Spanglish – IAMNOTASTALKER

July 1, 2010June 30, 2010

The “Spanglish” House

The Michael J. Fox Theatre in Burnaby, British Columbia, which I blogged about yesterday, was actually the very last Vancouver locale that I had logged away in my location library and, while I have a slew of Seattle area spots that I have yet to write about, I thought that for today I’d mix things up a bit by posting about a location that can be found right here in Southern California. So enjoy! A few weeks ago, fellow stalker Nick emailed me to let me know that he was in the process of trying to track down the residence belonging to John and Deborah Clasky (played by Adam Sandler and Tea Leoni, respectively) in the 2004 movie Spanglish. I was extremely excited upon hearing about this endeavor as the Spanglish house is one that I’ve long been wanting to stalk. Unfortunately, though, my father was in the hospital on the day that Nick emailed me, so I wasn’t able to offer him much help in the hunt. As it turns out, though, he didn’t need my assistance, after all, because less than 24 hours later he emailed me back with an address! Nick had read on IMDB’s Spanglish filming locations page that some filming of the movie had taken place on Stone Canyon Road in Bel Air, so he immediately got to searching the area via Google Street View and, lo and behold, found the house! YAY! Thank you, Nick!

So, since things have calmed down considerably regarding my dad’s health in recent weeks (he just had his final surgery to implant the permanent nerve block device last Friday evening and is feeling great!), I was finally able to drag my fiancé out to stalk the Spanglish house this past Saturday afternoon. Sadly, though, due to a large gate and massive amounts of foliage, not a whole lot of it is visible from the street.

I am happy to report, though, that what was visible looks much the same as it did in the movie. 🙂

And from the way the movie was shot, I am fairly certain that the real life interior of the house, which boasts 3 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, and 4,295 square feet of living space, was used in the filming, as well.

And, as you can see in the above aerial image and screen capture, the home’s real life backyard and pool area were also used in the flick.

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And while not much of the property could be seen from the street, I must say that the Spanglish house was still very exciting for me to stalk because quite a few scenes from the movie were actually filmed out in front of the residence –

– most notably the scene in which Deborah Clasky and her housekeeper Flor Moreno (aka Paz Vega) engage in a spontaneous foot-race after dropping their kids off at the bus stop on the first day of school.

On a side note – I will not be publishing a new blog post tomorrow, Friday, July 2nd, as I have a bunch of wedding appointments scheduled on the day prior that, unfortunately, will leave me with very little time for blogging. I’ll be back Monday, though, and in the meantime I’d like to wish all of my fellow stalkers a very happy Fourth of July! 🙂

Big THANK YOU to Nick for finding this location! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Clasky house from Spanglish is located at 1130 Stone Canyon Road in Bel Air.

June 2, 2010June 1, 2010

The Malibu House from “Spanglish”

A few weeks ago, fellow stalker Nick was driving along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu with his family when he happened to pass by a home that looked extremely familiar to him. He immediately asked the driver of the car to pull over so that he could get a better look and, upon closer inspection, realized that the property was none other than the spot where John and Deborah Clasky (aka Adam Sandler and Tea Leoni, respectively) spent the summer with their family and their spunky housekeeper Flor Moreno (aka Paz Vega) in the 2004 dramedy Spanglish. Nick emailed me as soon as he returned home that day to let me know the good news and, let me tell you, I just about passed out from excitement as I had been looking for the Spanglish house for just about as long as I could remember. Yay! So, the very next weekend I dragged my fiancé out to the ‘Bu to finally do some Spanglish stalking!

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I am very happy to report that the Spanglish house looks much the same in person as it did onscreen in the movie. In real life, the Clasky’s Malibu home, which was built in 1934, boasts 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and a whopping 3,418 square feet of living space. And, according to my friend E.J. over at the Movieland Directory, the place also has a celebrity connection as it once belonged to “Pretty Woman” singer Roy Orbison.

Unfortunately, we were strapped for time the day we stalked the Spanglish house and were not able to pop around back to sneak a peek at the beach-side of the property, which appeared quite a few times in the movie.

But, as you can see in these photographs of the home from a Malibu rental website (the Spanglish house’s listing can be found in the third row and third column of the page), the real life interior was also used in the filming. According to the website, the home is currently available as a summer rental for a whopping $45,000 per month!

Just two doors down from the Clasky’s summer home is the house where Deborah went searching for a translator for Flor after first arriving in Malibu. And while the property has definitely been modernized in recent years, it is still very recognizable from Spanglish. According to fave website Big Time Listings, that home also has a celebrity connection as it formerly belonged to makeup artist and special effects master Stan Winston.

Big THANK YOU to Nick for finding these locations! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Clasky’s summer home from Spanglish is located at 21628 Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. The house where Deborah finds a translator for Flor is located two doors down at 21622 Pacific Coast Highway.

June 18, 2009June 16, 2011

Il Cielo

Looking at wedding venues is so darn fun that, I swear, I think I would be happy just remaining engaged forever. It could be my full time job. What do you do? Oh, I’m engaged – full time! 🙂 LOL On Tuesday, my wedding venue expedition led my mom and me to a little restaurant in Beverly Hills named Il Cielo. And I have to say that the place was downright amazing!!! So much so that it’s at the very top of my very narrowed down list of possible locations. Because I am such a picky eater, for years I’ve been steadfast about serving a buffet at my wedding, as opposed to a set menu. Il Cielo doesn’t offer a buffet – they only do sit-down dinners – yet they are STILL at the top of my list! Now, that’s saying a lot! 🙂

Il Cielo, which means “the sky” in Italian, was opened up in 1986 inside of a tiny Beverly Hills bungalow by a man named Pasquale Vericella. In the 70s, that bungalow was the home to another Italian restaurant named En Brochette. A frequent visitor to En Brochette, Pasquale adored the intimate, homey feel of the restaurant and decided it was just the type of place he himself wanted to own someday. He was so adamant about opening his restaurant in that exact spot, in fact, that for years he begged En Brochette’s owners to sell the restaurant and the bungalow to him. They finally relented in 1986, and Pasquale opened up his own Tuscan-style restaurant, featuring his mother and grandmother’s traditional family recipes. I had the pleasure of meeting Pasquale yesterday and of course asked him all sorts of questions about which celebrities had dined at Il Cielo. He quickly brushed off my queries and said “When you get married here, the only celebrity we are concerned with is YOU!” 🙂 So cute!!!!

Il Cielo has been voted “the most romantic restaurant in Los Angeles” numerous times by numerous publications. It has also been named “one of the top five places to get married in the country” – yes, the COUNTRY – by The New York Times. Those are some pretty amazing accolades! The restaurant has hosted over 1,500 weddings in its 23 year history. According to the restaurants’ events manager, Fabio, Il Cielo’s philosophy is service first, food second, and ambiance third. And from what I witnessed yesterday, all three of those seem to be top notch, especially the service. When I asked where the bar gets placed during a wedding reception, Fabio looked at me with confusion on his face. Then, realization dawning, he explained, “Oh no, we do not do waiting in line here. Our servers walk around taking drink orders, so that your guests never have to get out of their chair!” OMG LOVE IT! Even better than that, after the reception ends, guests are served lattes, cappuccinos, and biscotti out on the sidewalk while waiting for the valet to retrieve their cars. SO LOVE THAT! I mean, this place is downright A-MA-ZING.

And, of course, there’s also the celeb factor! Google the words “Il Cielo” and “celebrities” and a list of a hundred well-known names will pop up, including Christian Bale, Nancy Reagan, my girl Jennifer Aniston, Ellen DeGeneres, Portia De Rossi, Robert Redford, Rod Stewart, Colin Farrell, Claudia Shiffer, Ali Larter, Brandon Routh, Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Nikki and Cathy Hilton. Lesley Ann Warren was married at Il Cielo and (that little homewrecker) Brad Pitt took Gwyneth Paltrow there on their first date.

And, of course, Il Cielo is also a filming location. At the beginning of Legally Blonde, it’s the restaurant where Elle Woods’ boyfriend, Warner, does not propose. When Warner first announces he is taking Elle to Il Cielo, she says “Oooh, I love that restaurant. I heard Madonna went into labor there.” LOL LOL LOL

Il Cielo’s patio area stood in for the patio of Adam Sandler’s restaurant in the 2004 movie Spanglish. The exterior of Adam’s restaurant (pictured above) is actually the exterior of the Hal Valentine Hair Salon, which is located directly next door to Il Cielo.

On the Season Three episode of Entourage entitled “Strange Days”, Ari Gold re-proposes to his wife after 15 years of marriage with a ginormous diamond ring on Il Cielo’s back patio. The restaurant has actually popped up in Entourage no less than three times!

In the Season 3 episode of The Hills entitled “A Date With The Past”, former flame Ste-phen Colletti takes Lauren Conrad out for a “strictly platonic” dinner at Il Cielo. Smart move, Ste-phen, bringing a girl you just want to be friends with to the most romantic restaurant in all of L.A.! LOL Il Cielo was also featured in the Season Five opener of The Simple Life entitled “Welcome to Camp Shawnee” as the location where Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie finally bury the hatchet and become friends again over an Italian lunch.

I honestly can’t recommend stalking Il Cielo enough – either as a wedding venue or for a romantic dinner!!!! This place is truly one of a kind!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Il Cielo is located at 9018 Burton Way in Beverly Hills. You can visit their website here. Il Cielo is closed on Sundays.