Palm Springs – Page 2 – IAMNOTASTALKER

December 22, 2015December 21, 2015

Robolights – One of the World’s Most Unusual Christmas Displays

I’ve been lamenting to the Grim Cheaper lately about Palm Springs’ lack of Christmas décor. Sure there are some lights displayed in various shopping centers and on downtown streetlights, but overall the desert just doesn’t have the feeling of the holidays – at least not when compared to Los Angeles. There is one Movie Colony-area home, though, that takes decorating to a whole new level. The residence is known as Robolights and, while it is actually adorned year-round, come December it is transformed into a very unusual winter wonderland.

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The Grim Cheaper and I stumbled upon Robolights during one of our very first trips to the desert a good ten or so years ago and we could hardly believe our eyes. The attraction – though it is a private residence, “attraction” seems a better word to describe the place – was the brainchild of a twelve-year-old boy named Kenny Irwin Jr., who began building a robot display using scrap materials in the yard of his family’s Palm Springs home in 1986.

As Kenny grew, so did his Robot-themed exhibit. His family’s 5-bedroom, 4-bath, 3,931-square-foot home sits on almost two acres of land and, today, almost every square inch of it is covered with the installation. Instead of being overwhelmed by the massive display that has taken over the property, Irwin’s family is understanding, even encouraging of his art. In a recent Los Angeles Times article about Robolights, Kenny’s father described the residence as Kenny’s “canvas” on which “he can create anything that he imagines.” Something tells me my parents would not be nearly as accepting if I became impassioned to build something similar at their home. Winking smile

Like Walt Disney said of Disneyland, Robolights will never be completed. Kenny works on the exhibit day in and day out, creating new sculptures and display elements out trash and discarded scrap materials. Currently, over 200 statues dot the property, some of them close to 50 feet tall! His neighbors seem to be as understanding of the project as his parents. According to the Times article, many of the objects used in his sculptures were donated by nearby residents.

Kenny describes Robolights as an “artistic wonderland” that “comprises close to a thousand tons worth of junk that I’ve transformed into art that would have otherwise ended up in landfills.” Indeed, the place is a brightly-colored dreamland of almost post-apocalyptic effigies, the likes of which I can pretty much guarantee you won’t find anywhere else.

Though not a filming location, the installation has brought Kenny some fame over the years. In 2010, Conan O’Brien pegged him to decorate the Conan set for the holidays. The result is pictured below. You can watch a video of its unveiling here. Kenny also designed a temporary 400-square-foot Christmas-and-robot-themed exhibit titled “Have Yourself a Happy Little Robotmas” for Baltimore’s American Visionary Art Museum in 2013.

Kenny’s main focus, though, is Robolights. The attraction can be viewed from the street year-round . . .

. . . but it really comes alive during the holidays.

Come Christmastime, Kenny decks the place out with close to 9 million twinkle lights and, for a suggested $5 donation, welcomes guests onto his property to get an up-close view of his version of a winter wonderland. Robolights has become a holiday staple for desert denizens, with more than 20,000 visitors walking through it each year.

Kenny describes the celebratory display as a “fusion of robotic, holiday and extraterrestrial themes giving visitors a holiday experience like no other.” Sadly, the GC and I have yet to visit Robolights during Christmastime, but are hoping to make it out there this year. You can see some photographs of it in all of its yuletide glory here and here. Even a non-holiday visit, though, allows for a completely unique and awe-inspiring experience.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Robolights is located at 1077 East Granvia Valmonte in Palm Springs. You can visit the property’s Facebook page here. The holiday display is currently running nightly from 4 to 9:30 p.m. through January 3rd. Though admission is free, a $5 donation is requested.

October 14, 2015August 20, 2020

The Orchid Tree Inn

It’s no secret that there’s nothing this stalker loves more than an abandoned site. Throw in a waterless pool and I am an even happier camper. So a couple of months ago when I passed by an abandoned motel that appeared extremely accessible in downtown Palm Springs, I immediately pulled the car over for a closer look. I came to find out the property was a shuttered 1930s-era hotel known as the Orchid Tree Inn and that it not only boasted three pools, but had been deserted for over a decade. My kinda place!

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The Orchid Tree Inn is a sprawling, ramshackle property that takes up almost an entire block of land. That was not always the case, though. The motel, which was founded in 1934 by a man named Horace L. Cook, was originally established as a tiny 10-bungalow complex known as the Sakarah Apartments. The site offered both short- and long-term lodging. The original ten units still stand to this day. One is pictured below.

A reader who is a distant relative of Horace recently sent me scans of the property’s original advertising pamphlet! The booklet boasts of mountain and desert views, a roof garden, gas heating, breakfast nooks, and “tasteful, early Californian furniture.”

She also sent me the photograph below and informed me that the Sakarah was named after a favorite cat. Couldn’t love that more!

When Horace decided to relocate to Los Angeles in 1941, he sold the property to Beverly Hills contractor Harry Irvin, who renamed it the Apache Lodge.

By 1948, the name had been changed yet again, this time to the Bel-Ardo Villas. The complex was finally given its current moniker, the Orchid Tree Inn, in 1952. A pool was also added to the property’s central courtyard at that time. You can check out some postcard images of what the site looked like in those days here and here. The area featured on the postcards is the same area pictured below. As you can see, despite the hotel being abandoned for over a decade, it still looks very much the same today as it did then.

During its heyday, the Orchid Tree Inn played host to several Old Hollywood celebrities including William Holden, Troy Donahue, Tab Hunter, Anthony Perkins, and Rosalind Russell.

Over the years, the owners of the inn purchased the many different properties surrounding it. It eventually came to be made up of seven different structures and complexes, the oldest of which, a private residence, dated back to 1915. The home, which was Craftsman in style, belonged to a Christian Science Practitioner named Genevieve Reilly for over 45 years. Sadly, it was destroyed in a fire in 2007 and all that currently remains of it is the stone archway pictured below.

According to a Historic Site Preservation Board report done on the Orchid Tree Inn in 2010, the archway was hand-laid.

From what I have been able to gather, I believe that the large stone pad visible below was the bungalow’s footprint.

A faraway view showing the footprint, the archway, and the motel units beyond and adjacent to them is pictured below.

At some point (I believe in the ‘90s), the Orchid Tree Inn acquired a neighboring motel known as the Desert House Inn that was originally built in 1941.

The Desert House Inn’s dry, but intact pool . . .

. . . hot tub . . .

. . . and fountain practically had me drooling!

While most of the Orchid Tree Inn’s acquisitions were Spanish in style, there was one mid-century modern building formerly located on the premises. When the nearby Premiere Apartments, originally designed by prolific architect Albert Frey in 1957, were threatened with demolition in 1972, the entire complex was moved onto a vacant plot of land on the Orchid Tree Inn premises. Sadly, that building was also burned in a fire in 2007 and no longer stands. It was formerly situated in the area pictured below.

The Google Street View images below were taken in 2007 and show what the Premiere Apartments looked like shortly after the fire. And you can check out some photocopied pictures of the building in its original state here.

The pool located behind the Premiere Apartments remains intact.

After over seven decades in business, the Orchid Tree Inn was shuttered in 2005 and has remained vacant ever since.

The hotel’s former owners held an estate sale during which its furnishings were sold in 2010. You can check out some photographs of the many items put up for sale here.

I was shocked – and delighted – at how photographically accessible the Orchid Tree Inn is.

Virtually all of the property is visible from the street.

Even through the chipped paint and crackling walls, it is apparent how beautiful it once was.

On a neighboring parcel of land sits the former Community Church, which was devastated by a fire in 2013. It has been left charred and dilapidated ever since.

The church was originally designed in 1935 by William Charles Tanner.

Developer Richard Weintraub is currently seeking the city’s approval to turn the Orchid Tree Inn and the Community Church into an 89-room luxury resort. He plans to revive the ten historic bungalows in the process. The property renderings looks absolutely gorgeous and, being that many portions of the original hotel will be kept intact, I hope the plans are approved and that new life is brought to the site. In the meantime, though, I sure enjoy passing by it in its current state.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Orchid Tree Inn is located at 261 South Belardo Road in Palm Springs. The aerial view below denotes the many different properties that were added to the hotel throughout its history and what year they were originally built.

September 18, 2015September 17, 2015

Triada Palm Springs

For those who are unfamiliar with the area, Palm Springs is HOT in the summer. Well, it’s hot year-round, but in the summer it’s hot hot – like 115 most days. One nice consequence of that fact is that hotels drop their prices during the inclement months. My family loves to partake of the low rates with short staycations in various area hotels. Last week, we had the pleasure of checking into Triada Palm Springs. Though not a filming location, the place does have quite a few celebrity ties, so I figured it was most definitely blog-worthy.

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I was unfamiliar with Triada until my mom booked our recent stay and was under the assumption that it was newly-built. Upon checking in, I got to talking with the front desk clerk about the hotel’s history (as I am always apt to do) and was shocked to discover that the place has a ton of it! Though the property opened as Triada less than a year ago, its origins date back to the 1920s!

The man who checked us in turned out to be Triada’s sales manager and, prior to the hotel’s opening last November, he put together an extensive article on the site’s past, including its ties to Tinseltown. He lit up when I began asking for information (turns out he is just as big of a Hollywood history buff as I am) and even offered to give me a tour of the historic parts of the property. I, of course, took him up on that offer and was thrilled with what I learned.

The property now known as Triada was originally a private residence built between 1927 and 1929. Owned by a woman named Lucy Berry, it was the first home to be constructed in the Palm Springs Estates neighborhood. The dwelling was situated on the southeast corner of East Via Altamira and North Indian Canyon Drive, in the area where Triada’s Alma Building, which houses the hotel’s lobby, business center and restaurant, now stands.

It is thought that portions of the lobby (pictured below) may be original to Lucy’s house.

In 1934, Lucy sold her home to a venture capitalist named David Margolius, who planned to use it as a winter residence. It was not long before he changed course, though, and decided to capitalize on Palm Spring’s growing tourism industry by transforming the property into a hotel. He converted Lucy’s home into a small inn and then began purchasing the land surrounding it. By 1938, he had acquired the neighboring 1.4 acres and that same year began constructing a building and a courtyard, the design of which was reminiscent of his favorite city, Barcelona. Today, that building is Triada’s Mente Building (pictured below).

As you can see in the photograph below as compared to this picture from the book Palm Springs in Vintage Postcards, Mente looks almost exactly the same today as it did when it was originally built.

The archways pictured in this 1943 photograph are also part of the Mente Building. The side of the arches that appears in the historic image has since been covered over with shrubbery, so I was not able to snap a matching photo. The picture below is taken from the opposite direction, but it still shows how little of the archways has changed in the ensuing 72 years.

Margolius named his inn The Ambassador Apartment Hotel and it was opened to the public in 1939. It quickly became a success. You can check out some pictures of the place in those early days here, here and here. In 1947, Margolius added a swimming pool to the property, which you can see a photograph of here. Sadly, that pool has since been filled in and the Triada’s Corazon Building now stands in its place. The Corazon’s central courtyard (pictured below) is situated in pretty much the exact spot where the former pool was located.

In 1948, Margolius renamed the site The Ambassador Hotel. To accommodate his growing patronage in the years that followed, he expanded Lucy’s former residence by adding two large wings with guest rooms, the first in 1951 and the second in 1956.

Celebrities flocked to The Ambassador. Such luminaries as Tyrone Power, Lana Turner, Jimmy Durante, Esther Williams, and Italian opera singer Amelita Galli-Curci are all reported to have stayed there. It is said that Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton trysted at the hotel on more than one occasion and typically did so in the Penthouse, aka Room 125, the entrance to which is pictured below.

Room 125 boasts its own private stairwell and entrance, which afforded the two the ultimate in privacy during their stays.

Howard Hughes preferred Room 312 in what is now the Mente Building. Since Triada took over, more than a few strange happenings have occurred in that particular suite. Apparently, shortly before opening, a photographer was set to snap some publicity shots of the hotel and several of the rooms, one of which was 312. The space was dressed prior to the shoot, but when the photographer stepped inside, he found that the never-been-used sheets had been removed from the bed, balled up and stashed in a corner. Perhaps Hughes enjoyed his time at The Ambassador so much that he chose to move in permanently in the afterlife – and bring his eccentric habits with him.

After Margolius’ death in 1969, his widow sold the 34-room hotel to an Italian-American family. They sold the property just a few years later, in 1972, to Sue Ladd, actor Alan Ladd’s widow. She renamed the site Alan Ladd’s Spanish Inn and during her tenure as owner, many of Ladd’s Hollywood friends and contemporaries stayed on the premises.

Sue passed away in 1982 and her estate sold the hotel five years later. The new owners renamed the place The Spanish Inn and set about remodeling it, but wound up going bankrupt less than a year after acquiring the property and Ladd’s estate subsequently foreclosed. The Spanish Inn was eventually shuttered in 1994 and, outside of a few attempts at renovating it, sat abandoned for the two decades that followed. When I found this information out, I just about fell over. A long abandoned property in Palm Springs that I never had the chance to view? How is that possible? I did just discover and stalk a different abandoned hotel in the area that I will be blogging about during my Haunted Hollywood postings, though, so I guess there’s that. I am already counting down the days until those posts! Why can’t it be October yet?

After being bought, sold and partially renovated several times, The Spanish Inn was finally purchased by Pacifica Host Hotels in 2012. The company completed the many different renovations that had been started on the site, all the while preserving as much of its history as possible. As you can see in the aerial images pictured below, the first of which was taken in 2000 by architect James A. McBride II, the site still looks very much the same today as it did prior to the remodels. Notice that in the 2011 aerial view, the second pool in the courtyard of the Mente Building had yet to be built. (Bing Maps does not currently provide a more recent aerial image, unfortunately.)

Triada, which is Spanish for “three related parts,” opened its doors on November 22nd, 2014. The Marriott Autograph Hotel boasts three wings, 56 rooms, two pools, a hot tub, a restaurant, two bars, and a gym. Its motto is “exactly like nothing else” and my family found that absolutely to be true. Triada is an incredibly special place and we loved our time there. Not only is the property gorgeous and peaceful and the rooms fabulously modern and sleek (I could happily live in one of the rooms!), but the customer service is bar none. We are already eager to return. In fact, my dad is currently making plans to do so. I, for one, can’t wait.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Triada Palm Springs is located at 640 North Indian Canyon Drive in Palm Springs. You can visit the hotel’s official website here.

July 14, 2015July 13, 2015

That Pink Door

I have yet to really hop aboard the Pinterest bandwagon, but I know I’m in the minority on that one. Those who are Pinterest-philes are most definitely familiar with what has come to be known as “That Pink Door.” That Pink Door is actually the brightly-hued front door of a residence in the Indian Canyons neighborhood of Palm Springs. The home also pops up regularly on Instagram (do a search for #thatpinkdoor and you’ll be inundated with blush-colored images) as well as on countless fashion blogs, which is how I came to discover it. I have long been obsessed with fashion blogger Julia Engel, of Gal Meets Glam. Back in May, Julia, her BFF Jordan Jones and their friend Vero Suh visited Palm Springs for what they dubbed a “Best Bebs Weekend.” While in town, they snapped some photos at That Pink Door. When I saw the pics pop up on Julia, Jordan and Vero’s respective websites, as well as the Style Me Pretty website, a few weeks later, I became enamored of the place – and was shocked that I had never heard of it before. So I immediately added it to my To-Stalk list and finally made it over there last week.

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I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that I totally stalked Julia while she was in town. I follow her on Snapchat (@galmeetsglam) and could tell from one of her videos that she was eating at Norma’s at the Parker Palm Springs. So I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on over there in the hopes of getting a pic with her. As it turns out, Julia could not have been nicer! Jordan and Vero were incredibly sweet, as well, and we all wound up chatting for a good ten minutes. I also ended up later purchasing the romper that Julia had on when we met, much to the GC’s chagrin. As I said, I am obsessed! I just think she’s adorable and has such a fabulous and unique fashion sense. If you haven’t checked out her website before, you definitely should! But I digress.

The That Pink Door residence is absolutely massive in person, much larger than I expected it to be.

The post and beam-style home was originally built in 1968 and boasts four bedrooms, five baths, 5,310 square feet and a 0.57-acre plot of land.

The pad’s pink door came courtesy of interior designer Moises Esquenazi, who purchased the residence with his partner, Bryan Graybill, in 2004. At the time, the property was unkempt, outdated and begging for a remodel. The two quickly began redesigning the space into a mid-century modern dream home with such features as glass walls, two fireplaces, a billiard room with a sunken bar, a 75-foot pool with an inlaid tanning shelf, a 12-person spa, two outdoor bars, three fire pits, and an outdoor movie theatre. You can check out what the interior of the home looks like here. While pretty, I had hoped there would be a lot more pink.

The home’s cherry on top, of course, is the pastel pink front door. While Moises and Bryan sold the pad for a whopping $1,820,000 in 2008, the new owners have, thankfully, not touched the color of the door.

The residence has won many accolades, including being featured as one of the “Best Homes in America” in the 25th Anniversary issue of Metropolitan Home magazine. Palm Springs Life also published a piece on it in November 2006. And while the property is said to have been featured on an HGTV program, for the life of me I cannot figure out which program. If anyone happens to know, please fill me in.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: “That Pink Door” is located at 1100 East Sierra Way in the Indian Canyon area of Palm Springs.

August 15, 2014August 14, 2014

The Racquet Club of Palm Springs

On July 24th, while waiting in line for my morning coffee, my eyes wandered over to a nearby newspaper stand and landed on the headline Historic Racquet Club Hotel Destroyed in Fire. My heart immediately sank as the now vacant Racquet Club of Palm Springs is not only steeped in Hollywood history, but is rumored to be the spot where Marilyn Monroe was discovered in 1949. The thought that it had been decimated was devastating. My mom and I finally made it over there to survey the damage while we were in the area last week and found that the headline had been a bit exaggerated. Thankfully, the destruction was not nearly as bad as had been reported.

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I first stalked the Racquet Club in October 2008 (you can read that post here) and, despite the fire which gutted one structure and harmed three others, it looks much the same today as it did back then. In fact, while I was there with my mom, I could not figure out which of the buildings had been lost in the blaze. It was not until I got home and compared aerial views to news photographs that I was able to pinpoint it. The edifice destroyed was a two-story structure comprised of hotel rooms that had been built years after the Racquet Club initially opened. It is denoted with a pink arrow below. Thankfully, the property’s pool, its infamous Bamboo Room restaurant (where the Bloody Mary was invented), the bungalows and the Albert Frey-designed Schiff House remain intact.

That being said, the structures that do still stand are not in great shape and haven’t been for years.

The members-only Racquet Club of Palm Springs was founded by actors Charlie Farrell and Ralph Bellamy (who played James Morse in Pretty Woman) in 1934. At the time, the 53-acre site consisted of two tennis courts and a snack bar. Bellamy and Farrell sold off a majority of the land shortly after the club’s opening, leaving behind 11 acres. A pool was added to the property in 1935, the Bamboo Room in 1937 and 35 guest cottages in 1946.

Due to the fact that the public was kept out, the Racquet Club became an instant celebrity hot spot. Such stars as Audrey Hepburn, Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, John Barrymore, Natalie Wood, Robert Wagner, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Debbie Reynolds, Eddie Fisher, Elizabeth Taylor, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Carole Lombard, Clark Gable, Rita Hayworth, Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh all spent time there. Their goings-on were reportedly quite raucous – so much so that The Charles Farrell Show, a television program based upon the club’s revelries, soon hit the airwaves. (The pictures below were taken during my 2008 visit.)

Legend has it that my girl Miss Marilyn Monroe was discovered by the Racquet Club of Palm Springs’ pool. (You can see the pool in the pictures below, which were also taken during my 2008 stalk.) As the story goes, photographer Bruno Bernard brought a blue bikini-clad Marilyn to the club as his guest and snapped images of her standing in heels on the property’s diving board. It did not take long for William Morris agent Johnny Hyde to sit up and take notice. He became enamored with the young starlet and quickly took her under his wing. The rest is history. You can read a story about the Racquet Club encounter, told by Bernard’s daughter, here.

The Racquet Club went through a succession of different owners in its later years and, though its popularity had waned, it continued to be successful for the most part. In 1977, the site was purchased by M. Larry Lawrence, the same real estate developer who in 1973 restored San Diego’s Hotel Del Coronado (another Marilyn Monroe locale) and turned it into a premiere destination. Lawrence did not have the same luck with his Palm Springs acquisition. In 1986, he decided to open the property to the public. The club’s heyday had long since passed, but its loss of exclusivity delivered the final blow. The bungalows were eventually auctioned off to individual buyers. The public areas were then sold in 1999 to developer Bernard Rosenson who planned to turn the premises into a gay and lesbian retirement community. Rosenson spent three years and millions of dollars restoring the historic club, but his idea never took off and the site was shuttered in 2003. At some point thereafter, it went into foreclosure and was taken over by the bank.

New owners purchased the club from the bank in 2011 and, while there were talks of restoring it, it has been left untouched ever since, sitting vacant and dilapidated with no sign as to what its future holds. I sincerely hope someone steps in soon to rehabilitate the historic property. I, for one, would love to sip a Bloody Mary in the very room where the drink was created and jump off the very diving board on which Marilyn Monroe was discovered.

For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Racquet Club of Palm Springs is located at 2743 North Indian Canyon Drive in Palm Springs.

May 9, 2014May 9, 2014

The Open Houses from “Hidden Away”

I know what you’re probably thinking after reading today’s title – she sure has stalked a lot of locations from a movie she professes not to have liked. And you’re right. But what can I say? The fact that there are filming locales in my current hometown that have yet to be unearthed is like an itch that has to be scratched. As I’ve said before, unknown locations are like kryptonite to this stalker. Which is why I recently found myself searching for the two residences that real estate agent Alexandra (Emmanuelle Vaugier) was trying to sell in Hidden Away, the ridiculously terrible Lifetime Original Movie that first aired last July.

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The first open house scene appears towards the beginning of Hidden Away, as the flick jumps ahead ten years to show Alexandra, who has moved to Palm Springs and changed her identity in order to escape her abusive husband Andrew (Ivan Sergei), in her new life as a real estate agent.

I tracked down the property thanks to an address number of 1075 that was visible on the curb in the scene. From there, I searched blocks bearing addresses in the 1000-range near downtown Palm Springs, where I figured the residence was most likely to be located, and fairly quickly found the right spot at 1075 East Via Colusa in the Movie Colony neighborhood.

In real life, the 1971 home features four bedrooms, four baths, a whopping 4,168 square feet of living space and a 0.38-acre plot of land. It last sold in December 2001 for $900,000.

The second open house scene takes place the following day in the movie. In it, a private investigator named Sloan (Melrose Place’s Thomas Calabro), who was hired by Andrew, crashes Alexandra’s latest listing in order to gain intel on her.

Thankfully, an address number – of 1020 – was visible on the curb in this scene, as well. Because it was also in the 1000-range, I had a hunch the property might be located close to the first open house. So I did a quick Google search for 1020 East Via Colusa and, sure enough, it was the right spot!

The home, which was built in 1974, boasts three bedrooms, two baths, 2,097 square feet and a 0.41-acre plot of land. It last sold in March 2003 for $510,000. Sadly though, not much of the place can be seen from the street.

The residence also pops up in a second scene in Hidden Away in which Alexandra’s partner, Lynn (Elisabeth Rohm), is kidnapped at gunpoint by Andrew.

The interior of the house was used in the filming, as well.

The backyard was also utilized, but it masqueraded as the backyard of the 1075 East Via Colusa home, oddly enough.

As you can see, the shape of the pool and the large white gazebo of the backyard that appeared onscreen match those of the home at 1020 East Via Colusa, which is pictured below via aerial views.

The backyard of the 1075 East Via Colusa home, which is pictured below, does not match the backyard featured in Hidden Away.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The first open house from Hidden Away is located at 1075 East Via Colusa in Palm Springs’ Movie Colony neighborhood. The second open house is located across the street at 1020 East Via Colusa.

May 2, 2014May 1, 2014

The “Hidden Away” House

As I mentioned in my post about Azul Tapas Lounge, I was not a fan of the 2014 Lifetime Original Movie Hidden Away, which was filmed largely in Palm Springs. I was a huge fan of the ultra-modern abode where the main character, Stephanie/Alexandra (Emmanuelle Vaugier), lived with her daughter, Rachel (Allie Gonino), in the flick, though, and became a bit fixated on tracking it down and stalking it. And while I did manage to find the dwelling quite easily, because it is located inside of a gated community, I was only able to stalk the front gates and, unfortunately, never got to see the actual home in person.

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Tracking down the property was a quick endeavor thanks to this 2013 article, which stated that the home was located in Palm Springs’ Alta neighborhood, and the fact that the number “245” was visible on the exterior of the residence in several scenes. From there I just looked at aerial views of all houses in the Alta community bearing that number and it wasn’t long before I found the place at 245 Patel Place.

After faking her death to escape her abusive husband and collecting on her own $250,000 life insurance policy, Stephanie changes her name to Alexandra, flees to Palm Springs, and settles into the stunning modern-style home pictured below. Now I realize that $250,000 is a considerable amount of money and, if invested wisely, could lead to an even more considerable amount, but I still found it a bit laughable that a woman who left everything behind and changed her identity could afford such a massive property. (RealEstate.com currently estimates the home’s value at $1.485 million.) Plus, wouldn’t someone living on the run be trying to keep a low profile?

The interior of the residence (which you can see photographs of here) was used quite extensively in the filming. Shown onscreen were the entrance (the front door is uh-ma-zing!);

kitchen;

living room [that’s Alexandra’s abusive ex-husband, Andrew (Ivan Sergei), pictured below setting up cameras all over the house in order to spy on her];

one of the bedrooms;

and backyard. As I said, the dwelling is absolutely stunning!

In real life, the house, which was built in 2006, features 4,000 square feet of living space, four bedrooms, five baths, a gourmet kitchen, two dishwashers (because one is just never enough), a double oven, seven (!) plasma TVs, including a 50-inch outdoor screen, an infinity pool, a hot tub that can hold up to 14 people, two fire pits, an outdoor gas fireplace, an in-wall espresso machine (um, yes please!), and ten-foot “disappearing” sliding glass walls and doors.

Outside of the front gate, though, there isn’t a whole lot to see, sadly.

You can watch a YouTube video showing interior photographs of the house by clicking below and you can check out the residence’s vacation rental website by clicking here. The pad currently rents for $1,300 to $2,000 a night!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Alexandra and Rachel’s house from Hidden Away is located at 245 Patel Place in Palm Springs. The home is inside of a gated community and is not visible from the street.

April 21, 2014April 29, 2014

The Salton Sea

About fifty miles southeast of Palm Springs lies the Salton Sea, a former resort destination that I had wanted to stalk ever since seeing Troy Paiva’s haunting images of the place on his website Lost America. Due to the fact that it is largely abandoned and hence lacking in public restrooms, I hesitated making the trek out there. (I suffer from an abnormally small bladder.) Then, while my best friend Robin was in town in mid-March, the Grim Cheaper convinced me that it was time to finally make the trip. Sadly, as we discovered, many of the abandoned structures that Paiva had pictured on his site were demolished in 2008. Being there still turned out to be quite an experience, though, to say the least. [There are several abandoned and semi-abandoned towns lining the shores of the Salton Sea – Bombay Beach, Niland, and Slab City (yes, that’s a place), just to name a few. We hit them all. This post will solely be focused on the North Shore and the Sea itself, with future posts about the other areas to come.]

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The Salton Sea was created accidentally in 1905 when runoff from the Colorado River broke through levees and flooded a large valley known as the Salton Sink. The deluge, which lasted for two years, left behind a 380-square-mile inland sea (the largest inland body of water in California – yes, it’s bigger than Lake Tahoe!) situated 228 feet below sea level. It was dubbed the “Salton Sea.”

Developers, recognizing the potential of the picturesque coastal site, started building resorts and marinas (including the North Shore Beach and Yacht Club – pictured above and below – which was designed by legendary architect Albert Frey in 1962) in the region in the 1950s. It wasn’t long before the Salton Sea became a luxury getaway destination and even celebrities flocked to the area for fishing, sunbathing and waterskiing. Just a few of the stars who spent time there include Sonny Bono, Frank Sinatra, Rock Hudson, Dean Martin, The Beach Boys, The Marx Brothers and Jerry Lewis.

The region’s tenure as a resort destination was short-lived. Agricultural runoff, containing fertilizer, pesticide and salt, from nearby farms continued to flow to the Salton Sea, at the same rate that the expanse was naturally evaporating. Because neither salt nor fertilizer evaporate, the salinity of the lake, as well as its toxicity, increased year after year. This caused a large growth of algae, which drained the sea of oxygen, which in turn killed off the fish population. Dead fish remains began to wash ashore, littering the once beautiful beaches. Birds wound up feeding on those dead fish and, in turn, also died. The thousands upon thousands of animal carcasses that papered the shoreline created a horrific smell that permeated the area. People started to flee. Then, in 1976 and 1977, two large storms hit the region, submerging many of the marinas, clubs, motels and neighborhoods. Residents vacated the Salton Sea in droves, leaving behind homes, cars and other structures. They were never to return.

It was the North Shore Beach and Yacht Club, which was shuttered and left abandoned in 1984, as well as the neighboring North Shore Motel and its pool, and a large Texaco gas station sign that I most wanted to see. Sadly, the motel, pool and Texaco sign are all long gone and the Yacht Club was completely refurbished in 2010 (it now serves as a special events center). You can check out some photographs of what they used to look like here.

Today, the abandoned sites are few and far between.

The ones that still stand are sufficiently eerie, though.

From afar, the Salton Sea is quite beautiful, with bright blue waters.

A closer glance reveals that beauty to be an illusion, though. In reality, the waters of the Salton Sea are a murky brown. The blue hue is simply a reflection of the sky.

The white shoreline hides its own secrets.

In truth, the “sand” of the Salton Sea is mainly comprised of crushed fish skeletons . . .

. . . as well as dead fish. It is an absolutely eerie place to visit.

Thanks to its apocalyptic landscape, the Salton Sea has been immortalized onscreen numerous times over the years. The flooded out house where Jim Henry (Richard Conte) lived in 1954’s Highway Dragnet was said to be located at the Salton Sea and I am fairly certain that filming actually took place there, as well. Because the area has changed so drastically over the ensuing sixty years, I was unable to confirm that, though.

I do know for certain – thanks to this 2006 Los Angeles Times article – that the interior of Jim’s house was a set and not the interior of an actual Salton Sea residence.

In 1957, the sea was where prehistoric mollusk mutations were discovered in The Monster That Challenged the World. The narration that opens the film states, “This is the Salton Sea in Southern California – a strange phenomenon in which nature has placed four hundred square miles of salt water in the middle of an arid desert.” Aside from the aerial view of the area shown during that narration, I do not believe any other filming took place there.

The region was also used for flashback scenes in which Tom Van Allen (Val Kilmer) thinks back to a time when his wife, Liz (Chandra West), was still alive in 2002’s aptly-named The Salton Sea.

In the book Hollywood Escapes, the film’s director D.J. Caruso is quoted as saying, “I had flown over The Salton Sea many times and always wondered What the hell is that down there, and why is it called a sea? After reading the first draft of Tony Gayton’s screenplay The Salton Sea, I hopped into my car and made an impromptu trip out there. Upon arriving, I was overcome by the vastness of this body of water. It was indeed visually striking and I was moved by its haunted beauty. The images at the Salton Sea alone could have made a two-hour picture. I knew this place was the perfect companion to the soul of Val Kilmer’s character. What once was beautiful and full of hope, now was lost and searching for a way to survive.”

The North Shore Beach and Yacht Club masqueraded as the Aces & Spades dance club in the 2005 thriller The Island.

I am fairly certain that only the exterior of the Yacht Club was used in the filming and that the interior of the Ace & Spades was a set built elsewhere.

The North Shore Motel also appeared briefly in the movie.

Rock band Linkin Park shot the cover images for their 2007 album, Minutes to Midnight, at the Salton Sea.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Salton Sea is located off Highway 111, about 50 miles southeast of Palm Springs. The North Shore Beach and Yacht Club can be found at 99155 Sea View Drive in Mecca.

April 11, 2014April 10, 2014

Azul Tapas Lounge from “Hidden Away”

Last February, a film crew descended upon Palm Springs for 12 days to shoot the Lifetime Original Movie Hidden Away. Sadly, I never got to witness any of the filming, but I read numerous newspaper articles about the production and stalked a few of the locations mentioned, including Azul Tapas Lounge. Because we do not get the Lifetime channel, I was not able to watch the thriller (and I use that word loosely) until recently after it became available for download on iTunes. Regrettably, I can’t say that Hidden Away was any good. It was a bit painful to watch, truth be told. Film critic Jackie K. Cooper had this to say in his review of the flick for the Huffington Post, “What do you do when it is Saturday night and there is no Sharknado on to scoff at? Well you find something almost as idiotic and that is the Lifetime Original Movie Hidden Away. Yes, this is a movie so ridiculous that it will make you laugh in spite of yourself.” That’s a pretty spot-on analysis. I did absolutely LOVE seeing my new hometown onscreen, though, and figured its locations were still blog-worthy, regardless.

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Azul Tapas Lounge, one of downtown Palm Spring’s most popular restaurants, is located inside of the General Telephone Building, which was originally constructed for the California Water & Telephone company in 1934. The two-story Spanish Eclectic structure, which is a designated Palm Springs Historical Site, operated as a telephone switching center until 1984. Today, both floors comprise Azul, a tapas restaurant that also serves American fare such as burgers, wraps and pizza. There are even six different grilled cheese sandwich selections on the menu, as well as a build-your-own grilled cheese option with over forty different add-ons (think poblano peppers, basil pesto, and bacon) ! Um, count me in!

Azul’s crowning element, though, is its humongous outdoor patio, which is centered around a large bar and features glider-booths, aka covered, bench-style swings (LOVE!).

Azul has become something of a celebrity hot spot – well, for Palm Springs, anyway. Bo Derek, Cloris Leachman and Jane Russell have all dined there in the past and, according to Fab Magazine, Carol Channing even threw her 90th birthday party at the eatery. Hidden Away’s unit production manager Brian Nolan is also a fan of the restaurant, having hung out there during various trips to the desert, which is how it came to be used in the movie. In a 2013 Palm Springs Life article, Nolan is quoted as saying,, “I knew for this movie we needed a location like this and we needed a cool restaurant, cool patio, coffee kind of scenario. I called George [Kessinger, Azul’s owner] and he was completely open to it and very excited to have us.”

Azul was used three times, as three different restaurants, in Hidden Away. The interior first popped up as the fictional Blasini’s, in the scene in which Brett (Sean Patrick Flanery) proposed to his girlfriend, Alexandra (Emmanuelle Vaugier). Unbeknownst to Brett is the fact that Alexandra is actually named Stephanie and that she faked her death, as well as the death of her daughter, Rachel (Allie Gonino), ten years prior in order to escape her abusive husband, Andrew (Ivan Sergei).

Azul’s interior was dressed with twinkle lights and large bamboo plants for the shoot and, in person, looks quite a bit different than it did onscreen.

For the exterior of Blasini’s, producers used an establishing shot of LG’s Prime Steakhouse, located at 255 South Palm Canyon Drive. Unfortunately, I do not have any photographs of LG’s, so please excuse the Google Street View image below.

The exterior of Azul was used for some filming, as well. It popped up as the outside of the upscale eatery where Andrew first confronted Stephanie/Alexandra after tracking her down in Palm Springs.

Interior filming for that scene took place at Tinto restaurant, which is located inside of The Saguaro Palm Springs Hotel. Confused yet? There’s more. The exterior of The Saguaro appeared in Hidden Away, as well. I’ll save that information for a future post, though.

Azul’s patio area later masqueraded as a coffee shop towards the end of Hidden Away, in the scene in which Alexandra told her best friend, Lynn (Law & Order’s Elisabeth Rohm), that she had faked her death and that her abusive ex-husband was now stalking her. Andrew is not-surprisingly watching the two women from across the street, while playing with a cigarette lighter and contemplating how to do away with Lynn. Like I said, it’s not a great movie. Unless you’re familiar with Palm Springs and want to see the city onscreen, I definitely wouldn’t recommend it.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Azul Tapas Lounge, from Hidden Away, is located at 369 North Palm Canyon Drive in downtown Palm Springs.

January 8, 2014January 8, 2014

Colony 29 from “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”

After watching the Season 4 episodes of fave show The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills titled “Palm Spring Breakers” and “Escape to Bitch Mountain,” I became just a wee-bit obsessed with tracking down Colony 29, the sprawling enclave where the Housewives stayed during their brief desert visit. Fortunately, it wasn’t a tough find thanks to the Greater Palm Springs website which listed the address. So I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on over there on our way home from L.A. two weekends ago. (On a Bravo TV side note – the GC and I are now completely hooked on Vanderpump Rules. It is hands down THE BEST reality show since The Hills. I love, love, LOVE Stassi and have informed the GC that all I want for my birthday in June is dinner at Sur and a picture with Ms. Schroeder. He better be making reservations far in advance. Winking smile )

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Colony 29 was designed by Pasadena resident John Burnham, who built the property’s 4,500-square-foot main dwelling as his winter retreat in 1929 (hence the name). He later added a two-bedroom guest home and three smaller bungalows to the site between 1929 and 1937 to be used as retreats for his many visiting artist friends such as Maynard Dixon, Carl Eytel, John W. Hilton, Victor Clyde Forsyth, Jimmy Swinterton, Nicolai Fechin and Alson S. Clark. The place soon became a haven for artists and, according to Forbes magazine, was Palm Springs first gated community.

Sometime during the 1950s, Burnham sold the main house and two of the bungalows to Francis Crocker, the electrical engineer who conceived the oft-filmed-at Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. The Crocker family held onto the three dwellings until 1997 at which point they were purchased by a builder named Dave Johnston and his wife, Trudy. Dave and Trudy later purchased the guest home, third bungalow and remainder of the land that originally belonged to the property and, in 2002, moved into the main house with their three children. By that point, most of the site had fallen into a state of disrepair and the family spent the next ten years and millions of dollars restoring it. The landscaping alone cost $1 million to execute! The project was completed in 2012 and, while the original intention was to turn the place into a bed and breakfast, today, Colony 29 serves as a vacation rental and special events venue.

Today, Colony 29 boasts over 10,000 square feet of space, 6.5 acres of lands, thirteen bedrooms, two pools, three spas, six kitchens, an adult-sized tree house (love it!), a meditation garden, an outdoor massage area, an outdoor kitchen, covered patios, open-air showers, a fire pit terrace, a natural stream, a pond, a built-in stage, parking for 85 cars, two large outdoor event spaces, six outdoor “fire elements” and a grotto.

In the “Palm Spring Breakers” and “Escape to Bitch Mountain” episodes of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, new Housewife Jacqueline, ahem, Joyce Giraud de Ohoven (whom I canNOT stand, by the way) invites fellow cast members Lisa Vanderpump, Kyle Richards, Kim Richards, Yolanda Foster, Carlton Gebbia (whom I also canNOT stand) and my girl Brandi Glanville to the desert for a “relaxing” two-night getaway.

The trip does not turn out to be very relaxing for anyone, though (obvs), despite the idyllic setting. For some inexplicable reason, the episode was shot in June, when temperatures in Palm Springs average about 105 degrees, which I’m sure only added to the tension.

The real life interior of the estate was also shown in the episodes.

Besides the Housewives, interior designer Nate Berkus and actress Diane Keaton have also visited the property, and the Canadian reality show Operation Double did some filming there in 2012.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Colony 29, from the “Palm Spring Breakers” and “Escape to Bitch Mountain” episodes of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, is located at 147 South Tahquitz Drive in Palm Springs’ Historic Tennis Club neighborhood. You can visit the property’s official website here.