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Courteney Cox’s Former Home

In honor of the recent sale of Courteney Cox’s John Lautner designed Malibu home, I thought I’d do a little stalking of a house she lived in way back in the day. During the first two seasons of Friends, Courteney Cox lived in a charming little house in Santa Monica, located just a few blocks from the ultra-exclusive shopping district of Montana Avenue.

It’s funny to imagine Courteney living in such a normal house in such a normal neighborhood during the height of Friends. While the house is pretty private, it lacks the large gates, walls, and driveways that are so common to movie-star homes. Standing in front of Courteney’s former house, I was left wondering if Jen Aniston came to visit often. If only I had known Courteney’s address back then!!!! In 1996, she sold this home and moved to a larger home in Brentwood.

I found this location thanks to Big Time Listings who posted a great article on all of Courteney’s former digs.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Courteney’s home from her early days on Friends is located at 606 Alta Drive in Santa Monica. After stalking her house, head over to Montana Avenue for some great shopping and dining. Arnold Schwarzenegger often eats breakfast at Cafe Montana, located at 1534 Montana Ave., on Sunday mornings with his family. You’ll know he’s there by the three or four black SUV’s parked outside and the oh-so-subtle secret service agents stationed at the front doors of the Cafe.

February 12, 2008
Yamashiro Restaurant – Looking Down on All of Hollywood!

On Saturday, my boyfriend took me to dinner at a former Japanese palace called Yamashiro, located in Hollywood – 250 feet above Hollywood Boulevard, to be exact. The restaurant has the most amazing views of Hollywood and surrounding LA that I have ever seen and it was a pretty incredible place to spend an evening – and the food was absolutely yummy! And, need I mention, Yamashiro has also served as a backdrop for countless movie and TV productions. 🙂

Yamashiro, which means “Mountain Palace” in Japanese, was actually one of the very first Hollywood hot spots. Built in 1914, on over seven acres of land, as a private home to the Bernheimer Brothers, it was modeled after a palace located in the Yamashiro Mountains in Kyoto, Japan. After the death of one of the brothers in 1922, Yamashiro was sold and became home to celeb hot spot the “400 Club” – an exclusive hangout for the Hollywood Royalty of the 20’s and 30’s. Sadly, during WWII the property was destroyed by vandals due to anti-Japanese sentiment, and it fell into disarray. It later became a boys’ military school. The property remained in disrepair until it was purchased by Thomas O. Glover in 1948, who painstakingly returned Yamashiro to its original glory. The pagoda, located in Yamashiro’s garden area, is actually the oldest structure in California!

While you are there, be sure to walk through the gardens on the property and take a look at the exquisite inner courtyard inside the restaurant. If you visit Yamashiro at night, keep your eyes on the Capital Records Building – the light on the spire atop the building spells out the word “Hollywood” in old Morse Code – a little tidbit of Hollywood trivia that I didn’t know until last night. You learn something new everyday!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Yamashiro is located at the very top of Hollywood at 1999 N. Sycamore Street. If you go there for dinner be sure to try the Yamashiro Crispy Chicken and the Butter Lettuce Wraps – so yummy! Yamashiro would actually be the perfect place to have Valentine’s dinner – or a romantic Valentine’s drink! Besides being a great place to eat, Yamashiro has a vast filming history – including being featured in the movies Gone in 60 Seconds, Blind Date, Memoirs of a Geisha, and countless commercials and TV shows.

February 11, 2008
Epic Records – Audrina’s Place of Business

On The Hills, Audrina Patridge, Lauren’s roommate, works at Epic Records, a division of Sony BMG Music Entertainment. Being that I am completely obsessed with The Hills (when is the second part of the third season going to air already????) I just had to stalk the office building where Audrina works. This location was a snap to find, as I had driven by it many times before and recognized it immediately when it was shown on The Hills. The Sony BMG Music building is located in a cute little business district in Santa Monica, just off the 10 Freeway. While there, you can walk right up to the back gates of the building on 20th Street, and peek in to see the interior courtyard area, which is used frequently on The Hills whenever Audrina needs to escape and have a chat about Justin Bobby with one of her co-workers.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Sony BMG building is located at 2100 Colorado Avenue, at the corner of 20th Street, in Santa Monica. If you drive north on Colorado, you can hit up Quiznos, La Salsa, and, my personal favorite, Starbucks. I wonder if Audrina stops at that Starbucks every morning before work?!?! 🙂

February 10, 2008
Courteney Cox’s Former Malibu Beach House

According to fave website Real Estalker, Courteney Cox and David Arquette have just sold their John Lautner designed Malibu beach home for a cool $33.5 million. I stalked this unique home a couple of years ago, back when I was trying to locate Jen Aniston’s beach house. I knew the Arquettes lived on Carbon Beach, the same small stretch of land where Jen’s house is located. While searching for Jen’s house, I passed by an extremely interesting home, unlike any I had ever seen before, and I knew it had to be the Arquette’s.

At first I thought the house was extremely weird and ugly, but I must admit it has grown on me. I am starting to really like John Lautner’s unique and dramatic style of architecture. His space age inspired homes have been used in countless movies, including Charlie’s Angels, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, Lethal Weapon 2, Body Double and Diamonds Are Forever.

You can see pics of the inside of Courteney’s house here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Arquette’s former beach house is located at 22426 Pacific Coast Highway on Carbon Beach. While stalking that house, you can also stalk Jen’s former home, located just down the road at 22164 Pacific Coast Highway. The Arquette’s new home is located near Paradise Cove at 27460 PCH.

February 7, 2008
The Bewitched House!

This weekend I stalked the house used as Darrin and Samantha’s home on the 1964 TV series Bewitched. Interestingly enough, the house, located in Santa Monica, California, was only the inspiration for the home seen on the series, but was never actually used for filming. An exact replica of the Santa Monica house was built on the Warner Brothers Ranch lot in Burbank and the producers used that home for filming. Even more interesting, the house on the Ranch lot is actually the complete opposite of the real home in Santa Monica – almost an exact mirror image – in that everything on the set house was switched to the opposite side. The peaked roof is located on the right side of the real house, but on the set version it is on the left.

I found this location on Zillow’s fabulous Famous Houses page. Walking up to the house I felt like I had stepped back in time. Surrounded mostly by modernized and remodeled houses, the Bewitched house looks like it hasn’t been touched in years. But in a good way. 🙂 It’ll bring you right back to 1964!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: While Samantha and Darrin supposedly lived at 1164 Morning Glory Circle in West Connecticut, the real house can be found at 267 18th Street in Santa Monica, just north of Montana Ave. According to IMDB, the house was also used as Gidget’s house in the TV series of the same name. Warner Brothers Ranch lot is located at 411 N. Hollywood Way in Burbank. Sadly (tragic really!) the Ranch is not open to the public. 🙁 This website has GREAT pictures and information about the Ranch, so at the very least you can stalk it from your computer screen. Many famous movie and TV locations are located on the lot, including the Griswold Family’s home from Christmas Vacation, Danny Glover’s house in Lethal Weapon, the house from Life Goes On, and, my personal favorite, the fountain from the opening credits of Friends!

February 6, 2008
I Have Got to Get Me One of These!

While driving this weekend, I happened to pass by this interesting contraption and just had to stop and take a pic! LOL! Apparently “Dan, the Handyman” is willing to rent out his boom-lift to paparazzi for picture taking at those hard-to-stalk locations.

This device would have come in handy when I stalked Brad and Jen’s old house, as I could not see anything over the tall gates and trees that surround the estate. Supposedly, a few years ago – way before she went crazy – Britney Spears stalked Brad and Jen’s house and she actually stood on top of her SUV to try to get a look inside the gates!! She should have just saved herself the trouble and called Dan and rented one of his bucket-lifts!

Stalk It: You can rent Dan the Handyman’s bucket lift by calling (310)892-6748. I am sure it even comes in handy for non-stalking activities. Brad and Jen’s former house is located at 1026 Ridgedale Drive in Beverly Hills. Rhea Perlman and Danny Devito live next door at 1028 Ridgedale, but apparently their home is currently for sale.

February 5, 2008
"I’d Like to Thank the Academy . . ."

This weekend, while hanging out at the Hollywood & Highland Center on Hollywood Blvd., my boyfriend and I stumbled upon the new “Meet the Oscars” exhibit. In honor of the upcoming Academy Awards ceremony, Hollywood & Highland Center – which is home to the Kodak Theatre, official host of the Oscars – has opened a free Oscar exhibit to the public – where you can hold an actual Oscar statuette!!

Also on display are the actual Oscars that will be presented at this year’s Academy Awards Ceremony on February 24th. You can view case after case of real Academy Awards up close and personal while walking through the showing. At the end of the exhibition, you can actually hold a real Oscar! Being an actress, it was pretty incredible to be able to hold an actual Oscar in my hands! It is MUCH heavier than I expected – even though according to one of the information cards on display, each statue weighs in at only 8.5 pounds.

If you are in the area in the next few weeks, I highly recommend checking out the exhibit. There are tons of pictures on display, a wealth of Oscar trivia and history, and even an Oscar game to play.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: “Meet the Oscars” will be on display at the Hollywood & Highland Center from February 1st through the 23rd on the fourth floor. Sunday through Thursday the exhibit is open from 12pm until 7pm and on Friday and Saturday it is open from 12pm until 8pm. The exhibit is free to the public! The Hollywood and Highland Center is located at 6801 Hollywood Blvd, on the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue.

February 4, 2008
The Producers’ Guild Awards!

Last night my boyfriend and I set out to have a drink at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills and ended up walking into a stalker’s paradise! The Producers’ Guild Awards were being held in the International Ballroom of the hotel, and producers, movie stars and paparazzi were everywhere! We had a great view of the red carpet from the front of the hotel, until hotel security made us move. We ended up eating dinner and hanging out in the lobby bar, which was the perfect vantage point for the red carpet area of the event. We got to see Kathy Griffin (who is super tiny in person!), Teri Polo, and Christina Applegate. Ali Larter and Ellen Page were also there, but unfortunately I missed them. 🙁 While eating, I made friends with an editor for a photography company, who happened to be sitting at the table next to us. He was uploading pictures in real time as they were wirelessly sent to him from the photographers stationed on the red carpet a few feet away. It was very interesting to watch.

Apparently the Beverly Hilton Hotel is home to over 200 star-studded red carpet events each year! The hotel also holds a special place in my heart as it was the location of one of my very first on-camera experiences. When I first moved to Los Angeles, I joined Central Casting, the premiere extras casting agency in LA. One of my very first jobs as an extra was playing the part of a guest at Donna and David’s wedding on the very last episode of Beverly Hills, 90210. Their reception took place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel! 🙂 As obsessed as I was with 90210 in high school, it was a pretty incredible experience to be a part of Donna and David’s wedding. 🙂

Me on the red carpet! Unfortunately, the cameramen had already left. 🙁

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Beverly Hilton Hotel is located at 9876 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. Within walking distance of Rodeo Drive, the hotel is the perfect place to stay for out of town visitors who want to be in the heart of Beverly Hills. The hotel lobby bar is a fun place to sit and have a drink, but apparently the pool bar is where all the action is, with live entertainment and dancing nightly. Donna and David’s wedding reception on 90210 took place in the former “Coconut Club,” which, unfortunately, was shut down in 2002. The “Coconut Club” is now a conference room called the “Beverly Hills Ballroom.”

February 3, 2008
Brad and Angie’s Gate!

After Brad Pitt left Jen Aniston for Angelina Jolie – that jerk! – he purchased a beach front home on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. Brad and Angie lived at the house on and off for about a year. Although Brad still owns the home, the two have not stayed there in quite some time and rumor has it that he is trying to sell it. I’ve heard that the house is kind of shabby and pretty run down inside! LOL That’s what he gets for ditching Jen!

As far as stalking Brangelina’s house goes, I wouldn’t really recommend it. The only part of the house you can see from Pacific Coast Highway is a very nice, modern style gate. I would recommend stalking on Zillow instead – you get to see a lot more. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Brangelina’s Malibu house is located at 32316 Pacific Coast Highway, about two miles north of Trancas Canyon Road. On the way to stalk Brad and Angelina, stop in at the Trancas Center Starbucks where Kevin Dillon is a regular or at Hows Trancas Market, where I happened to see Cheech of Cheech and Chong fame.

February 2, 2008
“Tower, This is Ghostrider Requesting A Fly-by”

When I was in high school, back before he totally went off his rocker and started jumping on couches, I was head over heels in love with Tom Cruise! I thought he was the dreamiest! And I didn’t think there could ever be a better movie than Top Gun! Still love Top Gun, but I’ve pretty much lost that loving feeling for Tom.

During my college years, when I was just an amateur stalker, one of my friends happened to know the location of Kelly McGillis’ house from Top Gun, so, of course, I had to stalk it! Since I had yet to meet my boyfriend at that time, I had to drag my parents to this filming location. The house is located in Oceanside, near San Diego, and is an adorable little beach house. The citizens of Oceanside have been fighting for years to stop a hotel development company from tearing the house down – so if you are a Top Gun fan, you better stalk it while you still can!

Paying homage to their San Diego filming location, Maverick’s helmet, dog tags and a few other Top Gun memorabilia items are enshrined in a case at the Hard Rock Cafe, located just a few miles away in La Jolla.

The restaurant from Top Gun is also located in San Diego, but I will save that location for a future post. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Top Gun house is located in Oceanside, about 30 miles north of San Diego, at 102 Pacific Drive, overlooking the beach. The Hard Rock Cafe – La Jolla can be found at 909 Prospect Avenue, #100, at the corner of Prospect and Fay.

January 31, 2008