Huron Substation from “NCIS: New Orleans”

Huron Substation NCIS- New Orleans (22 of 25)

I have been a fan of the television show NCIS ever since it premiered in 2003.  While I never got into its 2009 spin-off, NCIS: LA, the Grim Cheaper and I recently caught the backdoor pilots for the series’ most recent offshoot, NCIS: New Orleans, and absolutely loved them.  I was also thrilled while watching to recognize the location used as the NCIS New Orleans field office in the episodes – it’s actually the Huron Substation located in Los Angeles’ Cypress Park.  Mike, from MovieShotsLA, had told me about the locale years ago because of its appearance in the movie Must Love Dogs, but for whatever reason, I had never stalked it.  Once it popped up on NCIS, though, I figured it was high time that I did and finally ventured on over there last week.

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The Huron Substation was originally constructed in 1906 in order to provide electricity for the Yellow Cars transit line.  As journalist Jean Merl explained in a 2009 Los Angeles Times article, “The trolleys, operated by Henry E. Huntington’s Los Angeles Railway, were the local counterpart to Pacific Electric Railway’s Red Cars, which covered four counties.  Both systems operated streetcars powered by electricity and required scores of substations to convert alternating current to the direct current used by the cars.”

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Huron Substation NCIS- New Orleans (5 of 25)
The massive, peaked-roof, brick structure was designed by civil engineer Edward Sigourney Cobb, who, according to the L.A. Times article, also helped to build Angels Flight, the famed funicular railway in Bunker Hill.

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Huron Substation NCIS- New Orleans (20 of 25)

The City of Los Angeles sold the Huron Substation at the end of the 1950s and the site proceeded to go through several incarnations, including stints as a signal manufacturing plant, a welding shop and a furniture workshop.

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The Huron Substation was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument on December 20th, 1988.  A short time later, the interior was completely destroyed in a fire.  Thankfully, then owner Bob Josten subsequently renovated the space, bringing it back to its original glory.

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Huron Substation NCIS- New Orleans (15 of 25)

In 2005, a woman named Meike Kopp purchased the property.  She uses the space as her private residence, but also rents it out for special events and filming – lots and lots of filming.

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Huron Substation NCIS- New Orleans (14 of 25)

It’s no wonder the site has become so popular with location scouts – the Huron Substation is nothing short of spectacular.  The interior is made up of sweeping 45-foot tall ceilings, huge arched windows, exposed brick, 12-foot high doors, an open first level that measures 32 by 46 feet, a second floor mezzanine, an enormous open staircase, and a large back patio.  You can check out some photographs of the interior here.  I can’t even imagine how cool it must be to live there!

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While I did not get to see the interior, I was able to catch a glimpse of the patio area through the back fence.  It, too, is pretty spectacular.

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NCIS: New Orleans was first introduced via the Season 11 episodes of NCIS titled “Crescent City” and “Crescent City: Part 2.”  The Huron Substation only appeared as the New Orleans NCIS field office in those two episodes.

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Once the series was picked up, filming moved to the Big Easy and a set of the field office was built on a studio soundstage.  You can see photographs of the set here.

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Though production designer Victoria Paul stated in a November 2014 NOLA.com article that the set’s design was inspired by the carriageway used in the establishing shots of the field office (pictured below), it is obvious that the general layout and look of the space, with the exposed brick walls, large open staircase, carriage door and second floor mezzanine, were at least in part modeled after the Huron Substation.  (The carriageway used on the series is located at approximately 723 St. Ann Street in New Orleans.)

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As I mentioned earlier, I recognized the Huron Substation in NCIS: New Orleans due to its appearance in Must Love Dogs. In the 2005 romcom, the property was where Jake (John Cusack) lived.  The upstairs area was used as his living space . . .

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. . . while the downstairs was used as the workspace for his boat.

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The Huron Substation was also extensively throughout 2001’s The Fast and the Furious as Dominic Toretto’s (Vin Diesel) garage.

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In 2003’s Malibu’s Most Wanted, the site stood in for a nightclub where Brad ‘B-Rad’ Gluckman (Jamie Kennedy) performed.

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Josh Groban’s 2006 “February Song” music video was filmed in its entirety inside of the Huron Substation.

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You can watch that video by clicking below.

The Jonas Brothers also shot their 2007 “Kids of the Future” video on the premises.

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You can watch that video by clicking below.

In the 2010 dramedy The Kids Are All Right, the Huron Substation masqueraded as WYSIWYG (an acronym for “What You See Is What You Get”), the restaurant owned by Paul (Mark Ruffalo).  The building was used extensively in the filming.  Areas utilized included the exterior;

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the patio;

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and the bottom floor, which was transformed considerably for the shoot.

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That same year, the Huron Substation was transformed into Lou Pine’s, “the oldest were [werewolf] bar in Mississippi,” for the Season 3 episodes of True Blood titled “It Hurts Me Too” and “9 Crimes.”

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The interior of the building appeared in the two episodes as well.

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The Huron Substation also stood in for the interior of New York’s Central Park Boathouse in the 2010 comedy Date Night, though the scene that took place there was rather dark making the space fairly unrecognizable onscreen.

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In 2012, the substation masked as the gym belonging to Chad Raber (Daniel Sobieray), a personal trainer who has been murdered, in the Season 1 episode of Major Crimes titled “Before and After.”

Huron Substation also appeared in the films Catwoman and Secretary and in episodes of Heroes and Dollhouse, though I am unsure of which episodes specifically.

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For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.

Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for telling me about this location!  Smile

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Huron Substation, from NCIS: New Orleans, is located at 2640 Huron Street in Cypress Park.  You can visit the property’s official website here.

Villa Restaurant from “Must Love Dogs”

Villa Restaurant Woodland Hills Must Love Dogs (42 of 47)

Some filming location finds turn out to be a disappointment in person while others wind up to be better than I ever could have imagined.  Today’s stalk – of Villa restaurant from the 2005 romantic comedy Must Love Dogs – was a little bit of both.

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For several months, I had been on a fruitless search for the outdoor eatery that appeared in the beginning of Must Love Dogs, in the scene in which Sarah Nolan (Diane Lane) showed up for a date with someone she met online only to discover that her date was actually her father, Bill (Christopher Plummer).  The bistro was absolutely adorable and reminded me quite a bit of Aroma Café in Studio City, one of my favorite spots in all of L.A.  Try as I might, though, I just could not seem to locate it.  I finally enlisted the help of fellow stalker Owen, from the When Write Is Wrong blog, and he found the place in record time.  A Google search of the terms  “restaurant, patio, fountain, San Fernando Valley,” led him to the website for Villa in Woodland Hills.  Images posted there proved it was the right spot.  Sadly though, the images also showed that the eatery had been remodeled in recent years and, in the process, seemed to have lost much of its charm.  I was heartbroken to learn of the renovation, but decided to stalk the place nonetheless.  As it turns out, despite the facelift, Villa is still quite spectacular.

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The space that currently houses Villa was originally the site of Eckberg’s Steakhouse, which was founded in the 1960s.  At the time, the property was a private home owned by Russ and Eleanor Eckberg.  Russ worked in the meat industry and, upon retiring, decided to convert the living room of his house into a small ten-table restaurant with an adjacent open kitchen.  And yes, Russ and Eleanor still lived on the premises.   When they fully retired in the late 1970s, the space was taken over by restaurateur John Makhani.  He remodeled and expanded the residence (keeping much of the original framing intact) and re-opened it in 1981.

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Villa Restaurant Woodland Hills Must Love Dogs (5 of 47)

The restaurant has gone through several incarnations under Makhani’s tutelage.  At one point, it was a French eatery named Lautrec and then later it became an Italian spot named Villa Piacere.  It was during its time as Piacere that Must Love Dogs was filmed on the premises.  Makhani decided to revamp the space again in 2012 and, with the help of designer Thomas Schoos, transformed both the interior and the exterior.

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Villa Restaurant Woodland Hills Must Love Dogs (35 of 47)

When it was re-opened, the “Piacere” was dropped from the name and the restaurant became known simply as “Villa.”

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The filming of Must Love Dogs took place on Villa Piacere’s back patio.

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As you can see below, that area, while still somewhat recognizable, looks significantly different today.

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Gone are the flowered tablecloths, country-style furniture and tiered water fountain.

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While I was originally disappointed to learn of the changes, I was pleasantly surprised when I stepped onto Villa’s patio.  In the photographs Owen had found online, the space looked sleek and cold, but in person, it turned out to be quaint, adorable and absolutely charming.  I fell in love with it on site!  So did Mike, from MovieShotsLA, who had joined me on the stalk, and we both promptly made plans to return there for dinner with our significant others in the near future.

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Villa Restaurant Woodland Hills Must Love Dogs (14 of 47)

The super-nice server whom we spoke with while we were there informed us that Villa had appeared onscreen numerous times over the years.  The interior of the eatery popped up in the 2013 biopic Jobs as the spot where Steve Jobs (Ashton Kutcher) made the decision not to give Daniel Kottke (Lukas Haas) any Apple stock options.

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A different exterior was used for the establishing shot of the restaurant in the scene.

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In the Season 4 episode of Parks and Recreation titled “Operation Ann,” the exterior of  Villa masked as the Bluebell Cafe.  Interiors were filmed at the Hamburger Hamlet in Sherman Oaks, though.  (Interiors from Season 2’s “Galentine’s Day” were also filmed at the Hamburger Hamlet.)

In the Season 1 episode of LeAnn & Eddie (and let’s hope that there only winds up to be one season of that train wreck of a show) titled “Babes and a Baby,” LeAnn Rimes dined at Villa with some of her childhood friends.

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Villa’s tree-canopied parking lot appeared in Buick’s recent “Hmm” commercial.

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The parking lot is absolutely gorgeous in person!  I can only imagine what it looks like at night all lit up.

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Villa Restaurant Woodland Hills Must Love Dogs (46 of 47)

You can watch the Buick “Hmm” commercial 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 fellow stalker Owen, from the When Write Is Wrong blog, for finding this location!  Smile

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Villa restaurant, from Must Love Dogs, is located at 22160 Ventura Boulevard in Woodland Hills.  You can visit the eatery’s official website here.

The “Must Love Dogs” House

Must Love Dogs House (5 of 11)

One location that I had always wondered about, but never put much time into tracking down was the charming bungalow where lovelorn preschool teacher Sarah Nolan (Diane Lane) lived in the 2005 romantic comedy Must Love Dogs.  Then, this past May, a fellow stalker named Linda challenged me to find the place and just a few days later I got an email from Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, with an address.  He had seen Linda’s challenge and decided to do a little digging and, lo and behold, found the locale.  Thank you, Geoff!

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Geoff was able to find the residence thanks to an address number of “1181” that was visible above the front porch in several scenes.  Figuring that the pad was most likely located in Pasadena due to its Craftsman-style architecture, he began searching 1100 blocks in the area and it was not long before he found the right spot.

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I was not at all disappointed when I finally saw the house in person.  The place is just as adorable and picturesque as it appeared to be onscreen.

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Must Love Dogs House (9 of 11)

In real life, the 1921 dwelling features four bedrooms, one bath, 1,874 square feet of living space and a 0.32-acre plot of land.  It was last sold for $280,000 in October 1997, which means that the people who own it today owned it at the time that Must Love Dogs was filmed.  Love that!  Wish I could have spoken to them while I was there.

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The exterior of Sarah’s residence popped up repeatedly throughout Must Love Dogs.

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Sadly, the gorgeous interior shown in the movie was just a set.

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I am absolutely in love with Sarah’s décor (hello, claw-foot tub!).  The entire place just looks so cozy and inviting.  You can read a great Hooked on Houses article about Sarah’s interior design style here.

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I managed to find some photographs of the real life interior of the residence online and, as you can see, it looks quite a bit different than what was shown onscreen.  Some of the set does appear to have been modeled after the actual home, though.  The built-in buffet in Sarah’s dining room is very similar to the property’s actual buffet.

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And her green tiled fireplace is also very reminiscent of the the real home’s fireplace.

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Sarah’s bedroom looks nothing like the real life master bedroom, though.

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The two kitchens do not resemble each other, either.  You can check out the real one here.

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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 Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, for finding this location!  Smile

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Sarah’s house from Must Love Dogs is located at 1181 East Elizabeth Street in Pasadena.

The Coffee Gallery from “The Office”

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A few weeks ago, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, told me about a coffee house in Altadena named the Coffee Gallery which was featured in the Season 4 episode of The Office titled “Chair Model”.  He figured that because the place was both a coffee shop and a filming location that it would be right up my alley!  And how right he was!  So, yesterday I stopped by my parents’ house in the hopes that I could talk either my mom or my dad into accompanying me to stalk the place as I needed someone to take a picture of me while there.  Thankfully, my dad acquiesced and just before we were leaving my mom happened to ask what it was exactly that I wanted to stalk.  When I told her we were heading to the Coffee Gallery she informed me that one of her neighbors, a woman named Julie, actually owns the place!  Well, let me tell you, I just about fell over when I heard that and immediately ran down to Julie’s house to give her the third degree!  How I never knew that my parents’ neighbor owned a coffee house when I am a complete and total coffee fiend is BEYOND me, but I digress.  Unfortunately, Julie wasn’t home when I stopped by, so I was not able to get any behind-the-scenes scoop about the filming.  I’ve left word with her son, though, that I am VERY interested in speaking with her, so if I do find out any good trivia, I will for sure share it with my fellow stalkers! 

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The Coffee Gallery is a very cool place to hang out – and I mean that both figuratively and literally!  While it is a super hip little spot, it is also blissfully air-conditioned and after walking in from the 95-degree heat yesterday, I vowed never to leave!  😉  The Coffee Gallery actually reminds me a LOT of a place in San Mateo called the Coffee Critic where I used to hang out pretty much every afternoon when I was in high school, so walking through those front doors yesterday felt like returning home.  In fact, the cafes are so similar it was striking!  My dad even commented on how much alike they look, but I digress once again.  The Coffee Gallery is cozy and inviting and the barista who waited on us could NOT have been nicer.  I can say with certainty that I will for sure be frequenting the place regularly from now on.  Oh, and they serve up some great coffee, too!  😉

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In the “Chair Model” episode of The Office, Pam Beesly (aka Jenna Fischer) sets up her boss, Michael Scott (aka Steve Carell), on a blind date with Margaret, her landlady.  The two decide to meet for the first time at the Coffee Gallery.

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At first, Michael mistakenly believes that the above-pictured blonde woman is Margaret, even though she explained to him that she has straight brown hair and that she will be wearing blue jeans and a black top.  When he first sees the blonde, though, he says, “I give her a ten for looks and a three for her ability to describe herself”.  LOL LOL LOL 

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When he finally meets the real Margaret, he blurts out, “Ugh!” and then proceeds to pretend that he is not actually Michael Scott.  He is found out, however, when the barista yells out his name to announce that his drink is ready.   God, I love The Office!

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The two then sit by the cafe’s front window and proceed to have a very awkward conversation about how “hot” Michael’s former girlfriend was. 

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The Coffee Gallery’s super nice barista also told me that the 2005 flick Must Love Dogs had been filmed on the premises, as well.  The exterior of the coffee house was featured in a scene towards the end of the movie in which Jack (aka John Cusack) meets his ex-girlfriend’s father, Bill (aka Christopher Plummer), for the first time.  According to the barista, the Coffee Gallery was left open during the filming of Must Love Dogs and both John Cusack and Christopher Plummer were extremely nice and posed for photographs with all of the people who stopped by on their morning coffee run.  Let me just say here that I would absolutely die if I showed up at my local coffee house one morning to find a movie being filmed!  Sigh!  🙂

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Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for finding this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: The Coffee Gallery from Must Love Dogs and the “Chair Model” episode of The Office is located at 2029 North Lake Avenue in Altadena.  You can visit their official website here.