TV Locations – Page 62 – IAMNOTASTALKER

October 1, 2009November 15, 2009

The Vera Wang Flagship Salon

While I realize that today should really be the start of my annual, month long “Haunted Hollywood” theme, since I am on a plane right now headed to Manhattan, I decided to write a post about New York, my favorite city in the world, instead. 🙂 And since I’ve had weddings on the brain ever since getting engaged this past May, what better way to start my New York blogging than to write about the bridal salon that puts all other bridal salons to shame- the Vera Wang Flagship Store on Madison Avenue. 🙂 Even though there is no way in heck I could ever afford to purchase a Vera Wang wedding gown (let’s face it, I probably couldn’t even afford the sleeve of a dress in that store! LOL), I deemed the location to be blog-worthy since it appeared in a Season 3 episode of fave show Sex and the City. So, here goes! (Please excuse the above photograph, as it was taken on a particularly windblown New York City day a few years back, and my hair is a bit, um, ruffled.) 🙂

In the episode, which is entitled “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, Carrie and the girls head to the Vera Wang Flagship Salon to try on some absolutely gorgeous bridesmaids dresses for Charlotte’s upcoming nuptials to Dr. Trey MacDougal. It is while trying on the dresses that Carrie laments over whether or not to tell Aidan about her recent affair with Mr. Big. As the girl discuss the pros and cons of coming clean with Aidan, Samantha, of course, resorts to using foul language, causing Charlotte to whisper “Could you please not use the ‘F word’ in Vera Wang!” LOL LOL LOL

Even though Charlotte specifies in the scene that they are at Vera Wang, I wasn’t sure if filming had actually taken place at the legendary Madison Avenue salon until I was able to verify it in the locations section of fave book Sex and the City: Kiss and Tell. And once I knew for sure, I, of course, immediately dragged my then-boyfriend out to the Vera Wang Flagship Store to snap a quick picture. 🙂 Unfortunately, though, because the store is a ” by appointment only” establishment, I wasn’t able to venture inside. 🙁 And being that I stalked the place LONG before I was engaged and had any sort of need for a wedding dress, there was really no reason for me to make an appointment. LOL Such a bummer, too, because I so wanted to see the spot where Carrie and the girls tried on their dresses. I did manage to grab the above photograph of the interior of the Madison Avenue store off of the company’s website, though, and you can kind of catch a glimpse of where filming took place. 🙂

You can also sort of see the store’s interior in the above photograph that I took last December.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Vera Wang Flagship Salon is located at 991 Madison Avenue in Manhattan. You can visit their website and make an appointment to try on wedding gowns here.

September 30, 2009September 27, 2009

Lila’s Apartment Building on Dexter

A few months ago, my fiancé and I started watching the Showtime television series Dexter and I have to say that it didn’t take very long for the two of us to become completely and totally obsessed with it. So, as I’m sure you can probably imagine, I’ve also become pretty obsessed lately with the Seeing Stars website page that catalogs the many filming locations featured on the show. In fact, I can’t even watch an episode of Dexter now without having my laptop next to me and open to the site! LOL Anyway, after my fiancé and I had finished watching the series’ second season, I was absolutely dying to stalk the apartment building belonging to Dexter’s psychopathic girlfriend Lila Tournay on the show. And, while I actually could NOT stand the character of Lila, I absolutely loved her loft-style apartment, which is one of the main reasons I wanted to stalk it. But that’s not actually the whole story. The biggest reason that I wanted to stalk it is that it was actually thanks to Lila’s building that fellow stalker Chas was able to locate the Girls Just Want to Have Fun apartment for me. Apparently, Gary from Seeing Stars was having a hard time tracking down Lila’s building, so he enlisted the help of master stalker Chas in his hunt. And while Lila’s building and the GJWTHF building don’t look all that much alike, they do both have central courtyards and are both made out of brick. So, during his search for Gary, Chas came across the GJWTHF apartment and took a close look at it. And, while he quickly realized that it wasn’t the Dexter building, he remembered it later when I mentioned my GJWTHF quest. And the rest, as they say, is history! If it hadn’t been for Dexter, it’s quite possible Chas never would have found the GJWTHF apartment, and because of that, Lila’s building will always hold a VERY special place in my heart. 🙂

The exterior of Lila’s apartment building was shown repeatedly throughout Dexter’s second season, beginning with the episode entitled “Dex, Lies, and Videotape”, and I am very happy to report that it looks exactly the same in person as it did on the show. Well, sort of!

As it turns out, the view of the building shown on Dexter is not actually the view of the building that is visible from the street. The view featured on the show is actually the building’s side entrance, which can only be reached via a gated parking lot located just East of the complex. You can compare the view shown on Dexter to the street view of the building in the screen capture and photograph pictured above. As you can see, they look nothing alike.

But if you go around to the East side of the building, you’ll see the entrance that was shown on Dexter, looking much the same as it did in the series. 🙂

Sadly, though, that entrance is located behind a locked gate and is not accessible to the public. But as it turns out, when Chas stalked the building back in February of this year, the stalking gods were smiling down on him because he was actually invited onto the property! 🙂 As fate would have it, when Chas first showed up to stalk Lila’s place, a gentleman happened to be outside painting the gate and when he noticed Chas snapping photographs, he, of course, asked why. When Chas explained that the building was featured on Dexter, a show which the painter had never heard of LOL, he opened the gate and allowed Chas to step inside to get some better photographs. YAY! You can see Chas’ pictures here.

And while the interior of Lila’s apartment was actually filmed on a soundstage at Sunset Gower Studios and not at this location, as you can see in the sign pictured above, the building is actually made up of loft-style apartments just like Lila’s. 🙂

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Big THANK YOU to Chas for finding this location! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Lila’s apartment building from the television series Dexter is located at 6201 Yucca Street in Hollywood.

September 14, 2009March 24, 2011

The New Wilson House on 90210

I can’t even believe I am about to say what I am about to say, but ever since watching Tuesday night’s season premiere, I am absolutely, one hundred percent hooked on the new 90210. While the first season of the show left much to be desired, this past week’s episode was nothing short of A-MA-ZING. So loved it!! Melrose Place on the other hand was absolutely craptastic and I can honestly say I’ll never again be tuning in to watch. I didn’t have high hopes for that show to begin with. though, being that it starred Ashley Simpson, but it even exceeded my extremely low expectations. But I digress. Anyway, after watching Tuesday night’s season premiere, I have to say that I honestly think 90210 is back, baby! 🙂 The episode was appropriately titled “To New Beginnings” – and a new beginning it definitely was! Especially locations wise. They should be calling it 90210 v. 2.0, v. 2.0 because thanks to new executive producer Rebecca Sinclair, who was brought in last season to revamp the show (how a show that’s only been on the air one season needs a revamping is beyond me!), there is a new Beverly Hills Beach Club (the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa), a new West Beverly High (Mount St. Mary’s College in Brentwood), and, best of all, a new Wilson house to stalk! YAY! So, while watching Tuesday night’s show, I texted Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and said “We have GOT to find the new 90210 house!” And, sure enough, it wasn’t long before we did!

Mike and I had both immediately recognized the new school standing in for West Beverly High as Mount Saint Mary’s College in Brentwood, which also stood in for Harbor High School on fave show The O.C. And, being that the new Wilson house also looked very much like a Brentwood area home, Mike was fairly certain that it would be located somewhere near the school. And, sure enough, it was. So, of course, as soon as Mike texted me the address, I immediately dragged my fiancé right out to stalk it. 🙂

Even though it’s got nothing on Casa Walsh, the new 90210 house is super cute in person. 🙂 It’s appearance is quite deceiving, though, as from the outside it appears to be rather small, but according to Zillow it actually has 4 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms and measures a whopping 4,951 square feet. That’s HUGE!

The Wilson home popped up several times during the season premiere, including the scene when Annie, freaking out after learning that her hit and run victim has passed away, runs out the front door and begs Dixon to take her for a ride.

A scene also took place in the home’s real life backyard – which you can see photographs of here.

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I can’t tell you how exciting it was to be stalking the new 90210 house just days after the show aired. 🙂 I have a feeling the home will be popping up quite often in the many episodes to come.

Oh, and note to producers – a basketball hoop really needs to be installed above the garage of the new Wilson home, ala Casa Walsh. I mean, it’s just not 90210 without a basketball hoop! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Wilson’s new house on 90210 is located at 325 Homewood Road in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles.

August 18, 2009August 18, 2009

The “7th Heaven” House

Got a challenge a few months back from a man named Glenn who wanted me to locate the house used as the Camden residence on the Aaron Spelling television series 7th Heaven. Unfortunately, though, this challenge proved to be rather difficult as there are quite a few conflicting rumors about the home’s location floating around online. The general consensus on most of the fan sites, though, was that the house only ever existed on a studio backlot somewhere in Hollywood. And, even though I didn’t really believe that to be the case, I am embarrassed to admit that I gave up on finding the home’s location rather quickly after reading that. Sorry, Glenn! But last week, I decided to enlist the help of fellow stalkers Mike, from MovieShotsLA, Chas, and Owen and, sure enough, it wasn’t long before Chas had called me back with an address!!!!! YAY! Funny side note – after Chas gave me the 7th Heaven house address, I immediately texted both Owen and Mike to let them know that their searches could be called off. Well, ironically enough, Mike’s phone wasn’t working that day, so what did he do, but go out and rent EVERY SINGLE DVD of the series that he could find! I’m not kidding! The next day he called me and said “I’m going to watch every single hour ever made of this show if I have to, but we are going to find that house!” LOL LOL LOL I felt sooooooo bad as poor Mike was not only stuck with a hefty Blockbuster bill, but also a few hundred hours of cheesy television that he had no desire whatsoever to watch.

Even though I’ve never seen a single episode of 7th Heaven, I was still extremely excited to be stalking the Camden house! Sadly, though, the home has changed quite a bit in recent years as you can see in the above screen capture and photograph. In fact, the house looks so different from how it appeared on the series that when I first saw it in person I wasn’t sure I was at the right place. LOL Just a few of the alterations made to the home include a change in paint color from white to baby blue, the installation of a white picket fence around the exterior of the property . . .

. . . and the addition of quite a bit of thick foliage, which makes the home hardly visible at all from the street, as you can see in the above photograph. And while the Camden house is very cute in person, truth be told, I think it looked a whole lot better on the show. 🙂

Chas was able to track down this house by contacting a former 7th Heaven crew member who just happened to remember its exact location. The guy also gave Chas a brief history of the filming of the Camden home, finally allowing us to put those pesky location rumors to rest. The real story of the Camden house is as follows – For the pilot episode of the series, which was filmed in 1996, a house in Altadena that Mike and I have always refered to as the “Rubio House” served as the Camden residence. I’ve blogged about the Rubio House once before as it has appeared in COUNTLESS productions, including The Mentalist, NCIS, Bye Bye Love, and Can’t Hardly Wait, among numerous others. Anyway, for whatever reason, once the series got picked up, producers decided to ditch the Rubio house and use a Santa Monica residence instead. For the next six seasons, that Santa Monica house was used for all exterior filming and establishing shots. But, sometime during the sixth season, the owners of the house got a bit tired of the constant filming on their property and put an end to it. How one can become tired of filming taking place on their property is BEYOND me, but to each their own, I guess. 😉 Once the house was off limits for filming, the production crew built a very basic replica of it, consisting of only one exterior wall and a fake front yard, on the studio back lot. From then on all filming of the Camden house took place there. So, that explains how all of those different location rumors about the house got started! 🙂

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Big THANK YOU to Chas for finding this location and finally solving the mystery of the 7th Heaven house! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The 7th Heaven house is located at 527 Alta Avenue in Santa Monica. Courteney Cox’s former home is located just up the street at 606 Alta Avenue. The house used as the Camden residence in the 7th Heaven pilot can be found at 1090 Rubio Street in Altadena.

August 11, 2009August 10, 2009

The “Step by Step” House

One location fellow stalker Owen has been on the lookout for for quite some time now is the house where the Lambert Family lived in the 1990’s television sitcom Step by Step. Because of the house’s Crafstman style architecture, Owen was pretty convinced that it was located somewhere in South Pasadena, a city which is known for its Crafstman style homes. Well, back in June while doing some research for my blog, I was fortunate enough to meet a SUPER NICE woman who works in the South Pasadena film office, so I emailed her to ask if she might know the location of the house. The woman, who can usually name South Pasadena film locations right off the top of her head – SO LOVE IT! – didn’t happen to know anything about this particular location, but I did get an email from her a couple of hours later telling me that she had found the house! YAY!

While doing some preliminary stalking, Owen had been able to discern that the address number of the house was “201”. So, my SP film contact started playing around with different 201 address numbers in Google Maps until she landed upon the Step by Step house! In reality, the address number turned out to be “2011”, not “201”, but somehow my contact was able to find it anyway! See, I told you she was super nice! 🙂 Most film location people won’t even give me the time of day, let alone spending a couple of hours of their time looking for a house for me! Love it!!!!

So this past Saturday, with the address in hand, Mike from MovieShotsLA and I went out to stalk the Step by Step house. We actually had some amazing stalking karma that day, because not only did we get let into the Father of the Bride backyard and inside the 13 Going On 30 house (those posts will be written soon, I promise!), but we also got to speak with the owner of the Step by Step house who just happened to be standing on his front porch when we pulled up. He said NO ONE ever recognizes the house and was absolutely AMAZED that we had. LOL Apparently he didn’t know who he was dealing with. His grandmother owned the house at the time the show was filmed and he told us that no filming actually took place inside the house, nor does the inside look anything like the set that was built for the show. He also said that he never got to meet the actors as they were never a part of the filming that took place at the house. He was SUPER nice, though, and told us to take all the pictures we wanted. 🙂 And I am happy to report that the house looks pretty much exactly the same today as it did when Step by Step premiered over 18 years ago! Unbelievable!

Ironically enough, part of the Step by Step opening credits was also filmed in South Pasadena, just around the corner from the house. In the very beginning of the credits the family’s Ford Explorer is seen passing by a sign reading “Port Washington, Wisconson, Population 9,336”. Well, that scene was filmed a good 2,000 miles away from Port Washington on a street named Meridian Avenue in South Pasadena! You can watch the Step by Step opening credits here.

The building shown in the credits is actually South Pasadena’s oldest commercial building. It currently houses the South Pasadena Historical Museum and the South Pasadena Preservation Foundation, but way back in 1887 the building was the site of the city’s grocery store.

A little bit of television trivia for you – the remainder of the Step by Step opening credits were filmed at SixFlag’s Magic Mountain theme park in Valencia. Producers digitally added water over Magic Moutain’s real life parking lot to make it appear as if the roller coaster the family rides on was overlooking the beach.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Step by Step house is located at 2011 Fletcher Avenue in South Pasadena. The beginning of the series’ opening credits was filmed in front of the Meridian Iron Works Museum, which is located at 913 Meridian Avenue, also in South Pasadena.

August 7, 2009February 18, 2010

The Walsh House – Circa August 2009

UPDATE 2/18/10 – The Casa Walsh garage has been torn down in the months since I wrote this post. You can see pictures of the rubble here. And to see the inside of the real Walsh house, click here.

My fiance tried to talk me out of writing this post today, but it just seemed to be too important of an item for me to ignore. As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog, last week, while giving a stalking tour of Pasadena to my good friend Kerry and her husband Jim, I drove by the Walsh House from fave TV show Beverly Hills, 90210 and almost had a full blown panic attack right there in my car! While cruising down Altadena Drive, I, Lindsay Blake, almost passed right by my favorite stalking location of all time without even recognizing it!!!!! I actually turned to Kerry at one point and said, “Wait a minute! Where’s the 90210 house???” What I didn’t realize at that time was that some pretty major changes had been made to the exterior of the house rendering it almost unrecognizable to me. OK, OK, maybe I’m being slighty melodramatic here, but, let me tell you, the whole experience was pretty JARRING. I mean, not only had a large hedge been removed from the Walsh’s driveway, but their entire house had been PAINTED PINK! Oh, Jack, say it ain’t so!

Ironically enough, when I showed my fiance photographs of the newly painted 90210 house, he said “What are you talking about?? It looks exactly the same as it always did! You CANNOT write a post about that!” LOL LOL LOL It’s amazing to me how two people can have such differing views of the same exact thing. To me, the difference in the house’s appearance was absolutely STAGGERING, yet my fiance didn’t even notice it! Men! LOL I also showed the photos to my mom, though, who said “THAT’S what you’re so upset about? From the way you were talking, I thought they had painted the house black or something!” LOL OK, OK, I will concede that the paint color isn’t that different, but I guess because the 90210 house is so cemented in my memory, any change in its appearance, no matter how minor, is going to seem huge. And, to be fair, the paint color doesn’t show up well in pictures. In person, the house is PINK! Anyway, against my fiance’s better judgement, I just had to write a post today about the house and how it looks post-paint.

Also altering the appearance of the house was the removal of the large hedge which used to stand along the West side of the Walsh’s driveway. As you can see in the two screen captures pictured above, the hedge used to run the length of the driveway, separating the Walsh property from that of their neighbor’s.

But, as you can see in the above photographs, that hedge has been completely removed, which only adds to the difference in the home’s appearance, especially if you approach it from the West.

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At least the garage still looks pretty much the same as it always did – minus Brandon’s basketball hoop, of course. Last November, when Mike and I met Jack, the owner of the house, he told us that he was in the process of remodeling his garage and we both got looks of absolute HORROR on our faces! Jack laughed and said “What? Is it a crime to change the Walsh garage or something?” To which both Mike and I replied with a resounding “YES!” LOL Obviously Jack didn’t heed our words of wisdown, though! SUCH A BUMMER!

I guess it’s really true what they say – the only constant is change. But this is one filming location I was convinced would stay as fixed in real life as it is in my memory. 🙁

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Walsh house from Beverly Hills, 90210 is located at 1675 East Altadena Drive in Altadena, CA.

July 23, 2009July 22, 2009

The Second Peach Pit

Two weekends ago, thanks to Mike from MovieShotsLA, I was able to stalk a location that I have long been on the lookout for – the storefront that was used as the second Peach Pit on the original Beverly Hills, 90210 series. Yes, I did say the “second” Peach Pit. As most fans of the series know, for some odd reason, three different locations were used to represent Brandon, Brenda and the gang’s favorite afterschool hangout throughout the show’s ten year run. And while Mike and I had found the other two Peach Pit locations a while back, the “second” one proved to be quite elusive. Until a few weeks ago, that is, when Mike randomly walked by it while doing some stalking in the Venice area and recognized it immediately!

Truth be told, what Mike actually recognized was not the Peach Pit storefront itself, but the alleyway located right next door which currently houses a nursery. During our search for this location, Mike and I had spent hours studying screen captures of the Peach Pit and could not for the life of us figure out what was located directly next door to it. It appeared to be some sort of empty lot or alleyway enclosed by a detailed wrought iron gate. So, when Mike saw that gate in person, he immediately recognized it! It is very surprising to me that producers chose to use this location for the Peach Pit, because, as far as I know, it is the only Venice location every used on the series.

I am very happy to report that the Peach Pit still looks exactly the same today as it did when Beverly Hills, 90210 was filmed there back in 1990. And, ironically enough, while the storefront where the Peach Pit supposedly existed is currently vacant, it looks as if a diner style restaurant is in the process of moving in there. 🙂 How apropos!

This particular location was only used as the Peach Pit during the show’s first season, beginning with the episode entitled “Higher Education”. The last episode it was featured on was the Season One finale entitled “Home Again”.

When Nat decided to remodel his restaurant in the Season Two episode entitled “”Pass, Not Pass” (pictured above), the producers moved to an entirely new location to film the Peach Pit’s exteriors. The reasoning behind the location change has remained a 90210 mystery, but my best guess is that either a new owner moved into the Venice storefront and wasn’t cool with the filming, or, even more likely, the producers decided that the Venice location was just too far out of the way to go for filming and decided to relocate the Pit to Pasadena, just a few miles from the Walsh House.

I cannot recommend stalking the “second” Peach Pit enough!!!!! It is absolutely unbelievable to me that, almost two decades later, it still looks exactly the same as it did during the 90210 days. For all of you 90210 fans out there, this location will definitely bring back some memories! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The “second” Peach Pit can be found in the Venice Place Building which is located at 1027 Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice. The first Peach Pit is located at 10801 West Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles and the third, final, and most recognizable Peach Pit is located at 45 South Fair Oaks Avenue in Pasadena.

July 16, 2009February 19, 2016

The Golden Girls House

This past weekend, thanks to fellow stalker Owen, I was able to stalk the home used in one of my favorite ’80s TV shows – The Golden Girls. Being that I was only eight years old at the time The Golden Girls premiered, I probably seem like a very unlikely fan of the show. But, for some reason, a sit-com which centered around the trials and tribulations of four single senior citizens living together in a Miami area home appealed to me. What can I say – I absolutely loved it!

But besides being a fabulous show, The Golden Girls also had, hands down, the BEST television theme song ever! 🙂 “Thank you for being a friend! Travel down the road and back again. Your heart is true, you’re a pal and a confidant.” Sing it with me, now! “And if you threw a party, invited everyone you knew, you would see the biggest gift would be from me and the card attached would say, thank you for being a friend!” LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT!

I am happy to report that The Golden Girls house looks EXACTLY the same today – and I mean EXACTLY the same – as it did when the show first premiered in 1985. It is absolutely unbelievable to me that the home has remained unchanged in a whopping twenty-four years time. LOVE IT! I’d like to go on record right now and thank the owners of this house for letting this piece of television history remain untouched for all of us stalkers to appreciate years later. Why can’t more filming location owners be like you????? LOL

What’s even more amazing to me is how iconic The Golden Girls house truly is. Even my fiance recognized it, and he recognizes virtually NOTHING. In fact, I think I can safely say that in all the years we’ve dated (eight and half, but who’s counting?), he has never once recognized a location that I’ve dragged him to – ever! Until this past weekend, that is. 🙂 Even though The Golden Girls house is extremely non-descript, for some reason a picture of it is imbedded in my brain, almost more so than any other TV home – except, of course, for the 90210 house! 🙂

A big THANK YOU to Owen for finding this location after hearing numerous rumors about its wherabouts – rumors like the house was actually located in Florida or Pacific Palisades or that it only ever existed on a studio backlot. He ended up finding the house several years ago on a German website that had a map of Los Angeles with the general vicinity of the GG home earmarked. Once he had the general area locked down – even if it was in German 🙂 – it didn’t take him long to find the home’s exact address and put to rest all of those pesky location rumors. The real story of the Golden Girls home is this: During the first seasons of the show, a Brentwood area house was used for all of the establishing shots of the ladies’ Miami area residence. Then in 1988, a replica of that home was built on the backlot of Disney MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida, and that replica was used for the exterior house shots for the remainder of the series – which seems odd to me being that the show was actually taped right here in Los Angeles. Anyway, you can see a photograph of the replica home here. Sadly, in 2003 the replica was torn down, along with the rest of Residential Street, in order to make room for a new stunt show called “Lights! Motors! Action!” To quote Chelsea Lately,”I don’t like that! I don’t like that at all!” At least the real house is still standing, though!

And if you are a big fan of the GG house, or just the show in general, I definitely recommend checking out this girl’s website. And people say I have way too much time on my hands! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Golden Girls house is located at 245 North Saltair Avenue in Brentwood.

July 9, 2009December 6, 2013

The Fairmont Miramar Santa Monica

I don’t know about you all, but for the past few Sunday nights I have been absolutely glued to my television set watching Season 2 of the Ryan Seacrest produced Denise Richards: It’s Complicated. And while I admit that the girl is an absolute train wreck and that her laugh is like fingernails on a chalkboard, for some incredibly odd reason I just can’t stop watching! LOL So, since I was in the area recently, I just had to stalk the hotel Denise moved into at the beginning of this season.

Wanting a “fresh start” after the past “difficult year”, Denise decided to sell her Hidden Hills home and move closer to her daughters’ school and her “work” – whatever that means. I didn’t realize Denise had a full time job. LOL Anyway, until her former home sells, the Richards Family, including Denise, her father Irv (no, that’s not a typo, that’s actually his name!), and daughters Lola and Sam, are calling the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows in Santa Monica home. The hotel shows up quite often on this season of Denise’s reality show, especially the bungalow area where her family lives . . .

. . . and the hotel’s onsite fitness center, where she works out daily with her trainer/sometimes date Ray.

The Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows was originally the private home of John P. Jones, a former Nevada senator and one of the founders of the City of Santa Monica. John built a mansion on the site in 1889 and dubbed his property “Miramar” which means “view of the sea” in Spanish. In 1912, the Jones Family sold their home to King C. Gillette, founder of the razor company of the same name and the King Gillette Ranch where TV’s The Biggest Loser is filmed. Nine years later, in 1921, Gillette sold the property to hotel entreprenuer Gilbert Stevenson, who turned it into an upscale seaside resort. In 1924, to make room for more guests, Stevenson added a large brick building to the property and also, sadly, had the original Jones’ mansion torn down just a few years later. In 1959, the hotel added yet another tower. Forty years later, the current owner, investment group Maritz, Wolffe & Co. purchased the hotel, started a $16 million renovation process, and brought in the Fairmont Hotels and Resorts company to manage the property. All these years later it is still a truly beautiful place and I highly recommend stalking it! 🙂

Denise Richards is not the first celeb to check into the Miramar. Over the years numermous stars have stayed there, including Cary Grant, Greta Garbo (who lived at the hotel for close to three years), Doris Day, JFK and Jackie O., Eleanor Roosevelt, Charles Lindbergh, my girl Marilyn Monroe, Rosa Parks, Denzel Washington, Quincy Jones, Hugh Hefner, Anthony Hopkins, Arnold Schwarznegger, Steven Spielburg, Shaquille O’Neal, and Hilary Swank, just to name a few.

The hotel has been featured in countless movie and television productions over the years. In the Season 5 episode of Entourage entitled “First Class Jerk”, the Miramar stood in for a Hawaiian resort where Vinnie and the boys hung out.

The large Moreton Bay Fig Tree which stands at the entrance to the Miramar and quite closely resembles a banyan tree gives the hotel somewhat of a tropical feel, so it’s no surprise that Entourage producers chose to film there instead of shooting on location in Hawaii. The fig tree was planted way back in 1879 – yes, 1879 – by Senator Jones, the original owner of the propety. It measures a whopping 80 feet high and 120 feet wide!

The hotel also showed up as the location where Anthony Hopkins’ wife carried out her affair in 2007’s Fracture.

It was also the hotel where Helen Mirren and her friends stayed during their L.A. visit in the Disney movie Calendar Girls. Please excuse the horrific YouTube screen captures pictured above! LOL In the 1962 Cary Grant and Doris Day comedy That Touch of Mink, the Miramar was used as a West Indies resort. The hotel has also been featured in Along Came Polly and the television series Simon & Simon.

And last, but definitely not least, the night before her surprise wedding to KFed, Britney Spears threw herself a Bachelorette party in one of the Miramar’s bungalows. KFed partied with his boys, aka “The Pimps” right across the street at Houston’s Restaurant (pictured above). Both, I’m sure, were classy affairs! 😉 At the time, Kevin was living with Britney in her nearby oceanside pad in the 1221 Ocean Avenue condomium complex.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows is located at 101 Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica. You can visit their website here. Houston’s Restaurant, where KFed held his bachelor party, is located across the street at 202 Wilshire Boulevard.

June 24, 2009June 24, 2009

Santa Anita Park

This weekend, I dragged my fiance out to Santa Anita Park, aka the Santa Anita race track, in Arcadia for some major stalking. Our original plan was to catch a movie at the theatre located next door to the track, but a funny thing happened on the way to the show. 🙂 While driving to the movies, I got an email from fellow stalker Owen who told me that Santa Anita Park stood in for the entrance to Walley World in fave 80s movie National Lampoon’s Vacation. Needless to say, I was absolutely SHOCKED! All this time I’ve lived in L.A. and had no idea that Walley World was literally right in my own backyard. So, I made my poor fiance detour the car and, with Owen’s directions in hand, the two of us headed over towards the racetrack. 🙂

Santa Anita Park first opened its doors on Christmas Day of 1934 and has the distinction of being known as Southern California’s oldest race track. Elias Jackson, aka “Lucky”, Baldwin had originally built a horse racing track on what is now the Arcadia County Golf Course in 1907. Sadly, though, just two years after its opening, the government passed the Walker-Otis bill, which outlawed gambling and forced Lucky to close up shop. Twenty-five years later, after California had legalized parimutuel betting, a company named the Los Angeles Turf Club opened up a race track just a few blocks from the former track’s site. The Los Angeles Turf Club was owned by movie producer Hal Roach and a doctor named Charles H. Strub. Roach and Strub commissioned their new track to be built in the Art Deco style by architect Gordon B. Kaufman, who is most well-known for designing both the Hoover Dam and the L.A. Times Building. The original exterior of the race track building still stands at Santa Anita Park to this day. Santa Anita has hosted a number of memorable competitions over the years, including the equestrian events of the 1984 Olympic Games and Seabiscuit’s big win – and final race – which took place on February 9, 1940. Because of the involvement of movieman Hal Roach, the race track has long been associated with the silver screen. Celebs like Bing Crosby, Louis B. Mayer, Alex Trebek, Errol Flynn, and Spencer Tracy all owned horses that raced at Santa Anita at one time or another. And, of course, the track has also shown up in several Hollywood productions.

I have actually been dying to stalk the race track ever since it appeared in my favorite episode of the television series Las Vegas. In the Season Three episode, entitled “Everything Old Is You Again”, Danny McCoy (played by – sigh – Josh Duhamel) has a flashback of sorts in which he fantasizes about what it would be like to run a 60’s era hotel and casino named the Jubliee. In the episode, the entire cast dons 60’s regalia, uses terms like ” Poindexter” and “It’s a gas”, and dances to the Twist. Everyone, that is, except for poor Danny, who doesn’t quite have the moves to the latest dance craze down yet. He spends pretty much the entire episode begging people to teach him how to do the Twist. I’m telling you, it is SUCH a cute episode! And, it just so happens that the Club House at Santa Anita Park stood in for the Jubliee Hotel and Casino in the episode. My fiance immediately recognized it when we first saw the show a few years back. So, I really could not have been more excited to stalk the place this weekend!! In a lucky twist of fate, while we were snapping some photos out front, an INCREDIBLY nice valet came up and started talking to us. I told him that the Vegas episode that had filmed at the Park was my very favorite and he asked if my fiance and I wanted a tour of the areas used in the episode. IF we wanted a tour???? IF we wanted a tour???? LOL OF COURSE we wanted a tour! 🙂

Both the interior and the exterior of the Club House were used as the Jubilee Hotel and Casino in the “Everything Old Is You Again” episode.

The main entrance to the Club House also served as the main entrance to the Jubilee.

According to the valet, hundreds of casino gaming tables and slot machines were brought in to turn the main room of the Club into the casino’s main floor.

Other areas of the Club where filming took place include the bar where Sam (aka Vanessa Marcil) “worked”, which is, in reality, a cafeteria counter;

the main lobby area;

the Club’s cafe, where Mary worked in the episode . . .

which is also the same area where Mary taught Danny to do the Twist :);

the steps located just outside of the cafe doors, where Danny asks Mary out on a date;

and the Jubliee’s “pool” area. Because Santa Anita Park doesn’t actually have a pool, the Jubilee’s “pool” was in actuality just the Club’s back porch area. Producers simply added some chaise lounges, a handful of bikini-clad women, some wet cement, splashing sounds, a bit of movie magic, and voila – they had themselves a hotel swimming pool! 🙂

At the end of the episode, Danny finds himself in the lobby of the present day Montecito Hotel and Casino, where Chubby Checker just happens to be on hand to entertain the guests . . .

. . . and to lead everyone, including Danny, in a rousing rendition of the Twist. See, I told you it was a cute episode! 🙂

The racetrack was also featured in the Season Two Valentine’s Day episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 entitled “And Baby Makes Five”. In the episode, Andrea finds some luck at the track by betting on horses with names such as Lovesick, Unrequited, and Grand Amour. Notice a theme here? 😉

And, as mentioned in my introduction, the Park was also used in National Lampoon’s Vacation. In the movie, an un-used portion of the track’s parking lot stood in for Walley World’s main entrance. According to IMDB, a painted backdrop was installed behind the above pictured overpass to give the illusion of roller coasters in the foreground. Love how you can still see the yellow divider lines in the road that were used in the filming!!

The racetrack’s GINORMOUS parking lot area stood in for Walley World’s parking lot, where Clark and his family race each other- with “Chariots of Fire” playing in the background – to the theme park’s entrance. Again, a huge painted backdrop was used in this scene to create the illusion of roller coasters.

Walley World’s main entrance – where Clark, upon hearing the news that the park is temporarily closed, punches Walley Moose in the nose – is actually Santa Anita’s South Entrance. The entrance was dressed up quite a bit for the filming, so in person it looks much different than how it appeared onscreen in Vacation. Also adding to the difference in appearance is the fact that the movie was filmed in 1983, long before Santa Anita’s main tower, which you can see in the above photograph, was built. An interesting sidenote – it’s fairly common knowledge among locationites that Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia was used for the filming of the scenes inside of Walley World. So why, you ask, was Magic Mountain’s real entrance not used in the movie? Well, apparently, the original ending of Vacation involved Clark W. Griswold and family leaving the “temporarily closed for repairs” Walley World and heading over to Roy Walley’s house, gun in hand, to demand that he entertain them. When that ending didn’t fare well with test audiences, the finale we all know and love was shot on location at Magic Mountain. Rather than waste money re-shooting the parking lot scenes, producers just used the scenes that had already been filmed at Santa Anita Park. And the rest, as they say, is history!

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Santa Anita Park has also been featured in Seabiscuit, A Day at the Races, The Dark Horse, and the television series Jockeys, Grey’s Anatomy, and The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Santa Anita Park is located at 285 West Huntington Drive in Arcadia. Las Vegas was filmed at the Park’s Club House. The entrance to Walley World was really the South Entrance of Santa Anita Park.

The overpass that the Griswold’s drive under when entering the Walley World parking lot is a bit tricky to find. It is located directly off of Huntington Drive, near 659 West Huntington Drive. The overpass leads to Westfield -Santa Anita Shopping Center and runs over one of the un-used areas of the racetrack’s parking lot. You can see its exact location in the above map.