Blog

June’s House from “White Collar”

Sometimes the work and detail that go into creating certain locations absolutely boggles my mind. Case in point – the house belonging to June (Diahann Carroll) on the USA series White Collar. The imposing residence is actually an amalgamation of three different places – a spectacular estate on New York’s Upper West Side, the rooftop terrace of an ornate Murray Hill building, and a studio-built set. While in Manhattan last April, I stalked the estate, known in real life as the Schinasi Mansion, which is used in all of the establishing shots of June’s pad on the show.

[ad]

The sprawling Schinasi Mansion was originally built for Turkish-born cigarette magnate Morris Schinasi in 1909. Designed by William B. Tuthill of Carnegie Hall fame, the spectacular French Renaissance-style residence, which boasts Turkish influences, is often touted as being New York’s only remaining stand-alone single-family manse.

Though undeniably striking, Schinasi wasn’t altogether impressed with Tuthill’s final product and refused to pay the architect his $5,655.65 fee, which resulted in a lawsuit.

It’s hard to imagine what Schinasi found fault with. The exterior of the 4-story, 41-by-73-foot structure, which sits overlooking the Hudson River on a plot of land boasting 3,400 square feet of gardens, is a masterpiece of white marble and green-tiled roofing.

The exterior pales in comparison to the interior, though, which is a virtual work of art.

The 12,000-square-foot home features 12 bedrooms, 11 baths, a teak-paneled library with a fireplace and built-in window seat, a smoking room with ceiling frescos and gold leafing, a formal wood-paneled dining room with stained glass windows, a drawing room with carved ceilings, an English basement, two kitchens, a hall made entirely of ornate Egyptian marble, and an entry hall with a sweeping grand staircase and an almost-unbelievably-intricate honeycomb ceiling constructed of wood. The inside of the residence honestly has to be seen to be believed. You can check out some fabulous photos of it here and here.

When Schinasi passed away in 1929, his widow Laurette sold the mansion, at which time it became a finishing school known as the Semple School for Girls. Upon headmaster Rosa Semple’s death in 1965, the property was bought by Columbia University and was transformed into a daycare facility named “The Children’s Mansion.” Under Columbia’s ownership, the residence was also utilized as an Episcopal school and the offices of the Digest of Soviet Press. In 1979, the site transitioned into a private residence once again upon being purchased by Columbia University law professor Hans Smit for $325,000. Hans spent the next twenty years renovating the property, though when he put it on the market in 2006, the real estate listing noted that it still needed major rehabbing.

Originally listed at $31 million, the pad, which is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a New York City Landmark, received no bites. The price was slashed to $20 million in 2012 and the dwelling eventually sold for $14 million in 2013. The new owners immediately set about revitalizing the structure. The renovation was still in full swing when I stalked the place last Spring, as evidenced by all of my photos.

My dad has a saying he likes to use about people with uncanny good luck – “He could fall into a pile of sh*t and walk out with a brown suit.” That pretty much sums up the character of con man Neal Caffrey (Matt Bomer) on White Collar. In the series’ pilot, Neal is released from jail into the custody of the FBI’s White Collar division, where he is to act as a consultant, helping agent Peter Burke (Tim DeKay) catch art thieves and forgers in return for his partial freedom (though he is able to live on his own and move freely, he is forced to wear an ankle bracelet). When Neal scoffs at the seedy apartment the FBI has secured for him, Peter informs him that the low class digs cost $700 a month and if he can find more suitable accommodations for the same amount, he is welcome to move. While shopping for clothes at a nearby thrift store in the scene that follows, Neal meets a wealthy widow named June (Diahann Carroll) who is donating her late husband’s designer suits. Neal and June strike up a conversation – and an unlikely friendship (turns out June’s late husband was a con man, too!) – that ends with Neal moving into the idyllic attic apartment (complete with a large rooftop terrace) of June’s massive mansion, said to be located at 87 Riverside Drive, for the bargain price of $700 a month.

The exterior of the Schinasi Mansion was shown regularly in establishing shots of June’s palatial pad throughout White Collar’s six-season run.

The home’s actual interior was also utilized in several episodes, including the pilot (pictured below).

Neal’s fabulous attic apartment, unfortunately, does not exist in real life, but was a studio-built set. You can see what the Schinasi Mansion’s attic area actually looks like here and here.

I’ve recently decided that if the Grim Cheaper and I ever buy a place and have the means to have it professionally decorated, we are so hiring a set designer rather than an interior decorator! Ammiright?

While Neal’s uh-ma-zing terrace was also a studio-built set, I was thrilled to discover while researching this post that the patio scenes from the pilot were shot at an actual place – one of the penthouses at the Windsor Tower residential building, which is located at 5 Tudor City Place in Murray Hill. You can see a photo of one of the actual Windsor Tower penthouse terraces here and a video of another one here.

The set re-creation of Neal’s terrace, which very closely resembles the Windsor Tower terraces (albeit a much smaller version), is pictured below.

White Collar is hardly the first production to make use of the Schinasi Mansion.

In the 1994 comedy Bullets Over Broadway, the dwelling masked as the home of actress Helen Sinclair (Dianne Wiest).

In the Season 3 episode of Damages titled “Your Secrets Are Safe,” which aired in 2010, the mansion was the site of the Tobin family’s Thanksgiving dinner.

It, along with another massive mansion, was used as the residence of Spencer Fisher (Kyle Bornheimer) in the Season 2 episode of Royal Pains titled “Spasticity,” which also aired in 2010.

In the 2014 thriller Innocence, the property portrayed the home of Tobey Crawford (Graham Phillips).

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Schinasi Mansion, aka June’s house from White Collar, is located at 351 Riverside Drive on New York’s Upper West Side.

April 28, 2017
The Waterfront Beach Resort from “Rosewood”

It is such a shame when a favorite show jumps the shark. If its latest episode, titled “Amparo & the American Dream,” is any indication, that fate seems to have befallen Rosewood, the FOX procedural currently in its second season. While I was all in with the recent storyline centering around Captain Ryan Slade (Eddie Cibrian) donating his kidney to Dr. Beaumont “Rosie” Rosewood, Jr. (Morris Chestnut) and the complications that arose from that, as soon as the focus shifted to Slade possibly being a dirty cop, I completely lost interest. The sudden addition of Detective Annalise Villa’s (Jaina Lee Ortiz) brother, Marcos (Manny Montana), has been another low spot. He needs to go away, and fast! While this week’s show might be a turnaround, considering how catastrophically bad “Amparo & the American Dream” was, I’m not holding out hope. One bright spot in the episode was that I recognized a location – one that has appeared on Rosewood before (in my favorite episode of the series) and that I had stalked, but not yet blogged about – Huntington Beach’s The Waterfront Beach Resort.

[ad]

The 12-story Waterfront Beach Resort opened its doors in 1990. At the time, it was known as “The Waterfront Hilton.” It is still a Hilton property today.

The 285-room, Four-Diamond resort sits a short hop from the sand and boasts 21,000 square feet of meeting and event space, a heated pool and whirlpool overlooking the Pacific, a fitness center, a market/espresso bar, and an eatery named Shades Restaurant & Bar.

Stepping into The Waterfront feels like stepping onto a tropical island. The Grim Cheaper and I popped by for a quick visit while in Orange County last month and I found myself seriously considering rearranging our schedule so that we could book a room for an immediate spontaneous stay. Sadly, we couldn’t.

The hotel started undergoing an extensive $140-million, 18-month renovation and expansion in early 2016.

During the project, a 9-story suites-only tower with a restaurant, a lounge, a pool deck, and an events lawn will be added to the property. Many areas of the existing hotel are also being altered, including the lobby and pool.

In the Season 1 episode of Rosewood titled “Atherosclerosis and the Alabama Flim-Flam,” which is hands-down my favorite of the entire series, The Waterfront portrays the Coconut Beach Crown Plaza Hotel in Coconut Beach, Florida, where Rosie serves as a keynote speaker for the Forensic Pathology Organization of America’s Annual Convention. During the conference, someone murders one of Rosie’s fellow pathologists, utilizing methods detailed in his speech. So he calls on his East Miami PD colleagues, including Villa, to help solve the case and track down the killer.

The episode was shot pretty much in its entirety on location at the hotel. Areas used include the Grand Ballroom;

several hallways;

the pool;

the Tides Ballroom,which masked as Surf and Turf restaurant, where Rosie and Villa carried out the “Wilma Illinois Screamer” scam on two suspects (and where Rosie professed his love for Villa, only to have her deny him moments later);

Shades Restaurant & Bar;

and the lobby, where Villa made a grand entrance wearing a “gift shop” dress.

Sadly, the lobby has already undergone the majority of its renovation, so, while the basic set-up remains the same, it looks quite a bit different today than it did onscreen in Rosewood.

I believe that several of the hotel’s actual rooms were also used in the shoot – either that or production utilized sets very closely modeled after The Waterfront’s accommodations. You can check out what some of The Waterfront’s rooms look like here and here.

In Rosewood’s “Amparo & the American Dream” episode, which is hands-down my least favorite of the entire series, The Waterfront masks as Miami Beach’s The De Leon Hotel, where Rosie and Villa track down a prostitution ring. The resort was only featured briefly in the episode. Areas used include the exterior;

the pool;

a room;

and several hallways.

A couple of other productions have also been shot at The Waterfront. Amanda Woodward (Heather Locklear) and boyfriend Bobby Parezi (John Enos III) stayed there in the Season 4 episode of Melrose Place titled “The Bobby Trap.” In the episode, not only was an establishing shot of the exterior of the hotel shown . . .

. . . but Bobby and Amanda dined by the resort’s pool.

One of the hotel’s hallways was also utilized . . .

. . . as was one of the rooms.

It is also at The Waterfront that Jackie Dorsey (Christy Carlson Romano) takes a California vacation with some friends in the 2006 ABC Family movie The Cutting Edge: Going for the Gold.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Waterfront Beach Resort, aka the Coconut Beach Crown Plaza Hotel from the “Atherosclerosis and the Alabama Flim-Flam” episode of Rosewood, is located at 21100 Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach. You can visit the hotel’s official website here. The Hyatt Huntington Beach, which stood in for the Beverly Hills Beach Club on 90210, is located just down the street at 21500 Pacific Coast Highway. You can visit the website for that hotel here.

April 26, 2017
Studio Gate 3 from the “Feud” “Hollywood Drive” Promo

It will probably come as a shock to most readers that I don’t know a lot about Old Hollywood. Sure, I am well-versed in all things Marilyn Monroe and have stalked my fair share of noir locations, but on the whole, I’d say I’m pretty lacking in knowledge about the Tinseltown of yesteryear. I am always itching to learn more, though. So I was thrilled when it was announced that the inaugural season of Ryan Murphy’s new anthology series Feud was tackling the decades-long discord between screen legends Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, a rivalry dating back to the 1930s of which I knew virtually nothing. (The second season is set to center around Prince Charles and Lady Di. Um, count me in!) I avidly watched the show (which ended its eight-episode run last night), eating up details of the actresses’ mutual animosity for one another with a spoon, as well as obsessively researching its locations. I even went so far as to stalk a spot that only appeared in a brief 31-second promo – a first for me.

[ad]

In the promo, titled “Hollywood Drive,” Davis and Crawford are shown simultaneously arriving at Gate 3 of an unnamed Hollywood studio and then playing chicken with each other to get in. (Though Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon portrayed Joan and Bette, respectively, on Feud, the promo made use of unnamed actresses for the roles.)

You can watch the trailer by clicking below.

I recognized the “studio” gate immediately thanks to its appearance in a Season 3 episode of Scandal in which it masked as the front gate of the White House. (More on that in a bit.) I logged a ridiculous amount of man-hours looking for the site after seeing it in Scandal (so much so that visions of it are now burned into my brain!) and finally pinpointed it as the entrance to Beth Olam Cemetery-Hollywood, which is part of Hollywood Forever Cemetery. (More on that in a bit, as well.) So when the gate popped up in the Feud promo, identifying it was a no-brainer.

Not much of the locale was changed for “Hollywood Drive,” aside from the addition of a few boxed plants and signage reading “Studio Gate 3.” The structure’s central blue dome was also kept out of frame.

Hollywood Forever was originally established in 1899 as Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery. In the late 1920s, the southwest portion of the then 102-acre property was appropriated for Jewish burials and became known as Beth Olam Cemetery-Hollywood. Though it has its own gate, it still very much a part of Hollywood Forever. (Today, Hollywood Forever boasts 62 acres due to the fact that in 1920, 40 acres were sold off to 2 different movie studios to develop what is now collectively Paramount Pictures.)

In 1939, the cemetery was purchased by convicted felon Jack Roth, who had just finished serving 5 years of a suggested 11- to 95-year prison sentence for grand theft and securities fraud. Jail did not change Roth’s criminal tendencies. He immediately set about spending the burial ground’s funds on himself, installing a wet bar in his office and purchasing a yacht that he claimed was used to scatter clients’ ashes and was therefore tax deductible. Not surprisingly, the state of the cemetery began to severely decline under Roth’s tutelage. As this fabulous 2011 Tablet article states, “In one year, Hollywood Memorial made more money disinterring bodies than interring them—relatives wanted their loved ones moved to better-kept environs.” When Jack passed away in 1998 (for those wondering, yes, he is buried at Hollywood Forever), the site was sold to brothers Tyler and Brent Cassity, who revitalized and cleaned up the neglected graveyard, renamed it “Hollywood Forever Cemetery,” and began offering tours, as well as hosting the insanely popular Cinespia movie nights. (I saw Pee-wee’s Big Adventure there back in 2008 and had an absolute blast.) The duo also eventually wound up facing their own complicated tangles with the law, which are detailed in the Tablet post.

While Hollywood Forever is used in filming all.the.time., for this post, I thought it would be best to focus solely on the Beth Olam gate.

Though a gate at The Huntington Library, Art Collection, and Botanical Gardens masked as the White House’s front gate in previous seasons of Scandal, for reasons likely having to do with convenience, the production utilized the Beth Olam gate in Season 3’s “Mama Said Knock You Out.” The structure appeared twice in the episode. It first popped up in the scene in which Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) received an ominous phone call from her mother upon arriving at the White House.

Later in the episode, Cyrus Beene (Jeff Perry) tried to convince Olivia not to abandon her post as presidential fixer while at the gate. A makeshift guard shack and wall of hedges were installed for the Scandal shoot and the White House later digitally added into the background of the segments.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Studio Gate 3, from the Feud “Hollywood Drive” promo, is actually the gate to Beth Olam Cemetery-Hollywood (which is part of Hollywood Forever Cemetery) located at 900 North Gower Street in Hollywood.

April 24, 2017
Center Stage from “Vanderpump Rules”

Continuing on with our Vanderpump Rules tour of Lake Arrowhead, the Grim Cheaper and I headed over to Center Stage, the outdoor concert venue where Pierce the Arrow, Tom Sandoval’s band, played in the Season 2 episode titled “Only the Lonely.” Thankfully, this was an easy find and stalk. Not only was the name “Center Stage” shown in the episode, but I knew from my prior visits to the area that the arena was located somewhere in Lake Arrowhead Village, the city’s sprawling lakeside alpine-themed shopping center. Once there, the venue’s large red and blue sign made the place easy to pinpoint.

[ad]

Center Stage was originally established in 2003 and, at the time, consisted of a small outdoor stage covered by an overhang. You can check out a photograph of what it looked like in its early days here. In 2005, a new arena was built, this one modeled after the defunct Ye Jester Theatre, an open air arena originally constructed at Lake Arrowhead Village in 1925. You can see a picture of what the Ye Jester looked like while it was still in existence here.

Ye Jester Theatre was sadly demolished, along with all of the original Lake Arrowhead Village buildings (aside from the post office, bank, real estate office, and former dance pavilion, which today houses Papagayos Mexican Restaurant & Cantina, another Vanderpump Rules locale), in 1979. The year prior, a group of developers had purchased the shopping center and, because many of the storefronts were in a state of decline with outdated piping and wiring, decided to raze it to make way for new, but architecturally similar structures. The entire center was subsequently set ablaze as part of a “burn to learn” exercise conducted by the Lake Arrowhead Fire Protection District and several other government agencies. The Lake Arrowhead Village that stands today was erected in its place shortly thereafter.

Center Stage is mainly utilized during Lake Arrowhead’s Summer Concert Series, which runs each May through September. The concerts, which feature bands from all musical genres, are open to the public and free to attend. Reserved table seating can also be purchased.

The venue also features a beer garden.

In the “Only the Lonely” episode of Vanderpump Rules, Tom and his band are featured at Center Stage as part of the Summer Concert Series.

Their performance softens then girlfriend Kristen Doute’s hostility towards Tom and, despite all the fighting that took place earlier in the episode, Kristen decides all is forgiven. She explains, “Seeing Tom up on stage, it’s just one of those moments that you forget every sh*tty thing you’ve put each other through. And it takes you back to why you started dating to begin with. It reminds me of why I love him so much. There are definitely times that I want to punch Tom in his balls, but right now, in this moment, I want everyone to know that’s my f*cking boyfriend up on that stage!” As I said in my post about Woody’s Boathouse Restaurant, which also appeared in the episode, it’s no surprise that these two didn’t last through the season.

During Pierce the Arrow’s performance, the Sur gang throws women’s underwear at Tom, who is easily the most metrosexual guy to ever grace a TV screen. (He regularly and unabashedly uses a flat iron, goes for spray tans, and shaves his forehead – yes, shaves his forehead!) As Sur manager Peter Madrigal explains, “Tom’s up there wearing women’s hair products, women’s eye liner, women’s pants. Why not throw him some women’s underwear? Maybe he’ll wear those, too.”

Later in the evening, Martha Davis and The Motels performed their 1982 hit “Only the Lonely” at Center Stage, hence the episode’s title.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Center Stage, from the “Only the Lonely” episode of Vanderpump Rules, can be found at the entrance to the Lake Arrowhead Village shopping center, which is located at 28200 CA-189 in Lake Arrowhead. You can check out the line-up for the 2017 Summer Concert Series, as well as purchase reserved seating, here. Woody’s Boathouse Restaurant, which also appeared in the episode, is located in Lake Arrowhead Village, as well, just east of Center Stage. You can visit the eatery’s official website here. Papagayos Mexican Restaurant & Cantina, another “Only the Lonely” locale, can be found in Building P-100 of the same center. You can visit that eatery’s official website here.

April 21, 2017
Woody’s Boathouse Restaurant from “Vanderpump Rules”

I had high hopes for a lot of rest, relaxation, and reading during my recent trip to Lake Arrowhead. I wound up doing little else besides shopping and some Vanderpump Rules stalking, though, which, hey, I’m not gonna complain about! One site I did not pinpoint the exact location of prior to actually setting foot in the lakeside city was the eatery where the Sur gang grabbed lunch in the Season 2 episode titled “Only the Lonely.” I recognized from my prior visits to the area that filming of the scene had occurred somewhere in Lake Arrowhead Village, so, armed with screen captures, the Grim Cheaper and I ventured around the sprawling shopping center until we found the right spot. As we soon learned, VR was lensed on the small back patio of Woody’s Boathouse Restaurant, a spot we had actually dined at during one of our previous trips! I failed to recognize the place, though, because that particular visit took place during the winter (there was even snow on the ground!), so we dined indoors and did not even realize that the eatery had a back patio.

[ad]

In “Only the Lonely,” Stassi Schroeder, Jax Taylor, et al. travelled to Lake Arrowhead to attend Tom Sandoval’s band’s show. Their first night in town, during which the gang grabbed drinks at Papagayos Mexican Restaurant & Cantina (I blogged about that site here), was a bit rocky, with Tom and then girlfriend Kristen Doute arguing – initially over whether or not Tom regularly wore his steampunk glasses and then later over the fact that Kristen wouldn’t let Tom kiss her goodnight. (It came as such a shock when their relationship ended a few episodes later! ) The following day, Tom, Kristen and the rest of the (very hung-over) group discussed the fight and its fallout over lunch – and more drinks (because, duh!) – at Woody’s.

During the debriefing, Tom, of course, cried – or, as he described it, “shed some man tears” – and all was forgiven. For the time being, at least. (And yes, I realize what an idiot I must be coming off as for being a fan of this show! Trust me, though, it’s highly addicting.)

In person, the Woody’s Boathouse patio looks much the same as it did onscreen.

Though the patio was accessible, sadly, dining there was not possible during our visit due to the cold weather.

We did get to enjoy some of its incredible views for a moment, though.

Woody’s Boathouse Restaurant is situated directly overlooking Lake Arrowhead, so the entire eatery boasts some pretty stellar vistas.

I mean, come on!

After finishing their lunch/drinks on Vanderpump Rules, Jax and Stassi took a walk together on the dock in front of Woody’s and discussed the fact that, despite being broken up for over a year, Jax had just tattooed Stassi’s name onto his arm. (Again, the fact that I admit to religiously watching this show can’t be making me look too good right now.)

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Woody’s Boathouse Restaurant, from the “Only the Lonely” episode of Vanderpump Rules, is located in the Lake Arrowhead Village shopping center at 28200 CA-189 in Lake Arrowhead. You can visit the eatery’s official website here. Papagayos Mexican Restaurant & Cantina, which was also featured in the episode, is located in Building P-100 of the same center. You can visit that eatery’s official website here.

April 19, 2017
The “Why Him?” Gate House

Location managers can be such tricksters! And there’s pretty much nothing I love more than uncovering the various fabrications that go into a particular locale. Such was the case with the gate house supposedly situated at the entrance to the massive manse belonging to millionaire video game creator Laird Mayhew (James Franco) in Why Him? The Grim Cheaper and I recently watched – and thoroughly enjoyed – the 2016 comedy and I went on an immediate quest to track down some of its filming sites. Thanks to the Global Film Locations website, I quickly homed in on Laird’s sprawling estate, which is known as the Summit House in real life. One look at the place on Google Street View, though, told me that Laird’s quaint ranch-style gate house could not be found anywhere on the premises. Ah, the magic of Hollywood! So I set out to find it. And find it, I did.

[ad]

Thankfully, an address number of 2253 was visible outside of the gate house on the mailbox containing Laird’s facial recognition security device. I figured that the mailbox and address number were real and began searching for homes with 2253 addresses, first in Beverly Hills near the Summit House and then slowly working my way outward. I eventually found the right spot about seven miles away at 2253 Linda Flora Drive in Bel Air.

As I plopped down into Street View, I was shocked to discover that the mailbox that had facilitated my search was not there in real life! Turns out it was a prop that had been inexplicably fashioned with the home’s real life address for the shoot!

I was further surprised to see that the driveway where the mailbox was placed as well as the gate situated beyond it belong to the neighboring property located at 2251 Linda Flora Drive. So two residences were used to represent Laird’s gate house in Why Him? The trickery was strong with this locale!

The gate house only pops up briefly in Why Him?, in a beginning scene in which Stephanie Fleming (Zoey Deutch) brings her parents, Ned (Bryan Cranston) and Barb (Megan Mullally), and brother, Scotty (Griffin Gluck), to her boyfriend Laird’s home for the first time. As they arrive, Barb, mistakenly thinking that the charming dwelling they pull up to is Laird’s residence, says, “Oh, this is cute.” To which Stephanie explains, “Actually, this is the gate house.” As you can see, the gate house was changed a bit for the shoot. A fence was added to the perimeter of the front yard, a window was installed on the side of the pad, and quite a few trees, shrubs and plants, as well as a garden gnome, were brought in.

Producers also had the gate itself altered for the shoot, completely covering it over with foliage, which nearly obscured it from view. As Barb says when the gate opens upon the Fleming family’s arrival, “The hedge is moving!”

In real life, Laird’s gate house is a regular single family home that boasts 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, and 1,560 square feet.

The driveway and gate next door lead to a newly-built modern residence that boasts 4 bedrooms, 4 baths, 9,300 square feet, a 3.2-acre plot of land, travertine stonework, disappearing glass doors, two separate lawn areas, a detached guest house, a 3-car garage, a reflecting pool surrounded by a pool deck, 14-foot high ceilings, a massive skylight, a chef’s kitchen with Miele and Wolf appliances and electrically-controlled drawers, a library with a glass floor, a wine room, several fireplaces, and a 1,000-foot-long driveway.

You can see photographs of that property here.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Laird Mayhew’s gate house from Why Him? is located at 2253 Linda Flora Drive in Bel Air. The actual gate to his home can be found next door at 2251 Linda Flora Drive. And Laird’s mansion is located at 1159 Summit Drive in Beverly Hills.

April 17, 2017
The Ultimate Guide to the Los Angeles Filming Locations of “Say Anything . . . “

1989. The year the Berlin Wall fell, Disney-MGM Studios opened at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, Game Boy was released by Nintendo, and, on April 14^th, Say Anything . . . debuted. Cameron Crowe’s romantic tale of eternal optimist Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack) and his resolute love for classmate Diane Court (Ione Skye) remains a standout teen romance today, almost three decades after its release, and has inspired countless onscreen and real life imitations in the form of trench coat-wearing paramours expressing their love via a boombox held high overhead. Though set in Seattle, Washington, outside of a few establishing shots and some B-roll footage lensed in the Pacific Northwest, the movie was filmed in its entirety in Los Angeles. In honor of the flick’s 28^th anniversary, I teamed up once again with Greg Mariotti, from Crowe’s official The Uncool website, to chronicle the L.A.-area locales featured in the timeless tale.

[ad]

1. Corey Flood’s House (2545 Ganesha Avenue, Altadena) – Though an establishing shot of a traditional two-story home at 3627 Northwest 65^th Court in Seattle was used to portray the residence of Lloyd’s gumptious BFF Corey Flood (Lili Taylor), all actual filming took place a good 1,100 miles away at a dwelling in Altadena.

2. Lloyd’s Apartment (318 South Canyon Blvd #3, Monrovia) – The non-descript apartment building where Lloyd lives with his sister, Constance (who was played by Cusack’s real life sister, Joan), and nephew, Jason (Glenn Walker Harris Jr.), is another San Gabriel Valley locale. The two-story complex can be found on a shady street in Monrovia, looking much the same today as it did onscreen 28 years ago. The actual interior of Unit #3, including the bathroom where Lloyd calls Diane for the first time, was utilized in the film.

3. Lakewood High School Graduation – Santa Monica College Amphitheatre (1900 Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica) – The large amphitheater where Diane gives her famous “I’ve glimpsed our future and all I can say is, ‘Go back!’” valedictorian speech is sadly no longer standing. Formerly located at Santa Monica College, the arena was razed in 2009 to make way for a student services building.

4. Post-Graduation Meet-Up – Lacy Park (1485 Virginia Road, San Marino) – Following the graduation ceremony, Lakewood High’s Class of ’88 gathers at San Marino’s picturesque Lacy Park to take photos and greet loved ones. While there, James Court (John Mahoney) gifts Diane with a car and Corey snaps a down-low picture of Lloyd stealthily posing with an unaware Diane. The sprawling park also pops up later in the movie in the montage scene in which Diane and Lloyd walk, talk and kiss in the rain.

5. Diane’s House (140 South Norton Avenue, Windsor Square) – Supposedly located in a Seattle suburb, the two-story dwelling where Diane and James live can be found in Windsor Square. Partial views of the exterior and the pad’s real life interior – including the dining room, a bedroom, the living room and kitchen – were utilized in the shoot. Amazingly, the home has remained virtually untouched since filming took place. You can check out some photographs of it here.

6. Golden Seasons Retirement Home – Tierra del Sol (9919 Sunland Boulevard, Sunland) – Two different locations were used to represent Golden Seasons, the retirement home run by James. All exterior filming took place at Sunland’s Tierra del Sol, a support and training center for disabled adults that was originally established in 1971. Though the organization’s kitchen also appeared in the movie, all other interiors were shot at the now-defunct Scripps Home, an assisted living facility formerly located at 2212 El Molino Avenue in Altadena. While Tierra del Sol still looks much the same as it did in Say Anything . . ., Scripps Home was razed in 2008 and a new, larger senior housing project now stands in its place.

7. Vahlere’s House (1686 Homewood Drive, Altadena) – Lloyd refuses to allow Diane to leave the country for her upcoming fellowship without attending Vahlere’s (Eric Stoltz) “graduation thing,” and, after quite a bit of prodding, she finally agrees to be his date. The raucous party was shot at a large 7-bedroom, 8-bath, 6,637-square-foot dwelling in Altadena. Both the interior and exterior of the property were featured in the movie.

8. Mike’s House (4936 Sunnyslope Avenue, Sherman Oaks) – After driving around aimlessly for over three hours upon leaving the party, unwitting “key-master” Lloyd is finally able to drop off a very drunk and very lost Mike (Jason Gould) at his home before continuing on with his date with Diane. Mike’s house can be found on a quiet street in Sherman Oaks, markedly unchanged from its onscreen self. The later scene in which Diane breaks up with Lloyd in his Chevy Malibu (“dissed in the ‘bu!”) was shot nearby.

9. 7-Eleven (11340 Magnolia Boulevard, North Hollywood) – The iconic moment in which Lloyd brushes glass out of Diane’s path, subsequently melting the hearts of female moviegoers everywhere, was an added scene lensed months after initial filming wrapped. The romantic segment took place in the markedly unromantic parking lot of the 7-Eleven on Magnolia Boulevard in North Hollywood.

10. Cameron’s Seafood (1978 East Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena) – Diane shares a rather awkward lunch with her mother at one of Pasadena’s oldest eateries, Cameron’s Seafood, which was originally established in 1984. Little of the locale’s ocean-themed décor has changed since the segment was shot.

11. Flooky’s (5200 Vineland Avenue, North Hollywood) – Lloyd and Diane agree to be “friends with potential” over coffee at Flooky’s, a Valley chain that was founded in 1965. Outposts of the hot dog diner were once dotted all over L.A. and, while most are now shuttered, including the North Hollywood location where Say Anything . . . was filmed, nostalgic fans of the eatery can still grab a wiener at the Woodland Hills and Canoga Park sites.

12. Diane and Lloyd Spend the Night Together – 20^th Century Fox Studios (10201 West Pico Boulevard, Century City) – Thanks to a well-timed establishing shot of a Seattle-area beach, Diane and Lloyd seemingly consummate their relationship seaside in Lloyd’s car. In truth, the scene was shot inside Stage 14 at Fox Studios.

13. Guitar Garage – Voltage Guitars (1513 North Gardner Street, Hollywood) – Oh, Lloyd, don’t you know you should never kiss and tell? But he does just that, informing his friends Corey and D.C. (Amy Brooks) about his dalliance with Diane while at a now defunct outpost of Voltage Guitars, Hollywood’s oldest vintage guitar store, formerly located on North Gardner Street. Originally established in 1982 (ironically enough by a man named Lloyd), today the company is mainly an online business and the Gardner Street space is currently vacant.

14. Kick-Boxing Dojo (5223 Lankershim Boulevard, North Hollywood) – Lloyd doesn’t want to “sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed.” So he instead finds a job teaching kick-boxing to kids at a local “Seattle” dojo. Filming of the kick-boxing scenes took place at a real karate studio in North Hollywood. The site is something of a cinema stalwart, having also appeared as the Cobra Kai dojo in the 1984 classic The Karate Kid and its 1989 sequel, The Karate Kid III. An alternate scene in which Diane and Lloyd get back together supposedly outside of the dojo was actually shot a good 16 miles away at Library Park in South Pasadena. You can watch that segment, as well as many other deleted, extended and alternate scenes, on the Say Anything . . . Special Edition and 20^th Anniversary Edition DVDs.

15. Lloyd Calls His Sister (Fern Dell Drive, Griffith Park) – After Diane breaks up with him, a heartbroken Lloyd pulls over to make a call to his sister from a phone booth situated on a rainy stretch of sidewalk. The memorable, oft-quoted scene (“She gave me a pen. I gave her my heart and she gave me a pen.”) was an additional shoot lensed after principal filming had wrapped at the southern end of Fern Dell Drive, just north of Los Feliz Boulevard, in Griffith Park. The rain visible in the segment was manufactured and the phone booth was a prop, but Lloyd’s conversation was real – he was actually speaking with his sister on the other end of the line while shooting the segment.

16. Gas N Sip – Retro Dairy Mart (4420 West Magnolia Boulevard in Burbank) – After his break-up with Diane, Lloyd seeks solace from some male friends (including a young Jeremy Piven) at the local Gas N Sip. The scene was actually shot in the parking lot of a 1962 Alta Dena Dairy outpost located in Burbank. The site, now a Retro Dairy Mart, recently found onscreen fame once again thanks to its appearance as Ryan Gosling’s favorite breakfast spot in La La Land.

17. Wiener’s Luggage at Westfield Fashion Square (14006 Riverside Drive, Sherman Oaks) – James attempts to purchase a suitcase set for his daughter, as well as hit on a saleswoman (spoiler – he’s unsuccessful on both counts) at the Westfield Fashion Square outpost of the upscale luggage boutique Wiener’s Luggage. Due to the IRS’ investigation into his finances, James’ credit cards are denied and he is forced to leave the shop sans suitcase – and his dignity. Today, the Wiener’s space is home to a Sephora.

18. North Hollywood Park (11430 Chandler Boulevard, North Hollywood) – In what is arguably one of the most iconic movie scenes from the 1980s, Lloyd serenades Diane by standing outside of her house with a boombox held high above his head playing Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes.” Though Crowe initially shot the segment on the street in front of the Court residence in Windsor Square, he was not happy with the footage. Fate later stepped in during the filming of the 7-Eleven scene when cinematographer László Kovács noticed a park across the street that he thought would be perfect for the boom box bit. With only a few minutes of daylight remaining, cast and crew rushed over to a tree-lined stretch of North Hollywood Park and did a quick re-shoot. Cameron loved the way it turned out, the footage made it into the final cut, and the rest is cinematic history.

19. IRS Office – Design Center (433 South Spring Street, downtown Los Angeles) – After the IRS begins an investigation into James’ business dealings, Diane heads to a field office to try to convince an agent of his innocence. Filming of the scene took place at the former Design Center, now Twin Springs, in downtown Los Angeles. Originally built in 1928 as the Title Insurance Building, today the Art Deco structure houses offices for major fashion companies and is used regularly for filming. You can check out some photos of its spectacular interior here.

20. Court Exterior – Spring Street Federal Courthouse (312 North Spring Street, downtown Los Angeles) – An establishing shot of L.A.’s Spring Street Federal Courthouse was used to represent the Seattle D.A.’s office where James’ lawyer discussed his plea deal. Only the exterior of the building was utilized. Interiors were shot at the Design Center, where the IRS scenes also took place.

21. Spokane Correctional Facility – Mira Loma Detention Camp (Avenue I and 60^th Street, Lancaster) – A since shuttered juvenile detention camp in Lancaster masked as the Spokane prison where James was incarcerated. The site was closed in 1990 upon the opening of the Challenger Memorial Youth Center and today is used as a training facility for the Los Angeles County Sherriff’s Department.

22. Stage 747, Universal Studios (100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City) – “When you hear that smoking sign go ‘ding,’ you know everything’s gonna be OK.” So says Lloyd to calm Diane while on their flight to London in the movie’s final scene. The bit was shot at Universal Studio’s former Stage 747, a large soundstage that once housed set versions of a 707 and 747 airplane. The space was converted to a workshop in 2002 and the plane mockups removed, but you can see some photos of what they formerly looked like here.

April 14, 2017
The “Why Him?” House

I don’t like to think of myself as a brat, but I’d be lying if I did not admit to having brat-like tendencies when it comes to choosing what movie to watch with the Grim Cheaper on any given Saturday night. Typically I veto all of his recommendations straight out of the gate and we wind up watching a flick of my choosing. That was not the case on a recent evening in, though, when the GC had his heart set on viewing the 2016 James Franco/Bryan Cranston comedy Why Him? Even though I didn’t have high hopes for the film after watching the trailer, for whatever reason, I acquiesced – and wound up eating crow because not only was the movie great, but it gave me a new obsession, Alaskan King beds. (If you don’t know what they are, here ya go! I know, right? Simply amazing!) I also became quite obsessed with the flick’s locations, especially the massive modern mansion belonging to Laird Mayhew (Franco). Thankfully, it was an easy find. A quick Google search for “Why Him?” and “house” let me to this page on the Global Film Locations website which provided the address – 1159 Summit Drive in Beverly Hills.

[ad]

I was only further intrigued when I headed over to check out the property on Google Maps and dropped into Street View. As the little yellow cartoon man showed me, the pad is completely visible from the road, not hidden behind tall walls and gates like so many other Beverly Hills properties.

In person, the residence is even more impressive.

Built in 2011 by Whipple Russell Architects for a sports agent and his family, the sleek contemporary residence replaced a sprawling Mediterranean-style pad that Architectural Digest described as “hodgepodge” in a December 2015 article. That property is pictured via a 2007 Google Street View image below. As that home was demolished, its materials were gathered and donated to Habitat for Humanity. Then Whipple Russell began production on the new manse.

The completed project, which is known as the “Summit House,” is a work of art.

Per Zillow and the Architectural Digest article, the 6-bedroom, 11-bath, 10,000-square-foot estate boasts a 2-story entry, glass walls, a formal living room, a library with mahogany paneling, a gym, a master suite with dual closets (yes, please!) and dual baths (again, yes, please!), maid’s quarters, a 5-car garage, a motor court with room for 20 cars (!), several terraces, a rooftop deck, a rec room with a bowling alley and windows looking into the adjacent pool, a media room, a 1.26-acre lot, and a tennis court.

In Why Him?, college student Stephanie Fleming (Zoey Deutch) brings her parents, Ned (Cranston) and Barb (Megan Mullally), and brother, Scotty (Griffin Gluck), out to Silicon Valley during the holidays to meet her new boyfriend, millionaire video game creator Laird. During their visit, the Flemings bunk at Laird’s sprawling – and “paperless” – home.

The movie made extensive use of the Summit House.

I am fairly certain that the inside of Laird’s mansion was a mix of both the actual residence and studio-built sets. I believe that the entry;

rec room;

and kitchen/dining room shown in the movie were those of the actual Summit House . . .

. . . while the living room;

. . . . bathrooms . . .

. . . and bedrooms were sets. (There’s that Alaskan King bed I became so enamored with below!)

You can check out some images of the actual interior of the Summit House here and here.

Thanks to fellow stalker Gonzague, I learned that the mansion also appeared as the home of Maximo Reyes (Arturo Castro) in the Season 6 episode of Silicon Valley titled “Blood Money,” though an atrium of sorts was digitally added to the roof of the home for the shoot.

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

Big THANK YOU to the Global Film Locations website for finding this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Laird Mayhew’s mansion from Why Him? is located at 1159 Summit Drive in Beverly Hills.

April 12, 2017
Papagayos Mexican Restaurant & Cantina from "Vanderpump Rules"

It has been hot in Palm Springs lately. Granted, it is always hot here, but the past few months have been unseasonably sweltering. Two weeks ago, my parents, the Grim Cheaper and I decided to chill out a bit by heading to Lake Arrowhead for a short getaway. Just prior to our trip, the GC and I started watching Vanderpump Rules over again from the beginning and, as fate would have it, one of the reality series’ Season 2 episodes was shot in the mountain town, which is located about 80 miles east of Los Angeles. So I, of course, had to get in some VP stalking while I was there.

[ad]

In Season 2’s “Only the Lonely,” Stassi Schroeder, Jax Taylor, and the rest of the Sur gang journeyed to Lake Arrowhead for the weekend to catch Tom Sandoval’s band’s show. Several area sites appeared in the episode and I stalked pretty much all of them, excluding the beach where Jax showed Stassi his new tattoo, which I maddeningly did not manage to track down until after I had already returned home.

One of the most prominent locales featured was the Lake Arrowhead Village eatery Papagayos Mexican Restaurant & Cantina, where the group headed for drinks shortly after arriving in town. So the GC and I, of course, had to do the same!

During their visit, Stassi and co. hung out mainly in the restaurant’s bar area.

Drama, of course, ensued while there, as it always does with the Sur gang. During this particular venture, Sandoval and then girlfriend Kristen Doute got into a heated dustup over whether or not Tom wore his pair of steampunk glasses regularly. I’m not joking – that is actually what their fight was about. Ah, the important things in life. The girls wound up splitting off from the guys during the argument and both genders gave Sandoval and Kristen the same advice – break up, and fast!

Our lunch at Papagayos was much less eventful. (The GC does not own a pair of steampunk glasses, so what was there to fight about, really?)

Like the Vanderpump gang, we ate in the bar area and I can honestly say that the eatery served up one of the best Mexican meals I’ve ever had.

It’s no wonder the place was absolutely jam-packed, even though it was 3 p.m. on a Saturday.

If you’re in the area, I cannot recommend Papagayos more.

The building housing the eatery has quite an interesting history. Lake Arrowhead Village was the brainchild of the Arrowhead Lake Company, an L.A.-based development group that purchased a 4,800-acre plot in the San Bernardino Mountains in 1920 with the intention of turning it into a resort town. Roadwork, 3 hotels, a 9-hole golf course, and a quaint Norman-style shopping center named Lake Arrowhead Village were soon completed at the sprawling site. The center consisted of boutiques, an outdoor movie theatre, restaurants, a beach, and a 12-sided dance pavilion that was designed by McNeal Swasey. The lakeside town quickly became a getaway for Hollywood’s elite, attracting such stars as Marilyn Monroe, Bette Davis, Jules Stein, Cary Grant, Charlie Chaplin, Doris Day, Liberace, Frankie Avalon, and Rock Hudson.

By the late ‘70s, the Village had fallen into a state of decline. When new developers purchased it in 1978, they decided it would be more cost-effective to demolish the center and build a new one in its place, rather than do repairs. So in 1979, Lake Arrowhead Village was burned to the ground as part of a “burn to learn” exercise conducted by the Lake Arrowhead Fire Protection District and a few other city agencies. Only a couple of the site’s original buildings were kept out of the blaze, including the post office, the bank, a real estate office, and the circular dance pavilion. The later was restored and revitalized and today houses Papagayos, as well as a few other shops. You can see a photograph of the exterior of the pavilion in its original state here and here, and an image of the interior here.

According to More Magnificent Mountain Movies, the pavilion was featured prominently in A Swingin’ Summer. I scanned through the 1965 film, though, and the venue said to be the dance pavilion in it is the single-story outdoor bandstand pictured below, which I believe may have been a set created for the shoot. It looks nothing like the Village’s actual dance pavilion, which, from what I saw, never made an appearance in the movie.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Papagayos Mexican Restaurant & Cantina, from the “Only the Lonely” episode of Vanderpump Rules, is located at 28200 Highway 189, Building P-100, in Lake Arrowhead. You can visit the eatery’s official website here.

April 10, 2017
A Round-Up of “Big Little Lies” Filming Locations

I’ve decided to break with tradition a bit for this post. My latest small screen obsession, Big Little Lies, came to an end on Sunday night and, though the finale was excellent, I am bummed to say the least that the HBO miniseries is now over. During its seven-episode run, I tracked down most of the L.A.-area locales, as well as a few of the Monterey spots, featured in it and I thought it would be fun to chronicle them here. Because I have not visited many of the sites in person, I am relying on screen captures instead of photos for this post’s imagery.

[ad]

1. Madeline’s House (30760 Broad Beach Road, Malibu) – Though I already wrote an in-depth post on the gorgeous Cape Cod-style home belonging to Madeline Martha Mackenzie (Reese Witherspoon) on the series, I would be remiss if I did not include information about it here for those who missed the article. Madeline’s beachfront pad, by far my favorite of all of the residences featured on the show, is an oft-filmed gem that has also appeared on Models Inc., Diagnosis Murder, and Hannah Montana.

2. Jane’s House (161 North Chester Avenue, Pasadena) – The bungalow where Jane Chapman (Shailene Woodley) lives is another spot I’ve already covered, but, again, I thought I should include its information here.

3. Celeste’s House (40 Yankee Point Drive, Carmel) – The architectural masterpiece belonging to Celeste Wright (Nicole Kidman) and her husband, Perry (Alexander Skarsgård), ranks a close second when it comes to my favorite residence on the series. Only the exterior and bottom floor of the clifftop stunner were utilized on Big Little Lies. The Wright’s bedroom, bathroom and massive walk-in closet were part of a studio-built set. In real life, the dwelling, which was originally built in 1988, serves as a vacation rental.

4. Renata’s House (27326 Winding Way, Malibu) – The massive contemporary home where Renata Klein (Laura Dern) and her husband, Gordon (Jeffrey Nordling), reside is another oft-filmed property that can be found on a private road in Malibu. The 10,000-square-foot residence’s onscreen resume (which includes appearances on 90210, Brothers & Sisters, and Revenge) almost led to it not being featured in Big Little Lies. As location manager Gregory Albert told Vulture, “I was resisting, even showing it to [director] Jean-Marc [Vallée] because of that, but we presented it and he picked it and then I was kicking myself. I felt in some way it was doing a disservice to the show. But then I remember watching the first episode and there’s Renata standing at the edge of the world, glass of wine in her hand. The [director of photography] had shot it in a way that I’ve never seen the house shot before and I thought, That’s why Jean-Marc’s the auteur and visionary that he is.” I actually find Albert’s statement kind of funny because I recognized the pad instantly when watching the scene described.

5. Bonnie and Nathan’s House (636 Crater Camp Drive, Calabasas) – The bohemian compound where Madeline’s ex, Nathan Carlson (James Tupper), lives with his new wife, Bonnie (Zoë Kravitz), sits tucked off the road in a wooded part of Calabasas near Malibu Creek State Park. The secluded residence, which Albert says, “feels like it is part of the environment,” is situated on 1.12 acres of lush, forested land.

6. Otter Bay Elementary School – Kenter Canyon Elementary School (645 North Kenter Avenue in Brentwood) – Otter Bay, the elementary school attended by all of the characters’ children on the series, is actually Brentwood’s Kenter Canyon Elementary. Both the interior and exterior of the site appeared on the show.

7. Side Door Café – Happy Trails Garden (207 South Fair Oaks Avenue, Pasadena) – While Blue Blues, the supposed Fisherman’s Wharf coffee shop where Madeline, Celeste, and Jane often hang out, is not a real place but a studio-built set, the other eatery frequented by the group is authentic. Or, at least, it was. The picturesque outdoor restaurant referred to as Side Door Café on the show, which is very reminiscent of Carmel’s popular Hog’s Breath Inn, was known as Happy Trails Garden in real life. Sadly, it shuttered in 2018 and currently sits vacant. The bucolic site was featured three times on the series. It first showed up in “Serious Mothering” as the place where Madeline and Celeste meet for drinks and get into a confrontation with Renata. Then in “Push Comes to Shove,” it appeared as both the spot where Madeline and Nathan discuss co-parenting Abigail and where Jane meets with Ms. Barnes (Virginia Kull). You can read a more in-depth post on the eatery here.

8. Studio City Recreation Center (12621 Rye Street, Studio City) – Jane’s son, Ziggy (Iain Armitage), tries out Tee-ball for the first time – and hits a home run – at Studio City Recreation Center, which is also known as Beeman Park. I wrote about the oft-filmed site last year, detailing its appearances in Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Scrubs, Role Models, and Parks and Recreation. You can read that post here.

9. Interior Design Office (1035 East Green Street, Pasadena) – Madeline tracks down (Spoiler alert!) Jane’s possible rapist, Saxon Baker (Stephen Graybill), to an interior design office in San Louis Obispo. In reality, the office is part of Invicta Fitness, a workout studio located in a quaint brick building where Albert Einstein once worked on Green Street in Pasadena.

10. Celeste’s Apartment (1 Surf Way, Monterey) – The apartment Celeste leases in “Burning Love” is another Monterey-area location. Situated on the sand overlooking Del Monte Beach, the complex is made up of condos in real life and is known as “1 Surf Way.”

11. Community Theatre – Barnsdall Art Park (4800 Hollywood Boulevard, East Hollywood) – The community theatre where Madeline works, as well as the constantly under-repair stairs that lead up to it, are both parts of Barnsdall Art Park in East Hollywood. The stairs can be found on Lower Road in the southeast portion of the park, just north of and adjacent to the Art Center. The theatre itself is actually a mash-up of two Barnsdall spots – interiors were shot at the Barnsdall Gallery Theatre (which you can see photos of here), situated north of the Art Center, and exteriors were filmed at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, which sits adjacent to it. Barnsdall Art Park is also where the Trivia Night event was held in the final episode, “You Get What You Need.” You can read an in-depth post about the park’s use on the series here.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

April 5, 2017