Fracture filming locations

December 7, 2011December 11, 2011

Judge Crawford’s House from “Fracture”

After tracking down the hilltop abode Willy Beachum (aka cutie Ryan Gosling) called home in fave movie Fracture, which I blogged about last Tuesday, I became just a wee bit obsessed with finding the large brick mansion where Judge Gardner (aka Bob Gunton) lived in the flick. Even though the dwelling showed up only briefly in the movie, because it was pretty much the only location I had yet to track down, I was absolutely itching to find it. The fabulously extensive Fracture production notes stated that some filming had taken place “at a private residence in Hancock Park” and I assumed that the private residence that was referred to had to be Judge Crawford’s. So I started searching aerial views of the area and after about 45 minutes stumbled upon the right property. YAY! And while out and about running some errands in Santa Monica yesterday, I took a little detour through Hancock Park so that I could stalk the place.

[ad]

In Fracture, Willy’s love interest, Nikki Gardner (aka Rosamund Pike), invites him to her parent’s home on Thanksgiving to eat dinner with her family.

Later on in the flick, Willie returns to the house to ask Nikki’s father, who is a judge, to sign a court order prohibiting Ted Crawford (aka Anthony Hopkins) from pulling the plug on his comatose wife, Jennifer Crawford (aka Embeth Davidtz).

In real life, the Georgian-Revival-style mansion, which was originally built in 1914, boasts 6 bedrooms, 5 baths, 6,175 square feet of living space, and almost half an acre of land. The house was designed by Meyer & Holler, the noted Los-Angeles-based architecture firm that was responsible for the Alex Theatre in Glendale, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Culver Studios in Culver City, and the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. Thanks to the fabulous The Houses of Hancock Park and JCB blogs, I discovered that the property is currently owned by famed Los Angeles interior designer Suzanne Rheinstein and her husband, Fred. The Rheinsteins purchased the dwelling over thirty years ago and immediately began an extensive redesign of the interior, a lengthy process that was reported on by several home magazines. The residence is nothing short of GORGEOUS in person and is, ironically enough, exactly the type of spot that my mom and I refer to as a “Thanksgiving House” – an idyllic and picturesque dwelling that makes one think of coming home for the holidays. I mean, the place could not look any more like it came out of a Folgers Coffee Christmas commercial if it tried! Winking smile

The interior of the abode, which is BEAUTIFUL, was featured prominently in Suzanne’s 2010 book At Home: A Style for Today with Things from the Past. (The pictures featured above remain the sole and private property of Suzanne Rheinstein and photographer Pieter Estersohn.)

As you can see above, the photographs featured in Suzanne’s book match up to what appeared onscreen, which means that the real life interior of the home, along with some of the furniture, was also used in the filming.

On a side-note that falls into the obscenely-cool category – yesterday I dropped by my very favorite store, Lula Mae in Old Town Pasadena, and just about died when Marci, the adorable owner who has come to be my good friend, informed me that she had just named me the shop’s very first “Customer of the Month”. Um, LOVE IT! For those who have never been there, LA Weekly recently awarded Lula “Best One-Stop Gift Shopping 2011” and in their write-up said, “You know that friend of yours who always upstages the $10 bottle of wine you pull out of your purse when she shows up at parties with the most adorable, clever little trinket wrapped perfectly in a colorful vintage bag? Well that smug b*tch probably has been shopping at Lula Mae for years now.” LOL Couldn’t have said it better myself! The store is so insanely cute, colorful, and fun that I find myself dropping in at least five times a week. It has become an addiction! Lula Mae is the first place I head whenever I am depressed, have writer’s block, or just need a good giggle! So to be named their Customer of the Month was just about the best honor I could have received! Thank you, Marci, Julia, Alison, and Lula Mae! <3

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Judge Crawford’s house from Fracture is located at 435 South Windsor Boulevard in the Windsor Square section of Hancock Park. Lula Mae is located at 100 North Fair Oaks Avenue in Old Town Pasadena.

November 29, 2011November 28, 2011

Willy Beachum’s House from “Fracture”

Back in early November, a fellow stalker named Eileen posted a comment on my site challenging me to find the residence where Willy Beachum (aka cutie Ryan Gosling) lived in the 2007 thriller Fracture, which is one of my all-time favorite movies. In an extremely ironic twist of fate, at the exact moment that my site sent me an email alerting me to Eileen’s comment, I was sitting in front of the TV watching Fracture and thinking that I should try to track down the hilltop abode! Talk about synchronicity! So I set right out to find the place that very night. I am leery to admit, though, that I actually “cheated” a wee bit in locating it.

Based on the views of Downtown Los Angeles shown from Willy’s home in the flick, I figured that the property was most likely located in the Echo Park area and spent more than a few fruitless hours searching for it there. Because this stalker is nothing if not impatient, though, after coming up completely empty-handed I decided to rent the film on Blu-ray as I had noticed a blurry street sign visible in the background of one of the scenes and hoped that I might be able to make out the name printed on it via high-definition. Now, don’t get me wrong – I love a good hunt as much as the next stalker, but sometimes I just want to just find the place already and call it a day! This was one of those times. Smile

And thankfully my hunch panned out. As you can see in the screen capture pictured above, “Minnesota St” is clearly visible on the street sign shown in the Blu-ray version of the movie. Yay! Once I learned the street name, finding the exact location of the house was a snap and I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out to stalk the place later that same week.

[ad]

The exterior of Willy Beachum’s home shows up quite a few times in Fracture.

It is most notably featured in the scene in which District Attorney Joe Lobruto (aka David Strathairn) speaks with Willy, his former deputy district attorney, about returning to the D.A.’s office. Oddly enough, while all of the other Fracture filming locations are talked about extensively in the flick’s production notes, nothing is said about Willy’s residence. I figured there would, at the very least, be a mention of the dwelling’s spectacular views, but, for whatever reason, filmmakers remained silent on the subject. The production notes did state, “[Fracture director Gregory] Hoblit likes to make movies that look as though they are set in Anywhere, USA so that audiences can more easily identify with the characters. He credits production designer Paul Eads and location managers Richard Davis and Mike Fantasia with helping to make that happen.” I found that sentiment to be a bit ironic, though, as, in this stalker’s never-to-be-humble opinion, Willy’s house in the movie could not have been more “L.A.” With its stunning views, hilltop location, and detached garage, the place just screamed “Los Angeles” to me. But what do I know? Winking smile

Because very few sets were built for the filming of Fracture, I would venture to guess that the actual interior of the property was also used in the flick, but, sadly, I could not find any interior photographs of the place to verify that hunch.

According to the Redfin website, the 3-bedroom, 1-bath, 1,248-square-foot home, which was originally built in 1904, sold this past February for $307,000. And I am happy to report that it looks very much the same in person as it did in Fracture.

As do the views, which are nothing short of spectacular!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Willy Beachum’s house from Fracture is located at 3101 Minnesota Street in the Lincoln Heights area of Los Angeles.

February 2, 2010February 2, 2010

The Standard Hotel Rooftop Bar in Downtown Los Angeles

Another Fracture filming location that I recently stalked – without actually realizing it – was the Standard Hotel’s Rooftop Bar in Downtown L.A. I say “without actually realizing it” because at the time I stalked the place I had no idea it was a filming location. I ended up there while on the way to the Los Angeles airport where I was dropping off my good friends from Switzerland who were flying home after a two week visit. I thought it would be nice to stop for a cocktail at an L.A. hot spot before their flight took off and so I got to Googling, whereupon I found a myriad of websites all touting the amazing views that could be found at the Standard’s rooftop watering hole. So, we made a pit stop there before heading to LAX and, as fate would have it, the place turned out to be the PERFECT spot for my friends to bid their farewells to Los Angeles.

Downtown L.A.’s Standard Hotel opened up in May of 2002 and was the brainchild of famed hotelier Andre Balazs, the same man who gave us New York’s Mercer Hotel, the original Standard Hotel in West Hollywood, and the updated version of Hollywood’s legendary Chateau Marmont. The twelve story building now known as the Standard was originally built in 1952 and housed the Southern California headquarters of Superior Oil. The structure, which was designed by architect Claude Beelman, had stood vacant for over a decade when Balazs purchased it in 2000. He left most of the original architectural details intact, including the two-story lobby area’s stainless steel time zone clock which displays the times of 15 different countries and stands at over ten feet tall, the oil mining frieze located above the entrance doors, a pair of escalators (left over from when Union Bank of California occupied the building), the black and white marble flooring, and the original S-shaped door handles. To that he added shag carpeting, an absolutely enormous digital wall hanging, a sunken lounge area, an outdoor fire pit, a 125 foot long couch designed by Vladimir Kagan, and a foosball table station situated next to the valet desk. It’s retro-modern decor at its finest! The Standard’s piece de resistance, though, is its 1,220 square foot Rooftop Bar, which features astro-turf, a heated swimming pool, outdoor sofas, a dance floor, numerous topiaries, vibrating waterbeds, movies which are projected onto the walls of neighboring buildings, red plastic “pod” gazebos, Verner Panton-designed furniture, a fab menu and a full bar.

Oh, and did I mention the view? Yes, the bar also features an absolutely breath-taking, awe-inspiring view of Downtown Los Angeles.

So breath-taking and awe-inspiring, in fact, that it’s almost impossible to do anything but stare out at the skyline while there. The above photograph was taken of my friend Stephanie while at the bar and it perfectly encapsulates how one feels while visiting the place. 🙂 Of the hotel, Travel + Leisure Magazine said it is “Los Angeles like you have never seen it before.” My sentiments exactly!

The Standard Rooftop Bar is such a unique spot that it became an almost immediate celebrity magnet. Stars such as Owen Wilson, Charlize Theron, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Mark Wahlberg, Lara Flynn Boyle, Moby, Nicolas Cage, and Sophia Coppola have all been spotted hanging out there. And I honestly can’t recommend stalking the place enough! Whether you’re a native Angelino or a first-time visitor to Southern California, I can’t think of a better place from which to enjoy the City of Angels.

Due to its unique architecture and unparalleled views of the city, the Standard has become a frequent filming location. In Fracture, the Standard’s Rooftop Bar is featured very briefly as the spot where Willy Beachum (aka Ryan Gosling) meets up with Nikki Gardner (aka Rosamund Pike) after losing his court case against Ted Crawford (aka Anthony Hopkins).

The bar was also featured in the Season 3 episode of Entourage entitled “Strange Days” as the spot where Eric Murphy (aka Kevin Connolly) meets up with Sloane’s best friend Tori (aka Malin Akerman).

In Collateral, Jamie Foxx “borrows” a stranger’s cell phone while out in front of the Standard’s main entrance. And last, but not least, the hotel was also where Robert Downey Jr. stayed in the 2005 movie Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, which I unfortunately don’t own a copy of.

[ad]

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Standard Hotel is located at 550 South Flower Street in Downtown Los Angeles. You can visit their website here.

February 1, 2010February 1, 2010

The “Fracture” House

A few weeks ago, while doing some cyberstalking, I came across a fabulous filming locations database named Unreel Locations and I just about died when I saw a listing for what the site referred to as “The Fracture House”. I immediately recognized the property as the ultra modern abode where Ted Crawford (aka Anthony Hopkins) lived in the 2007 flick – a location which I had long been wanting to stalk. Unfortunately though, Unreel Locations didn’t specify where the residence was located, so I had to call in the usual suspects – aka Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and fellow stalker Owen – to help me track it down. And as expected, it wasn’t long before Owen was emailing me back with an address! YAY! Owen actually began his search for the home in an unlikely place – on the IMDB Fracture filming locations page – a site which doesn’t always serve up the most accurate of information. But there was a notation on the page stating that Fracture had been filmed in Encino, so Owen decided it was as good a starting point as any. From there he began Googling “Encino” and “Fracture filming location” and fairly quickly stumbled upon this real estate listing which advertised a vacant piece of property located “next to the famous Sherman House featured in the movie Fracture”. From there it was just a matter of searching the area next to the vacant lot. And voila, the Fracture house was found! Thank you, Owen! 🙂

For those who have yet to see Fracture (and I highly recommend that you do – it’s a FABULOUS flick), Ted Crawford’s house is simply breathtaking in it and, in my humble opinion at least, is the real star of the film. Both the inside . . .

. . . and the outside of the Sherman Estate were featured extensively in the movie and several weeks were actually spent shooting on location at the home. Of the property, Fracture director Gregory Hoblit says, “It must be 80% glass, supported by struts, but you can see from one of the house all the way to the other, all the way through it, side to side, end to end, anywhere you go. It would be a little unnerving to live in a house like that, but fortunately it’s pretty well-hidden.” And while Hoblit enjoyed filming at the home and all of the unique camera angles the open, almost transparent-seeming property allowed him, cinematographer Kramer Morgenthau had a different opinion. “It was very film-unfriendly,” he says, “but it was worth every bit of effort and heartbreak and stepping on top of each other. It was a classic, Schindler-influenced building, where the interiors and exteriors flowed from one to the other, but it was not easy.” Openness and glass walls on a movie set are usually big no-nos, as crew members need places to hide themselves and their large camera equipment behind, so I can’t even imagine how difficult it must have been to film at the Sherman Estate. In this case, though, I think it was worth the extra effort as the house is absolutely unforgettable. You can read a great article on the filming of Fracture here.

In reality, the 3 bedroom, 4 bathroom, 5,472 square foot Sherman Estate, which sits on 4 acres of land, was built in 2001 by architect Peter Tolkien and the Scanlon Construction Company for Jerome and Zina Sherman. The “Zen-serenity” aura of the award-winning home was inspired by some Bali and Thailand area hotels where the couple had spent many a vacation. The house, which was built almost entirely out of wood, concrete, and glass and in which every room opens up to the outdoors, was constructed as a one-story dwelling because as Jerome said in the September 2004 issue of Better Homes and Gardens, “The older I get the more forgetful I am. I didn’t was to be constantly going up and down stairs to find my glasses.” The property also includes a 1,500 foot guest house, a tennis court, a pool and hot tub, and a veritable forest of orange, oak, sycamore, and Deodar trees. I honestly can’t say enough about this house. It is truly a work of art!

Sadly, though, not very much of it can be seen from the street. 🙁 It was still very cool to stalk the house nonetheless, but oh, what I wouldn’t give to see the inside of that place in person! You can see some great photographs of the interior of the property here and here.

The Sherman Estate also popped up very briefly as one of the homes that Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni robbed in the 2005 movie Fun With Dick and Jane.

A big THANK YOU to Owen for finding this location! 🙂

[ad]

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Fracture house, aka the Sherman Estate, is located at 4411 Noeline Avenue in Encino. You can see interior pictures of it here.

July 9, 2009December 6, 2013

The Fairmont Miramar Santa Monica

I don’t know about you all, but for the past few Sunday nights I have been absolutely glued to my television set watching Season 2 of the Ryan Seacrest produced Denise Richards: It’s Complicated. And while I admit that the girl is an absolute train wreck and that her laugh is like fingernails on a chalkboard, for some incredibly odd reason I just can’t stop watching! LOL So, since I was in the area recently, I just had to stalk the hotel Denise moved into at the beginning of this season.

Wanting a “fresh start” after the past “difficult year”, Denise decided to sell her Hidden Hills home and move closer to her daughters’ school and her “work” – whatever that means. I didn’t realize Denise had a full time job. LOL Anyway, until her former home sells, the Richards Family, including Denise, her father Irv (no, that’s not a typo, that’s actually his name!), and daughters Lola and Sam, are calling the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows in Santa Monica home. The hotel shows up quite often on this season of Denise’s reality show, especially the bungalow area where her family lives . . .

. . . and the hotel’s onsite fitness center, where she works out daily with her trainer/sometimes date Ray.

The Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows was originally the private home of John P. Jones, a former Nevada senator and one of the founders of the City of Santa Monica. John built a mansion on the site in 1889 and dubbed his property “Miramar” which means “view of the sea” in Spanish. In 1912, the Jones Family sold their home to King C. Gillette, founder of the razor company of the same name and the King Gillette Ranch where TV’s The Biggest Loser is filmed. Nine years later, in 1921, Gillette sold the property to hotel entreprenuer Gilbert Stevenson, who turned it into an upscale seaside resort. In 1924, to make room for more guests, Stevenson added a large brick building to the property and also, sadly, had the original Jones’ mansion torn down just a few years later. In 1959, the hotel added yet another tower. Forty years later, the current owner, investment group Maritz, Wolffe & Co. purchased the hotel, started a $16 million renovation process, and brought in the Fairmont Hotels and Resorts company to manage the property. All these years later it is still a truly beautiful place and I highly recommend stalking it! 🙂

Denise Richards is not the first celeb to check into the Miramar. Over the years numermous stars have stayed there, including Cary Grant, Greta Garbo (who lived at the hotel for close to three years), Doris Day, JFK and Jackie O., Eleanor Roosevelt, Charles Lindbergh, my girl Marilyn Monroe, Rosa Parks, Denzel Washington, Quincy Jones, Hugh Hefner, Anthony Hopkins, Arnold Schwarznegger, Steven Spielburg, Shaquille O’Neal, and Hilary Swank, just to name a few.

The hotel has been featured in countless movie and television productions over the years. In the Season 5 episode of Entourage entitled “First Class Jerk”, the Miramar stood in for a Hawaiian resort where Vinnie and the boys hung out.

The large Moreton Bay Fig Tree which stands at the entrance to the Miramar and quite closely resembles a banyan tree gives the hotel somewhat of a tropical feel, so it’s no surprise that Entourage producers chose to film there instead of shooting on location in Hawaii. The fig tree was planted way back in 1879 – yes, 1879 – by Senator Jones, the original owner of the propety. It measures a whopping 80 feet high and 120 feet wide!

The hotel also showed up as the location where Anthony Hopkins’ wife carried out her affair in 2007’s Fracture.

It was also the hotel where Helen Mirren and her friends stayed during their L.A. visit in the Disney movie Calendar Girls. Please excuse the horrific YouTube screen captures pictured above! LOL In the 1962 Cary Grant and Doris Day comedy That Touch of Mink, the Miramar was used as a West Indies resort. The hotel has also been featured in Along Came Polly and the television series Simon & Simon.

And last, but definitely not least, the night before her surprise wedding to KFed, Britney Spears threw herself a Bachelorette party in one of the Miramar’s bungalows. KFed partied with his boys, aka “The Pimps” right across the street at Houston’s Restaurant (pictured above). Both, I’m sure, were classy affairs! 😉 At the time, Kevin was living with Britney in her nearby oceanside pad in the 1221 Ocean Avenue condomium complex.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows is located at 101 Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica. You can visit their website here. Houston’s Restaurant, where KFed held his bachelor party, is located across the street at 202 Wilshire Boulevard.