Beverly Hills 90210 Filming locations – Page 5

January 29, 2009February 17, 2009

Anaconda!

No, the above title does not refer to the 1997 JLo/Ice Cube action flick Anaconda (a movie I have never seen), but a Beverly Hills, 90210 episode of the same name. The other day while I was hanging out on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, Mike (from MovieShotsLA) called me and asked if I wouldn’t mind stalking a nearby location for him. He was looking for the pawn shop that down-on-his-luck Dylan visited in that Second Season episode, which he could tell from the above screen capture was located somewhere on 2nd Street in Santa Monica.

While watching the pawn shop scene, Mike immediately recognized the famous Santa Monica Crocker Clock Tower in the background behind Dylan. The Crocker Clock Tower is somewhat of a landmark building in Santa Monica, most likely due to its unusual art deco style and size – it is the second tallest building in the city. The clock tower is also famous for another reason, though. On January 17, 1994, at 4:31 a.m. the Northridge Earthquake struck Los Angeles and its surrounding area. The 6.7 magnitute quake not only rocked the city, but the Crocker Clock Tower as well, stopping its hands at the precise moment the first wave struck. For over six years afterwards the clock’s hands remained frozen in time at 4:31 a.m., a constant reminder to all who viewed it of the devastating quake. In 2000, the clock was finally fixed for the meager cost of $75,000.

Using the clock tower (and the above screen capture) as his guide, Mike was able to figure out the exact location of Dylan’s pawn shop, which I am sad to say is no longer in business. Such a bummer! Currently a sound design company named RMD Entertainment occupies the space. “Anaconda” was filmed 17 years ago and in that time a lot on 2nd street has changed. While I haven’t been able to confirm it, I do believe that filming took place at an actual pawn shop that was once located in RMD’s space. Although it is also a possibility that a fake pawn shop was set up in a vacant storefront at that location strictly for the filming of the “Anaconda” episode. But I believe the former is true.

I am constantly shocked when locations Mike and I stalk look different than how they appeared onscreen. Mike is always telling me that I need to remember that these episodes were filmed almost two decades ago and that the locations where they were filmed will have changed considerably in twenty years time. But since Beverly Hills, 90210 is so frozen in time for me, I am always expecting the locations to be frozen in time, as well, and am always shocked when I find that they aren’t. LOL

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The pawn shop featured in “Anaconda” is now RMD Entertainment which is located at 1418 2nd Street in Santa Monica. The Crocker Clock Tower building is located just around the corner at 225 Santa Monica Boulevard.

January 28, 2009February 17, 2009

Beverly Hills, 90291

A few weeks back while I was out stalking the Californication house, Mike (from MovieShotsLA) and I set out on a mission to find Kelly Taylor’s house from the new 90210 series.

I had been searching for the house for quite some time and on this particular day I called Mike at work (poor guy!) and said “We are going to find that house today!” I’m nothing if not determined! Mike and I knew the house was located in Venice from an article that appeared in Entertainment Weekly this past summer, and since I was already in the area, I realized it was now or never! I was not leaving Venice without finding that house. 🙂

Kelly’s house has appeared on 90210 quite a few times, beginning with the pilot episode. And each time it appears, a plaque with the numbers “2229” is clearly visible in the background. But neither Mike nor I could seem to find any area in Venice with house numbers in the 2200 range. We found blocks with addresses of 2100, 2300, and 2400, but for some reason 2200 was nowhere to be found. Mike had become convinced that the “2229” sign was just a prop added to the house for filming, but I held out hope. Something told me that sign was really there.

Since Google Street View does not cover the Venice area, I acted as Mike’s eyes and ears driving around Venice while he sat in front of his computer at work looking at aerial maps. LOL My boyfriend always says how amazing it is that Mike and I managed to find each other. I mean who else in their right mind would do this stuff with me?? LOL Anyway, after driving around for a while I was just about ready to give up hope. Then all of sudden, an idea struck Mike and he told me to head to Glyndon Avenue. He had remembered working once in a quaint little section of Venice and thought it might be the area where Kelly’s house was located. So, using my trusty GPS, I drove over to Glyndon Avenue and sure enough, there was the house – “2229” sign and all. See, you should always trust a woman’s intuition! 🙂

Many episodes of 90210 were filmed at the actual Venice Beach house and I also believe that some interior filming took place there, as well. This is apparent in both the pilot episode, in which fellow teacher Ryan stops by Kelly’s house, flowers in hand . . .

. . . and the episode entitled “Secrets and Lies” in which Silver’s house party gets slightly out of hand.

Kelly’s house is very cute and very picturesque in person. In fact, it is just the type of house I would expect to find a grown-up Kelly Taylor living in. Especially since she is so obviously still carrying a torch for Dylan and this house is so reminiscent of Dylan’s Craftsman style home from the original series. 🙂 I absolutely loved stalking Kelly’s house. In fact, driving around Venice that day while talking to Mike on the phone will always be one of my fondest stalking memories!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Kelly Taylor’s house is located at 2229 Glyndon Avenue in Venice.

December 5, 2008February 13, 2009

Donna Martin, Rose Princess

When I first moved to Los Angeles about eight years ago, one of the very first items on my stalking agenda was to visit the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Headquarters. I wanted to sign up for their annual Rose Court Pageant just like Donna Martin did in the Season 6 episode of 90210 entitled “Everything’s Coming Up Roses”. 🙂 I was absolutely flabbergasted when after asking for an application the receptionist explained to me that in order to apply for the Rose Court I had to currently be in high school or in my first year of college (at the time I had just graduated from college). I calmly told him that that simply wasn’t true as Donna was in her third year of college when she entered the pageant on 90210, to which he replied “Yes, but that was a TV show!” LOL I cannot believe 90210 decieved me like that!! Anyway, even though my attempts at becoming Rose Queen were thwarted even before they began, I still loved being at the Tournament House and seeing where 90210 had filmed. 🙂

The Tournament House was originally built for the Wrigley Family – yes, Wrigley as in the spearmint gum. Construction on the home took over eight years and was finally completed in 1914. At the time Orange Grove Boulevard was known as “Millionaires’ Row” due to the countless opulent mansions lining both sides of the street. Sadly, most of those mansions are now long gone, torn down many years ago to make room for apartment complexes and smaller homes. But the Tournament House remains. When Mrs. Wrigley passed away in 1958, she deeded the home to the City of Pasadena with the specific instruction that it was to be used as the Tournament of Roses Headquarters, which it has remained ever since.

The Tournament House, which sits on over 4 1/2 acres of beautifully manicured rose gardens, is absolutely beautiful in person. The interior of the mansion is supposedly incredibly beautiful, as well, although I have never seen it. Free tours of the House are offered every Thursday between 2pm and 4pm during the months of February through August and I think I am definitely going to have to partake in one soon. 🙂

The Rose Queen tradition began in 1905 and continues to this day. It is so named because the Rose Queen reigns over Pasadena’s Annual Tournament of Roses Parade each New Years, riding on a special float. Each year over 1,000 girls compete for the Rose Queen title, in a process that takes a month to complete. Out of those thousand, one girl will become the Rose Queen and six others will become Rose Princesses in her Royal Court. An interesting side note – actress Sophia Bush (of One Tree Hill fame) won the Rose Queen title in the year 2000. 🙂 You can see a photograph of Sophia with her Court here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Tournament of Roses House is located at 391 South Orange Grove Blvd. in Pasadena.

December 4, 2008February 13, 2009

90210’s Baby Mama’s House

While stalking the 90210 house last week, the owner, Jack, told Mike [of MovieShotsLA – as if you didn’t already know by now :)] and me about a few Beverly Hills, 90210 filming locations that we had yet to locate. One location was the home of Brandon’s love interest from the Season 1 episode entitled “One Man and a Baby”. In the episode Brandon dates an Ivy League hopeful named Melissa whom he later finds out is also a single, teenage mother. The house used as Melissa’s in the episode just happens to be located directly across the street from the Walsh home in Altadena. While re-watching the episode last night, I was cracking up at the scene when Brandon drives up to Melissa’s house to pick her up for their date, because in reality her home is located a hop, skip and a jump away from his home on the show. LOL

According to Jack, Melissa’s house looks very different today than it did when 90210 was filmed there back in 1990. Today there is a large stucco wall surrounding the front of the home, which hides most of the property. Sadly, the front door is the area of the home that was featured most prominently on 90210 and it is no longer visible from the street. 🙁

Jack also told us that the same home’s pool area was also used in a few different 90210 episodes and I found one of those episodes yesterday. In the Season 1 episode entitled “Every Dream Has Its Price”, the pool belonged to Brenda’s shoplifting friend Tiffany. A short scene takes place there where Brenda confronts her sticky-fingered friend and gives her a lesson in good old Midwestern values.

The very same pool, diving board, and bikini clad actress from that scene were also featured each week in 90210’s opening credits. 🙂

The house was also featured in the 2008 film Finding Amanda where it was used as Matthew Broderick’s home and in the Eva Longoria flick Over Her Dead Body where the backyard was used for a wedding scene. The home is currently for sale and for a mere $2,850,000 you can own a piece of 90210 history! You can visit the home’s real estate website, which has interior pics of the house, here. Ironically, the stairwell in the home looks very similar to the stairwell from the set of the Walsh house. The real estate website also features some clips of movies featuring the home. LOVE IT!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Melissa’s house is located at 1690 Altadena Drive, right across the street from the Walsh house.

December 1, 2008February 13, 2009

The Real Clark W. Griswold House?

I absolutely love Christmastime! Halloween may be my favorite holiday, but the weeks leading up to Christmas are definitely my favorite time of year. Each November I start looking forward to the red and green decorations lining city streets, the twinkle lights adorning houses and store windows, Starbucks eggnog lattes, carolers, the general goodwill in the air, and even all the hustle and bustle. I just love it! But my absolute favorite thing to do during the Christmas Season is to drive around looking at the many homes decorated with multi-colored lights. The very best, and most famous, decorated home in all of Los Angeles also just happens to be a filming location! 🙂 So, of course, I had to blog about it!

No family does Christmas decorations better than the Balian Family. The Balians are the owners of the Los Angeles based Balian Ice Cream Company and they live in a big, pink mansion in Altadena. Their 21 room home was built in 1922 and is commonly known around the L.A. area as “The Balian Mansion”. The Balians have been decorating their home for Christmas since 1955 and, let me tell you, it is truly a sight to behold! I honestly think it must have been the real life inspiration for Clark Griswold’s Christmas light display in the movie Christmas Vacation. While standing in front of the house, you can almost see the City of Altadena’s main power meter spinning out of control just like in the movie. LOL

Never in my life have I seen a home as decorated for Christmas as the Balian Mansion is each year. Every last inch of the 5,459 square foot house and its surrounding 3.5 acre lot seems to be completely covered in Christmas lights and Christmas decorations, including a life size nativity scene, painted signs and lighted plastic statues. A few entrepreneurial souls even stand out front selling t-shirts and glow sticks out of their cars. Visiting the Balian Mansion at Christmastime is definitely an event! People come from miles around to behold the site in person and the streets around the mansion get extremely backed up with cars during the weeks leading up to Christmas. This year it’ll propbably be even more crowded than normal, being that the mansion just got a shout out on AOL’s list of Top 12 Festive Holiday Homes.

Although the mansion’s main claim to fame is its yearly Christmas light display, the home also made an appearance in an early episode of Beverly Hills, 90210. The house shows up in the first season episode entitled “The First Time” in which Brandon’s girlfriend from Minnesota comes to visit. In the episode, Brandon and Brenda pass by the Balian Mansion while driving home from school (pictured above). At the time the mansion was painted brown, but today it is a bright pink color. When I re-watched that episode recently, I almost fell out of my chair upon seeing the mansion, which I immediately recognized from my many pilgrimages there each December.

The Balian Mansion is an L.A. Christmas tradition and I HIGHLY recommend stalking it! If you are in the area during Christmas, you must, must, must drive by! The lights are typically put up the first week in December and stay lit through the first week of January. When I drove by the house yesterday it looked as if the lights were still being set up and I made my boyfriend take a pic of the many powerlines needed to light the house (shown above). LOL I can only imagine what their power outlets look like!!!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Balian Mansion is located at 1960 Mendocino Lane in Altadena. If you are in the area, be sure to also make a stop at Christmas Tree Lane, which is located on Santa Rosa Avenue, just off Woodbury. Christmas Tree Lane is a mile long stretch of huge cedar trees decorated with hundreds upon thousands of multi-colored lights. It is absolutely magical. Christmas Tree Lane, although not a movie location, is definitely a must see!

November 26, 2008January 25, 2010

The Inside of the Walsh House from “Beverly Hills, 90210”

Last Friday, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I set out to do a little Pasadena stalking. Who knew that our day would hold the stalking adventure to end all stalking adventures! Even as I sit here, days later, writing these words, I am pinching myself, unsure if the whole thing even really happened. But since I have the photographs, I guess it really did. 🙂

[ad]

On Friday afternoon, after stalking a few Pasadena locations, Mike and I stopped off at our old staple, the 90210 house, aka Casa Walsh. Even though Mike and I had stalked this home countless times before, we had to return yet again as it is one location that we just never grow tired of. On this particular trip, though, the stalking gods must have been smiling down on us because the owner of the home pulled up in his car right when we arrived. So of course, we got to talking with him. 🙂

The owner, whose name is Jack, could NOT have been a nicer guy! He stood and talked with us in the Walsh driveway for about 45 minutes, sharing all sorts of 90210 stories and behind the scenes info. For instance, he told us that on one occasion when they filmed at his house, producers cleared out all of his living room furniture and built a soundstage of Kelly’s bedroom in the vacant room! LOL He also told us that some of the camping scenes from the Season 2 episode entitled “Camping Trip” were actually filmed in his backyard! And – my personal favorite story of the many Jack shared with us – one day he got home from work to find a message on his answering machine from a woman who said “Hi this is Emily Valentine and I wanted to let you know that I just got out of the asylum.” LOL Jack even told us of a few other 90210 filming locations that he knew about. 🙂 Now, this is where the story gets REALLY exciting. After talking with us for a bit in his driveway, Jack invited us into his backyard to take some photos.

Numerous events in the Walsh twins’ lives took place in Jack’s backyard, including Cindy and Jim’s 20th wedding anniversary, Jackie Taylor and Mel Silver’s wedding, the painting of the gang’s homecoming float which was later doused with gasoline by Emily Valentine, and – my personal favorite – one of the first times Brenda lays eyes on Dylan.

In that episode, entitled “Isn’t It Romantic”, Dylan and Brandon are working on Brandon’s car Mondale in the Walsh backyard. In the meantime, while speaking with Kelly on the phone, Brenda walks outside onto a little balcony to admire Dylan from afar, but he notices her and turns around to give her that cute Dylan smile that I was so in love with. 🙂 LOVE THAT SHOW! Anyway, Brenda’s balcony is really a part of the Altadena home and I could not have been more excited to see it in person! I believe it was at this point in our Casa Walsh tour, as Mike and I stood there snapping pictures like crazy and screaming like little schoolgirls, that Jack told us we both had way too much time on our hands. LOL 🙂

After seeing us go a bit crazy over being in the actual 90210 backyard, Jack (wait, are you sitting down for this???) INVITED US TO SEE THE INSIDE OF THE HOUSE!!!! Yes, you read that right – HE INVITED US INSIDE THE HOUSE! THE 90210 HOUSE! BRANDON AND BRENDA’S HOUSE! WE GOT TO GO INSIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mike and I both just about keeled over and died at this proposition and I am surprised we didn’t knock poor Jack to the floor as we made a running b-line for the house. 🙂 LOL While inside, Jack first showed us some scrapbooks he had made with photographs and articles from his house’s filming days. The scrapbooks included all sorts of photographs and memorabilia from the 90210 days, including photos of his kids with the stars and the original contract he signed allowing the production company to use his home for filming. I couldn’t help but smile as I read one clause in the contract which stated that a basketball hoop would be added to the exterior of Jack’s garage. 🙂 That basketball hoop is now gone as Jack is in the middle of remodeling his garage (say it ain’t so!). There were actually two different basketball hoops used during the filming of 90210 and when the series ended, Jack got to keep both of them. Many years later he ended up giving both of those hoops away to 90210 fans who had stopped by his house to take pictures. Like I said – what an amazingly nice guy! Mike was extremely bummed that he wasn’t the lucky recipient of one of those basketball hoops, but we should consider ourselves lucky as Jack said that Mike and I were the first two fans he had ever invited inside the house. 🙂

The most surreal moment of the day for me happened when my phone rang while I was standing in the 90210 kitchen (which you can sort of see in the above photograph). You see, my ring tone is, and always has been, the 90210 theme song. I kid you not. So there I was standing in Casa Walsh when the familiar strains of “Duh-nuh-nuh-nuh” came pouring out of my phone. LOL After looking at Jack’s 90210 scrapbooks, he took us on a mini-tour of the downstairs of his home. I was in utter shock not only at the fact that he would invite us into his home, but also that I WAS ACTUALLY STANDING INSIDE THE 90210 HOUSE! I had dreamed of seeing the inside of that home for YEARS and the only thing I can imagine that would have been more satisfying to a stalker like myself would be to have visited the studio set of the Walsh home during filming. I had read that the set of Casa Walsh was based on the real interiors of the Altadena home and on Friday I saw for myself that that was sort of true. While the kitchen area looks nothing like Cindy Walsh’s kitchen, the entryway, living room and dining room are all very similar to what we saw on TV. When walking inside the house it was like worlds were colliding inside my head as the image I knew of the interior sets meshed with reality. It was surreal and almost as if my brain couldn’t accept both images at the same time. LOL

The dining room area, which was just re-painted and therefore has no furniture in it, is very reminiscent of the Walsh dining room.

The living room is also quite similar to its television counterpart, except that it is longer and not quite as deep as the Walsh living room. In real life it is also missing the Walsh’s built-in bookshelves.

The area of the home I was most excited to see was the entryway/stairwell, as the Walsh’s entryway/stairwell was shown so often on the show. In reality, the stairway is situated like a mirrior image of how it appeared on 90210. The stairs run from the left to the right, while the Walsh stairway went from right to left. I asked Jack why he thinks they made this change for the studio set and he said he thinks that it worked better for camera angles that way. Aside from the stairway running the opposite direction, the real entryway looks very similar to the Walsh entryway and I still cannot believe I got to see it with my own two eyes!

Of course, we just had to take a picture with Jack in the entryway to document our time spent at Casa Walsh. On our way out, after giving Jack our phone numbers and telling him that if he ever needed ANYTHING to give us a call :), Mike told him that if he ever decided to sell Casa Walsh he wanted to be the first to know. 🙂

I still can hardly believe this whole thing even happened!! Mike and I seem to have a lot of luck when it comes to stalking 90210 locations, and I think I need to bring him with me on all of my stalking adventures from now on. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Casa Walsh is located at 1675 E. Altadena Drive, in Altadena. We got really lucky being let inside the house, but please don’t bother the owner to do this yourself as it is not his common practice.

November 17, 2008February 13, 2009

The 90210 Halloween Party House

Mike, from MovieShotsLA, has done it yet again! I really think I need to name my first born after him or something. 🙂 One of my very favorite episodes in 90210 history was the Season 2 episode entitled “Halloween”, in which the whole gang dresses up and attends a Halloween bash in a humongous, spooky mansion. I’m not sure why I loved that particular episode so much – most likely because Halloween is my favorite holiday and also because I absolutely LOVED Brenda and Dylan’s Bonnie and Clyde costumes. Ever since October of 1991, when the “Halloween” episode aired I have wanted to dress just like Brenda and Dylan did for Halloween! 🙂 Anyway, ever since moving to L.A. eight years ago I have been on the lookout for that Halloween party house, but was always unable to locate it. Then, during October’s Haunted Halloween theme, I got Mike in on the hunt, but even with our two heads put together we just could not find the house!! Until yesterday!!!

Ironically enough, Mike was looking for another movie location in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles when he ran across this article and immediately recognized the home in the picture! Mike called me and I just happened to be IN Hancock Park at that time, so I immediately drove myself right over to the house. And sure enough it was the “Halloween” house!!!!!!!! YAY! I could not have been more excited to see this home in person. It was a stalking adventure eight years in the making!

90210 featured both the interior and the exterior of the house during the filming of the “Halloween” episode. The front porch area was also featured quite prominently. It is on the front porch that Steve tells Kelly that he still loves her, right after she is rescued by both Dylan and Steve after almost being raped by a fellow party guest. Besides 90210, the home also appeared in Willard, Ben, Witchboard, The Addams Family Halloween Special, Mae West, Inner Sanctum II, Night Walker, Secret Games 3, Life Without Dick, Out on a Limb, and Masked and Anonymous. Sadly, according to the article Mike found, the owners have since “retired” the home from filming. 🙁

The house, which is known as the Higgins-Verbeck-Hirsch Mansion, has an interesting real life history, as well. The 9,918 square foot, 32 room home was built by renowned L.A. area architect John Austin in 1902 for a wealthy grain merchant named Hirman Higgins and his family. The mansion was originally located on three lots on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Rampart Boulevard. In 1919, the Higgins family sold the home to the Verbecks, who were forced to actually relocate the mansion a few years later. As strange as that sounds, apparently it was quite commonplace at the time. Due to the commercialization of Wilshire Boulevard and the widening of many Los Angeles streets, homeowners were forced to either move their homes or lose them to the wrecking ball. The Verbecks chose the former and bought a parcel of land 2.5 miles away, on Lucerne Boulevard in Hancock Park. On June 28, 1924 at 1 O’clock in the morning, house-mover George Kress split the Queen Anne mansion into two pieces, and using TWELVE trucks, moved it to its current location. Apparently the Verbecks decided to mark the occasion with a party and invited the mayor and over 100 of their closest friends to hang out in the house during its 2.5 mile, four hour drive down Wilshire Boulevard. From the 30s to the mid 80s, after many subsequent owners, the mansion suffered from severe neglect, until it was purchased by current residents Peggy and Perry Hirsch in 1986. The couple spent the next few years painstakingly restoring the home to its original beauty and grandeur. In 1988, it was designated a Los Angeles cultural historical monument.

The house is absolutely HUMONGOUS in person – much larger than I had expected it to be – and absolutely beautiful. I highly recommend stalking it, even for the rare few of you out there who aren’t 90210 fans. 🙂

Big thank you to Mike, as always, for finding the location and for providing the screen caps!

Stalk It: The 90210 Halloween party house is located at 637 S. Lucerne Boulevard in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles.

November 7, 2008February 13, 2009

Donna Martin’s House

A few weeks ago, thanks to my new friend, the former 90210 location scout I met while stalking Ray Pruit’s house, I was able to stalk Donna Martin’s home from the quintessential 90’s series. This home was actually only used during the college years of the show; the house used during high school is another location altogether. Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I had been looking for Donna’s house for quite some time, and were both shocked to discover that it was located in the Encino area. It seems that every house we’ve found lately is located in Encino, so we’ve decided that, from now on, Encino will be our first stop when searching for movie locations. 🙂

Sadly not a whole lot of Donna’s house is visible from the street, due to the gate and large trees surrounding the property. But the green awning over the front porch is definitely recognizable from the show, as you can see in the above screen captures (provided, as usual, by Mike). 🙂 To me, Donna’s house doesn’t actually look like a Beverly Hills style mansion, so I am pretty surprised it was used on 90210. I am guessing that the main reason producers chose it is its proximity to the 90210 production studios.

I so LOVE the “One Way” sign in the driveway of the home. LOL Was there really that much traffic coming in and out of the driveway that a traffic sign needed to be installed? LOVE IT! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Donna’s house is located at 18515 Wells Drive in Tarzana.

October 13, 2008September 29, 2017

Ray’s Pumpkins

Last week, thanks to Mike over at MovieShotsLA, I was able to stalk the pumpkin patch that was owned by Ray Pruit’s family on the original Beverly Hills, 90210. I was shocked when Mike told me that the property where filming took place is the location of an actual pumpkin patch in real life. I had been convinced that producers just dressed an empty lot for the filming of 90210, but in reality they rented out a real pumpkin patch that has occupied the same corner in Sherman Oaks for over fifteen years.

When I drove up to the patch I just about keeled over with excitement as there was a large sign out front which read “Ray’s Pumpkins”. I naively thought the owner named the patch after Ray Pruit because of the filming that took place there, but it turns out that the actual owner’s name is Ray! How cool is that!

Ray really could not have been nicer and spoke to me about the filming of 90210 for a good 15 minutes. He said that everyone on the cast and crew was very nice and very professional. Even though the pumpkin patch scene lasted only about four minutes and was shown in only one episode (the Season 5 episode entitled “Homecoming”), the filming took a full two days to complete. Ray told me that during the filming, some construction was being done on an apartment building located across the street from the patch. At one point the construction noise got too loud, so the producers of 90210 actually paid to have all construction shut down for the remainder of the shoot! LOL The cast and crew of 90210 returned to Ray’s later that same year and the real Ray’s Christmas tree lot stood in for the one owned by the Pruit Family in a Christmas episode of the show. Ray said there is always some sort of filming taking place at the patch. He couldn’t remember all of the productions that had filmed there, but he did say that Dancing With The Stars featured the patch in a brief segment last year.

Ray’s Pumpkin’s is a very cool pumpkin patch and I highly recommend stalking it. There are hundreds upon hundreds of pumpkins to choose from and tons of cute Halloween merchandise and decorations for sale. Ray told me that he also gets quite a few Valley celebs visiting his patch each year, so you just might get to rub elbows with the stars while pumpkin shopping. 🙂 Unfortunately I visited Ray’s after it was already dark outside, so my pics didn’t turn out very well and don’t really do the patch justice. But a BIG THANK YOU to Mike for providing the top pic. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Ray’s Pumpkins is located at the corner of Hazeltine Avenue and Moorpark Street in Sherman Oaks. Ray also owns the Peterson Ranch Fruit Stand located at 3402 Los Angeles Avenue in Somis, CA. The fruit stand is also a frequent filming location. It is most often used in commercials and was featured recently in a car ad.

October 2, 2008February 13, 2009

We’ll Always Have Paris

Once again I am indebted to Mike over at MovieShotsLA for finding yet another location that had eluded me – a location I had been searching for for close to 16 years! During Season 3 of the original 90210, Brenda and Donna spend their summer in Paris. In the episode entitled “Shooting Star/An American In Paris” Brenda meets a tall, dark and handsome college student named Rick in a beautiful French garden. Later on in the episode the two walk underneath a curved rose-covered trellis and it is that trellis that I have been searching for ever since that episode aired way back in August of 1992. A few years after that episode aired, my parents took me on a trip to Europe as a present for my high school graduation. Our first stop was France and I remember walking around the streets of Paris carrying a small picture of Brenda and Rick under that trellis, stopping every native French person I could find to ask if they knew where it was located. Yes, I really am that blonde! 🙂 My naive 18 year old self truly believed that Shannen Doherty and Tori Spelling had actually flown to France to film their Paris scenes. That reality was shattered this past summer when I took the Universal Studios tour and discovered that most of “Paris” was actually filmed at the Universal backlot. Not filmed at Universal, though, were the garden scenes. So I still had no idea where Brenda and Rick’s trellis was located. Knowing how obsessed I was with finding Brenda’s garden, Mike stayed up very late one night this week and located it for me and I was able to actually stalk it yesterday!! Let me tell you, I could not have been more excited!!

Mike and I were fairly certain that Brenda’s garden was located in one of the three main botanical gardens in LA, and since I had stalked the Arcadia Arboretum on Sunday without finding it, Mike set his sights on the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens in San Marino. He stayed up late one night searching Google images until he finally located Brenda’s trellis in the Rose Garden area of the Huntington, a good 5,000 miles from Paris, France. THANKS MIKE!!!! So yesterday, I dragged my dad out to the Huntington, in 103 degree heat no less, to do some 90210 stalking.

The Huntington shows up three times in the “Shooting Star/An American in Paris” episode. We first see it in the scene when Brenda and Rick first meet. In that scene, Brenda is sitting on a circular bench underneath a large oak tree. Sadly, that circular bench was removed long ago and the tree Brenda sat under is now surrounded by foliage, so the area looks very different. But there was a similar bench located just a few yards away, so I had to take a picture sitting on that. 🙂

The area where Brenda actually sat sixteen years ago is located on the very Southeast corner of the North Vista lawn, pictured above. The path Rick walks through when he first comes upon Brenda is now gone and filled in with foliage. Such a bummer!!!!

This same tree and bench area also show up in the episode following “Shooting Star/An American in Paris”, which is entitled “Castles In The Sand”. It is shown in the scene when Brenda dreams about Rick on her plane flight home to LA.

The next location I dragged my dad to stalk was the white flowered trellis Brenda and Rick walk under on their last night in Paris together. This is the location where “Reek” tells Brenda that if she were truly in love with Dylan she wouldn’t be standing there with him and then the two share their final Paris kiss. This particular trellis is located in the Rose Garden area of the Huntington, just off of the Tea Room.

This same location also shows up in the Hil D. movie A Cinderella Story. In the movie Hilary attends a masquerade ball at the Huntington. The exteriors of the ball location were filmed outside of the Huntington Gallery building (the interiors were actually filmed at a theatre in Downtown LA). During the ball, Chad Michael Murray takes Hil on a walk under the same trellises Rick and Brenda walked under 12 years before. After walking under the trellises, Chad leads Hilary to a gazebo where the two share a moonlit dance. That gazebo was brought in by producers and put in the Brown Garden especially for the filming and was removed when the three day shoot was complete.

Next up was the site I was most excited about seeing in person, the location I had wandered the streets of Paris trying to find – the curved rose-covered trellis Brenda and Rick walk beneath during their tour of Paris. Even sixteen years later, I could not have been more excited to see this location in person. 🙂 I truly felt like a high school girl all over again! The trellis appeared in the scene where Brenda takes Rick on a walking tour of Paris and I am happy to report that it looks EXACTLY the same as it did when it appeared on 90210, except that due to the time of year, the flowers usually covering it were not in full bloom yesterday. This trellis is also located in the Huntington’s Rose Garden; it covers the path which leads to the Japanese Garden area.

Interestingly enough, this very same location showed up on 90210 some years later as the location where Steve and Janet tie the knot. Producers added some black street lights to the site which are not normally there. Otherwise it looks much the same as it did when it first appeared on 90210.

The Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens was originally the private home of Central Pacific Railroad owner Henry E. Huntington and his wife Arabella. Originally called the San Marino Ranch, Henry and his wife purchased the property in 1902 and began creating a truly incredible botanical garden in their backyard. Throughout his lifetime, Henry also collected fine art and books and today it is his art, library and gardens that make up the Huntington. The 207 acre property is an absolutely beautiful place to spend an afternoon. I am usually not big on museums, but the Huntington is simply breathtaking. The gardens alone cover over 120 acres and consist of painstakingly maintained landscapes from different areas of the world. It really takes more than one visit to discover all of this amazing place. The grounds are serene and peaceful and when visiting, you will feel a million miles away from Los Angeles. The Rose Garden is exquisite, the Bonzai Court and Zen Garden are truly unique, the Japanese Garden is incredible with its winding koi ponds and bamboo forests, and the newly built Chinese Garden with its enormous lake is absolutely gorgeous. This is one location that is a must-see, not just for stalkers, but for anyone visiting the Los Angeles area.

Besides 90210 and A Cinderella Story, The Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens has appeared in countless movie and television productions, including First Daughter, Be Cool, Legally Blonde 2, The Bachelor reality show, The Wedding Planner, Beverly Hills Ninja, The West Wing, American Wedding, Monster in Law, Charlie’s Angels, as well as hundreds of others. It was also the location of Robert and Anna’s wedding on the soap opera General Hospital. Anytime you see a garden popping up on one of your favorite television shows or movies, chances are it was filmed at the Huntington.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens is located at 1151 Oxford Road in San Marino. You can visit their website here. You can also visit their filming website here.