Tag: Granada Hills filming locations

  • The “Clueless” Party House

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    One location that I have been wanting to stalk for what seems like ages now is the party house from fave movie Clueless.  Because the property is located in Granada Hills, though, and because I rarely travel that far deep into the San Fernando Valley, it was quite a long while before I finally made it out there.  But make it out there, I did, one dark and dreary afternoon (as you can see above) back in March.  And I can honestly say that this is one location that was absolutely worth the wait!  I could NOT have been more excited to be stalking the house and was literally pinching myself the whole time!  Not even the intermittent rain could dampen this stalker’s spirits on that particular day!

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    In Clueless, Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone), Dionne (Stacey Dash), Murray (Donald Faison), and Tai (Brittany Murphy) venture outside of Beverly Hills for the evening in order to attend a high school party being held at a house located in the dreaded “Valley”.  As you can see below, the party house still looks very much the same today as it did back in 1995 when Clueless was filmed, minus the Christmas decorations, of course.  Even the exterior metal stairway railing leading up to the front porch is still there!  Love it, love it, love it!  And, as fate would have it, I had a little Clueless moment of my very own right as we pulled up to the residence and I heard the thump-thump-thump of a nearby helicopter.  If you’ll recall, a helicopter happened to be flying overhead during the Clueless party scene when Cher was on the phone with her father, causing him to ask if she was in Kuwait, to which she replied, “Is that in the Valley?”  LOL LOL LOL  Man, I love that movie!

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    While we were snapping pics of the house, the owners happened to come outside and were nice enough to chat with us for a bit.  They informed us that the filming of the party scene took a whopping two weeks to complete and that the real life interior of the property, including the kitchen where Elton (whom I just realized was played by actor Jeremy Sisto!) revived Tai and the bathroom where Murray shaved his head, was used in the shoot.

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    The actual backyard and pool area also appeared in the movie.  I was so hoping the owners would invite me inside for a little tour, but, unfortunately, that did not happen.  Winking smile

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    An aerial view of the backyard, courtesy of Bing, is pictured below.  As you can see, the green fence that once surrounded the pool is now, sadly, gone.

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    In real life, the Clueless party house, which was originally built in 1963, boasts 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 2,716 square feet of living space, and 0.54 acres of land.  The owners informed us that producers ended up choosing their home for the filming because they thought that it looked like the archetypal “Valley” residence.  And I have to say that I agree with them.  The Clueless party house is extremely reminiscent of another famous Valley dwelling – the home where Jan, Cindy, Marcia and the rest of the Brady clan lived on fave show The Brady Bunch.

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    Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

    Stalk It: The Clueless party house is located at 16401 Knollwood Drive in Granada Hills.

  • The Knots Landing Cul-De-Sac

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     The first time I heard about the wildly popular 80s primetime soap opera Knots Landing  was when it was referenced in the Season 2 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210  entitled “Wild Fire”.  In the episode, after getting into a fight with Brenda over Dylan McKay’s affections, Emily Valentine announces “This isn’t Beverly Hills, it’s Knots Landing! When I got to school they should have given me a scorecard instead of a class schedule so I could keep track of everyone’s boyfriends.”  LOL  Love it!  But for my good friend and fellow stalker, Kerry, during her teenage years  Knots Landing was her 90210.   She loved the show so much, in fact, that one day she actually called up the production company and asked where the famous cul-de-sac from the series was really located.  And they told her!  See why we’re such good friends?  🙂  So, since I was in the area this weekend, I decided to stalk it!   

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    The Knots Landingseries, which has the distinction of being one of the longest running primetime dramas in the history of television, centered around the happenings of a group of families living in a beachside cul-de-sac named Seaview Circle.  In real life that cul-de-sac is known as Crystalaire Place and it is not located anywhere near the beach.  It’s actually in Granada Hills in L.A.’s San Fernando Valley.  Producers actually edited the beach into the series opening credits to make it appear as if the cul-de-sac overlooked the ocean.  LOL  

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    Even though I’ve never seen even one episode of the series, I was still super excited to be stalking the famous Knots Landing  cul-de-sac.  All I could think about while I was there was how cool it would be if  Wisteria Lane from TV’s Desperate Housewives  was a real life residential street that fans could visit.  🙂  I realize that people can stalk the Wisteria Lane set at Universal Studios, but somehow it’s just not the same.  screenshot884

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    All in all, five houses on Crystalaire Place were used in the filming of Knots Landing, including the Ewing house;

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    the Mackenzie house;

     

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    the Cunningham house; 

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    the Avery house;

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    and the Ward house.

    I am happy to report that aside from some minor changes like paint color, all of the houses are very recognizable from the series.  🙂  If you were at all a fan of Knots Landing, I highly recommend stalking Crystalaire Place.  And please excuse some of my photos.  I stalked the cul-de-sac on a very bright day and in some of the pictures my camera picked up quite a glare.  🙁

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    Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

    Stalk It: The Knots Landing  cul-de-sac is really Crystalaire Place in Granada Hills.  Gary Ewing’s house is at 16966 Crystalaire Place.  Karen Mackenzie’s house is at 16972.  The Avery house is number 16975.  The Cunningham house is at 16969.  And the Ward home can be found at 16961.