Bridges Auditorium from “The West Wing”

Bridges Auditorium from The West Wing (18 of 20)

I am one of the few people in the world who did not watch The West Wing when it was on the air.  And boy was I missing out!  The Grim Cheaper and I started binging the series on a whim this past January and now can’t get enough!  The show is so good, I could cry!  It’s literally one of the best productions to ever grace television screens!  Early in our binging, I, of course, went on a deep dive to unearth some of its locations and was thrilled to come across a 2012 Architectural Digest article that spelled out one locale in particular, stating “Because The West Wing had not yet acquired an East Room set in time, the series’ second-season Christmas episode, ‘Noël,’ featuring the cellist Yo-Yo Ma, was filmed in the lobby of Pomona College’s Bridges Auditorium, in Claremont, California.”  Well, believe you me, the venue went straight to the top of my To-Stalk List and I headed out there way back in February, but I’ve held off on blogging about it as I figured it would make for an excellent holiday post.

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The Mabel Shaw Bridges Music Auditorium, as it is formally known, was commissioned by Appleton and Amelia Shaw Bridges in honor of their daughter, Mabel, who passed away while attending Pomona College in 1907.

Bridges Auditorium from The West Wing (19 of 20)

Bridges Auditorium from The West Wing (20 of 20)

Designed by San Diego-based architect William Templeton Johnson in the Northern Italian Renaissance style, the venue was constructed from 1930 to 1931 at a cost of $650,000.

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Bridges Auditorium from The West Wing (13 of 20)

Bridges Auditorium was dedicated on September 18th, 1931 and its inaugural concert season officially kicked off the following month, on October 27th, with a performance by Artur Rodziński and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.  Since then, it has gone on to host a slew of celebrated personalities.  Just a few of the luminaries who have set foot on its stage include Steve Martin, Muhammad Ali, Amelia Earhart, Benny Goodman, James Earl Jones, and Bono.

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Sadly, the hall was closed when I visited, so I did not get to see the interior.

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The exterior is pretty darn spectacular, though, with a towering arched overhang lined with grand columns and topped by a cathedral ceiling.

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The auditorium itself, which you can see photos of here, boasts rich red carpeting, seating for 2,494 guests, and a magical ceiling mural spanning 22,000 square feet that was hand-painted by Giovanni Smeraldi, the famed artist who also adorned the ceilings of Doheny Memorial Library’s Los Angeles Times Reference Room, the Pasadena Main Branch of the Bank of the West, St. Vincent de Paul Church, and the Millennium Biltmore Hotel’s South Galleria.  (The latter, coincidentally, is also a West Wing locale!)

Bridges Auditorium from The West Wing (8 of 20)

Bridges Auditorium from The West Wing (9 of 20)

It is Bridges Auditorium’s lobby that is its real claim to fame, though.  Featuring a coffered ceiling, marble columns, and a grand staircase, the versatile space has appeared onscreen as everything from a courthouse to a college admissions office to the White House (twice!).  You can take a look at the beautiful room here.

Bridges Auditorium from The West Wing (10 of 20)

In The West Wing’s “Noël” episode, which aired in 2000, President Bartlet (Martin Sheen) and his senior staff attend a congressional Christmas party during which Yo-Yo Ma performs – and yes, the actual Yo-Yo Ma guest-starred!  As mentioned above, the production team transformed Bridges’ lobby into the White House’s East Room for the shoot.  Architectural Digest notes, “Although smaller than the actual East Room—the largest room in the White House, primarily used for entertaining—the space, says [production designer Kenneth] Hardy, had the right feeling.  He and his production crew hung replica chandeliers and added chairs, flowers, and presidential portraits.”  It was a lot of preparation for what essentially amounted to about two minutes of screen time, much of which was interspersed with flashbacks of Josh Lyman’s (Bradley Whitford) shooting from Season 1.  Nevertheless, the space did look beautiful in the scene.

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The Bridges Auditorium foyer also masked as the courthouse lobby where Hillary Whitney Essex (Barbara Hershey) collapsed in the 1988 drama Beaches.

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It again portrayed the White House – this time its grand entry hall – in the 1993 comedy Dave.

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And in the Season 3 episode of Gilmore Girls titled “Let the Games Begin,” which aired in 2002, the foyer masqueraded as the main administration building at Yale University, where Richard (Edward Herrmann) forced Rory (Alexis Bledel) into an impromptu interview with the Dean of Admissions.

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The exterior of Bridges Auditorium also appeared briefly in the episode.

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The theatre itself is where the body of a murdered ballerina is found in the Season 3 episode of Lucifer titled “Anything Pierce Can Do I Can Do Better,” which aired in 2018.

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

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Bridges Auditorium, from the “Noël” episode of The West Wing, is located at 450 North College Way, on the Pomona College campus, in Claremont.

The Ella Strong Denison Library from “Beaches”

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Libraries are very much on my brain as of late.  It’s all thanks to Matilda and the post I wrote about the Wormwood home last week.  While scanning through the 1996 film making screen captures, I became awestruck by the incredible book repository where young Matilda (Sara Magdalin) regularly hung out.  Though countless websites claim that Pasadena’s Central Library at 285 East Walnut Street was utilized in the movie, I spent enough time there in my 10+ years of living in Crown City to immediately know that wasn’t true.  Further digging led me to discover that the cavernous space where Matilda devoured books was actually the Doheny Memorial Library on the USC campus.  (A post on that site will be coming soon.)  Looking into the location reminded me of a similarly beautiful athenaeum I stalked back in February 2012 with Mike the Fanboy, but had failed to blog about – The Ella Strong Denison Library, which appeared briefly in Beaches.  So I decided it was finally time to amend the situation.

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The Ella Strong Denison Library, named for Ella Strong Denison, the wife of a wealthy Denver physician who donated funds to numerous universities for the purpose of building libraries, opened its doors on the Scripps College campus in 1931.

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Designed by architect Gordon Kaufmann (who also created the Royal Laundry Complex, La Quinta Resort & Club, Santa Anita Park, and Greystone Mansion), the building, which houses special collections, features intricately chiseled front doors, hand-carved wood detailing, and a massive stained glass window depicting Gutenberg encircled by literary motifs.

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Oh, and card catalogs the stuff dreams are made of.

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The grounds surrounding the place are also quite spectacular.

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Along with serving as a quiet place to study, the library plays an integral role in the beginning and end of each Scripps undergrad’s college career.  As the school’s website notes,“The key moment in the Matriculation Ceremony occurs in the first few days of Orientation, when incoming students process through the intricately carved Ella Strong Denison Library East Door.  This door remains locked on all other days of the year save Commencement, when graduating seniors exit through this same door, signifying the beginning of Commencement Exercises, and the end of their educational journey at Scripps.”

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In Beaches, the Denison Library is where Hillary Whitney Essex (Barbara Hershey) researches her illness shortly after being diagnosed.

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The handsome space looks much the same today as it did onscreen thirty years ago.

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As you can see below, the venue translates beautifully to the screen.

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As such, I was certain it had appeared in numerous productions.  I was unable to dig up any other movies or television shows featuring it, though.

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I’m only now coming to realize that the vast majority of Beaches was shot in the Los Angeles area, despite largely being set in New York and San Francisco.  I’ve written about a few of the movie’s SoCal locales previously including Hillary’s beach house at the Crystal Cove Historic District, Hillary’s supposed Atherton-area mansion (you can read a second post on that spot here), and Jewel’s Catch One, which portrayed both an SF nightclub and an NYC lounge.  While scanning through Beaches in preparation for last April’s post about the latter (which is best known for its appearance as The Blue Banana in Pretty Woman), I discovered that the flick also did some filming at the now defunct Ambassador Hotel.  The famed lodging portrayed Marlboro Blenheim, the ritzy Atlantic City resort where young Hillary (Marcie Leeds) took CC Bloom (Mayim Bialik) for a chocolate soda at the beginning of the movie.  I recognized the wood-framed doorways, red floral carpeting and lobby fountain immediately upon viewing the scene.  (The Ambassador was also utilized significantly in Pretty Woman as the interior of The Regent Beverly Wilshire, as I wrote about in this post.)

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The Los Angeles Equestrian Center made an appearance in Beaches, as well, as young Hillary’s Bay Area riding club.  (For those keeping track, that’s three locales the film shares with Pretty Woman, which I guess shouldn’t come as a surprise being that both were directed by Garry Marshall.)

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I am also fairly certain that Southwestern Bag Company at 635 Mateo Street in downtown Los Angeles, aka the police station from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, portrayed the New York ACLU office where Hillary worked in the movie, but not enough of the space was shown for me to be absolutely certain.

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

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Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Ella Strong Denison Library, from Beaches, is located in Scripps College’s Kauffman Wing at 1090 North Columbia Avenue in Claremont.  Harwood Court residence hall, aka Eastland School from The Facts of Life, can be found just a few blocks away on the Pomona College campus at 170 East Bonita Avenue.

Tavern on the Green from “Ghostbusters”

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I adhere to a “more is more” philosophy.  There’s nothing wrong with a little extra!  So I, of course, was a huge fan of the landmark Central Park restaurant Tavern on the Green during the time that it was run by the LeRoy family.  Though many referred to the place as tacky, garish and over-the-top, I found it nothing short of magical and was devastated when it shuttered in 2010, its whimsical décor and furnishings auctioned off to the highest bidders, its famous Crystal Room dismantled piece by sparkling piece.  New York, in my mind, would never be the same.  When the property was re-opened under new leadership a few years later, I was curious how the space would compare to its prior self and promptly added it to my NYC To- Stalk List.  The Grim Cheaper and I finally made it there for cocktails and appetizers, our good friends Kim and Katie in tow, during our April 2016 trip to the Big Apple.  While definitely lacking in extra, the revamped Tavern on the Green did not disappoint.  So even though I briefly covered the eatery in a 2008 write-up, I figured it was definitely worthy of a repost.

The Victorian Gothic-style building that now houses Tavern on the Green was originally constructed in 1870 (yes, 1870!) as a sheepfold (aka a sheep pen) for the hundreds of sheep that called Central Park home.

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In 1934, Parks Commissioner Robert Moses decided the sprawling Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mould-designed structure would better serve as a restaurant and set about repurposing it.  The sheep were sent to Prospect Park in Brooklyn, their former barn given a massive renovation, and, voilà, Tavern on the Green was born.

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Though popular, the moderately-priced pub went through several ownership changes and remodels in the years that followed.  Finally, in 1974, it was purchased by Warner LeRoy, son of The Wizard of Oz producer Mervyn LeRoy and Doris Warner (daughter of Warner Bros. founder Harry Warner), who began an extensive $10 million remodel and expansion of the site that took three years to complete.  The result of his efforts was a kitschy, fanciful masterpiece that had to be seen to be believed.

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Thanks to LeRoy’s vision, everyday at Tavern on the Green was like Christmas.  The 27,000-square-foot eatery was marked by Tiffany stained glass, Baccarat crystal chandeliers, topiaries, massive murals, hand-painted ceilings, mirrored walls, and thousands upon thousands of twinkle lights.  The site’s most famous dining area, the Crystal Room, a glass-encased space overlooking the restaurant’s terrace and Central Park, was the glittering cherry on top.  Sadly, I failed to take any proper photographs of Tavern on the Green during my visits, but you can check out some images of what it looked like during LeRoy’s tenure here.

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  It did not take long for Tavern on the Green to become an icon – a restaurant synonymous with the city itself and a must-see spot for locals, tourists and celebrities alike.  Just a few of the luminaries who dined there over the years include Grace Kelly, John Lennon, Jennifer Aniston, Liza Minnelli, Seth Meyers, Jon Hamm, Christie Brinkley, George Clooney, Liv Tyler, Drew Barrymore, Alec Guinness, Christian Dior, Martha Stewart, Howard Stern, and Beth Ostrosky.

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When Warner passed away in 2001, his wife and daughter took over operations and the place remained as popular and profitable as ever.  In 2006, Tavern on the Green was one of the highest grossing restaurants in the U.S., second only to Tao Las Vegas.  Sadly, the eatery was hit hard by the economy in 2008 and the following year it was announced that the Parks Department had opted not to renew the LeRoys’ lease.  The family served their last meal on the premises on New Year’s Eve 2009 and a massive auction was held shortly thereafter in which all of the colorful décor was sold off.  The space subsequently served as a visitor center, of all things, until 2012 when it was taken over by Philadelphia restauranteurs Jim Caiola and David Salama, who began a two-year, $20 million renovation.  The new Tavern on the Green opened in April 2014.

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Though undeniably beautiful, the restaurant is a far cry from its predecessor.  Understated and classic, marked by wood detailing and patterned banquettes, the new Tavern is sleeker and more refined than the LeRoy version.  While I did enjoy dining there, I couldn’t help but miss the old Tavern, with all of its over-the-top whimsy.  Regardless, I am so thankful that the place is once again open to hungry patrons.  The Crystal Room may have long since been razed, the twinkle lights removed from the trees, and the paper lanterns cleared away from the terrace, but the site does still retain some of its former magic.

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I really think Caiola and Salama need to reinstate the twinkle lights, though.  As I said above, there’s nothing wrong with a little extra – and the Edison bulbs currently strung across the patio just aren’t cutting it.

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Thanks to Tavern on the Green’s unique beauty, location managers flocked to it during the Warner days.  The eatery most famously appeared in Ghostbusters.  It is there that Louis Tully (Rick Moranis) runs while being chased by the “terror dog” and unsuccessfully tries to catch the attention of the patrons inside in the 1984 hit.

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Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen) heads to the bathroom at Tavern on the Green to meet with the FBI and hand over his taped conversation with Gordon Gecko (Michael Douglas) at the end of 1987’s Wall Street.

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CC Bloom (Bette Midler) and John Pierce (John Heard) take Hillary Whitney Essex (Barbara Hershey) and Michael Essex (James Read) to Tavern on the Green for dinner in 1988’s Beaches.

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I am 99.9% certain, though, that only the exterior of the restaurant appeared in the movie and that interiors were filmed elsewhere, likely at an eatery in L.A.

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That same year, Tavern on the Green was featured in the opening scene of the comedy Arthur 2: On the Rocks.  It is there that Linda Marolla Bach (Liza Minnelli) tells Arthur Bach (Dudley Moore) that she cannot have children.

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In 2001’s Made, Bobby (Jon Favreau) and Ricky (Vince Vaughn) meet up with Ruiz (Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs) at Tavern on the Green to discuss a money drop.

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Alfie (Jude Law) picks up Nikki (Sienna Miller) and her friends in his cab outside of Tavern on the Green one lonely Christmas Eve night in the 2004 movie Alfie.

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Boy’s (Anton Yelchin) Senior Prom takes place at Tavern on the Green in 2009’s New York, I Love You.

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Post-closing, Tavern played a central role in the 2011 comedy Mr. Popper’s Penguins as the restaurant Mr. Popper (Jim Carrey) tried to buy from Mrs. Van Gundy (Angela Lansbury).  Only the exterior of the site was utilized in the filming, though.

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Because the space had already been transformed into a visitor center and the Crystal Room had long since been dismantled by the time filming took place, the restaurant’s interior was re-imagined on a soundstage for the shoot.  According to the movie’s production notes, production designer Stuart Wurtzel, “re-created the wood-paneled front vestibule of the Tavern, the famous Crystal Room with its ornate chandeliers and flower-filled décor, and approximately twelve feet of Central Park so the views outside the plate-glass windows would look authentic.  ‘It’s a sort of emotional composite of how people remember it,’ he says.”

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Following its 2014 re-opening, Tavern popped up in the Season 1 episode of The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt titled “Kimmy is Bad at Math!” as the spot where Logan Beekman (Adam Campbell) took Kimmy Schmidt (Ellie Kemper) on a date.  While there, she exclaims, “I can’t believe I’m at the Ghostbusters restaurant!”

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It was also there that Luann de Lesseps met with ex-boyfriend Jacques Azoulay to discuss their upcoming comedy show in the Season 12 episode of The Real Housewives of New York titled “Just the Sip,” which aired in 2020.

And while I thought that the Tavern’s lantern-strung terrace was the spot where Mr. Big (Chris Noth) and Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) dined in the Season 2 episode of Sex and the City titled “The Caste System,” I contacted the episode’s director, Allison Anders, who informed me that filming actually took place on the rear patio of a private house on the Upper West Side that was dressed to look like a restaurant.  Of the re-designed space, she said, “I was so thrilled with the result and that all these years later it rang true for you makes me very happy indeed.”

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

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Tavern on the Green, from Ghostbusters, is located at Central Park West and 67th Street on New York’s Upper West Side.  You can visit the eatery’s official website here.

The “Beaches” Mansion vs. The “Starsky & Hutch” Mansion

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Two weeks ago, fellow stalker Jenny left a comment on my post about the long-sought-after Beaches mansion in which she mentioned that the very same residence had also been used in both 1983’s Mr. Mom and 1987’s Who’s That Girl.  Ironically enough, I had received virtually that same exact comment from a fellow stalker named Sarah on the post I wrote about the Starsky & Hutch mansion (pictured above) way back in May of 2009.  So yesterday I decided to do some digging to see which mansion, if either, had been used in the two 80s flicks – a task which proved to be easier said than done.

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Both the Beaches mansion and the Starsky & Hutch mansion are extremely large, Tudor-style residences situated on absolutely huge pieces of land in Pasadena, so it is easy to see how they have been mistaken as being one in the same over the years.  The Beaches mansion, which is pictured above although sadly not much of it can be seen from the street, was originally built in 1916 and boasts 8 bedrooms, 4 baths, and a whopping 7,479 square feet of living space.

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The gargantuan home sits on just under two acres of land.

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In Beaches, the mansion was where Hillary Whitney Essex (aka Barbara Hershey) lived with her daughter, Victoria Cecilia Essex (aka Grace Johnston).

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The Starsky & Hutch mansion, which was built in 1912, boasts 13 bedrooms (and no that is not a typo!), 8 baths, and 11,573 square feet of living space.

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The monstrous residence sits on a 2.2 acre plot of land.

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In 2004’s Starsky & Hutch, the mansion was where Reese Feldman (aka Vince Vaughn) lived with his wife, Mrs. Feldman (aka Molly Sims), and was where David Starsky (aka Ben Stiller) accidentally shot a pony while at a bar mitzvah party.

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As it turns out and as you can see above, Mr. Mom was filmed at the Starsky & Hutch mansion and not at the Beaches mansion.  In the movie, the property stood in for the residence belonging to Caroline’s (aka Teri Garr’s) millionaire boss, Ron Richardson (aka Martin Mull).

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And here’s where things get confusing.  As you can see above, the Starsky & Hutch mansion was also used as the home of Simon Worthington (aka John McMartin) in Who’s That Girl.  Well, the front of the house was, at least.

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The backyard, though, where the wedding of Louden Trott (aka Griffin Dunne) and Wendy Worthington (aka Sixteen Candles’ Haviland Morris) was supposed to take place, was actually the backyard of the Beaches mansion!

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The interior scenes from Who’s That Girl were also filmed at the Beaches mansion.  The screen captures in the top row pictured above were taken from Who’s That Girl, while the ones in the bottom row were taken from Beaches, and, as you can see, the interiors match perfectly.

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The Starsky & Hutch mansion was also used numerous times in the television series Falcon Crest as the home belonging to Carlo Agretti (aka Carlos Romero) and his daughter, Melissa (aka Ana Alicia).  It first showed up in the Season 1 episode titled “House of Cards” and then popped up repeatedly throughout the next few seasons.  According to IMDB, the Starsky & Hutch mansion was also used in the Season 2 episode of Fantasy Island titled “The Last Whodunit” and in the Season 4 episode of Murder She Wrote titled “Witness for the Defense”, neither of which I could find a copy of to make screen captures for this post.  And according to my buddy E.J. over at The Movieland Directory, the property also appeared in an episode of the short-lived television series Pepper Dennis.

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As I mentioned in my post two weeks ago, the Beaches mansion has also been used in countless productions over the years.  It stood in for Roger Sterling’s (aka John Slattery’s) country club in the Season 3 episode of Mad Men titled “My Old Kentucky Home”.

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And in the Season 2 episode of Parks & Recreation titled “94 Meetings” it appeared as the Turnbill Mansion, which Leslie Knope (aka Amy Poehler) fought to save.

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Fellow stalker Tamara in Australia also let me know that the Beaches mansion was used as the residence where the eponymous Alice (aka Natalie Gregory) lived in 1985’s FABULOUS Irwin-Allen-produced television movie Alice in Wonderland, which featured an all-star cast and which I used to watch repeatedly with my grandma when I was a child.  The same property also appeared in the Season 7 episode of Columbo titled “Try and Catch Me”, which I was unfortunately unable to find a copy of to make screen captures for this post.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalkers Jenny, Sarah, and Tamara for helping me to clear up the filming location confusion with these particular properties.  Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The Beaches mansion is located at 880 La Loma Road in Pasadena.  The Starsky & Hutch mansion is located just about two miles east at 1050 Arden Road in Pasadena.

The “Beaches” Mansion

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One location that I have been asked about repeatedly ever since I first started my blog almost four years ago (and I CANNOT even believe that it has been that long!!!) is the large Tudor-style mansion where Hillary Whitney Essex (aka Barbara Hershey) lived in the 1988 tearjerker Beaches.  And while it had long been noted on various websites that the property was located somewhere in the Pasadena area, try as I might, I just could not seem to track the place down.  Then this past January a fellow stalker named Alain who lives in France emailed me to ask about a mansion that had appeared in the Season 7 episode of Columbo titled “Try and Catch Me”.  He mentioned that the same estate had also been used in Beaches.  I explained to Alain that I had been trying to find that particular home for years, but had had absolutely no luck.  Flash forward 9 months to this past Tuesday afternoon when I received another email from Alain, this one announcing that he had found the property!  Whoo-hoo!  How he managed to locate it while living thousands of miles away in France, when I failed to do so while living right here in Pasadena, is absolutely beyond me!  My hat is most-definitely off to you, Alain!

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So I, of course, ran right out to stalk the place early Wednesday morning.  Sadly though, as you can see above, hardly any of the property is visible from the street.

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But, as I have said before, that is why God created aerial views.  In real life, the 7,479-square-foot, 8-bedroom, 4-bath home, which was built in 1916 by the noted Pasadena architecture firm Marston & Van Pelt (who also designed the Twins mansion), is known as the S. S. Hinds Estate.  The property was named for one of its original owners, actor Samuel S. Hinds, who is best known for playing Peter Bailey, George Bailey’s (aka James Stewart’s) father, in the 1946 classic It’s A Wonderful LifeAccording to my buddy E.J. over at The Movieland Directory, Hinds lived in the home from the 1920s until the 1940s. Ironically enough, Hinds was originally a very prominent attorney who lost his fortune in the stock market crash of 1929.  He was able to keep his Pasadena manse during that difficult time by renting it out to various boarders.  Finding himself destitute at the age of 54, he decided to abandon law and try his hand at acting and it was not long before Hollywood came a’callin’.  Hinds went on to star in over 200 films before his death in 1948.

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In Beaches, the S.S Hinds Estate stood in for the supposed Atherton-area residence where Hillary lived both as a child and an adult.

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The house’s front gate was used quite prominently in the movie in the scenes in which Hillary checked her mailbox in anticipation of receiving letters from her lifelong best friend, Cecilia “CC” Carol Bloom (aka Bette Midler).

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And while the gate is thankfully visible from the street and still looks EXACTLY the same today as it did in 1988 when Beaches was filmed, sadly, as you can see above, Hillary’s mailbox is not there in real life.  I am guessing that it was just a set piece that was brought in solely for the filming.

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The real life interior of the property was also used in the flick.

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Thanks to fave website OnLocationVacations, I learned that the Season 3 episode of Mad Men titled “My Old Kentucky Home” was also filmed at the S.S. Hinds Estate.  In the episode, the property stood in for the country club where Roger Sterling (aka John Slattery) and Jane Siegel (aka Peyton List) hosted their Kentucky Derby party.

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As you can see in the screen captures above, one of the hallways that appeared in Beaches was also used in Mad Men as the spot where Betty Draper (aka January Jones) first met Henry Francis (aka Christopher Stanley).

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I am fairly certain, though, that the club’s bar, where Don Draper (aka Jon Hamm) spent most of his evening, is not actually located inside of the Hinds Estate, but is a real life bar somewhere in Los Angeles.

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And again thanks to OnLocationVacations, I also learned that the estate was used as the Turnbill Mansion, which Leslie Knope (aka Amy Poehler) fought to save, in the Season 2 episode of Parks & Recreation titled “94 Meetings”.

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Amazingly, the very same hallway that appeared in both Mad Men and Beaches was also featured in Parks and Recreation.

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As was the stairway from Beaches.

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And the front gate, which Leslie Knopes barricaded herself to, thinking it opened in the middle, on Parks and Recreation.  LOL

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A large painting of the mansion was created for the filming of Parks and Recreation, as well.  Being that I doubt the painting would ever be used again on the series, I am wondering if the owners of the Hinds Estate got to keep it.  So cool if they did!

Unfortunately, I was not able to find a copy of the Columbo “Try and Catch Me” episode anywhere, so I could not make screen captures of the Hinds Estate’s appearance in it for this post.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Alain for telling me about this location!  Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The Beaches mansion is located at 880 La Loma Road in Pasadena.