celebrites – Page 9 – IAMNOTASTALKER

December 1, 2009December 1, 2009

Big Oaks Lodge from “Beverly Hills, 90210”

Before I left on my New York vacation just about two months ago, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I spent a day together stalking in and around the San Fernando Valley. And even though we had a long list of places to stalk, the location we were most excited about seeing had to be a place called Big Oaks Lodge, which was used in the Season 2 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 entitled “Camping Trip”. Before arriving at Big Oaks Lodge, I was actually a little nervous about the drive up there, though, as I had read that the place was located completely out in the middle of nowhere, but, as it turns out, it’s not really as out in the middle of nowhere as I had thought. The Lodge is located a brief twenty minute drive from the City of Santa Clarita, and while the road which leads there is remote, windy, and lacks a Starbucks, it’s really not a bad ride at all. 🙂 Big Oaks Lodge was originally built in the 1920s as a rest stop and eatery for traveling stagecoaches. In the 30s, 40s, and 50s, the Lodge and its surrounding area became something of a Hollywood hotspot for the likes of such legends as gangster “Pretty Boy” Floyd and the original Brangelina – Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford – who even ended up building their own private cabin near the restaurant. In later years, the property served as a training spot for boxers like Mike Quarry and Michael Doakes and even boasted its own outdoor ring, which has since been removed. The Lodge now serves as a meeting place and rest stop and features not one, but two different eateries on the property. The first is a little food stand named the Char House, which serves up such culinary staples as hamburgers, chili, and tri-tip sandwiches and is popular with the Harley Davidson set. The Lodge’s more upscale restaurant is named Cavi and it specializes in authentic homemade Italian food. The Lodge is still popular with celebrities to this day and has played host to talk show host Jay Leno and members of the band ZZ Top.

Big Oaks Lodge is actually much smaller than I expected it to be and consists solely of the main lodge area, which houses Cavi restaurant, the Char House shed, an outdoor patio, and two small cabins, which can be rented out nightly. While stalking the place, Mike and I had the good fortune of meeting one of the Lodge’s owners, who absolutely could NOT believe that we had driven all the way out to Big Oaks just to see a location from an episode of 90210 which had aired over 18 years ago. And, let me tell you, he just about fell over when we showed him Mike’s portable DVD player, where we had the “Camping Trip” episode all cued up. LOL 🙂 The owner told us we were free to walk around the property and take all of the photographs we wanted. And you really should have seen the two of us! We could not have been more excited and were screaming like little schoolgirls pretty much the entire time! “Oh, look there’s the firewood shed!” and “Ohmigod, there’s the tree Brandon leaned against!” LOL We were both pretty bummed out, though, that neither of the Lodge’s restaurants were open while we were there, as we had hoped to grab a bite to eat during our stalk. 🙁 But you know what that means, don’t you? My fiancé will definitely be getting dragged out there in the near future so that I can re-stalk the place. 🙂

In the “Camping Trip” episode, thanks to a patch of bad weather, Brandon, Brenda and the gang get stuck at Big Oaks Lodge while on their way to a camping trip in Yosemite. The entire episode was pretty much shot on location at the Lodge and made use of the entire Big Oaks property, which I am happy to report still looks very much the same as it did on 90210. Pictured above is Big Oaks’ front entrance, which showed up several times in the episode.

The firewood storage area, which looks a bit different today than it did when 90210 was filmed, was the spot where the gang first took shelter from the rain after pulling over at Big Oaks.

Had to do it! 🙂 LOL

The “Char House” restaurant stood in for the Lodge’s main office where Brenda and Dylan booked a cabin for the group to spend the night.

Once upon a time there were actually ten different cabins located on the Big Oaks property, but today there are only two and both of those cabins were featured in the “Camping Trip” episode. The 90210 gang stayed in the wood shingled lodge, which at the time of the filming was painted red, but is now a light grey color.

And the Newlyweds stayed in the rock cabin located directly next door.

And although a full exterior shot of the rock cabin was never shown during the episode, as you can see in the above screen capture and photograph, the front door still looks exactly the same today as it did during the filming. Love it! And I was very excited to find out that the real life interiors of both cabins were also used extensively in the episode. Unfortunately, though, the owner didn’t have his keys on him while we were there, so he was not able to take us on a tour of the cabins. 🙁 Next time!

The picnic table area in front of the Char House was used as the location where the gang fretted about Dylan and Brandon’s early morning disappearance.

The road in front of the Lodge and the main parking area showed up in the scene in which Brandon and Dylan return to the campsite after their little hiking mishap.

And finally, a large tree in the Lodge’s dirt parking lot – aka “Brandon’s tree” – was featured as the spot where Brandon contemplated life after his near death experience of almost falling off a cliff. So, of course, I just had to pose like him! 🙂

[ad]

A little bit of 90210 trivia for you – The highly dramatic scene where Dylan downed a few airplane bottles of liquor (pictured above) was not actually filmed at Big Oaks Lodge, but in the backyard of the real life Walsh house! Mike and I learned that little tidbit of information from the owner of Casa Walsh during our private tour of the home. 🙂 So cool!

[ad]

According to the Big Oaks Lodge website, the property has also been featured in the movies Frances, Enough, American Gun, and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, and in episodes of the television series Dynasty and Highway to Heaven, and in commercials for AT&T and Vonage. It’s a very cool place and I highly recommend stalking it, especially to fans of the original 90210!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Big Oaks Lodge from Beverly Hills, 90210 is located at 33101 Bouquet Canyon Road in Santa Clarita, just nine miles north of where Bouquet Canyon Road intersects with Plum Canyon Road. You can visit the Big Oaks Lodge website here. Cavi restaurant is open Wednesday through Sunday, beginning at 5 p.m. The Char House is open Saturdays and Sundays, starting at 11 a.m.

November 11, 2009November 10, 2009

Richard Wright’s Rooftop Pool from “Sex and the City”

Another Sex and the City locale that I stalked while in New York last month was the Greenwich Village building where Samantha’s Season 4 boyfriend, hotel magnate Richard Wright, lived on the series. I found this location thanks to fave book Sex and the City: Kiss and Tell, and since fellow stalker Owen, my fiancé, and I were already doing some stalking in the area, I just had to run by to see it. Ironically enough, though, the exterior of Richard’s building was never actually shown on Sex and the City. So, why would I want to stalk the place, you ask? Because a scene from the Season 4 episode entitled “The Good Fight”, in which Samantha and Richard enjoy a little midnight swim, took place at a spectacular pool located on the building’s roof. And while even I will admit to the fact that it is a little silly to want to stalk a filming location of which the only area that appeared onscreen is not visible to the public, because said location was featured on fave show Sex and the City, I just couldn’t resist! 🙂 And, besides, isn’t that what aerial images are for? 🙂

Richard Wright’s building, which in real life is known as “The Dandy”, was originally constructed in the early 1900’s and at the time consisted of just ten floors. In 1997, Israeli venture capitalist Jonathan Leitersdorf purchased the entire structure and completely renovated it, converting the interior into nine different full-floor condominiums. He kept the top level for himself and transformed it into a spectacular penthouse, which was originally composed of just one level. In later years, Leitersdorf added two additional stories to the space creating a massive five bedroom, five bathroom, 11,000 square foot penthouse consisting of 13 to 17 foot ceilings, two separate kitchens, more than 50 windows!, a panic room, a “forest”, and of course, a remarkable rooftop pool boasting stunning 360 degree views of Manhattan. For a time, the penthouse also doubled as an events venue named Sky Studios which hosted such fêtes as the wedding of Jerry and Jessica Seinfeld, a birthday party for Chelsea Clinton, and numerous photo shoots for Ralph Lauren’s clothing line. In 2002, Leitersdorf decided it was time to move on and put his apartment on the market for $27.5 million, where it sat for the next five years. In September of 2007, the property was finally sold for a cool $17.5 million to supermarket mogul Ron Burkle. Don’t go thinking Ron got the place for a bargain, though, as his monthly maintenance fees are $7,836. LOL LOL LOL In an ironic twist of fate, my dad actually knows Ron Burkle, so I almost fell out of my chair today when I found out that he owned the penthouse! I so have to get my dad to set up a tour of the pool for me during next year’s New York vacation! 🙂

In “The Good Fight”, it is at the penthouse’s amazing rooftop pool, with Sade playing in the background, that Samantha finally lets go of her fears and insecurities and allows herself to fall in love with Richard, only to have him break her heart just five episodes later. That’s Sex and the City for you, though!

And, as you can see in the penthouse’s MLS listing photographs which are pictured above, the pool truly is quite remarkable in real life. Can you even imagine owning something like that???

And, while the interior of Richard’s penthouse existed only on a soundstage at Silvercup Studios where Sex and the City was filmed, as you can see in the above screen captures and photograph from the MLS listing, the design was based on that of the real life penthouse. So cool! 🙂

On a very sad side note, at the time that “The Good Fight” episode was shot, the Twin Towers were still standing and were visible in the background behind Samantha and Richard in the scene pictured above. But by the time the episode was set to air, the towers had already been destroyed and the producers had to digitally remove them from the scene. 🙁 According to executive producer Michael Patrick King, that was the only time in Sex and the City’s six year history that something had to be digitally removed from the background of a scene.

And in an ironic side note, the kitchen of Richard’s penthouse was also used – long before Richard came on the scene – in the Season 2 episode of Sex and the City entitled “Evolution”. In that episode, the kitchen belonged to Charlotte’s gay/straight pastry chef boyfriend Stephen. Executive producer Michael Patrick King first saw the penthouse’s rooftop pool while filming “Evolution” and thought it was so spectacular that he made a mental note to write it into a future episode, which he did about a season and a half later. 🙂

[ad]

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Richard Wright’s Building and rooftop pool, aka The Dandy, is located at 704 Broadway in New York’s Greenwich Village. You can read more about Ron Burkle’s purchase of the property here.

November 10, 2009November 10, 2009

Commerce Restaurant

One of the locations that I was most excited about stalking while in New York this past month was a little restaurant named Commerce which appeared in the very last episode of fave show Sex and the City. Well, truth be told, at the time SATC was filmed, the restaurant was known as Grange Hall, but that space closed its doors back in 2004, shortly after filming took place. A few years later, a nouveau American cuisine restaurant named Commerce opened in the same spot and it is that eatery that I set out to stalk last month. I found this location thanks to favorite stalking book New York: A Movie Lover’s Guide, which featured a brief blurb about the fact that Grange Hall was used in SATC’s series finale. Unfortunately, though, it failed to point out what specific scene took place there. So, being the anal stalker that I am, before leaving on my New York vacation, I made it my mission to figure out which part of the episode, which was entitled “An American Girl in Paris, Part Deux”, was filmed at the restaurant. And, let me tell you, I really had my work cut out for me on this one! Because several different eateries were actually featured in the finale, I found it virtually impossible to discern which one was Grange Hall. After watching the entire sixty minute finale all the way through, I came up completely empty-handed. But then an idea struck me! I thought that listening to executive producer Michael Patrick King’s DVD commentary about the finale might provide some insight. And, sure enough, it did!

As it turns out, Grange Hall was not actually portrayed as a New York restaurant in Sex and the City ,which explains why I had such a hard time locating it in the episode. In “An American Girl in Paris, Part Deux”, Grange Hall stood in for the Paris eatery where Carrie’s French fans threw her a party towards the end of the episode. It is after Carrie shows up late to this party, only to find that her new friends have already left, that she realizes that Paris isn’t turning out quite how she had expected.

I was shocked to discover that both the interior and the exterior of Grange Hall were used in the filming of “An American Girl in Paris”. I had incorrectly assumed that the exterior shown in the episode was actually that of a real French restaurant. In reality, though, producers dressed up the entire street in front of Grange Hall to make it look Parisian, even going so far as to add French street signs and French street lamps (as you can see in the above screen captures). Why they didn’t just film this particular scene at an actual restaurant in Paris is beyond me, especially being that the majority of the finale was actually shot on location there. But that’s Hollywood for you! 🙂

I am VERY happy to report that even though the Grange Hall space has gone through a succession of ownership changes since the SATC series finale was filmed, both the interior and the exterior of the restaurant still look EXACTLY the same as they did onscreen. 🙂 The decor, the booths and tables, and even the wood and glass partition that separates the entryway from the rest of the restaurant are all still very recognizable from the episode. YAY! I can’t tell you how happy I am that Commerce restaurant kept the Grange Hall interior intact for all of us Sex and the City fans to appreciate! 🙂

Commerce restaurant’s name was derived from the fact that it is located on Commerce Street in Greenwich Village. The building that houses the restaurant is actually quite famous in and of itself, aside from the fact that Sex and the City once filmed there. The property has been in existence since the early 1930’s, at which time it housed a speakeasy. In the 1940’s, the Blue Mill Tavern took over the space and quickly became something of a New York landmark. Blue Mill enjoyed a successful run for over half a century, serving such famed customers as Eugene O’Neill and Ethel and Julius Roseberg. In 1992, Blue Mill Tavern closed its doors and Grange Hall opened in its place. Grange Hall quickly became a celebrity hotspot, with regular patrons such as Brad Pitt, Jennifer Esposito, Gwyneth Paltrow, Liv Tyler (who hosted her 16th birthday party at the restaurant), and Bill Clinton. Grange Hall also appeared quite a few times on the silver screen. According to New York: A Movie Lover’s Guide, besides the SATC finale, the restaurant was also featured in the movies The Brothers McMullen and Anything Else and a commercial for a French cell phone company starring Martin Scorsese. In 2004, due to an increase in rent, Grange Hall was forced to close its doors and, after a few unsuccessful turnovers, Commerce restaurant was opened. Commerce is an absolutely adorable little place and I so, so, so wanted to grab a bite there during this year’s New York vacation, but unfortunately ran out of time. 🙁 It is DEFINITELY on my list of places to dine during next year’s trip, though. 🙂

[ad]

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Commerce restaurant is located at 50 Commerce Street in New York’s Greenwich Village. You can visit their website here. You can read a great article about the former Grange Hall here.

November 6, 2009November 5, 2009

The “Big” Paddleball Court

Another day, another Big location. And, sadly, this is actually the last Big location that I have to blog about. 🙁 Well, from this year’s New York trip, anyway. Being that fellow stalker Owen recently tracked down both the MacMillan Toys headquarters and Tom Hank’s loft from the movie, it looks like I’ll have a few more Big locations to stalk during next year’s New York vacation. 🙂 But for now, the last and final Big locale that Owen, my fiancé, and I visited during our stalking day in Manhattan last month was the court where Josh (aka Tom Hanks) played a little game of paddleball against his MacMillan Toys co-worker Paul (aka John Heard) in the movie. In real life, that paddleball court, which Owen found thanks to fave stalking book The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations, is named Vesuvio Playground and it encompasses not only a paddleball court, but basketball courts, bocce ball courts, a sandbox, a mini pool, and a shower area, as well. When the park originally opened in 1929 it was called Thompson Playground and it consisted solely of a wading pool and a swing set and existed on a much smaller parcel of land than today’s .64 acres. In 1957, the City purchased an additional piece of land in order to expand the playground into what it is today. The park was then renamed Vesuvio Playground in honor of the nearby Vesuvio Bakery, which is owned and operated by longtime SoHo community leader Anthony Dapolito and his family.

In Big, Vesuvio Playground is the site of a very brief, but very memorable, scene in which the newly-adult Josh gets challenged to a paddleball duel by his douchebag of a co-worker, Paul. Because Paul is extremely jealous of his girlfriend Susan’s growing affection for Josh, he brings him to the paddleball court thinking he’ll teach him a lesson.

But Josh, who is a paddleball novice, ends up calling Paul out for cheating during the game which leads to a very juvenile – and absolutely hilarious – playground fist fight between the two. LOL LOL LOL

Unfortunately, even though it was mid-day, the paddleball court was absolutely JAM PACKED with children while we were stalking it, so we weren’t able to venture inside to take photographs. I mean, hello, shouldn’t kids be attending school during the middle of the day??? 😉 LOL I am happy to report, though, that the same pizza place which was visible in the background of the Big paddleball scene is still in business to this day, as you can see in the above screen captures and photographs. 🙂 So cool!!

[ad]

According to fave stalking book Manhattan on Film: Walking Tours of Hollywood’s Fabled Front Lot, Frankie (aka Nick Scotti) and Joey (aka Domenick Lombardozzi) play handball on the very same paddleball court in the 1997 movie Kiss Me Guido. And the playground was also featured in an episode of the NBC series Third Watch.

On a very sad side – During our stalking day, Owen, my fiancé, and I also tried to stalk Asti, the Italian eatery where Billy takes Josh for his birthday in Big. Unfortunately, though, that restaurant closed its doors on New Year’s Eve 1999, after 75 long years in operation. 🙁 Such a bummer! Asti, which was named after a town in Italy famous for its sparkling wine (LOVE IT!), was a New York institution ever since it first opened in 1925. Apparently, not only did such luminaries as Babe Ruth, Luciano Pavarotti, and Noel Coward frequent the restaurant during its heyday, but there was even an autographed photograph of Tom Hanks from the filming of Big displayed in the front window. Also LOVE IT! 🙂 Even the building which once housed Asti is famous – former President Chester A. Arthur once lived there! I can’t even begin to tell you how sad I am that this landmark restaurant is now gone. 🙁 Currently, in its place is another eatery – a steak restaurant named Strip House (pictured above). You can read more about Asti and its history here.

Big THANK YOU to Owen for loaning me his Big paddleball court pics to post here, as, for some reason, I did not take that many photographs of it.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Vesuvio Playground, aka the Big paddleball court, is located at 95 Thompson Street in New York’s SoHo area. The former Asti restaurant (now Strip House) was located at 13 East 12th Street in Greenwich Village.

November 3, 2009November 3, 2009

The Houses from the Movie “Big”

Right around the corner from The King of Queens house, which I blogged about on Friday, are the two main houses used in the 1988 Tom Hanks movie Big. And when I say “right around the corner”, I literally mean RIGHT around the corner. The King of Queens house and the Big houses are located a scant 88 yards away from each other! Too cool! So, of course, since Owen, my fiancé, and I were already in the area stalking the Heffernan house a few weeks ago, we just had to walk around the corner to make a stalking stop at the Bighomes, too. 🙂 Owen had found the addresses of the houses belonging to Josh (aka Tom Hanks) and his best friend Billy (aka Jared Rushton) in the 80’s flick thanks to IMDB’s Big filming locations page. And even though IMDB’s location information isn’t always one hundred percent accurate, thankfully, in this case, it was right on the money!

I am VERY happy to report that the two Big houses still look EXACTLY the same today as they did back in 1988 when the movie was filmed! I was absolutely amazed at the fact that, besides the leaves on the trees out front being a little bit fuller and a little more green due to the time of year, the two homes look absolutely identical today to how they were portrayed onscreen twenty-one years ago. YAY! Other movie house owners should take lessons from these people!! 🙂

The home pictured above belonged to Josh and his family in the movie and was where he lived before he became “Big” and subsequently moved to Manhattan. Several areas of the house were featured in the flick, including the front exterior;

the garage, where a new door has been installed, but which otherwise looks very much the same as it did in the movie;

and the front door, which I was extremely excited to see still looks EXACTLY the same as it did in Big! The only difference is that a white screen door which covers the front door was added in the time since filming took place.

Best friend Billy’s house is located directly next door to Josh’s and I am happy to report that its front door also looks EXACTLY the same as it did in the movie. I was so tempted to go up and knock. 🙂

In Big, Billy and Josh have a pulley system that runs between their two bedroom windows, which face each other. The pulley shows up in the scene in which Billy and Josh’s mom talk about Josh’s dissappearance late at night. In the scene, Josh’s mom uses the pulley to show Billy a set of baseball cards that she had purchased for Josh’s birthday. She tells Billy he can keep the cards, but he sends them back to her telling her that Josh will be home soon. UPDATE – Fellow stalker Owen just informed me that Billy and Josh’s pulley is actually only shown in the extended edition DVD of the movie and not in the regular version.

Of course, in real life, that pulley is not there. 🙁 Would have been SO cool if it was, though! If I owned those houses, I would so install one for my fellow stalkers to appreciate. 🙂 Otherwise, though, the boys’ windows still look very much the same.

And, of course, I just had to pose for a pic on the street corner where Susan dropped Josh off at the end of the movie. 🙂 That street corner also looks very much the same as it did in Big – all that was missing in real life were the piles of fallen autumn leaves which covered the sidewalks in the movie.

[ad]

I can’t tell you how exciting it was to finally see the Big houses in person twenty-one years after first watching the movie which made them famous! I honestly can’t recommend stalking them enough! 🙂

On a side note – In real life, the houses from Bigare located in the borough of Cliffside Park, New Jersey and in the filming of the scene in which the police are called out after Josh first disappears, the words “Cliffside Park” can be seen on the police car that Billy walks by. So LOVE that they used the real town’s name!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Josh’s house from the movie Big is located at 437 Greenmount Avenue in Cliffside Park, New Jersey. Billy’s house is located right next door at 435 Greenmount Avenue. At the end of the movie, Susan drops Josh off at the Southwest corner of Greenmount and Highridge Avenues. The King of Queens house is located directly around the corner at 519 Longview Avenue. Unfortunately there is no easy way to get to these locations from Manhattan. A taxi ride is your quickest, easiest bet, but be prepared as it will cost you $45 each way! Riding the bus is a much cheaper option, but the travel time is upwards of an hour.

October 16, 2009October 20, 2009

The It’s A Grind Coffee House from Weeds

Another location that Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I stalked while in the San Fernando Valley a few weeks ago was the It’s A Grind Coffee House featured weekly in the opening credits of the Showtime series Weeds. I was dying to stalk this location not only because I love anything and everything having to do with coffee, but because of a little bit of trivia that I had read online. According to IMDB, the It’s A Grind coffee company has had a product placement deal with Weeds since the series began. Those who watch the show regularly will recall that Nancy (aka Mary-Louise Parker) carries around an iced drink from It’s A Grind in pretty much every scene. A woman after my own heart, I swear! Anyway, when it came time to shoot the opening credits, which features a scene where about a dozen businessmen dressed all alike enter and exit an It’s A Grind, for some odd reason producers chose NOT to film at an It’s A Grind location, but at a Starbucks store. They literally went to all the trouble of redressing the store and removing the Starbucks logo to replace it with It’s A Grind signage for the shoot. Being that It’s A Grind is a real coffee company with locations dotted all over the L.A. area, I cannot for the life of me figure out why they didn’t just use one of the real stores for the filming! It doesn’t make any sense! I guess I just have to chalk it up to the magic of Hollywood! 🙂

Because of the Starbucks store’s odd filming history, I decided I just had to stalk the place. The only problem was that I had no idea where it was located. According to IMDB, the store from the opening credits was located somewhere in Calabasas. So, since Mike is familiar with the Valley, I sent him the above screen capture and he recognized its location immediately. 🙂 YAY! So a few weeks ago, the two of us headed out to stalk the It’s A Grind/Starbucks store from Weeds. 🙂 And, of course, being that it’s a Starbucks, I highly recommend stalking the place! 🙂 And thanks to the numerous amount of stars that live in the Calabasas area, the store is no stranger to celebrity. I hear that MJ’s brother Jermaine Jackson is even a regular there. 🙂

[ad]

Big THANK YOU to Mike for finding this location! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The It’s A Grind/Starbucks coffee house from Weeds is located at 26531 Agoura Road in Calabasas. You can visit the It’s A Grind website to find a real It’s A Grind location here.

February 19, 2009February 21, 2009

Le Borghese Apartments

While Mike, from MovieShotsLA, was cyberstalking the ‘Til There Was You apartment building a few weeks ago, he came across a comment on a website which stated that the very same building from ‘Til There Was You was also used in the 2001 David Lynch thriller Mulholland Dr. Well, after doing a bit more research, Mike and I discovered that information is actually incorrect. While there was a Spanish style courtyard apartment building featured in Mulholland Dr., it was not the El Cabrillo apartments which I blogged about yesterday. The building used in Mulholland Dr. is actually named Le Borghese and while it does not look very similar to El Cabrillo, both buildings are extremely picturesque and serene and it is easy to see how they might have been confused for each other.

I have yet to see Mulholland Dr., but I really want to now after researching this post. Especially since the movie centers around an actress trying to make it in the bizarre world of Hollywood. I’m pretty sure I can relate. 🙂 I have heard from more than person, though, that Mulholland Dr. is by far the strangest movie they have ever seen. LOL In Mulholland Dr., Betty Elms (Naomi Watts) stays at the Le Borghese after moving to Hollywood to try her hand in show business. Ann Miller plays Betty’s apartment manager, CoCo, in her very last onscreen role.

Le Borghese was built back in 1929 by architect Charles Gault, who built a number of famous courtyard buildings in the L.A. area in the 1920s. Apparently a large olive tree existed on the lot where Le Borghese was to be built and instead of uprooting the tree, Charles ended up centering the building’s courtyard around it. That tree is still there today and is now over 100 years old. Luckily, Le Borghese’s front gates were wide open while I was stalking the place, so I got to venture inside for a little looksie. All I could think after stepping inside the building’s amazing central courtyard was “I want to live here!” 🙂 Le Borghese is quite an idyllic place. It is peaceful and serene, with koi fish and turtles swimming in the central fountain, numerous crawling wisteria vines, an outdoor fireplace, and light green benches tucked away in shaded alcoves. After seeing the building in person, it is no surprise that Le Borghese was chosen to be featured on the cover of the book Courtyard Housing in Los Angeles. The building was also featured in the 1996 movie The Truth About Cats and Dogs. I highly recommend stalking Le Borghese as it is one of the most beautiful apartments I have ever seen! You can see more photographs of the building here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Le Borghese apartments are located at 450 North Sycamore Avenue in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles.

January 12, 2009February 14, 2009

Billy’s Bakery

At the risk of looking like a total and complete dork (not to mention a fool!), I thought I’d post some pretty idiotic photographs that I took on my very first trip to New York. At the time I was completely obsessed with Katie Holmes. This was in December of 2005, in the pre-Suri days, before her Jackie O. transformation, back when she was known as Katie, not Kate. A few months before my trip to New York, Katie was featured in a cover story for InStyle Magazine which chronicled her new single gal status, her life in Manhattan, and her favorite NYC hangouts. Most of the photo shoot for the article took place in Chelsea at Katie’s favorite bakery and cupcakery, Billy’s – a place she frequented almost daily at the time. As Tom once said about his wife, “She loves cupcakes, okay? I mean the girl loves cupcakes.” 🙂 Well, I absolutely LOVED that InStyle article. So much so that my copy of that issue is still sitting on my bookshelf all these years later. So, on my first trip to the big apple, I just HAD to drag my boyfriend out to Chelsea to stalk Katie’s fave cupcake maker. And, while there, I also just had to recreate her photo shoot. Yes, I am that big of a dork. 🙂 LOL

The story behind Billy’s is actually quite an unusual one. Billy Reece, a cupcake aficionado who idolized Martha Stewart, founded Billy’s Bakery with two partners in December of 2003. Billy started his baking career working at the ever-popular Magnolia Bakery in Greenwich for two years before quitting to begin his own baked goods venture. Billy’s Bakery became an overnight success. Not long afterwards Billy Reece changed his name to Lauren Reece and, thanks to some hormone treatments and a surgery, Billy ceased to be. Shortly after that, Lauren sold her stake in Billy’s to her two co-founders, Marc and Wayne, and is now enjoying her new life as a woman. So, in a city where change seems to be the only constant, it’s only fitting that not even a popular cupcake bakery’s namesake could remain the same.

But even without the original Billy at the helm, the small bakery has remained a success. The owners are currently planning to expand their business with another location in the same neighborhood. I can’t help but think that Katie may have had something to do with the shop’s blitz of success. Even after she met Tom and moved back to L.A., Katie remained faithful to the bakery. Billy’s not only supplied the cupcakes for Katie’s 27th birthday party at F.A.O. Schwartz in December of 2005, but they also reportedly made the cake for her 2006 wedding. But Katie is certainly not Billy’s only celebrity fan. Ethan Hawke, Mandy Moore, and Bungalow 8 club founder Amy Sacco are also fans of the neighborhood bakery. Billy’s has also been featured on Queer Eye For the Straight Guy, MTV Diary Katie Holmes, The Today Show, MTV’s Boiling Point, the CBS Early Show, the Food Network’s Roker On The Road, and Martha Stewart’s television show Martha.

Billy’s Bakery is an adorable little cupcake shop and with its yellow painted brick walls and cute and homey decor, it looks like it came straight out of a kitchen advertisement from the 1940s. I wanted to spend all day there. 🙂 But while the cupcakes were tasty, I have to say that they are just not as good as my, and SJP’s, New York fave Magnolia Bakery. But I still highly recommend stalking Billy’s, as much for the homey ambiance as for the desserts. Besides cupcakes, they also serve pies and cakes, which are supposed to be out of this world, as well.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Billy’s Bakery is located at 184 9th Avenue in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood. You can visit their website here.

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.