famous places – Page 47 – IAMNOTASTALKER

September 22, 2009September 21, 2009

Jaime Pressly’s I Love You, Man House

A few months back, I asked fellow stalker Owen for some help in tracking down all of the filming locations from fave movie I Love You, Man. The spot I was most interested in stalking was the charming little house belonging to Denise (aka Jaime Pressly) and her brutish husband Barry (aka Jon Favreau) in the flick. Ever since seeing the movie this past March, I have been absolutely obsessed with that house. It is just so darn cute! And I was one hundred percent convinced that it was located somewhere in the Pasadena area. For some reason, it just looked like a Pasadena-style home to me. In fact, I would have bet my bottom dollar on it! So, you can imagine my surprise when I got a text back from Owen saying that he had contacted an I Love You, Man crew member who told him that the house was actually located in . . . Hollywood! I absolutely could not believe it! Hollywood probably would have been just about the last place on earth I would have searched for that house. LOL It’s a good thing I had Owen on the case, as I’m fairly certain this is one location I never would have found without him. So, this past weekend, with the address in hand, I dragged my fiancé out to finally stalk the home.

Well, that’s not exactly the whole story. Truth be told, this is one location that I actually had to stalk twice! LOL A few weeks ago, my dad asked me if I would drive him to a doctor’s appointment which just happened to be right near the I Love You, Man house. I told him I’d be happy to, as long as we could do some stalking along the way. He, of course, said “no”, but, because I thought he was just joking around, I dragged him out to the house anyway. Well, as it turns out, he wasn’t joking around – AT ALL – and was not especially happy with me once I pulled up to the house. In fact, I believe his exact words were, “Where the hell are we and why are you stopping the car????” LOL LOL LOL Karma came back to bite me, though, because when I pulled my camera out of my purse to snap a few photographs of the house, I realized that it felt rather light and my mind immediately flashed back to the camera battery that I had plugged into the charger the night before and had forgotten to put back in the morning. UGH! So, this past weekend, I returned to the house yet again, this time with my fiancé – and camera battery – in tow. 🙂

I am very happy to report that Jaime Pressly’s I Love You, Man house is absolutely ADORABLE in person– even cuter than it appeared onscreen. I’d even say it was worth all the trouble I had to go to to get to it. LOL The house definitely has a fairy tale/storybook style feel to it and is a little bit reminiscent of Hilary Duff’s house from fave movie A Cinderella Story. So love it! Because it is so cute, I’m actually very surprised that it hasn’t been featured in even more productions.

The exterior of the house is actually only featured in two very brief scenes in the movie. It first shows up as the site of Jon Favreau’s infamous poker night party, where his “Boat Race” beer drinking game ends very badly.

The front porch of the house next shows up as the place where Rashida Jones and Paul Rudd make up after calling off their engagement towards the end of the flick. And from how it appears in that scene, I believe the real interior of the house was also used for some of the filming.

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I highly recommend stalking Jaime Pressly’s I Love You, Man house as it is just so darn cute in person. Just remember to bring your camera battery! 😉

Big THANK YOU to Owen for finding this location! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Jaime Pressly’s house from I Love You, Man is located at 532 North Las Palmas Avenue in Hollywood.

September 21, 2009September 21, 2009

The Matchstick Men House

Another location I dragged my fiance to while in Venice last weekend was the house used in the 2003 movie Matchstick Men. I found this spot thanks to fellow stalker Chas, who made it his mission to find EVERY SINGLE Matchstick Men location in the L.A. area. And find them all, he did! Chas’ entire catalog of Matchstick Men locales can actually be found on the Seeing Stars website, but the spot I was most interested in stalking, of course, was the residence belonging to obsessive-compulsive con man Nicolas Cage in the flick. I had absolutely fallen in love with the unique Mid-Century Modern-style home with a tree growing through its front porch when I first saw Matchstick Men in the theatre six years ago. So, when Chas mentioned that he knew where the house was located, I just about died of excitement and immediately ran right out to go stalk it! 🙂

I am very happy to report that the Matchstick Men house looks exactly the same in person today as it did onscreen six years ago. For those who don’t remember, Nicolas Cage’s residence in the flick was a very unique, very flat, one story white 50’s-style abode. But the coolest feature of the house actually had to be the large tree growing right through the roof of the front porch. I’ve never seen anything quite like it in my entire life and when I first saw the movie, I remember wondering if the tree was real or just a prop added for the filming. Well, as it turns out, the front porch tree is a real feature of the house and is still there today. Love it!

The Matchstick Men house is located on a very cool street that is actually chock full of similar looking Mid-Century Modern-style homes. More than a few of them even have a tree growing through their front porch roof, too. Love it! 🙂 According to Zillow, the MM house, which was built in 1948, has 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, and measures a tiny 1,016 square feet.

Chas also told me that, according to the Matchstick Men DVD’s director’s commentary, the scenes that took place in Nicolas Cage’s backyard in the movie were actually filmed at another location altogether – a house located somewhere in the San Fernando Valley near Woodland Hills.

The home’s real life backyard is pictured in the above aerial image, and as you can see, is much smaller than the backyard portrayed in the movie and does not have a pool.

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If you were at all a fan of the movie – or of Mid-Century Modern-style architecture in general – I highly recommend stalking the Matchstick Men house.

Big THANK YOU to Chas for finding this location! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Matchstick Men house is located at 3508 Meier Street, just outside of Venice, in West Los Angeles.

September 18, 2009September 18, 2009

The Girl Next Door Houses

Located just a block away from the Beethoven house, which I blogged about yesterday, are the two main homes used in the 2004 movie The Girl Next Door. Mike, from MovieShotsLA, took me by this location on the same day that we stalked the Beethoven house a few months back. And, even though I had never seen The Girl Next Door, I was still extremely excited to be stalking the homes. So excited, in fact, that I went right out that night and rented the movie. And, let me tell you what a disappointment that turned out to be! LOL The Girl Next Door is absolutely horrible – I was so bored that I didn’t even get through the first thirty minutes before turning it off. LOL The movie is, for lack of a better word, just plain “dumb”! But, since I did really like the houses featured in it, I decided they were worth a blog post. You know I have a serious stalking problem when I not only stalk, but also blog about, locations from a movie that I didn’t even like – or finish watching, for that matter! 🙂

The Girl Next Door centers around nerdy high school senior Emile Hirsch whose life changes dramatically when a beautiful girl, played by Elisha Cuthbert, moves in next door to his family’s home. The two, of course, become romantically involved, but trouble ensues when Emile discovers that the girl he has fallen in love with is actually an adult film star. Nice premise for a movie, huh? LOL Roger Ebert pretty much hit the nail on the head in his review when he said that the movie tried – but failed miserably – to imitate fave flick Risky Business. LOL You can read Roger’s entire Girl Next Door review here.

The two houses from the movie are, obviously, located right next door to each other. Emile Hirsch’s house is shown several times through the flick and is vaguely reminiscent of the house featured in the 1970’s television series Family – which is ironic, being that that house is located just up the street!

The house belonging to Elisha Cuthbert in the movie is never actually shown in full view, which is odd being that it is a very beautiful home, as you can see in the above photograph.

Milan Avenue is actually chock full of beautiful homes and is, not surprisingly, one of South Pasadena’s most oft-filmed streets. My good friend and fellow stalker E.J. over at The Movieland Directory emailed me this morning to let me know of two other noteworthy Milan Avenue locations. The first is one of the homes that Jason Biggs and his friends paint while on vacation in “Grand Harbor, Michigan” in the teen comedy American Pie 2.

The second is the former residence of famed architect Norman Marsh, who designed the vast majority of prominent buildings in Venice, California. Marsh’s former home is an absolutely adorable little Craftsman abode that looks like it belongs on a lake back East somewhere. So cute! 🙂

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Milan Avenue is absolutely beautiful in person and I highly recommend stalking it. One drive down the tree-lined street and you’ll understand why filmmakers have returned to film there again and again.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: In The Girl Next Door Emile Hirsch lived at 1504 Milan Avenue in South Pasadena. Elisha Cuthbert lived next door at 1500 Milan Avenue. The house from the 1970’s television series Family is located just up the road at 1230 Milan, the house from the movie Beethoven is located at 1405 Milan, the American Pie 2 house can be found at 820 Milan, and Norman Marsh’s former residence is at 1934.

September 17, 2009September 16, 2009

The Beethoven House

Got a challenge from Debbie a few weeks back to find the house used in the 1992 movie Beethoven and its many subsequent sequels. Debbie had just read my post on the Camden house from the television series 7th Heaven and was struck by how similar it looked to the home used in the Beethoven movies. Due to their similarities, she thought the two houses might be located in the same neighborhood and wanted me to find out. Well, while Debbie was certainly right that the Beethoven house does bear a striking resemblance to the 7th Heaven home, the two are actually located about 25 miles apart from each other. Mike, from MovieShotsLA, had actually shown me the Beethoven house a few months back during one of our many stalking trips. I had yet to blog about it, though, as I could not seem to find a copy of the movie anywhere and I needed one to make screen captures. For some reason, none of the Blockbuster stores in my area carry the title. Ugh! Then, last week, out of the blue, my fiancé caught an airing of Beethoven’s 2nd on TV, remembered that I had been looking for a copy of the movie, and TiVo’d it for me. Yay! I’m so glad I’m marrying this guy!!! 🙂

I am very happy to report that the Beethoven house looks EXACTLY the same today as it did back in 1992 when the movie was filmed – right down to the exterior paint color!!! So love it! In fact the ONLY difference I noticed between the onscreen house and the real life house were the trees in the front yard. Today those trees are considerably larger than they were at the time of filming, which isn’t at all surprising being that the movie was shot over 17 years ago.

Interestingly enough, fellow stalker Amanda told me that when she went on the Universal Studios Hollywood Tour a few years back, her guide pointed out a home on the Wisteria Lane set (which was then known as “Colonial Street”) and said that it was used in the Beethoven movies. And while it’s quite possible that a replica of the real life home was re-created on the Universal backlot and used for some filming, I believe that the majority of the exterior scenes were actually shot at the real life house in South Pasadena. According to this fabulous website, the Wisteria Lane set was in fact used in the first Beethoven movie, but not for any of the house scenes. Apparently, the backlot street was featured in the scene when the dogs escape out of the back of a van.

Surprisingly enough, I’ve never actually seen any of the Beethoven movies, so I am not sure how many of the installments were filmed at this house. I do know for sure that it was used in the first Beethoven movie and in Beethoven’s 2nd, but from what I’ve been able to discern online, the other four sequels (yes, the movie had a total of FIVE sequels!) were filmed elsewhere.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Beethoven House is located at 1405 Milan Avenue in South Pasadena. The home from the 1970’s television series Family is located just up the road from the Beethoven house at 1230 Milan Avenue.

September 16, 2009September 16, 2009

The 13 Going On 30 Bar

Those of you who read my blog regularly know that the restaurant where Jennifer Garner hit on the 13-year-old boy in fave movie 13 Going On 30 has long been a thorn in my side. For whatever reason, it seems that no matter how hard I tried or how badly I wanted to stalk it, I just couldn’t seem to track the place down! I came fairly close last year, when Mike, from MovieShotsLA, managed to find what was used as the exterior of the restaurant on a cobblestone street in New York’s SoHo neighborhood. But, as fate would have it, the SoHo location turned out to be a clothing store that was used solely for exterior filming, while the interior scenes were shot at another location altogether. But where???? Finally, last week, I decided to enlist the help of fellow stalker Owen, who promised to track down a few of the 13 Going On 30 crew members and hopefully get an answer for me. Ironically enough, I had told Owen that time was of the essence in this particular stalking endeavor as I wanted to stalk the restaurant during my upcoming trip to New York. Well, come to find out, much like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, it turns out that the location I was searching for was right in my own backyard the whole time! 🙂 It wasn’t an hour later that I got a text back from Owen which read “Interested in hitting on 13-year-old boys? Head to Hal’s Bar at 1349 Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice”. Well, let me tell you I almost fell over right then and there! I could NOT believe that the this WHOLE TIME the restaurant had been in L.A., literally right under my nose! LOL So, of course, I immediately dragged my boyfriend right out to FINALLY stalk it. 🙂

For those who have never seen 13 Going On 30, the scene that takes place at Hal’s restaurant involves Jennifer Garner (as a 13-year-old stuck in a 30-year- old’s body) drinking some cocktails at a bar in New York with BFF Judy Greer. At one point, Judy leans over and whispers to Jennifer “Mr. Hottie behind you is totally scamming on you right now!” So, of course, Jennifer gets up to go talk to him, but instead of walking up to the older gentleman standing at the bar, she heads over to a 13-year-old boy sitting in a booth and tells him she thinks he is cute. Judy freaks out, grabs Jennifer, and says “What do you want to go to jail? I meant that guy!” to which Jennifer replies, “The man? Oh, gross!” LOL LOL LOL You can watch the entire scene here.

Amazingly enough, while the decor of the 13 Going On 30 restaurant is pretty much exactly the same in person as it was in the movie, I had a really hard time recognizing the place once there. In fact, even though I have been actively searching for this location for years, had I randomly eaten at Hal’s, I probably never would have recognized it as the 13 Going On 30 restaurant. LOL As you can see in the above screen captures and photographs, while most of the background paintings were changed for the filming, for the most part the restaurant looks very much the same in real life as it did onscreen. One of the things that threw me, though, was the fact that, in real life, Hal’s is a fairly large restaurant, but, because 13 Going On 30 only showed one small section of it, it appeared to be tiny in the movie. When I first walked in, I was shocked at how big the place actually was.

But the biggest shock for me was actually the lighting. In real life, Hal’s is extremely bright and open, with one wall made up almost entirely of windows. In the movie, though, the place seemed very dark and cozy, much like a real New York restaurant would be. As you can see in the above photograph and screen capture, producers actually had all of Hal’s front windows covered over for the shoot, which really made a difference in the look and feel of the restaurant. In fact, the entire time we were there, I kept saying to my boyfriend “This place is so bright, but it was dark in the movie!!!! I don’t get it!” LOL Ah, the magic of Hollywood!

In an ironic side note – While attempting to locate the restaurant, I had spent WEEKS trying to figure out what the sign behind Judy Greer in the above screen capture spelled out. Countless times, I had Googled the terms “New York” along with all sorts of different combinations of words ending with “–ECKAS” and the phrase “bar & grill” to try to figure it out – all to no avail. Which makes sense now, being that the sign was a fake put up for decoration at the New York location where exterior filming took place.

But what doesn’t make sense is that when I finally got to stalk the restaurant, I noticed that producers had used part of the Hal’s Bar & Grill logo for their fake sign in New York. You’ll notice in the above screen capture and photograph that the oddly-placed “S” in the Hal’s Bar & Grill logo is EXACTLY the same as the oddly-placed “S” in the fake restaurant sign that was at the New York location. I’m not sure why producers went to all the trouble of creating a fake name and a fake logo that incorporated a part of the real restaurant’s real logo. Why not just use the real thing??? LOL But that’s Hollywood for you! 🙂

And, as if getting to eat at the 13 Going On 30 restaurant was not excitement enough for one day, while walking to our car afterwards we happened upon Desperate Housewife Marcia Cross sitting on a bench outside of a nearby shop. Ironically enough, the only reason I noticed her at all was because, as I walked by, she looked up and gave me an absolutely ENORMOUS smile. I was a bit taken aback by that as people in L.A. don’t typically smile like that at strangers. And it was while smiling back at her that I all of a sudden realized she was Marcia Cross! I so wanted to ask her to take a picture with me, but, as it was an extremely busy afternoon on Abbot Kinney Boulevard, I didn’t want to attract a bunch of attention to her. But, after we walked across the street, I begged my fiancé to snap a quick paparazzi pic of her for my blog – for which she also smiled. 🙂 So cool!!!

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I cannot recommend stalking Hal’s Bar & Grill enough! The food is EXCELLENT – especially the burgers! – and I had an absolute blast being there.

Big THANK YOU to Owen for finding this location! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Hal’s Bar and Grill, aka the 13 Going On 30 bar, is located at 1349 Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice. You can visit their website here.

September 15, 2009September 15, 2009

Jason Segel’s I Love You, Man House

One location I have been wanting to stalk for what seems like forever now is Jason Segel’s (aka Sydney Fife’s) Venice Beach area house and “Man Cave’” from fave movie I Love You, Man. Fellow stalker Owen actually tracked down this location for me MONTHS ago, but since I rarely get out to the Venice area, I had yet to stalk it. So, last weekend, my fiancé and I – armed with a notebook full of Venice area locations – finally made the pilgrimage out to L.A.’s West Side to stalk Sydney’s house.

In I Love You, Man, Sydney Fife lives in an adorable little beach bungalow just a few steps away from the Venice Beach Boardwalk and the Pacific Ocean. And I absolutely fell in love with the place as soon as I laid eyes on it in the movie. But I am sad to report that the house actually looks much different in person than it did in I Love You, Man. In fact, even though it’s hardly been a year since filming took place, had Owen not given me the address, I could have easily walked right by the home without even recognizing it. 🙁

As you can see in the above photographs and screen captures, changes to the house include the paint color (which I actually think was a lot cuter in the movie), the addition of two sets of hedges and a new lawn to the front yard, and the removal of the cement walkway leading up to the home’s front door. I am guessing though, that before the movie was filmed, the house looked pretty much the same as it does today and that producers made all of the above mentioned alterations solely for the filming and then returned the home to its original state after the movie was wrapped. It sure seems like a whole bunch of work to go through, though, and makes me wonder why producers just didn’t find a different house that more closely fit their needs to use in the movie. But that’s Hollywood for you. 🙂

While stalking the house, my fiancé and I, of course, had to go around back to check out the garage area which housed Jason Segal’s “Man Cave” in the movie. Sadly, though, the garage has also changed considerably since the filming of I Love You, Man. Besides the change in paint color, a new garage door and side fence have been added since the movie was filmed.

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But here’s the good news! Apparently, in real life, Jason Segel’s I Love You, Man house is not really a home at all, but a fitness center and gym named Optimum Fitness. So, this is one stalking location that looks like it is – for the most part – open to the public! 🙂 And, best of all, if you sign up here, your first class there is free!! 🙂

On an “Only in L.A.” side note – According to Zillow, Sidney Fife’s one bedroom, one bath house measures only 666 square feet (that’s smaller than my apartment!), yet it sold for a whopping $1,125,000 in April of 2008! You gotta love L.A.! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Jason Segel’s house from I Love You, Man – aka Optimum Fitness gym – is located at 26 Rose Avenue in Venice. You can visit the Optimum Fitness website and sign up for a free class here.

September 14, 2009March 24, 2011

The New Wilson House on 90210

I can’t even believe I am about to say what I am about to say, but ever since watching Tuesday night’s season premiere, I am absolutely, one hundred percent hooked on the new 90210. While the first season of the show left much to be desired, this past week’s episode was nothing short of A-MA-ZING. So loved it!! Melrose Place on the other hand was absolutely craptastic and I can honestly say I’ll never again be tuning in to watch. I didn’t have high hopes for that show to begin with. though, being that it starred Ashley Simpson, but it even exceeded my extremely low expectations. But I digress. Anyway, after watching Tuesday night’s season premiere, I have to say that I honestly think 90210 is back, baby! 🙂 The episode was appropriately titled “To New Beginnings” – and a new beginning it definitely was! Especially locations wise. They should be calling it 90210 v. 2.0, v. 2.0 because thanks to new executive producer Rebecca Sinclair, who was brought in last season to revamp the show (how a show that’s only been on the air one season needs a revamping is beyond me!), there is a new Beverly Hills Beach Club (the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa), a new West Beverly High (Mount St. Mary’s College in Brentwood), and, best of all, a new Wilson house to stalk! YAY! So, while watching Tuesday night’s show, I texted Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and said “We have GOT to find the new 90210 house!” And, sure enough, it wasn’t long before we did!

Mike and I had both immediately recognized the new school standing in for West Beverly High as Mount Saint Mary’s College in Brentwood, which also stood in for Harbor High School on fave show The O.C. And, being that the new Wilson house also looked very much like a Brentwood area home, Mike was fairly certain that it would be located somewhere near the school. And, sure enough, it was. So, of course, as soon as Mike texted me the address, I immediately dragged my fiancé right out to stalk it. 🙂

Even though it’s got nothing on Casa Walsh, the new 90210 house is super cute in person. 🙂 It’s appearance is quite deceiving, though, as from the outside it appears to be rather small, but according to Zillow it actually has 4 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms and measures a whopping 4,951 square feet. That’s HUGE!

The Wilson home popped up several times during the season premiere, including the scene when Annie, freaking out after learning that her hit and run victim has passed away, runs out the front door and begs Dixon to take her for a ride.

A scene also took place in the home’s real life backyard – which you can see photographs of here.

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I can’t tell you how exciting it was to be stalking the new 90210 house just days after the show aired. 🙂 I have a feeling the home will be popping up quite often in the many episodes to come.

Oh, and note to producers – a basketball hoop really needs to be installed above the garage of the new Wilson home, ala Casa Walsh. I mean, it’s just not 90210 without a basketball hoop! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Wilson’s new house on 90210 is located at 325 Homewood Road in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles.

September 11, 2009September 15, 2009

Kirsten Dunst’s Bring It On House

Well, as Vanessa Williams once sang, I definitely “saved the best for last” regarding my Bring It On posts this week. As you might have already guessed, the BIO filming location I was most excited about stalking was, of course, the ultra-cool, modern-style abode belonging to Kirsten Dunst’s character, Torrance Shipman, in the movie. Fellow stalker Owen found this location by, again, getting a hold of a Bring It On crew member who remembered that the house was located on a cul-de-sac about twenty-five miles north of San Diego in a small beach community named Cardiff-by-the-Sea. Owen got to cyber-stalking and, sure enough, found the house pretty much immediately. So, on our way home from San Diego this past Saturday morning, I dragged my parents out to Cardiff-by-the-Sea to stalk the house. And, let me tell you, the stalking gods were definitely smiling down on me that day, because when we pulled up to the house the owners happened to be standing outside and they ended up giving us a TOUR OF THEIR HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂 But I’ll get to that in a minute.

When I first hopped out of the car, camera in hand, and noticed the owners standing outside, I asked them if their house had been used in Bring It On and they said, “You found us!” LOL The owners honestly could NOT have been nicer and literally talked to us for over twenty minutes and answered all of my silly little questions about the filming. They also told us all sorts of cool behind-the-scenes information, like the fact that the movie was originally titled Cheer Fever and that the flick was not expected to be released in theatres, but to instead go straight to DVD. No one had any idea it would turn out to be such a huge hit! The owner, Cindy, also told us that producers were considering three different houses in the area to stand in as Torrance’s home in the movie – hers, one just around the corner, and another in Point Loma. They ended up choosing Cindy’s because they liked the fact that it was located on a cul-de-sac. So interesting! Then, when I asked Cindy if she had gotten to meet Kirsten Dunst during the filming, she said “Hold on a minute!”, ran inside, and grabbed a photo album that she had made of the shoot!!!! It was at that point that I just about keeled over from excitement!!! 🙂

As you can probably imagine, I was absolutely mesmerized by Cindy’s photo album! It contained numerous pictures of the filming, including candid photographs of the actors hanging out on set and getting their make-up done, and photographs of the house being dressed up for the shoot. Cindy told us that producers actually changed the front of her home quite significantly for the filming. In real life, the home has two separate garages – a single car garage on the right hand side and a two car garage on the left. For a reason that she was unsure of, set dressers built a false exterior to cover up the two-car garage, as you can see in the above photograph. They also added a significant amount of foliage in front of that fake exterior, I am guessing to hide that part of the driveway.

One part of the home that was not changed for the movie was the little circular address plaque situated on the front of the single car garage. Yay!! I so loved seeing that! 🙂

Another cool tidbit of information that Cindy told me what that prior to the filming of Bring It On, she did not have a bench in her front porch area. But when producers brought one in for the shoot, Cindy and her husband really liked how it looked and ended up purchasing one to put in the exact same spot where Jesse Bradford sat in the above scene. Love it!

Included in Cindy’s Bring It On scrapbook were pictures of the interior of her home all dressed up for the filming. As I had been under the assumption that all of the interior scenes had taken place on a soundstage, I just about fell over when I found out that they had actually filmed inside of the real house! And it was then that Cindy asked – are you sitting down for this??? – if my mom and I wanted to come inside her home to see the areas that were used in the movie! DID WE WANT TO COME INSIDE? DID WE WANT TO COME INSIDE? LOL OF COURSE WE DID! 🙂 The area of the home that I was most excited about seeing was the cool spiral staircase located off of the living room, as my fiancé and I have a very similar stairwell in our apartment! 🙂 When I mentioned that fact to Cindy, she insisted that I pose for a picture on the stairs. SO COOL! 🙂 Thank God she did, too, as it was the ONLY photograph I ended up taking inside of the house. 🙁 I was so incredibly overwhelmed at seeing everything in person that I totally forgot to take any pictures! LOL I am such an airhead sometimes, I swear!

Needless to say, the Bring It On house is absolutely beautiful inside. The areas of the home that were used in the filming include the kitchen and the living room, which both look a bit different in real life, as producers changed the color of the walls and brought in all new furnishings for the shoot.

The home’s master bedroom – which we did not get to see – was also used in the movie as Kirsten Dunst’s room. Producers not only had the room painted a mustard yellow color (yuck!) for the filming, but also paid a young girl to decorate the walls with magazine pin-ups, photographs, and cheerleading memorabilia. Oh, how I would have LOVED to have had that job as a kid! LOL So would have been right up my alley. 🙂

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I cannot tell you how cool it was to see the Bring It On house so up close and personal and to get to speak with the real life owners at length about their experiences during the filming. My mom was completely floored, too, and she’s never even seen Bring It On! LOL As I was leaving the house, I texted Owen to let him know the awesome news and he wrote back “How do you always get so darn lucky???” To tell you the truth, I often find myself asking that very same question! LOL Sometimes the stalking stars just align, I guess, but, let me tell you, I often have to pinch myself when thinking about all of the amazingly cool things I’ve gotten to do while stalking! 🙂

A big THANK YOU to Owen for finding this location. And another BIG THANK YOU to the owners of the Bring It On house for COMPLETELY making my day by inviting my mom and me into their home and spending so much time chatting with us! You guys ROCK! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Kirsten Dunst’s house from Bring It On is located at 2002 Bruceala Court in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, just North of San Diego. If you stalk this home, please respect the owners’ privacy and do not trespass, ring the doorbell, or ask to be let inside. My mom and I were extremely lucky to meet the residents and be given a tour of the home, but as this is not common practice, please don’t bother the owners about doing it yourself.

September 10, 2009September 9, 2009

Eliza Dushku’s House from Bring It On

One of the locations I was most excited about seeing this past weekend in San Diego was the La Jolla area residence that was used as the home of siblings Missy Pantone (aka Eliza Dushku) and Cliff Pantone (aka cutie Jesse Bradford) in 2000’s Bring It On. Full credit goes to fellow stalker Owen for tracking down this locale through some painstaking research. A few weeks back, when Owen first set out on his mission to find all of the Bring It On locations, we both decided that the places we were most interested in seeing were the two main homes used in the movie. I’m not sure why, but for some reason, out of all the movie and television locations I’ve stalked, homes always seem to be my favorite! 🙂 Anyway, Owen managed to get ahold of a Bring It On crew member who told him that he remembered exactly two things about Eliza Dushku’s house in the movie. One – it was absolutely GINORMOUS in size, and two – it was located on a cul-de-sac somewhere near La Jolla Village Drive in La Jolla. So, with that information in hand, Owen got to work using Google Maps and, sure enough, it wasn’t long before he had found it! So, this past weekend while vacationing in San Diego, I,of course, immediately dragged my parents right out to stalk the Bring It On house.

As you can see in the above photographs and screen capture, Eliza Dushku’s Bring It On house still looks pretty much the same today as it did back in 2000 when the movie was filmed. And, the crew member Owen spoke with was right – the home is absolutely HUGE! So huge, in fact, that I couldn’t step back far enough to fit the whole thing in my camera lens. LOL

A few minor changes have actually been made to the exterior of the house, though, which shouldn’t be all that surprising, I guess, being that Bring It On was filmed almost a decade ago. Those changes include the two trees flanking each side of the front door, which have grown considerably since the filming;

the wrought-iron stairway railing which has since been removed;

and – what is, in my mind, the strangest alteration of all – the front door, which has been changed from a double door to a single. So odd!

As you can see from the above screen captures and Google Maps aerial view, the backyard still looks pretty much exactly the same today as it did when Bring It On was filmed. The only thing missing is the swing set, which I am fairly certain was just a prop brought in solely for the filming.

Eliza Dushku’s house shows up several times throughout Bring It On, most memorably in the Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Bradford toothbrushing scene that I talked about in Tuesday’s post – one of my most favorite movie scenes ever! So love it! 🙂

Eliza Dushku’s Bring It On house is truly beautiful in person – and, as I mentioned before, absolutely enormous! According to Zillow, the five bedroom, six bathroom home, which was built in 1991, measures a whopping 7,160 square feet!! And, as you can see in the above photograph, also has a FIVE CAR GARAGE!

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Big THANK YOU to Owen for finding this location! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Eliza Dushku’s Bring It On house is located at 7762 Starlight Drive in La Jolla.

September 9, 2009September 8, 2009

Humphrey’s Half Moon Inn & Suites from Bring It On

The second item on my Bring It On stalking agenda from last weekend was a little hotel named Humphrey’s Half Moon Inn & Suites, which is also located on San Diego’s Shelter Island, just down the street from the Marlin Club which I blogged about yesterday. This is one location that I actually hadn’t planned on stalking when I first headed down to San Diego last Friday. But – thanks to fellow stalker Owen – I had the address written down in my trusty stalking notebook, so when my dad mentioned that he wanted to look at a boat store that was in the same area as Humphrey’s, I asked if he would be so kind as to also take me by the hotel. Well, as you can probably imagine, that request did NOT go over well AT ALL! My dad promptly reminded me that I had originally promised I would only be dragging him to two stalking locations that weekend. He was more than just slightly peeved that I was all of a sudden adding previously unmentioned locales to the list. In his defense, though, he hadn’t really been feeling well all weekend and, being that he just barely tolerates my stalking habit on a good day, perhaps this is one request I shouldn’t have made. But since we were going to be in the area, I just HAD to ask. Well, my dad did end up – very relunctantly – taking me by the hotel and, as fate would have it, as soon as we got there he absolutely fell in love with the place! He took about a million pictures, walked the entire hotel grounds, and even suggested to my mom that they stay there during their next San Diego trip. LOL LOL LOL See, as I’ve always said, good things come to those who stalk!! 🙂 You simply just never know what cool spot is waiting right around the corner for you to discover!

I’m actually not at all surprised that my dad was so taken with Humphrey’s, as it is a really beautiful hotel which boasts a private marina, picturesque ocean views, a fitness center, a heated pool and jacuzzi complete with a poolside bar, a putting green, a spa, large lawns, meandering ponds, and a waterfront restaurant which was recently named “San Diego’s Finest Restaurant with Live Music Venue” by the California Restaurant Association.

Humphrey’s also has quite a large celebrity connection. Besides being a favorite of television star John Stamos, whose E! True Hollywood Story was filmed in part at the hotel, each summer Humphrey’s is also the site of a very successful outdoor concert series named Humphrey’s Concerts by the Bay. I literally almost fell over when I read a list of the many famous names who had recently graced Humphrey’s stage. Those names include The Soup’s Joel McHale (so LOVE him!), Joe Cocker, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, LeAnn Rimes, Joan Baez, the Indigo Girls, Tori Amos, Jewel, Chicago, Tears for Fears, the Moody Blues, Earth, Wind, & Fire, Lyle Lovett, Tracy Chapman, Tower of Power, Dave Koz, Sinbad, Air Supply, Christopher Cross, Wanda Sykes, the Beach Boys, Crosby, Stills, & Nash, Loggins & Messina, and Chris Botti. Whew! What a lineup!

Ironically enough, while my parents and I were perusing the hotel grounds (before we had learned about Humphrey’s A-List concert series), we happened upon a rock group setting up in a backstage area. As we were walking by, one of the band members put his arm out to block my path and said “Hey, are you with the band?” I was a bit taken aback at the man’s rude tone and said “No, I’m sorry, I’m actually not with the band. Am I not supposed to be walking through here?” The guy laughed and said “Aw, I’m just joking with you. Unless, of course, you want to volunteer to help these guys set up the stage.” To which I said, “If you make me the star of your next music video, I might stick around to help.” LOL Well, the guy just laughed at me and that was that. Until a few minutes later when I noticed a large crate with the words “RatDog” and “Grateful Dead” stenciled across the front. I immediately grabbed my mom and said “Oh my God, I think we were just talking to members of the Grateful Dead!” She looked at me like I was absolutely crazy and said “No, Lindsay, trust me, the Grateful Dead would not be playing here.” Well, come to find out, former Dead guitarist Bob Weir and his band, RatDog, were, in fact, playing at Humphrey’s that night and not only had we walked right past some of the band members, but I had actually unknowingly spoken with one and asked him to put me in his next music video! LOL LOL LOL When we went back later to ask the band if they’d take a picture with me, they were, unfortunately, nowhere to be found. 🙁

In Bring It On, Humphrey’s stood in for the Daytona Beach Tiki Adventure Suites hotel where Kirsten Dunst and the rest of the Toros stayed during the Universal Cheer Association Nationals Competition towards the end of the movie. I’m actually quite surprised that producers chose to use Humphrey’s to represent a Florida area hotel, as the place looks more like it belongs in Waikiki than Daytona Beach. Although its close proximity to the Marlin Club must have made it the easy choice for filming.

Several areas of the hotel were featured in Bring It On, including the front entrance;

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the exterior of some of the rooms,

the pool area,

and the interior of one of the rooms.

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Humphrey’s Half Moon Inn & Suites is a really beautiful place and I highly recommend stalking it! I am very much looking forward to my parent’s next trip down to San Diego, as it looks like they will most likely be staying at Humphrey’s, so you can bet I’ll be tagging along with them once again!!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Bring It On hotel, aka Humphrey’s Half Moon Inn & Suites, is located at 2303 Shelter Island Drive on Shelter Island, just outside of Point Loma, in San Diego. You can visit their website here. Humphrey’s is located just down the street from another Bring It On location – the Marlin Club – which can be found at 2445 Shelter Island Drive.