the Season 3 episode of The Beverly Hillbillies titled “Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood”, as compared to the current aerial views from Bing, the mansion looks almost exactly the same today as it did in 1964 when the episode was filmed. The grounds have changed a bit, although not as much as I had expected, and the gate, of course, moved, but otherwise the residence is completely recognizable as the The Beverly Hillbillies mansion.

A poster named LifeinLA wrote a comment on a SitcomsOnline message board thread stating, “I have some good news for everyone who is wondering about the house. I was friends with the Kirkeby family and spent much time in the house before it was sold in 1985 to Jerry Perenchio, the owner of Univision, upon the death of Mrs. Kirkeby. Believe me, it was an amazing place. First of all, it is still there, in it’s entirety, but no longer visible from the street. The only thing that the new owner did was remove the beautiful, solid copper roof, which appeared blue from the oxidation (and very beautiful), and make some much needed improvements to a home that was over sixty years old when he bought it. The kitchen was old, the bathrooms needed upgrading, the plumbing and electrical needed to be modernized. And, of course, he did redo all of the grounds, moved the tennis court and rebuilt the pool. He incorporated a new entrance, one that afforded more privacy, as this was always a problem for the Kirkeby family, what with such a high-profile home. He also bought back several neighboring homes that were once part of the estate, but sold off over the years and returned the property to it’s almost ten-acre original glory.” You can see the different roofs in the aerial views pictured below.

The Kirkeby Mansion was also featured in the very beginning of the 1956 flick High Society as the residence where C.K. Dexter-Haven (Bing Crosby) lived. The roofline was changed for the filming, though, via, what I am guessing, was a matte painting.

The interior of C.K.’s house was, I believe, just a set and, as you can see below, looks nothing at all like the interior of the Clampett residence.

In the 1960 flick Cinderfella, the Kirkeby Mansion was where Cinderfella (Jerry Lewis) lived with his Wicked Stepmother (Judith Anderson) and her two sons, Maximilian (Henry Silva) and Rupert (Robert Hutton).

The interior of the Cinderfella mansion was also, I believe, just a set and, again, looks nothing like either the Clampett residence or C.K.’s residence from High Society.

In the 1987 comedy Disorderlies, the Kirkeby mansion was where Winslow Lowry (Anthony Geary) lived with his ailing uncle, Albert Dennison (Pretty Woman’s Ralph Bellamy).

Unlike the previous productions filmed at the estate, the real life interior of the Kirkeby Mansion was actually used in Disorderlies.

The manse was also featured in 1987’s Over the Top as the home of Jason Cutler (Robert Loggia), although the front door area and balcony were changed a bit for the filming . . .

. . . due to the fact that in one scene Lincoln Hawk (Sylvester Stallone) drives his truck into the place, destroying it.

The interior of the manse also appeared in Over the Top and, as you can see below, the entrance hallway, tile flooring, staircase, and roped-staircase railing match perfectly to what appeared in Disorderlies.

Some fabulous current aerial views of the Kirkeby Mansion were shown in a REP Interactive clip about the most expensive homes in the world.

You can watch that clip by clicking below.

Kirkeby Estate–Current Aerial Views

You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER. And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Kirkeby Mansion from The Beverly Hillbillies television series is located at 750 Bel Air Road in Bel-Air. The front entrance to the home is now located around the corner at 875 Nimes Road, but, sadly, no part of the property is visible from the street.

November 13, 2012
Rod’s Grill from “Mad Men”

During last year’s Haunted Hollywood postings, I blogged about the Mills View House in Monrovia, which was featured in both the Season 1 Halloween-themed episode of Picket Fences titled “Remembering Rosemary” and the 1986 horror flick House. Well, as luck would have it, since that time I have been lucky enough to meet Sabin Gray and Bryan Gerber, the owners of the property who also run a really fun store in Pasadena called Friends of Dorothy. While I was in their shop recently, Sabin happened to ask if I had ever stalked Rod’s Grill in Arcadia as a Season 5 episode of Mad Men had been shot on the premises. Well, believe you me, I absolutely freaked out upon learning this information because I had never before even heard of the place. So I immediately added the restaurant to my To-Stalk list and dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out there just a few days later.

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Rod’s Grill, which was originally established in 1946, is fittingly situated right along the historic Route 66. The current owner, Manny Romero, purchased the already-established eatery in 1996. Amazingly, the decades-old diner was almost torn down to make way for the expansion of a Mercedes Benz dealership in 2006. In a mind-boggling move, the government of Arcadia, claiming eminent domain, came thisclose to purchasing the site and turning it over it to the Rusnak dealership, which at the time, according to the Castle Coalition website, brought in ten percent of the city’s tax revenue. Um, I’m pretty sure that’s not what our forefathers had in mind when they created the Fifth Amendment. Thankfully though, concerned citizens stepped in and saved Rod’s from the wrecking ball and the place is still going strong to this day.

The GC and I ended up absolutely loving Rod’s Grill! We went to the eatery for breakfast and I was floored to see that both sausage links and sausage patties were offered on the menu. Most places typically only serve links and, being a patties girl, myself, I usually get the shaft. Not at Rod’s, though. I am very happy to report that the sausage was PHENOMENAL and the GC and I wound up taking his father there the next weekend for breakfast, and then his father ended up returning for a bite the following morning, as well. The place is that good!

More than the food, though, the retro, untouched-since-the-‘50s (in a good way) ambiance is what makes Rod’s Grill so special and what keeps film crews coming back to shoot on the premises year after year.

In the Season 5 episode of Mad Men titled “Far Away Places”, the interior of Rod’s Diner stood in for the restaurant section of a supposed Plattsburg, New York-area Howard Johnson’s motor lodge. According to the Aradia’s Best website, a location manager for the series was scouting the city’s Chamber of Commerce for an upcoming episode and wandered inside to ask if any other nearby locales had a 1960s look. A city worker mentioned Rod’s Diner and the rest, as they say, is history. You can see some great pictures of the filming on Arcadia’s Best here.

The booth where Don Draper (Jon Hamm) and Megan Draper (Jessica Pare) sat in the episode is the one located closest to the front door, next to the counter area.

For the exterior of the hotel, a real life former Howard Johnson’s motor lodge (now a Regency Inn & Suites) located at 14624 Dalewood Street in Baldwin Park was used. You can read an article about the filming that took place there on the Zap2It website here.

Like Jimmie’s house from Pulp Fiction, which I blogged about yesterday, there seems to be quite a bit of online confusion about where the Howard Johnson’s from the episode is located. While doing research for this post, I was absolutely gobsmacked (LOVE that word!) to come across a fascinating comment thread about the location of the “Far Away Places” diner on the Hit Fix website. You can read through it below. I couldn’t agree more with commenter Michael R, who said, “Amazing how some people can be so sure about something that’s totally untrue . . . maybe think before you speak?” A man after my own heart, I swear! And Mr. Belvedere, who said, “Wow! How can so many people be so sure about so many locations? What transpired above is amazing . . . “ It truly IS amazing, Mr. Belvedere. For the record, the diner that appeared in the “Tomorrowland” episode of Mad Men was NOT Mel’s Diner on Sunset (as stated by Potzer37) nor the Pulp Fiction diner, aka the Hawthorne Grill, as stated by PF. The “Tomorrowland” diner was actually Bob’s Big Boy Broiler in Downey, which I blogged about here. And, as I just showed, the diner that appeared in the “Far Away Places” episode was NOT the Hawthorne Grill (as stated by James, Geoff, and LJA), which, according to the Roadside Peek website, was torn down in 1999, but Rod’s Grill in Arcadia.

Our incredibly nice server informed us of several other productions that had also been filmed on site, including the ill-fated series Luck, on which Rod’s was a regular hangout for Marcus (Kevin Dunn), Lonnie (Ian Hart), Jerry (Jason Gedrick), and Renzo (Ritchie Coster).

And the 1997 movie Sprung, which I, unfortunately, could not find a copy of anywhere with which to make decent screen captures for this post. I did however spot the restaurant pop up briefly in the flick’s preview on YouTube, which is where I got the caps pictured below.

You can watch that preview by clicking below.

And while she also said that 2000’s Lucky Numbers was filmed on the premises, I scanned through the flick yesterday and did not spot the diner anywhere. According to this Arcadia Patch article, the restaurant was also used regularly on the series Judging Amy, although I am unsure of which episodes it appeared in.

On a side-note – I would like to wish my mom a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY today! I love you, mom, and wish we could celebrate together!

You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER. And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

Big THANK YOU to Sabin and Bryan, owners of the Friends of Dorothy store, for telling me about this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Rod’s Grill from the “Far Away Places” episode of Mad Men is located at 41 West Huntington Drive in Arcadia.

November 7, 2012
The Reichman Mansion from “Major Crimes”

The weather in L.A. has finally turned and there is now a crispness in the air ensuring that jacket season is finally upon us. It is also, unfortunately, time to bid adieu to this year’s Haunted Hollywood postings. Sadness! For the next eleven months, I will just be writing about regular ol’ stalking locations. So here goes. In early October, when the Season 1 episode of Major Crimes titled “Dismissed with Prejudice” aired, I became absolutely enthralled with the gorgeous ultra-modern mansion that was featured in it. So I immediately set about searching for the place (before the episode was even over) and, thanks to the fact that the residence is currently for sale, it was not too hard to track down. A simple Google search of modern-style houses in the Hollywood area yielded this real estate listing, so I immediately dragged the Grim Cheaper, along with my good friends, fellow stalkers Lavonna and Kim who were in town visiting from Ohio, right on out to stalk it.

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In person, the house did not disappoint! The abode, which was originally built in 1958, but has since been extensively remodeled (we’re talking completely gutted both inside and out), currently boasts 4 bedrooms, 5 baths, 3,906 square feet of living space, and a 0.25-acre plot of land. Thanks to the Berg Properties website and fellow stalker E.J.’s The Movieland Directory, I learned that the dwelling has a fairly vast list of former celebrity residents. For a time the place belonged to character actor Frank Marth and it was later owned by comedian Jack Black and his then girlfriend Laura Kightlinger, who purchased the pad in 2002 for $1,075,000. When Jack and Laura broke up, he bought out her stake of the residence for $699,000 and then subsequently sold the place in 2007 for $1,210,000. The remodel/knock down took place at some point thereafter.

The dwelling that originally stood on the property looks to have been Spanish in style (as you can see in the image below which I got from the Historic Aerials website) and, measuring 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and 1,959 square feet, was much smaller than its successor. You can check out a (not very great) photograph of the original home on an old real estate listing here. At the time, the property was described as being a “spectacular ‘50s post & beam hacienda”.

As you can see in the Google Street View images below, the house was changed drastically during the remodel.

The result is nothing short of spectacular! The dwelling, which was constructed primarily of steel and glass, features a butterfly roof, cruciform columns, polished concrete floors, a large saltwater pool, a waterfall, a koi pond, a BBQ area, and a master suite with a spa-like bathroom that encompasses the structure’s entire second floor. And, if you have an extra $2,795,000 lying around, it could be yours! You can check out the home’s real estate listing here. According to several websites (which you can see here and here), the place is currently owned by a celebrity, though, much as I tried, I could not figure out by whom.

In the “Dismissed with Prejudice” episode of Major Crimes, the residence belonged to Will Reichman (William R. Moses), an architect whom Lieutenant Mike Tau (Michael Paul Chan) put away for murder eight and a half years prior. And I just have to say here that I absolutely LOVE me some Major Crimes! While I was initially doubtful as to how The Closer spinoff would fare sans Kyra Sedgwick at the helm, I am very happy to report that the series is fabulous. Bringing in the Rusty Beck character (played by the brilliant Graham Patrick Martin, who also starred as Eldridge Mackelroy on Two and a Half Men) was genius and gave the show – and Captain Raydor (Mary McDonnell) – a heart. I cannot wait for it to start up again next season.

For whatever reason, only the backside of the property was used in the episode.

The interior – which is all open spaces, towering plate glass windows, and high ceilings (drool!) – was featured extensively, though. Man, what I wouldn’t give to live there!

The staircase is absolutely to die for! LOVE IT!

Thanks to fave website Curbed L.A., I learned that the dwelling was also featured in the Season 1 episode of Selling L.A. titled “Rock Star Real Estate”, as the home that former actress/Playboy Playmate-turned-Keller-Williams-broker Martha Smith showed one-time Guns N’ Roses drummer Matt Sorum.

The episode aired on October 27th, 2011 and, at the time, the residence was for sale for $3.395 million and looked very much the same as it did in Major Crimes (although the yellow accent walls have since been painted over, thank God!)

In the episode, Martha talks about the fact that the “small, sort of low-profile kitchen” was designed for a celebrity who “just didn’t care much about kitchens” (someone after my own heart! ). I am not sure if said celeb ever lived on the premises or if he or she put it on the market as soon as the remodel was complete. Either way, I am fairly certain that the place is currently vacant.

You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER. And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Reichman mansion from the “Dismissed with Prejudice” episode of Major Crimes is located at 8538 Eastwood Road in the Hollywood Hills.

November 5, 2012
Canter’s Deli from “Entourage”

This will, unfortunately, be my last post for this week as I am heading out to Palm Springs bright and early tomorrow morning to take my dad to a few doctor appointments and I will not be back until late Thursday night. And because I am going to the Emmy’s on Sunday (whoo hoo – pinch me now!), there is a good chance that I will not have time to write a new blog post for Monday, either. So apologies in advance. I will for sure be back on Tuesday, though, with a whole new location. And now, on with the post! One very historic locale that I have stalked several times, but, for whatever reason, never blogged about is the legendary Canter’s Deli in Los Angeles’ Fairfax District. So when the Grim Cheaper suggested we grab a bite to eat there a couple of weekends ago, I decided that it was about time I snap some pictures of the place and do a post on it. Here goes!

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Canter’s Deli was originally founded in 1924 as Canter Brothers’ Delicatessen by Ben Canter and his two brothers in Jersey City, New Jersey. When the deli faltered due to the stock market crash of 1929, the three brothers moved to Los Angeles with only a shared $500 to their name. They settled in the then-predominantly Jewish area of Boyle Heights and, in 1931, opened a West Coast outpost of their delicatessen, which you can see a photo of here. When L.A.’s Jewish population started to migrate west towards the Fairfax District following World War II, Ben and his brothers decided to move their establishment, as well. In 1948, they purchased a storefront at 439 North Fairfax Avenue and changed the eatery’s name to the simpler “Canter’s Deli”. In 1953, the restaurant was moved once again, this time to the old Esquire Theatre at 419 North Fairfax, where it remains to this day. Thanks to its massive popularity, the eatery expanded in 1953 and then, in 1961, added on a bar and cocktail lounge named the Kibitz Room. The Kibitz’s stage has hosted countless well-known musicians over the years including Blues Traveler, The Black Crowes, The Wallflowers, and, most notably, Guns N’ Roses, who got their start on the premises.

Canter’s Deli, which, amazingly enough, is still owned and operated by the Canter family, has been a celebrity hot spot since its inception. In the heyday of Hollywood, such stars as Arthur Miller, Elizabeth Taylor, Cary Grant, Jack Benny, Elvis Presley, and my girl Marilyn Monroe all dined there. In more recent years, Drew Barrymore, John Travolta, Dick Van Dyke, Brooke Shields, Sidney Poitier, Adam Brody, Shenae Grimes, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, and Taylor Swift have all been spotted at the eatery. Sarah Silverman even did a photo shoot at Canter’s for the clothing company Boy by Band of Outsiders, which you can take a look at here.

Canter’s Deli has won countless awards over the years (and deservedly so!) including “Best Waffles” from Los Angeles Magazine, “Best Deli” from both MyFoxLA and LA Hotlist, and, my personal favorite, Top 10 Jewish Silver Screen Landmarks from the Jewish Journal.

All of Canter’s offerings are handmade on the premises each day, including their humongous pickles, which are nothing short of fabulous – as is all of their food. Amazingly enough, over its “lifetime”, the deli has served over 2 million pounds of lox, 9 million pounds of corned beef, 10 million matzo balls, 20 million bagels, and 24 million bowls of chicken soup! Oy vey, that’s a lot of food!

Canter’s Deli has been featured in quite a few notable productions over the years. In the 1982 flick I Ought to Be in Pictures, Herbert Tucker (Walter Matthau) took his estranged daughter, Libby Tucker (Dinah Manoff, aka “Marty Maraschino” from Grease), for a late-night meal at the historic eatery.

In the 1998 thriller Enemy of the State, the interior of Canter’s masqueraded as the interior of Washington, D.C.’s Sam’s Deli Restaurant, where lawyer Robert Clayton Dean (Will Smith) told his informant/former girlfriend, Rachel F. Banks (Lisa Bonet), that he wanted to meet her source, Brill (Gabriel Byrne).

For the exterior of Sam’s, a different location was used, though.

In the Season 4 episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm titled “The Blind Date”, which aired in 2004, Canter’s was where Larry David (Larry David) took his new friend Haboos (Moon Unit Zappa) for lunch. Both the exterior . . .

. . . and the interior appeared in the episode.

In 2005’s Be Cool, Canter’s was where Raji (Vince Vaughn) told hitman Joe Loop (Robert Pastorelli) that he killed the wrong guy. Both the exterior . . .

. . . and the interior were used in the flick.

In the Season 6 episode of Entourage titled “Berried Alive”, which aired in 2009, Canter’s Deli is where the gang – Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier), Eric Murphy (Kevin Connolly), Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon), and Turtle (cutie Jerry Ferrara, who I am dying to meet, by the way!) – grabbed late-night drinks and where Drama ran into his former boss, Melrose Place-producer Phil Yagoda (William Fichtner). Both the exterior . . .

. . . and the interior of the deli appeared in the episode.

You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER. And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Canter’s Deli, from the “Berried Alive” episode of Entourage, is located at 419 North Fairfax Avenue in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles. You can visit the official Canter’s website here. The deli is open 24 hours a day, 363 days a year (it is closed on both Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur).

September 19, 2012