Angelina Jolie – IAMNOTASTALKER

May 3, 2011May 3, 2011

The Julien’s Auctions Hollywood Legends Exhibition

This past Saturday afternoon I dragged the Grim Cheaper out to stalk the Hollywood Legends exhibition currently being hosted by Julien’s Auctions, a Beverly Hills-area auction house which specializes in entertainment memorabilia, celebrity artifacts, and high-profile estates. Prior to each auction it hosts, Julien’s opens up its exhibition hall to the public offering them a free and extremely rare opportunity to view unique and priceless Hollywood memorabilia in an exceptionally up-close-and-personal manner, which I think is just about the coolest thing ever! For those who have been reading my site for a few years, you will remember that back in April of 2009 my father and I attended the Michael Jackson: The Collection of the King of Pop exhibit which was put on by Julien’s Auctions at the former Robinsons-May building on Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills. To say that my dad and I both absolutely LOVED the MJ exhibit would be a gross understatement. Seeing all of the King of Pop’s Neverland Ranch effects laid out in the same exact manner in which they were once laid out in his actual home was one of the coolest experiences of my life. So when I heard that Julien’s would be hosting a Hollywood Legends exhibition featuring items once belonging to Marilyn Monroe, Lady Diana, and Lucille Ball and props and memorabilia from such productions as Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Batman & Robin, The Brady Bunch, and Heroes, I jumped at the chance to stalk it.

And I have to say that I was NOT disappointed. The people at Julien’s Auctions truly could NOT have been nicer and the GC and I were invited to wander quite freely around the exhibit hall and take all of the photographs of the place that we wanted. Quite a bit of the auction is made up of items of clothing once owned by legendary Sunset Boulevard actress Gloria Swanson. Most of the outfits were purchased by Swanson during the 1930’s and it was absolutely amazing to me to see how stylish they still are to this day, over eight decades later!

There were several ensembles I could even see myself wearing, including the black Givenchy cocktail dress pictured above and to the left. Which just proves that some things, no matter how old, never go out of style!

Also on display was a vintage, early-20th-century, flat-top Louis Vuitton steamer trunk that once belonged to Swanson, which I just about died upon seeing! Oh, what I wouldn’t give to own one of those trunks!!!

Two of Lady Diana’s dresses are featured at the forefront of the exhibition, which I was BEYOND thrilled to see. The gown on the left, which was designed by Diana’s longtime fashion designer Catherine Walker, was worn by the Princess while on a state visit to India in 1992. You can see a poster of Diana wearing the dress in the photograph that is pictured above and to the left.

The gown on the right-hand side was also designed by Catherine Walker and was worn by the Princess on three occasions – first to the 1987 Cannes Film Festival, then for a 1987 portrait sitting with photographer Terrance Donovan, and finally to a September 1989 performance of Miss Saigon at the Theatre Royal in London. The two chairs pictured in front of the dresses were used during the 1937 coronation of King George VI (aka the man upon whom the movie The King’s Speech was based).

There were also several of Prince Charles and Lady Diana’s Christmas cards on display.

The clothing that I was most excited to see, though, was that which formerly belonged to Miss Marilyn Monroe, including the dress pictured above which the actress wore to a party at the Beverly Hills Hotel in 1958.

The dress was made famous thanks to that fact that a photograph of Marilyn wearing it was used as the cover of Michael Ventura’s 1997 book Marilyn Monroe: From Beginning to End.

Also on display was a black mohair sweater vest once owned by the actress;

a swimsuit worn by MM in an unknown Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer production;

a two-piece silk jersey ensemble designed by Pucci, one of Marilyn’s favorite designers, and a satin slip;

a white umbrella that the starlet used as a prop during a 1949 photoshoot with famed photographer Andre de Dienes, which you can see a picture from here;

and a tan corduroy skirt. Because Marilyn is always described as being “curvy”, it was shocking for me to see how tiny her clothing actually was. While I am a small girl, I am fairly certain that there is no way in HECK I could fit into the skirt pictured above, which means that the actress had to have been much smaller in real life than she was typically conveyed.

Another huge portion of the Hollywood Legends auction is made up of memorabilia from fave show The Brady Bunch, which I was absolutely floored to see!

Included in the display was Cindy Brady’s (aka Susan Olsen’s) costume from the pilot episode of the series titled “Honeymoon”;

the dress Cindy wore to Mike (aka Robert Reed) and Carol’s (aka Florence Henderson’s) wedding;

Cindy’s jacket from “The Voice of Christmas” episode;

Bobby Brady’s (aka Mike Lookinland’s) Silver Platters costume from my FAVORITE episode of the series ever, the Season 4 episode titled “Amateur Night”;

performance outfits worn by Bobby and Cindy . . .

. . . which most fans will recognize from the “It’s a Sunshine Day: The Best of The Brady Bunch” album cover;

and the outfits worn by Bobby and Cindy during their American Bandstand performance in 1972.

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There were quite a few Lucille Ball items featured at the exhibit, as well, including a 12-piece vanity set once owned by the actress;

a set of four ashtrays that the actress had on display at her Manhattan apartment, which can be seen in the May 1984 Architectural Digest issue about her home;

an unfinished gown that was being made for her at the time of her death and the tartan blazer she wore in the 1949 film Sorrowful Jones.

Other movie memorabilia included the Edith-Head-designed straw hat worn by Audrey Hepburn during the “How Long Has This Been Going On?” number from the 1957 movie Funny Face;

Alicia Silverstone’s Batgirl costume from Batman & Robin;

a shirt worn by the T-1000 (aka Robert Patrick) during the chase scene in Terminator 2: Judgment Day;

one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s costumes from Terminator 2 . . .

. . . which has a damaged pant leg from the Terminator’s liquid nitrogen truck accident, which I thought was SO cool to see;

a prop head from Terminator 2, which was SO incredibly lifelike;

Angelina Jolie’s costume from Girl, Interrupted . . .

. . . which, as you can see, is so incredibly tiny that it does not even fit the ultra-teensy mannequin on which it is displayed;

countless set pieces from Cleopatra;

Tom Cruise and John Voight’s costumes from the first Mission: Impossible movie;

the 35-carat diamond necklace Angelina Jolie wore to the Seoul premiere of Salt in 2010;

an original drawing by James Dean, which was sketched on a napkin while the actor was at his favorite restaurant, Googies Coffeeshop, which was sadly demolished in 1989;

and an incredibly realistic-looking “frozen” prop safe which appeared in the Season 3 episode of Heroes titled “Dual”.

I honestly cannot recommend stalking the Julien’s Auctions Hollywood Legends exhibition enough! I had an absolutely FABULOUS time while there and, amazingly enough, the GC even found a few items that piqued his interest, as well.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Julien’s Auctions Hollywood Legends Exhibition is taking place now through Friday, May 6th at 9665 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 150, in Beverly Hills. It is free to attend. The actual auction will take place on Saturday, May 7th and Sunday, May 8th. You can learn more about the auction on the official Julien’s Auctions website here.

March 17, 2011April 4, 2020

The Barclay Hotel from “As Good As It Gets”

This past weekend, the Grim Cheaper and I re-watched the movie As Good As It Gets, which I had not seen since it first came out in theatres almost 15 years ago. I am ashamed to admit that I had somehow forgotten what a great flick it is! While watching, I, of course, became a bit obsessed with tracking down some of the Southern California locations featured in it and just about had a heart attack when I read on IMDB’s As Good As It Gets filming locations page that the interior of the Barclay Hotel in downtown Los Angeles stood in for the movie’s fictional Café 24 Heures, where Carol Connelly (Helen Hunt) worked and where Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson) dined each morning. So I dragged the GC right on out to stalk the place this past Sunday afternoon. As it turns out, this location proved to be one VERY LUCKY find as it has been used in countless productions over the years.

First built in 1897 and commissioned by L.A. businessman Isaac Newton Van Nuys, the Barclay Hotel was originally known as the Van Nuys Hotel The Beaux-Arts-style building was designed by the architecture firm Morgan + Walls and, with its sprawling lobby, detailed stained glass windows, and phone service in each room, was considered one of the finest hotels of its day. In 1929, the property’s name was changed to the Barclay Hotel and there is supposedly a sign still visible on one of the building’s exterior walls which reads “Van Nuys Hotel, Rooms $1 and Up.” It would have been so incredibly cool to see, but, sadly, I could not find it anywhere. The Barclay has the distinction of being known as downtown L.A.’s oldest continuously operating hotel and is a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument. It currently serves as a residential hotel which offers affordable housing to its residents, many of whom have lived there for years.

The GC and I were lucky enough to speak with the Barclay’s manager as well as one of the hotel’s longtime residents while we were stalking the place, both of whom could NOT have been nicer! They filled us in on all of the filming that has taken place on the premises over the years and allowed me to take all of the photographs of the interior that I wanted. Yay! The resident that we spoke with was literally like a walking encyclopedia of the hotel’s vast filming history and in some instances was able to tell me not only when filming of certain productions had taken place, but how long the crew was onsite, AND he also knew the names of particular episodes of shows that had filmed on the premises and the exact dates on which those episodes had aired! Speaking with him was like . . . well, it was like speaking with myself, actually. Winking smile

The Barclay Hotel’s actual, working lobby was transformed into the supposed Manhattan-area Café 24 Heures for the filming of As Good As It Gets.

According to the hotel manager, producers not only brought in several booths for the filming;

but they also built a fake waitress station;

and swapped out the lobby’s front windows with French doors, which were then swapped back after filming had wrapped.

The hotel’s real life check-in desk, which is now caged, was used as the Café’s bar in the movie.

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The entire opening scene of the 1998 disaster movie Armageddon takes place in front of the Barclay Hotel and the neighboring Farmers & Merchants National Bank, which were both made to look like they were located in New York City.

In 2002’s Catch Me If You Can, the Barclay was the apartment building/residential hotel from which a young Frank Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio) was evicted after having written a series of bad checks to the landlord.

Leo returned to the Barclay for the filming of last year’s Inception, in which the hotel was featured twice. It first showed up towards the very beginning of the movie in the scene in which Cobb (DiCaprio) is dunked into a bathtub. According to the manager, that scene was filmed in one of the Barclay’s second floor hotel rooms.

The Barclay’s lobby was later used as the African casino where Cobb meets up with Eames (Tom Hardy). The hotel’s check-in desk is where Eames cashed in his casino chips in the scene.

The Barclay also stood in for the Columbian hotel where John Smith (Brad Pitt) and Jane Smith (Angelina Jolie) met at the very beginning of 2005’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

A fake bar was set up in the Barclay’s lobby for the filming of that scene.

In 2009’s (500) Days of Summer, the Barclay’s lobby was transformed into the coffee shop where Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) regularly hung out with his friends McKenzie (Geoffrey Arend) and Paul (Matthew Gray Gubler).

The Barclay’s former coffee shop, which is located on the southeast corner of West 4th and South Main Streets, is not currently a working restaurant, but was kept intact in order to be used for filming, which I think is so incredibly cool! Unfortunately, that area is closed to the public so I could only take photographs of it through its front windows.

The cafe was featured in the Season 5 episode of The Closer titled “Tapped Out”, in the scene in which Lieutenants Flynn (Anthony John Denison) and Provenza (G.W. Bailey) are shown eating breakfast and discussing Provenza’s new girlfriend all the while ignoring a crime taking place directly outside.

There is another vacant room located on the eastern side of the hotel that is also often used for filming.

That room was recently dressed to look like a New York bakery in the Season 7 episode of CSI: New York titled “To What End”.

The exterior of the Barclay also appeared a few times throughout the episode.

Most amazing of all, though – to me, at least – is the fact that the Barclay appeared in the pilot episode of the television series Starsky & Hutch way back in 1975, looking almost exactly the same as it does today! As I mentioned above, the check-in desk has since been caged in, but other than that minor detail, the Barclay has remained unchanged in the more than 36 years since filming took place. Love it, love it, love it!

Ironically enough, the Starsky and Hutch movie, which premiered in 2004, was also filmed at the Barclay. The flick’s opening scene took place on the hotel’s roof.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Barclay Hotel, aka Café 24 Heures from As Good As It Gets, is located at 103 West 4th Street in Downtown Los Angeles.

February 28, 2011February 25, 2011

Yamashiro Restaurant

Last Monday night, the Grim Cheaper and I headed out to fave restaurant Yamashiro in Hollywood to grab some drinks to celebrate the six month anniversary of our wedding. I can hardly believe that it has already been six months, by the way. While in some ways it feels as if my wedding took place a lifetime ago, in many ways it seems as if it all occurred just yesterday. Anyway, while I have blogged about Yamashiro once before, back in February of 2008, my post was not very thorough and at the time I was unsure of how to make screen captures. So, I decided that the restaurant was definitely worthy of a re-post. Here goes!

Yamashiro was built in 1914 on a seven acre parcel of land situated 250 feet above the famed Hollywood Boulevard. The structure, which took three years to construct and was modeled after a palace located in the Yamashiro Mountains in Kyoto, Japan, was originally the private home of two German brothers who were dealers and collectors of Asian antiques. In 1922, one of the brothers passed away and the property was sold and transformed into the private clubhouse of the exclusive Hollywood 400 Club, where the Hollywood elite would socialize. During World War II, the building fell into serious disrepair and in 1948 it was purchased by a developer named Thomas O. Glover who intended to demolish the property to make way for a hotel. While readying the property for tear-down, Thomas discovered antique silk wallpaper hidden behind layers of thick black paint and realized he had a treasure on his hands. He immediately set about restoring the property to its former glory, whereupon he opened it as an upscale Cal-Asian restaurant named Yamashiro. Over six decades later, the place is still going strong and is a favorite of both celebrities and location scouts alike. Just a few of the stars who have been spotted at Yamashiro over the years include Matthew Perry, Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, Melissa Joan Hart, Nicole Eggert, LeAnn Rimes, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Affleck, Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Luke Perry, Danny Glover, Rene Russo, Chris Rock, George Clooney, Claire Danes, Neve Campbell, Chris O’Donnell, and Halle Berry.

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And it is not very hard to see what attracts them. Besides serving up EXCELLENT food (the Butter Lettuce Wraps and Crispy Chicken dishes are my favorites!), the ambiance is to die for. Walking through Yamashiro’s front doors is like stepping back in time to ancient Japan.

The restaurant’s Inner Courtyard, with its retractable roof, sparkling waterfalls, and central koi pond, literally looks like a set taken straight out of a movie.

And the sprawling exterior gardens, which boast koi ponds, Japanese flowers, and a 600-year-old pagoda that is said to be the oldest structure currently standing in California, are absolutely breathtaking to walk through.

The restaurant’s most incredible feature, though, has to be its striking 360-degree views of Hollywood, Downtown Los Angeles, Century City, and the Pacific Ocean –

views which only get more spectacular at night!

And in an intriguing bit of trivia, each night the light on the spire located at the top of the Capital Records building (pictured above) intermittently spells out “H-O-L-L-Y-W-O-O-D” in old Morse Code. So incredibly cool!

Yamashiro has a long and varied filming history. Way back in 1957, the restaurant appeared in the movie Sayonara as the American Officer’s Club where Major Lloyd ‘Ace’ Gruver (aka Marlon Brando), Eileen Webster (aka Patricia Owens), Mrs. Webster (aka Martha Scott), and Lieutenant General Mark Webster (aka Kent Smith) spent time while in Japan.

In the “A Fistful of Yen” segment from 1977’s The Kentucky Fried Movie, Yamashiro stood in for a Japanese palace.

In 1997’s Playing God, Yamashiro was used as the residence where Raymond Blossom (aka Timothy Hutton) lived.

In 2000’s Gone in Sixty Seconds, Yamashiro is where Mirror Man (aka TJ Cross) posed as a valet to steal a car.

In 2005’s Memoirs of a Geisha, Yamashiro showed up twice. It was first used as the spot where Chiyo (aka Suzuka Ohgo) took dancing lessons as a young girl.

And it also appeared later as the place where the large party was held in honor of Sayuri’s (aka Ziyi Zhang’s) debut.

In the Season 6 episode of The Hills titled “Loves Me Not”, Lo Bosworth and boyfriend Scott Hochstadt celebrated their one-year anniversary at Yamashiro. The restaurant was also supposedly used in 1987’s Blind Date, but I scanned through the movie earlier today while writing this post and did not see it anywhere.

On a stalking side note – my good friend Nat, who lives in San Francisco, just sent me a package this past Friday. In it was the book pictured above. Cutest. Present. Ever. Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Yamashiro Hollywood is located at 1999 Sycamore Avenue in Hollywood. The restaurant is open nightly, starting at 5 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday and at 5:30 p.m. each Monday through Thursday. You can visit Yamashiro’s official website here.

January 14, 2010January 14, 2010

Joe Jost’s from “Win a Date with Tad Hamilton”

As I’ve mentioned countless times before, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton is one of my all time favorite movies. And I have long been dying to stalk the restaurant which stood in for Lil’ Dickens, the Frazier’s Bottom bar where Rosalie (aka Kate Bosworth), Pete (aka Topher Grace), Cathy (aka Ginnifer Goodwin), and Tad (aka Josh Duhamel – sigh!) hung out in the flick. In real life, that bar is named Joe Jost’s and it is actually located in Long Beach, California, a good 2,300 miles west of the real Frazier’s Bottom. So, since we were in the area this past weekend, I just had to drag my fiancé right out to stalk the place.

Joe Jost’s was founded in 1924 by a man named, you guessed it, Joe Jost, who was born in a small town in Yugoslavia. At only 16 years of age, after a four year apprenticeship in a barbershop, Joe left Yugoslavia and immigrated to the U.S. He first settled in New York City where he continued his work as a barber for a few years before moving to the West Coast and setting up a home in Upland, California. In 1920, Joe opened up the first Joe Jost’s, a combination barber shop/pool hall/bar/restaurant, in Newport Beach where he sold such goods as candy, cigarettes, and because prohibition was in effect, a non-alcoholic drink known as “near beer”. In 1924, Joe moved his unique shop to its current location on Anaheim Street in Long Beach. It wasn’t long, though, before the Barbering Commission closed down the barber shop portion of the establishment, claiming that cutting hair in close proximity to alcohol being served was not “safe”. LOL So, Joe abruptly removed his barbershop chairs and installed booths – the very same booths where Joe’s customers still sit today! So cool! 🙂 Joe’s enjoyed immediate success as a restaurant and even managed to sustain itself throughout the depression years. To date, the place has served over 5,000,000 Joe’s Special Sandwiches, over 7,000,000 pickled eggs, over 15,000,000 glasses of beer, and over 1,800,000 pounds of Marmion’s peanuts! Joe’s is such an institution in Long Beach, in fact, that a term known as “josting” has been coined. Josting refers to the act of taking a photograph of oneself in different locations all around the world while wearing a Joe Jost’s T-Shirt. And, let me tell you, the T-shirts have been EVERYWHERE! Joe’s walls are literally COVERED in such photographs and I can’t tell you how incredible it was to be looking at the hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of pictures of said patrons – always with their backs to the camera so that the Joe’s logo can be clearly seen – in such far off places as the Pyramids in Egypt, Heidelberg Castle in Germany, Namoto Island in Fiji, and the Arctic Circle (not kidding!). Most amazing of all, though, were the numerous photographs of soldiers currently stationed in Iraq wearing Joe’s T-shirts. Incredible! What an unbelievably cool tradition!!!

Because my fiancé and I were first-timers, we had to try one of everything on the menu. And I have to say that even though I am a horribly picky eater, I LOVED it all! The pickled egg (pictured above) – which sounds disgusting, I know – was incredible, the Marmion’s peanuts were de-lish!, and the Special . . . oh my god, the Special! What can I even say about it except that it was simply A-MA-ZING! Joe’s Special consists of a homemade Polish sausage (made from their own secret recipe), a pickle, a slice of Swiss Cheese, and mustard smacked in between two slices of rye bread. And, oh my lord, is it good!

Because Lil’ Dickens is the regular hangout of Rosalie, Pete, and Cathy, Joe Jost’s shows up quite a few times in Win a Date. The areas used include the main bar;

and the billiards room, which was decked out with tables and chairs for the filming.

Sadly, though, Pete and Rosie’s dart board was just a prop that was brought in for the filming and is not there in real life. 🙁

Oddly enough, the area of the restaurant that I was most interested in stalking was the men’s bathroom, not so much because I wanted to see it in person, but because I wanted to verify if it was really there. As I had suspected, though, the Lil’ Dickens bathroom, in which Pete confronts Tad telling him that if he breaks Rosalie’s heart he’ll tear him to pieces with his “bare hands or vicious rhetoric” LOL, is not the real Joe Jost’s bathroom. Joe’s men’s room actually consists of one single room with a toilet and a sink (yes, I actually sent my fiancé in there to report back to me!), and because the scene called for a considerably larger restroom with actual stalls, a set had to be built. Interestingly enough, though, according to Dan, one of the SUPER nice Joe’s crew members that I spoke with, the Lil’ Dickens bathroom set was actually built right there on the Joe Jost’s property, in the back area of the restaurant.

The crew even ended up using the real Joe’s men’s room door, after making some small modifications, as the door of the Lil’ Dickens men’s room set. So cool!!!!

The crew also modified the real life Joe Jost sign, which is located in the pool hall area of the restaurant, into a Lil’ Dickens sign for the shoot. Love it! 🙂

Win a Date is hardly the only production to film at Joe’s, though. The restaurant is also where Kevin Costner took Whitney Houston on a date in 1992’s The Bodyguard.

And where they danced to John Doe’s version of the song “I Will Always Love You”, which Whitney calls “depressing” in the scene. LOL

The interior of Joe’s also stood in for the bar where Angelina Jolie worked in Gone in 60 Seconds.

The exterior of that bar (pictured above), however, was a different location altogether.

Joe’s showed up twice in the 2007 movie License to Wed, first as the site of Mandy Moore and John Krasinski’s pre-marriage group counseling . . .

. . . and second as the spot where John and his friend, DeRay Davis, grab a drink towards the end of the movie.

Producers definitely took some liberties when filming the exterior scenes for License to Wed, though. In the flick, it is made to appear as if Joe’s is part of a tall building located underneath the L Train somewhere in Chicago. In real life, though, Joe’s is a simple, small, one-story structure located on a busy Long Beach street corner. I SO love how they incorporated the real life Joe’s storefront into the digitally altered Chicago-area establishing shots, though, rather than using a real Chicago location for the exterior. So cool! Joe’s has also been featured in the movies Madison, The Vanishing, and True Confessions and in episodes of Chance of a Lifetime, The ‘60s, Roswell, Boomtown, Clubhouse, and Classmates. You can see a full list of Joe’s Hollywood credits here.

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Joe Jost’s is a VERY cool place and I honestly can’t recommend stalking it – or ordering up one of its Specials – enough!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Joe Jost’s is located at 2803 East Anaheim Street in Long Beach. You can visit their website here.

January 7, 2010January 7, 2010

The Kenaston Residence

Even though I have always been one hundred percent on Team Aniston – I even have the sweatshirt to prove it 😉 – while visiting Palm Springs during Halloween weekend a few months back I became a bit obsessed with stalking the home where Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie posed for their famous “Domestic Bliss” photo spread which appeared in the July 2005 issue of W Magazine. It all started a few days before Halloween when I came across the following People Magazine article while doing some cyberstalking of the Palm Springs area, trying to come up with a list of desert locations to stalk. The article mentioned that Brangelina’s controversial photoshoot – controversial because it occurred on March 25, 2005, the very same day that Jennifer Aniston filed for divorce from Brad – had taken place at a private residence located in Rancho Mirage. And that was it for me! The next few hours were spent trying to track down the exact location of the property where my least favorite celebrity couple had posed for their 60-page spread. Being that I can’t stand either Brad or Angelina, I have no valid explanation as to why I became so darn determined to find the house. All I can say is that when I get on a kick, I get on a kick and there’s absolutely no stopping me. So, I was completely overjoyed when I was finally able to pinpoint the location of the house, which is known as the Kenaston Residence in real life, and I made my fiancé stop there during our drive over to Palm Springs, before we even had a chance to check into our hotel. Not kidding. 🙂

The Kenaston Residence was built in 1957 by mid-century modernist architect E. Stewart Williams for a Palm Springs resident named Roderick W. Kenaston. Stewart Williams is perhaps best known for building Frank Sinatra’s desert hideaway with the piano shaped swimming pool, which I stalked a couple of years ago and the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway’s Mountaintop Station, which I have also stalked but have yet to blog about. In 2003, after several different ownerships and re-models, a Los Angeles area art director and his wife purchased the Kenaston Residence and spent two years restoring it back to its original grandeur. Sadly, out of the five Rancho Mirage area homes built by Stewart Williams, the Kenaston Residence is the only property that still looks the same today as it did when it was built. The remaining homes have all either been altered or completely destroyed. 🙁

The U-shaped Kenaston Residence, which was built around a large square shaped swimming pool, features four bedrooms, 3.5 baths, over 5,000 square feet of living space, a media room, 50 palm trees!, a six car garage, an interior/exterior rock wall, a “floating fireplace”, floor to ceiling glass walls, mountain views, concrete floors, and a 17 foot long living room planter. The house was built on a half acre of land and Williams even had the remarkable foresight to situate the home facing North, so as to avoid the extreme desert temperatures. Besides the Brangelina shoot, the Kenaston Residence has also been the site of photoshoots for Madonna, James Blunt, the band Coldplay and has been featured in Italian Elle, Luxury Living, The London Independent, and on Bravo Television. In 2007, the home was sold to new owners for $2,350,000. I swear, if I owned a house like that, I don’t think I would ever be able to let it go. Especially since, according to the previous owner, it earned at least $50,000 in photoshoot rental fees each year! Cha-ching! 🙂 You can see interior photographs of the home from its 2007 real estate website here.

Brad and Angie’s “Domestic Bliss” photo spread, which featured the couple and several children acting out scenes of an unhappy family life in the 60s, made use of the entire Kenaston Residence, both inside and out. According to this article, because Pitt, who actually co-created and co-directed the shoot with photographer Stephen Klein, was “tired of celebrity portraiture and always up for an artistic ‘jam sesh’”(UGH, gag me!), he came up with the unique idea of basing the spread on “unidentifiable malaise” in a marriage. Speaking about what I can only assume was his union with my girl Jen, he said, “You don’t know what’s wrong because the marriage is everything you signed up for.” You honestly don’t know what’s wrong, Brad? Um, I think your wandering eye might have had something to do with it!! The duo’s photo shoot took two full days to complete, during which time Angelina, who had brought along her then-only son Maddox, and Brad stayed in separate rooms at the Le Parker Meridien Hotel in Palm Springs. So, I guess I am going to have to stalk the Le Parker in the near future, too. Oh honey, I feel a trip to Palm Springs coming on! 😉

The property is actually quite unassuming and non-descript from the street. One could easily drive right by, without realizing the rich architectural history that lies just beyond the home’s walnut wood walls.

Amazingly enough, even though there is a large concrete wall surrounding the back of the property, much of the Kenaston Residence can still be seen from the street. And because the surrounding wall is only about four feet tall, you can easily see into the backyard area, where the cover photo from Brangelina’s W Magazine issue was shot, as well. Love it!

Interestingly enough, photographer Steven Klein’s inspiration for the “Domestic Bliss” photo spread came from the photographs of legendary architectural photographer Julius Shulman. One of the poses from the issue was almost a direct copy of a very famous photograph Shulman took of Case Study House #21, aka the Bailey House (pictured above). I found this little bit of trivia out while doing some research on the Kenaston Residence and became absolutely fascinated by it, as I am a huge fan of Julius Shulman, who sadly passed away in July of this past year. Those of you who read my blog regularly will remember the post I wrote about the tour of Case Study House #22 (aka The Stahl House) that I took in March of last year and Julius Shulman’s iconic photograph which led me to stalk the house in the first place.

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You can see the entire 60-page “Domestic Bliss” portfolio here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Kenaston Residence is located at 39-767 Desert Sun Drive in Rancho Mirage. To get an overall view of the house, I would also recommend venturing west on Mashie Drive and south onto Keenan Drive. The Case Study House #21, upon which one of the Brangelina pictures was based, is located at 9036 Wonderland Park Avenue in Los Angeles.

August 18, 2008February 17, 2009

Brad and Angelina’s Malibu Manse

While partying with The Hills cast at the Project Beach House last Thursday, I got to do a little stalking of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s Malibu home. Brangelina’s place is located directly next door to the Project Beach House and being that there are no gates in between the two properties, I had a great view of the Jolie-Pitt’s manse. I have stalked the outside of their house before, but sadly no part of the home is visible from the street. So I was absolutely FLOORED at the up close and personal view of Brangelina’s that the Project Beach House afforded me. 🙂

Brad bought the house in March of 2005 shortly after he left Jen and long before he started dating Angelina Jolie (yeah, right!). Ironically Jen also moved to Malibu following their separation – I guess the two really can’t get away from each other. Brad purchased his five bedroom, three bath, 4,088 square foot home for $8,410,000 and lived in it only briefly. In 2006, Brangelina pretty much deserted the Malibu property and made Brad’s Los Feliz compound, which is located on a private gated road, their primary LA residence. I heard from a Malibu real estate agent a while back that the Jolie-Pitts were quietly shopping their Malibu house trying to unload it, but not having much luck.

According to one of my many star maps, the ultra modern home has a custom made sandblasted glass kitchen countertop, top of the line appliances, an outdoor fireplace and sweeping views of the Pacific. There’s even an adorable little lawn area below the house, set up with two chaise lounges which looks like the perfect place to spend a sunny afternoon. The house is really beautiful in person and – even though I am 100% on Team Aniston – I was still really excited to see it up close and personal!!!

Check out some great pictures of the interior of the house here and here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Brangelina’s Malibu home can be found at 32316 Pacific Coast Highway, directly next door to the Project Beach House which is located at 32340 PCH. I can’t say that I’d really recommend stalking either house, as there just isn’t that much to see from the street. I would suggest doing a little cyberstalking instead, as Zillow provides some good views of both houses. Click on the following links for the Zillow pages on Brangelina’s house and the Project Beach House.

April 30, 2008February 13, 2009

Mr. and Mrs. Homewrecker

It’s no secret that I am a HUGE Jen Aniston fan and so NOT a fan of Brangelina – but my boyfriend did manage to drag me to see Mr. and Mrs. Smith while it was in theaters. So when I found the address of the house from the movie in my fave stalking book, I just had to stalk it. In the movie, Brad and Angie live in a really pretty white clapboard residence that reminds me a lot of the house from the movie Father of the Bride. And it just so happens that both houses are located in Pasadena.

The restaurant where Brad and Angelina dance in Mr. and Mrs. Smith is called Cicada and can be found in Downtown LA. Cicada is actually an oft used filming location – it was the very same restaurant where Julia Roberts flung an escargot across the room in the movie Pretty Woman. At the time it was known as Rex II Ristorante. Cicada was also featured in Bruce Almighty, Final Analysis and Indecent Proposal. While I have never dined there, I’ve heard that it is absolutely amazing!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Mr. and Mrs. Smith house is located at 1565 San Pasqual Street in Pasadena. The restaurant from the movie can be found in the Oviatt Building in Downtown Los Angeles at 617 South Olive Street.

March 20, 2008February 13, 2009

WAT

Got a call from a family friend’s daughter last night who told me that she was called into the Principal’s office yesterday and told that not only was the TV show Without a Trace being filmed at her high school the next day, but that they would actually be filming her very locker in the scene! She is going to have a famous locker!! So this morning I got up bright and early to cruise by La Salle High School in Pasadena to do a little stalking before work.

The production location was easy to locate from the large yellow “WAT” signs posted all over North-Eastern Pasadena this morning. When TV and movie productions film on location, bright yellow signs attached to light-posts and tree trunks are used to point cast and crew members in the direction of the filming area. These signs are painted with large black abbreviations identifying the production’s title. Seeing these yellow signs posted on various lampposts is a common occurrence when you live in Los Angeles – and a great tool for any stalker. Whenever I see these signs, I pull over and do a little stalking! Film crews are generally super friendly and will not only answer any questions about the production you may have, but most will let you hang out and watch the filming. While I didn’t spot any Without a Trace stars this morning, being there reminded me of a film set I stalked a few years back.

Way back in 2000, when I first moved to LA, my mom and I happened to drive by the movie The Man Who Wasn’t There being filmed in Pasadena. I, of course, made my mom stop the car and we got out to do some stalking. The movie starred Billy Bob Thornton, who at the time was married to Angelina Jolie. Billy Bob, Angelina, and her father Jon Voight were hanging out between takes when we arrived. Angelina was fresh off her Oscar win for Girl Interrupted and, being an actress, I just had to introduce myself to her. This was long before the little home-wrecker set her sights on Brad Pitt forcing me to forever boycott Team Jolie. I must say, though, that I was completely smitten with Angelina – she could not have been more kind or friendly! I spent about ten minutes talking to her about acting and her Oscar win and she seemed genuinely interested in talking with me. Too bad she had to go and ruin it all by messing with my girl Jen! 🙂

So, next time you happen to be driving in LA and you see a yellow sign with black letters, pull over and do some stalking! You never know who you might get to meet!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: La Salle High School is located at 3880 East Sierra Madre Blvd. in Pasadena. Look for the Without a Trace episode to air in about 6 weeks. The Crane house from The Man Who Wasn’t There is located at 850 N. Chester Avenue, in the Bungalow Heaven Landmark District of Pasadena – a small area of Pasadena chock full of beautiful, historic Craftsman style homes.

February 2, 2008February 13, 2009

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.

December 17, 2007February 13, 2009

Maddox’s School

Even though I am 100 percent on Team Aniston, while I was in New York, one of my obsessions was finding Maddox’s school. I was really hoping Brad and Angie would be in town and I could just park myself in front of the school and wait for a sighting. 🙂 But, for this stalker, it was not to be.

Maddox’s school wasn’t hard to find at all – I just did a Google search for “Maddox school New York” on my trusty Blackberry and up it came – Lycee Francais on East 75th Street. I knew it had to be somewhere on the exclusive Upper East Side and sure enough, it was.

When we got there, I immediately recognized the metal and glass doors from the hundreds of paparazzi photos taken of Maddox’s comings and goings from the school. When I posed in front of the doors to take a picture, a guy inside gave me a pretty dirty look. Lycee Francais must not be very stalker friendly.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Lycee Francais is located at 505 W. 75th Street – pretty much on the corner of 75th and York – on the Upper East Side. After checking out Maddox’s alma mater, journey just a few blocks west to Via Quadronno at 25 E. 73rd Street for an Upper East Side breakfast of awesome cappuccinos and the best croissants you will ever eat!