Don’t forget to check out today’s post for L.A.mag.com, about the Gamble House from Back to the Future. My articles typically get published in the late morning/early afternoon hours.
New “L.A.” Mag Post – The “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead” House
Be sure to check out today’s post for L.A.mag.com, about the Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead house. My articles typically get published in the late morning/early afternoon hours.
Hacienda Palomino – Michael Jackson’s Former Las Vegas House
I am not really that into stalking celebrity homes (though I have quite a few of them on my site), the main reason being that typically little else besides a gate can be seen from the road. There are some exceptions, though. If there is a star I really like, or if I read about a residence in a book, or if a significant event happened there, or if the look of a place piques my interest, I am most definitely going to want to stalk it. The latter was the case with an estate that pop star Michael Jackson rented for a brief period time in Las Vegas. Now everyone knows that I absolutely love me some MJ, but even so, I normally would not be interested in visiting a residence where he only lived for a short stint. When I saw photographs of Hacienda Palomino a couple of years ago, though, I practically started foaming at the mouth and immediately added the site to my Las Vegas To-Stalk list. In person, it did not disappoint!
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Shortly before Christmas 2006, Michael and his children left Ireland and returned to the U.S. The pop star had been living abroad since 2005 in an effort to escape the constant media attention that surrounded him following his child molestation trial. Jackson was in need of money, though, and when an opportunity arose to headline a Las Vegas show thanks to his friend, local businessman Jack Wishna, he flew back to America to start the endeavor. The show ultimately fell through due to MJ’s erratic behavior, but the singer wound up living in Sin City through 2008. He leased two houses during his stay. The first was at 2785 South Monte Cristo Way in the Spring Valley neighborhood and the second was at 2710 Palomino Lane in the Pinto Palomino area. According to this Las Vegas Review-Journal article, Jackson leased the Palomino house from 2007 until his death in 2009, though he had moved to L.A. by late 2008.
The sprawling 24,276-square-foot Hacienda Palomino compound is situated on 1.7 acres and boasts 7 bedrooms, 12 baths, an art gallery, a 7,394-square-foot chapel with seating for 74 guests, a grand salon, a cigar bar, an enclosed courtyard large enough to accommodate 300 people, a recording studio, parking for up to 50 cars, elevators, 3 kitchens, a conference room with seating for 60, and a 3,900-square-foot guest house with an underground tunnel leading to main residence. During his tenure at the property, Jackson and his three children lived in the guest house. MJ also housed his vast art collection, which was insured for $600 million, in the estate’s subterranean vault. You can see some photographs of the uh-ma-zing property here.
Hacienda Palomino was originally constructed in 1952 and, at the time, consisted of a small Spanish-style residence. The property was then redesigned and expanded into the massive compound that it is today by an eccentric theatre developer named Horst Schmidt in the ‘90s. When Schmidt passed away in 2004, Aner Iglesias, the honorary consular of El Salvador, purchased it. It was Iglesias who leased the residence to Jackson. After the King of Pop passed away, the house sat vacant until 2011 at which time Iglesias began renovating the site. He still owns the manse today, though it has gone on the market four times since Jackson’s death. It is currently used as Aner’s second home and as a special events venue. You can read a more in-depth history of the unique dwelling here.
Strange events seemed to follow Michael Jackson around throughout his life and a few happened during his time at Hacienda Palomino. One occurred on the evening of Elizabeth Taylor’s 75th birthday party. While Jackson was getting ready for the soiree, his brother Randy crashed his Mercedes through the front gate of the home and was almost shot by security. Randy then demanded to see the singer, claiming that the King of Pop owed him money. Michael refused, but was so distraught over the event that he bailed on Taylor’s birthday party and proceeded to hole up inside of the house for the next three days.
The most bizarre occurrence happened on the two-year anniversary of Jackson’s death, though, when Iglesias opened Hacienda Palomino to the public for a special tour. Apparently, while fans were waiting in line that morning, a random man arrived, opened up the doors to the estate and began leading groups through the residence. As it turns out, though, he had no authority to do so, nor did he have any sort of affiliation with the home, though he seemed to know quite a bit about it. He even offered attendees water! The police were soon called by the property’s caretaker and it was learned that the wannabe tour guide had a warrant out for his arrest. When cops arrived on the scene, he fled, though, and there was an ensuing chase throughout the neighborhood. It seems that even in death the King of Pop cannot escape the obscure events that surrounded him in life.
For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 
Stalk It: Hacienda Palomino, Michael Jackson’s former Las Vegas house, is located at 2710 Palomino Lane in Las Vegas. You can visit the property’s official website here.
New “L.A.” Mag Post – “Apollo 13” Turns 20!
Be sure to check out today’s Los Angeles magazine post – about the 20th Anniversary screening of Apollo 13 at the TCM Classic Film Festival. My articles typically get published in the late morning/early afternoon hours.
The Cooper House from “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day”
Sometimes I become obsessed with a location because I love the movie that it was featured in. Other times I just like the look of a particular place and am desperate to see it in person. And other times still I read something about a filming site that completely transfixes me despite the fact that I have never actually seen it onscreen. Such was the case with the Anywhere, U.S.A.-style residence where the Cooper family – Ben (Steve Carell), Kelly (Jennifer Garner), Alexander (Ed Oxenbould), Anthony (Dylan Minnette), Emily (Kerris Dorsey), and Baby Trevor (Elise and Zoey Vargas) – lived in Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. While doing research for a Los Angeles magazine post about Vroman’s Bookstore’s appearance in the 2014 family flick, I came across these production notes and was shocked to read that a re-creation of a real home in South Pasadena had been constructed for the shoot. Interest piqued, I immediately rented Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day on iTunes and, in a stroke of good luck, found the South Pas pad almost immediately.
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As it turns out, the Cooper home is located on Buena Vista Street, a place that I am very familiar with thanks to its many appearances onscreen. While watching Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day’s opening scene, I immediately recognized the mansion visible behind the Cooper family’s van as Lady Heather’s (Melinda Clark) house from CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. So I did some Google Street View-sleuthing in the same area and found the Cooper’s residence just a half a block east of Lady Heather’s house. (Patrick Gates’ home from National Treasure is located directly across the street from the Cooper dwelling and the the Liar Liar house can be found two blocks north.)
Of the Cooper home, production designer Michael Corenblith said, “We imagined that this is a family of birds that live in this beautiful cozy little nest that has been created from all of the nicest little branches and twigs and pieces of colored ribbon and fabric. But there are just too many birds for the nest. This family is bursting at the seams, so the idea was to craft an environment for them that would really convey that idea to the audience.” He then set about looking for a “quaint” house to film in.
He found the perfect spot at 1037 Buena Vista Street. Corenblith said, “It was exactly the right house for this family. It had the right scale, it had the right vibe, window scape and was built in the right period. It had a lot of things we really liked, but ultimately, it was going to be too small to actually shoot the movie inside.” So he decided to have a replica of the residence built at Melody Ranch Motion Picture Studio in Newhall. The “home” took five weeks to construct.
The production notes state, “The exterior of the home – complete with backyard and select interior sets – was built in one area of the studio lot, while the upstairs interiors resided on soundstages elsewhere on the lot.” Corenblith did an amazing job designing the interiors! I am in love with the Cooper’s kitchen. With the bright windows, light-colored cabinetry and large center island, it reminds me a lot of Cupcakes and Cashmere’s Emily Schuman’s kitchen.
I cannot believe that the backyard and pool shown in the movie were set re-creations! Had I seen Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day prior to reading the production notes, I would have bet money on the fact that the home’s actual backyard was used.
Corenblith explained that the need to build the backyard replica and interior sets stemmed from the scene involving the crocodile. He says, “We follow the crocodile through the house and out the back into a swimming pool. The path this crocodile takes from the front door, through the house, out the French doors in the back, and directly to a swimming pool was nothing we found in the real world. That was one of the big factors that mandated the design of this configuration.”
Corenblith even had the rear side of the home re-created for the shoot. You can see what the actual back of the house looks like in the aerial view pictured below. It is strikingly similar to what was built.
From the way the production notes were written, I originally thought that no filming whatsoever had taken place at the South Pasadena house. It became apparent while watching the movie, though, that the front exterior of the real home was used in a few scenes and in several establishing shots.
The residence looks exactly the same in person as it did onscreen. The unique trees in the front yard are absolutely breathtaking!
In real life, the residence, which was originally built in 1949, boasts two bedrooms, two baths, 2,022 square feet, and a 0.37-acre lot.
It’s no stranger to the silver screen, either. In 1983, the very same home was used as Arnie Cunningham’s (Keith Gordon) Rockbridge, California residence in Christine, though it looked quite a bit different at the time.
For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 
Stalk It: The Cooper house from Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is located at 1037 Buena Vista Street in South Pasadena. Patrick Gates’ home from National Treasure is located across the street at 1030 Buena Vista Street. Lady Heather’s house from CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is located at 929 Buena Vista Street. The Liar Liar house can be found one block north at 1004 Highland Street.
New “L.A.” Mag Post – About the “How to Get Away with Murder” House
Be sure to check out today’s Los Angeles magazine post – about Annalise’s house from How to Get Away with Murder. My articles typically get published in the late morning/early afternoon hours.
Henry’s House from “Selfie”
I was saddened to learn recently that both Selfie and A to Z – two of my favorite new shows of the fall season – had been cancelled. If How to Get Away with Murder winds up on the chopping block next, the networks will be receiving a very strongly worded letter from me! While Selfie is (or should I say “was”?) both hilariously written and fabulously acted, it is the architectural house where Henry Higgs (John Cho) lives on the series that has me most obsessed. So while I was in L.A. last week (before I learned that the show had been canceled) with my good friends Lavonna, Kim, Melissa and Maria (that’s Melissa and Maria pictured above) who were visiting from Ohio, we headed out to Altadena to see the pad in person.
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Henry’s sprawling post-and-beam-style house is featured regularly on Selfie.
The residence looks very much the same in person as it does onscreen. I was shocked to discover while there, though, that the pad sits on a humongous piece of land. In establishing shots, only a small, tight-angle shot of Henry’s home is shown, so I never pictured it to be situated on such a massive lot, which, according to Redfin, measures 1.02 acres.
The tranquil property, which is located towards the end of a hilly, winding road, is extremely private and quiet.
The structure was originally built in 1949 by architect Robert F. Gordon. The entryway and living area were then remodeled in 1975 by Tim Andersen and in 2004 the husband-and-wife team of Fung + Blatt converted the home’s detached poolside stables into a guest retreat with a bedroom, kitchenette and bath. You can check out some photographs of the guest house remodel here.
In real life, the one-story residence boasts three bedrooms, three baths and 1,844 square feet of living space. Over the years, the stunning property has been featured in Sunset, Los Angeles and Atomic Ranch magazines.
I am fairly certain that the interior of Henry’s home is a mix of both the Altadena dwelling’s actual interior (which you can see photographs of here and here – LOVE the living room’s built-in couch and shelving) and a set located at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank where Selfie is lensed. I believe the room pictured below, which is the area of the house shown most often on the series, is a set.
But I think that the other sections of the house that appear onscreen are those of the real life residence. Henry’s kitchen, which is pictured in the screen captures below, is an exact match to the home’s actual kitchen, which you can see in this photograph.
On a side-note – I will be on The Bill Feingold Show Featuring Kevin Holmes once again this morning at 8 a.m. PST. You can listen in here.
For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 
Stalk It: Henry’s house from Selfie is located at 3705 Alzada Drive in Altadena.
The Girls United Group Home from “The Fosters”
In April, a fellow stalker named Ashley asked for some help in locating the Girls United group home from both the television show The Fosters and its web series spin-off, The Fosters: Girls United. I had never heard of either production before, but through a bit of Googling came across this Wikia article about the house. The stunning property immediately piqued my interest and I spent the next few minutes trying to track in down. It turned out to be an easy find, too, thanks to a Foursquare page that stated the dwelling was located on East Kensington Road in Angelino Heights. From there, it was only a matter of seconds before I found the unique pad via Google Street View at 766 East Kensington.
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In real life, the seven-bedroom, two-bath, 4,070-square-foot house was built in 1908 and sit on 0.28-acres of land. It last sold in October 2001 for $515,000.
The home’s fabulous detailing and double-peaked roofline are very reminiscent of the residence used in House Bunny (which I blogged about here).
Besides being architecturally stunning, the place also boasts some pretty amazing views of downtown L.A.
In The Fosters, Callie Jacob (Maia Mitchell) is sent to live at the Girls United group home, which is operated by Rita Hendricks (Rosie O’Donnell), after she is caught running away from her foster family in the Season 1 episode titled “House and Home.” The residence also appeared in the Season 1 episodes titled “Things Unsaid,” “Family Day” and “Us Against the World.”
The property’s actual address number of 766 was shown in the “House and Home” episode.
I am fairly certain that the real life interior of the residence was also used in the filming, but I was not able to find any interior photographs of the place to prove that hunch.
The house also appeared in the five-part web series spin-off of The Fosters titled The Fosters: Girls United.
You can watch the first The Fosters: Girls United web series episode, titled “Run Baby Run,” by clicking below.
For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.
Big THANK YOU to Ashley for challenging me to find this location! 
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: The Girls United group home from The Fosters and The Fosters: Girls United is located at 766 East Kensington Road in Arlington Heights.
The “Hidden Away” House
As I mentioned in my post about Azul Tapas Lounge, I was not a fan of the 2014 Lifetime Original Movie Hidden Away, which was filmed largely in Palm Springs. I was a huge fan of the ultra-modern abode where the main character, Stephanie/Alexandra (Emmanuelle Vaugier), lived with her daughter, Rachel (Allie Gonino), in the flick, though, and became a bit fixated on tracking it down and stalking it. And while I did manage to find the dwelling quite easily, because it is located inside of a gated community, I was only able to stalk the front gates and, unfortunately, never got to see the actual home in person.
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Tracking down the property was a quick endeavor thanks to this 2013 article, which stated that the home was located in Palm Springs’ Alta neighborhood, and the fact that the number “245” was visible on the exterior of the residence in several scenes. From there I just looked at aerial views of all houses in the Alta community bearing that number and it wasn’t long before I found the place at 245 Patel Place.
After faking her death to escape her abusive husband and collecting on her own $250,000 life insurance policy, Stephanie changes her name to Alexandra, flees to Palm Springs, and settles into the stunning modern-style home pictured below. Now I realize that $250,000 is a considerable amount of money and, if invested wisely, could lead to an even more considerable amount, but I still found it a bit laughable that a woman who left everything behind and changed her identity could afford such a massive property. (RealEstate.com currently estimates the home’s value at $1.485 million.) Plus, wouldn’t someone living on the run be trying to keep a low profile?
The interior of the residence (which you can see photographs of here) was used quite extensively in the filming. Shown onscreen were the entrance (the front door is uh-ma-zing!);
kitchen;
living room [that’s Alexandra’s abusive ex-husband, Andrew (Ivan Sergei), pictured below setting up cameras all over the house in order to spy on her];
one of the bedrooms;
and backyard. As I said, the dwelling is absolutely stunning!
In real life, the house, which was built in 2006, features 4,000 square feet of living space, four bedrooms, five baths, a gourmet kitchen, two dishwashers (because one is just never enough), a double oven, seven (!) plasma TVs, including a 50-inch outdoor screen, an infinity pool, a hot tub that can hold up to 14 people, two fire pits, an outdoor gas fireplace, an in-wall espresso machine (um, yes please!), and ten-foot “disappearing” sliding glass walls and doors.
Outside of the front gate, though, there isn’t a whole lot to see, sadly.
You can watch a YouTube video showing interior photographs of the house by clicking below and you can check out the residence’s vacation rental website by clicking here. The pad currently rents for $1,300 to $2,000 a night!
For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 
Stalk It: Alexandra and Rachel’s house from Hidden Away is located at 245 Patel Place in Palm Springs. The home is inside of a gated community and is not visible from the street.
Lorenzo Lamas’ House from “Sex and the City”
This past weekend was hands down the best. Oscar. weekend. ever. I ended up stalking only one event (the torrential rain kept me indoors the rest of the time), but while there I got to meet one of my top-five celebrity crushes, Mr. Joshua Jackson from Dawson’s Creek. Like I said, best. Oscar. weekend. ever.
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I also met Alex Newell from Glee . . .
and The O.C.’s Peter Gallagher (who happened to be playing in a celebrity golf tournament in Palm Springs).
I also got to do a bit of location stalking during the few, brief moments when the sun was out, most of it Sex and the City-related. While doing research for my most-recent Los Angeles magazine Scene It Before post, about the backlot stoop where Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) attempted to smoke a cigarette in the Season 3 episode titled “Escape from New York,” I got inspired to track down some of the missing locations from the episode and the one that followed it, titled “Sex and Another City.” (Both episodes took place in L.A.). The locale I was most intent on finding was the ultra-modern pad that Keith Travers (Vince Vaughn) took Carrie to look at in “Sex and Another City.” In the episode, the real estate agent informs Keith that the residence belongs to actor Lorenzo Llamas and that he has it listed at $3.4 million, but that it will probably go for $3.2.
When Carrie sees the inside of the place, she says, “This is not a house, this is an airport!”
Thanks to its modern style and stellar views, I was convinced that the residence was located somewhere in the West Hollywood area, so I was shocked to come across this listing which stated that it was actually in Studio City. From there, tracking down the home’s exact location was a snap. Sadly though, when I went to stalk it, I learned that the pad is located on a private road and is not accessible to the public. I did manage to catch a glimpse of it from a few blocks away, though.
According to this article, the unique home had a bit of a stilted start. Architect Michael Pearce completed building the exterior of the structure in 1996, shortly before it was acquired by the bank. A man named Robert Seltzer subsequently purchased it for $600,000 and commissioned architect David Kellen to finish the project. The residence was then put on the market in 2004 for, in a case of life imitating art, $3.4 million. It appears to have been put on the market again in 2013 for $2,795,000, but I do not believe that it ever sold.
According to the real estate listing, the property was in need of some repairs and TLC at that time. As you can see below, it does appear that some sort of work is currently being done on the place.
The stunning home boasts four bedrooms, five baths, 5,873 square feet of space, a 0.59-acre plot of land, an infinity pool, a spa, a rooftop deck, three balconies, twenty-foot ceilings, glass walls, a gourmet kitchen, three fireplaces, and a sauna. You can see some interior photographs of the pad here. According to this article, Leonardo DiCaprio (whom I was devastated did not win the Best Actor Oscar on Sunday night) even checked out the property at one point in time.
For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 
Stalk It: Lorenzo Lamas’ house from the “Sex and Another City” episode of Sex and the City is located at 3596 Woodhill Canyon Road in Studio City. Woodhill Canyon Road is private and not accessible to the public, but you can catch a glimpse of the residence from Mound View Place, which is located just a few blocks east.