television – Page 19 – IAMNOTASTALKER

December 7, 2009December 11, 2011

Claire and Phil’s House from “Modern Family”

A few weeks back I received an email from a fellow stalker in the Nebraska area who had just recently started his very own filming locations blog entitled Movie Locations and More. This stalker’s name was Robert Patterson and I have to admit that when I first saw his email a red flag went up, as I thought he was some weirdo pretending to be the lead actor from the Twilight movies. LOL At the time I didn’t realize that the Twilight actor was actually named Robert PattINson, not PattERson. LOL LOL LOL Man, I can be such a blonde sometimes!!! Anyway, as it turns out, my new friend really is named Robert Patterson and he is not a weirdo at all. 🙂 He is actually quite an amazing stalker and recently tracked down two of the main homes featured on Modern Family, which just so happens to be one of my favorite new shows of the fall season. So, literally, as soon as he gave me the addresses to the houses, I ran right out to stalk them! Thank you, Robert!

The first Modern Family house that Robert managed to track down was the residence belonging to Phil (aka Ty Burrell) and Claire (aka Julie Bowen) Dunphy and their three children on the show. Because Robert knew that Modern Family was filmed at Fox Studios in Century City, he decided to begin his search for the houses featured on the series in the neighborhood surrounding the studio – which is always a smart move. And, sure enough, he found Claire and Phil’s house pretty much immediately. YAY! 🙂 Besides being featured weekly in the series’ opening credits . . .

and in set-up shots during the course of each episode . . .

. . . several scenes have also been filmed on location at the Dunphy home, such as was the case with the episode entitled “Fizbo” in which Claire and Phil host a massive birthday party for their son Luke in the house’s front yard.

As you can see in the above screen captures, though, an entirely different house was used in the filming of the pilot episode. The house featured in the pilot has an address number of 1057, while the house used in the rest of the series has an address number of 10336. The front door of the pilot house, which is flanked by window panes on either side, also does not match the front door of the house used in the rest of the series.

When I first pulled up to stalk the Dunphy house a couple of weeks ago, some neighbors just happened to be outside chatting, so I, of course, just had to strike up a conversation with them. 🙂 The neighbors were SUPER nice and did not think it was at all weird that I was stalking a home in their vicinity. They said they absolutely LOVE having Modern Family film on their street and that everyone involved with the show is extremely nice. LOVE IT! They also said that since I was such a big fan of the show, I should try to come back when an episode was being filmed so that I could watch. How nice is that? 🙂 So LOVE IT! And I am happy to report that Claire and Phil’s house looks EXACTLY the same in person as it does onscreen. 🙂

On a side note – At the very end of the episode entitled “The Bicycle Thief”, Phil and his son, Luke, are shown riding their bikes past a street sign for Dunleer Drive, which is the actual street where Claire and Phil’s house is located in real life. LOVE IT!

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Big THANK YOU to Robert for finding this location! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Claire and Phil’s house from Modern Family is located at 10336 Dunleer Drive in the Cheviot Hills area of Los Angeles.

December 4, 2009December 3, 2009

JMJ Ranch from “Win a Date with Tad Hamilton”

Another location that Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I stalked during our day in the the Valley together a few months back was the Fraziers Bottom farm that movie star Tad Hamilton purchased in fave film Win a Date with Tad Hamilton. In real life, Tad’s property is named JMJ Ranch and it is not located anywhere near Fraziers Bottom, West Virginia, but about two thousand miles West in Thousand Oaks, California. As so often happens when searching for filming sites, I actually came across this one while looking for another location entirely. After seeing the Season One episode of The Mentalist entitled “Carnelian Inc.” earlier this year, I became absolutely obsessed with finding the ranch that was featured in it. And it was while searching for that locale that I came across the website for JMJ Ranch and immediately recognized it as the one from Win a Date with Tad Hamilton. YAY! So, since Mike and I were in the area a few weeks back, we decided to drive by the property to see if it was at all accessible to the public. And amazingly enough, it was! Or so we thought. LOL

When we first pulled up to JMJ Ranch, the main gates were wide open, several people were horseback riding in the central ring, and there was no posted sign saying the area was private property. Because I had read online that JMJ is an actual working ranch, I turned to Mike and said “OH MY GOD, I think it’s actually open to the public!” So, of course, the two of us drove right in. And, let me tell you, I almost had a heart attack I was so excited! 🙂

I spotted Tad’s little white ranch house pretty much immediately upon entering the property and just about hyperventilated as we pulled up to it! The fact that Josh Duhamel (aka the love of my life) had once been in the very spot I now found myself was almost too much for me to bear. 🙂 Now, I know that rumors of JD’s infidelity are currently flying around Hollywood, but I honestly have to say that I just don’t believe all the hype. If the rumors do turn out to be true, though, and Josh really did cheat on his wife, then all bets are off – he’ll be dead to me, just like that little homewrecker Angelina Jolie! But in the meantime, I have to say, my heart still belongs to JD. 🙂

I so love the above screen capture, by the way!! Sigh. 🙂 But I digress!

Only one brief scene from Win A Date took place at JMJ Ranch. After announcing that he has purchased a house, or as he says “it’s actually a farm, with a house, and a silo for my wheat” LOL, Rosalie (aka Kate Bosworth), Cathy (aka Ginnifer Goodwin), and Pete (aka Topher Grace) show up to tour the property. While there, know-it-all Pete attempts to give Tad some lessons in certain farming skills like milking a cow and chopping wood, but as it turns out, thanks to his training for various movie roles, not only does Tad know how to do said activities, but he can actually do them better than Pete. LOL

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JMJ Ranch is actually an oft-used filming location. Besides Win a Date, the property has also been featured in Dynasty, Dallas, Knots Landing, Cracker, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, The Fall Guy, Picket Fences, Hot Shots Part Deux, Robin Hood: Men In Tights, Route 9, and Private School.

The 300 acre ranch truly is a beautiful spot, with large open fields, towering oak trees, winding roads, and rustic barns, and as we drove through the property I got to thinking that it would be the perfect spot to host a wedding. 🙂 Being that filming locations often double as wedding venues, I thought there was a pretty good chance that the ranch might also be available for special events and made a mental note to find out. Well, after driving around for about five minutes, a very angry woman on a tractor drove up to Mike and I and informed us that we were on private property. WHOOPSY! We apologized profusely and explained that we had been driving by, saw the open gate, and thought the area was open to the public. I also told the woman I was currently in the market for a wedding venue and asked if the ranch was available for such occasions. My question was met with an emphatic “NO!” – LOL – at which point, Mike and I thanked the lady for her time and quickly left. So, unfortunately, I can’t recommend stalking JMJ Ranch as it is definitely NOT open to the public. 🙁 But at least you can live vicariously through the photographs I was able to take before being kicked off the property. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: JMJ Ranch from Win a Date with Tad Hamilton is located at 930 West Portrero Road in Thousand Oaks. The property is not actually open to the public, so please do not trespass. You can visit the JMJ Ranch website here.

December 3, 2009December 2, 2009

Priscilla’s Coffee Tea & Gifts

Many years ago, I was enrolled in an acting school in Burbank that was located just down the street from a little coffee shop named Priscilla’s Coffee Tea & Gifts. I logged quite a bit of time at the coffee house, as my classmates and I would often grab a coffee and hang out there before and after class. So, when the place popped up in an episode of Desperate Housewives a few weeks ago, I literally almost fell out of my chair! Since I hadn’t been to Priscilla’s in almost eight years – and because I’m always on the lookout for any excuse to visit a coffee house – I decided I just had to stalk the place. So, yesterday I headed out to Burbank – laptop in hand – to spend the morning blogging and drinking coffee at Priscilla’s. And, let me tell you, the place was absolutely JAM PACKED when I arrived. There literally wasn’t an empty seat in the entire house. I was shocked that the the place would be so crowded on a weekday morning, but that’s a definite testament to how good Priscilla’s coffee is. 🙂 Anyway, after ordering my iced latte, I retreated to a nearby corner and waited around for a table to open up. Well, I wasn’t standing there more than 45 seconds when an extremely kind gentleman walked up and offered to share his table with me!! How incredibly nice is that? I almost couldn’t believe it, as people in L.A. aren’t usually that overtly friendly. But, from what I noticed yesterday, that’s just par for the course at Priscilla’s – people there are just plain nice! 🙂 So, my new friend and I sat there for a while – me blogging away on my laptop, him studying his lines for an upcoming addition, both of us enjoying some extremely good coffee. 🙂

Surprisingly enough, when I used to hang out at Priscilla’s many years back, I wasn’t a coffee drinker. In fact, until yesterday morning, I had never actually tasted any of Priscilla’s coffee and I honestly didn’t have high hopes that the place would compare to my beloved Starbucks. So, you can imagine my surprise when I tasted my latte yesterday morning and discovered it was JUST as good as Starbucks, if not better! It was so tasty, in fact, that as soon as I finished my first cup, I got in line to order another! LOL And it was while I was waiting for my second drink that I asked the barista if it would be alright to snap a few photos of the store. I really wasn’t sure how she would respond, because as I’ve mentioned before, for whatever reason, many restaurants in L.A. don’t allow any sort of interior photography. Well, not only did she tell me it was OK to snap pictures, but she also asked if I wanted her to take a photograph of me in the shop!!!!! I mean could this place be any greater???? The above photo is the one she took, and the other barista on duty even agreed to pose with me for it! LOVE IT! 🙂

Priscilla’s Coffee Tea & Gifts has actually been in business since the early 1970s, at which time it was operated out of a former gas station. In 1993, due to a growing demand, the coffee house moved to a larger location on Riverside Drive in Burbank where it has remained ever since. Besides coffee, Priscilla’s also serves up teas, pastries, sandwiches, salads, and even gelato. It’s also a great place to browse as they have numerous gift items and greeting cards for sale. And the fact that the place has free wi-fi and plays 80s music (including Michael Jackson!!!) is pretty much just icing on the cake! 🙂 Priscilla’s is a SUPER cute little coffee shop and I honestly cannot recommend stalking it enough!!!! In fact, I’m thinking of becoming a regular there! 🙂

Priscilla’s first popped up in the episode of Desperate Housewives entitled “The Coffee Cup”, which aired on November 15th. Quite a few scenes from the episode took place at Priscilla’s, which stood in for “The Coffee Cup Bakery & Cafe” on the show. It first appeared in the scene in which Julie Mayer (aka Andrea Bowen) has a highly awkward encounter with her married boyfriend’s wife, Angie Bolen (aka Drea de Matteo), while waiting in line for coffee.

Later in the episode, Angie confronts her husband Nick (aka Jeffrey Nordling) at Priscilla’s, after she sees him flirting with a Coffee Cup barista named Emily Portsmith.

And, finally, at the very end of that episode, Priscilla’s shows up once again as the spot where Nick makes a phone call to the police to let them know he is thinking of turning himself in for an as-yet unnamed crime . . .

. . . and as the spot where barista Emily is strangled.

And, in the following episode, which was entitled “Would I Think of Suicide?”, Priscilla’s shows up yet again! It is featured in the episode’s opening scene, in which the manager of The Coffee Cup enters the store in the early morning hours only to discover Emily lying dead on the floor.

In a subsequent scene, Julie Mayer and her friends discuss Emily’s death out in front of Pricilla’s.

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Besides being a filming location, Pricilla’s is also something of a celebrity hotspot, thanks to its proximity to the area studios. Just a few of the stars who have been spotted there recently include Jay Leno, Ben Affleck and Kevin Connolly. Randomly enough, while I was attending acting school in Burbank, I happened to see a television show on the E! Network (for the life of me I cannot remember what it was called!) that featured paparazzi videos of celebrities performing day to day activities. One of the videos featured an old clip of my girl Jen Aniston during the early days of Friends grabbing a cup of coffee at Priscilla’s. And, let me tell you, when I saw that video I just about had a heart attack over the fact that Jen had visited the very same coffee shop that I was hanging out in at the time!! 🙂 What can I say, the girl’s got good taste! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Pricilla’s Gourmet Coffee and Teas is located at 4150 Riverside Drive in Burbank. You can visit their website here.

December 2, 2009December 2, 2009

The Red Robin Restaurant from “Newlyweds”

While Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I were out doing some Valley stalking a couple of months ago, we decided to made a pit stop at the Red Robin restaurant in Calabasas for lunch. Even though I am not now nor never have been a big Jessica Simpson fan, I had been dying to stalk the restaurant ever since it had appeared in a Season Three episode of the Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson reality series Newlyweds. Truth be told, though, I was really just using the fact that the restaurant had appeared on TV as an excuse to eat there, as Red Robin has long been my very favorite place to dine. 🙂 In fact, until POP Champagne Bar came on the scene late last year, Red Robin was literally the only place I ever wanted to eat. For those who have never had the pleasure of dining at a Red Robin location, let me just say here that the eatery serves up some of the BEST chicken strips (aka “Clucks”) I’ve ever tasted in my entire life, their fries are out of this world, and don’t even get me started on the ranch dressing!!! 🙂 So, when I randomly mentioned to Mike that I had always wanted to stalk the Red Robin from Newlyweds, and he not only knew its exact location, but said we happened to be right in its vicinity, I just about died from excitement and begged him to take me there. Which he happily did. 🙂

In the Season 3 episode of Newlyweds entitled “Eye Surgery”, Jessica Simpson and BFF Cacee Cobb have Lasik surgery performed on their eyes – and yes, the entire procedure is shown, in very high detail I might add – on the show. I was literally gagging while watching it! In fact, after seeing the surgery in such an up-close-and-personal format like that, I don’t think I will ever in my life sign up for Lasik. LOL But I digress! After the procedure, Jessica mentions that she could really go for a burger and the two make a stop at the nearest Red Robin restaurant. Because the girls are forced to wear post-surgery eye goggles, which severely inhibit their vision, several comical moments take place during the course of the meal.

My favorite of which being when Jessica drowns her plate in about three pounds of ketchup, and then, not realizing how much she had poured, asks Cacee, “Do I have enough for my burger?” LOL LOL LOL

In the episode, Jessica also had a little trouble walking up the restaurant’s front steps, so Mike suggested that I imitate her while he took a picture. LOVE IT! 🙂

While we were eating, I mentioned to Mike that I wished I could remember the spot where Jessica and Cacee sat during the episode, to which he replied, “Oh, I know their exact booth!” And that right there is why he is one of my best friends!!! 🙂 For those who are curious, Jessica and Cacee sat in the furthest corner booth of the restaurant’s Eastern side (pictured above).

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It should be no surprise that I HIGHLY recommend stalking the Red Robin restaurant from Newlyweds! 🙂 I also highly recommend ordering the Clucks & Fries meal while there. Trust me on this one, you will NOT be disappointed!!! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Red Robin restaurant from Newlyweds is located at 24005 Calabasas Road in Calabasas.

December 1, 2009December 1, 2009

Big Oaks Lodge from “Beverly Hills, 90210”

Before I left on my New York vacation just about two months ago, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I spent a day together stalking in and around the San Fernando Valley. And even though we had a long list of places to stalk, the location we were most excited about seeing had to be a place called Big Oaks Lodge, which was used in the Season 2 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 entitled “Camping Trip”. Before arriving at Big Oaks Lodge, I was actually a little nervous about the drive up there, though, as I had read that the place was located completely out in the middle of nowhere, but, as it turns out, it’s not really as out in the middle of nowhere as I had thought. The Lodge is located a brief twenty minute drive from the City of Santa Clarita, and while the road which leads there is remote, windy, and lacks a Starbucks, it’s really not a bad ride at all. 🙂 Big Oaks Lodge was originally built in the 1920s as a rest stop and eatery for traveling stagecoaches. In the 30s, 40s, and 50s, the Lodge and its surrounding area became something of a Hollywood hotspot for the likes of such legends as gangster “Pretty Boy” Floyd and the original Brangelina – Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford – who even ended up building their own private cabin near the restaurant. In later years, the property served as a training spot for boxers like Mike Quarry and Michael Doakes and even boasted its own outdoor ring, which has since been removed. The Lodge now serves as a meeting place and rest stop and features not one, but two different eateries on the property. The first is a little food stand named the Char House, which serves up such culinary staples as hamburgers, chili, and tri-tip sandwiches and is popular with the Harley Davidson set. The Lodge’s more upscale restaurant is named Cavi and it specializes in authentic homemade Italian food. The Lodge is still popular with celebrities to this day and has played host to talk show host Jay Leno and members of the band ZZ Top.

Big Oaks Lodge is actually much smaller than I expected it to be and consists solely of the main lodge area, which houses Cavi restaurant, the Char House shed, an outdoor patio, and two small cabins, which can be rented out nightly. While stalking the place, Mike and I had the good fortune of meeting one of the Lodge’s owners, who absolutely could NOT believe that we had driven all the way out to Big Oaks just to see a location from an episode of 90210 which had aired over 18 years ago. And, let me tell you, he just about fell over when we showed him Mike’s portable DVD player, where we had the “Camping Trip” episode all cued up. LOL 🙂 The owner told us we were free to walk around the property and take all of the photographs we wanted. And you really should have seen the two of us! We could not have been more excited and were screaming like little schoolgirls pretty much the entire time! “Oh, look there’s the firewood shed!” and “Ohmigod, there’s the tree Brandon leaned against!” LOL We were both pretty bummed out, though, that neither of the Lodge’s restaurants were open while we were there, as we had hoped to grab a bite to eat during our stalk. 🙁 But you know what that means, don’t you? My fiancé will definitely be getting dragged out there in the near future so that I can re-stalk the place. 🙂

In the “Camping Trip” episode, thanks to a patch of bad weather, Brandon, Brenda and the gang get stuck at Big Oaks Lodge while on their way to a camping trip in Yosemite. The entire episode was pretty much shot on location at the Lodge and made use of the entire Big Oaks property, which I am happy to report still looks very much the same as it did on 90210. Pictured above is Big Oaks’ front entrance, which showed up several times in the episode.

The firewood storage area, which looks a bit different today than it did when 90210 was filmed, was the spot where the gang first took shelter from the rain after pulling over at Big Oaks.

Had to do it! 🙂 LOL

The “Char House” restaurant stood in for the Lodge’s main office where Brenda and Dylan booked a cabin for the group to spend the night.

Once upon a time there were actually ten different cabins located on the Big Oaks property, but today there are only two and both of those cabins were featured in the “Camping Trip” episode. The 90210 gang stayed in the wood shingled lodge, which at the time of the filming was painted red, but is now a light grey color.

And the Newlyweds stayed in the rock cabin located directly next door.

And although a full exterior shot of the rock cabin was never shown during the episode, as you can see in the above screen capture and photograph, the front door still looks exactly the same today as it did during the filming. Love it! And I was very excited to find out that the real life interiors of both cabins were also used extensively in the episode. Unfortunately, though, the owner didn’t have his keys on him while we were there, so he was not able to take us on a tour of the cabins. 🙁 Next time!

The picnic table area in front of the Char House was used as the location where the gang fretted about Dylan and Brandon’s early morning disappearance.

The road in front of the Lodge and the main parking area showed up in the scene in which Brandon and Dylan return to the campsite after their little hiking mishap.

And finally, a large tree in the Lodge’s dirt parking lot – aka “Brandon’s tree” – was featured as the spot where Brandon contemplated life after his near death experience of almost falling off a cliff. So, of course, I just had to pose like him! 🙂

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A little bit of 90210 trivia for you – The highly dramatic scene where Dylan downed a few airplane bottles of liquor (pictured above) was not actually filmed at Big Oaks Lodge, but in the backyard of the real life Walsh house! Mike and I learned that little tidbit of information from the owner of Casa Walsh during our private tour of the home. 🙂 So cool!

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According to the Big Oaks Lodge website, the property has also been featured in the movies Frances, Enough, American Gun, and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, and in episodes of the television series Dynasty and Highway to Heaven, and in commercials for AT&T and Vonage. It’s a very cool place and I highly recommend stalking it, especially to fans of the original 90210!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Big Oaks Lodge from Beverly Hills, 90210 is located at 33101 Bouquet Canyon Road in Santa Clarita, just nine miles north of where Bouquet Canyon Road intersects with Plum Canyon Road. You can visit the Big Oaks Lodge website here. Cavi restaurant is open Wednesday through Sunday, beginning at 5 p.m. The Char House is open Saturdays and Sundays, starting at 11 a.m.

November 30, 2009December 9, 2020

The Hyatt Regency Valencia from “Twilight”

The other Los Angeles area filming location from Twilight that I mentioned in last Wednesday’s post is the Hyatt Regency Valencia Hotel. In Twilight, the Hyatt stood in for the Phoenix area hostelry where Bella (aka Kristen Stewart), Alice (aka Ashley Greene), and Jasper (aka Jackson Rathbone) hid out while on the run from the evil vampire James (Cam Gigandet) towards the end of the movie. In reality, the hotel is, of course, not located anywhere near Arizona, but instead can be found just about four miles away from the home that was used as Bella’s mom’s house in the flick. So, of course, since I was already in the area last week, I just had to stalk the place. 🙂 I found this location thanks again to the link that fellow stalker Kerry sent me last April while the first Twilight movie was still in production. Thank you, Kerry! 🙂

The Hyatt is, sadly, featured only briefly in Twilight, but I am happy to report that it looks very much the same in person as it did onscreen. In the scene featuring the Hyatt, Bella, Jasper, and Alice are first shown hanging out in a hotel room discussing their current predicament. And while the exterior set up shots for that scene were indeed filmed at the Hyatt Regency Valencia, after looking at photographs of the hotel’s rooms online, I am fairly certain that the interior filming took place elsewhere. My best guess is that the hotel room scene was either filmed on a soundstage or at a real hotel located somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, where the rest of the movie was filmed.

We next see Jasper and Alice in the hotel’s lobby area waiting to check out. And, as you can see in the above photographs and screen capture, that particular scene was actually shot on location at the Hyatt Regency Valencia and the lobby area still looks pretty much the same in person as it did in Twilight. Even the red flower paintings hanging behind the reception desk are there in real life. 🙂 Love it!

In a subsequent scene, Bella is shown rushing out of the Hyatt Regency Valencia’s main entrance and into a waiting taxi cab. And that pretty much covers the entire Twilight segment that took place at the Hyatt! LOL All told, the scenes probably last a little under 45 seconds. As I said in the previous Wednesday’s post, though, it’s better than nothing! 🙂

While stalking the hotel, I happened to strike up a conversation with one of the bellhops who truly could NOT have been nicer to me. He even took the photograph of me featured at the top of this post. 🙂 According to the bellhop, the Hyatt is actually an oft-used filming location and has been featured in such series as CSI: Las Vegas, NCIS, and the reality show Make It Or Break It. The bellhop said that a scene from Twilight was also filmed in the hotel’s parking garage, but he wasn’t sure which scene. He also informed me that Robert Pattinson actually stayed at the Hyatt Regency Valencia for a few days during the filming of Twilight. LOVE IT! The Hyatt Regency Valencia is a really beautiful hotel, with a large swimming pool, picturesque gardens, and a beautiful wedding courtyard (pictured above). I highly recommend stalking the place or even staying there while visiting the L.A. area. Who knows – you may even wind up in RP’s former room! 🙂

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On a very random side note: Earlier today, while reading the fabulous book Twilight: Director’s Notebook, I learned that the scene pictured above, in which Bella and Edward kiss for the first time, was actually filmed in Pasadena! Apparently, the scene was originally filmed on location in Oregon, but director Catherine Hardwicke never ended up getting the exact shot she wanted. So, a few months later, when the cast and crew was back in California, some reshoots were done, one of which was the Bella/Edward kiss scene. For the re-shoot, a replica of Bella’s bedroom was built at the Elk’s Lodge in Pasadena. 🙂 So, as it turns out, there are actually three L.A. area locations that were featured in Twilight. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Hyatt Regency Valencia, where Bella, Jasper, and Alice hid out in Twilight, is located at 24500 Town Center Drive in Valencia. You can visit their website here. The Elks Lodge in Pasadena, where Bella and Edward first kissed, is located at 400 West Colorado Boulevard. You can visit their website here.

November 20, 2009November 19, 2009

Jefferson Market Garden

Another Sex and the City location that I re-stalked while in New York last month was Jefferson Market Garden, the spot where the series’ ever-present cynic Miranda Hobbs finally married long-time boyfriend Steve Brady in the Season 6 episode entitled “The Ick Factor”. I first stalked this location back in December of 2006, but at the time had absolutely no idea that it was a filming location and from one of my favorite television shows, no less. My fiancé had dragged me to the garden and it’s adjacent library due to the place’s historical significance, and, while I enjoyed visiting it, I took virtually no photographs while there. So, this year, I vowed to return, camera in hand! And return, I did! Thank goodness my family scheduled this year’s New York trip in early October, though, as I had not previously realized that Jefferson Market Garden is only accessible to the public seasonally, during the months May through October.

Jefferson Market Garden’s name is derived from the fact that in the early 1800’s a produce market, named after former president Thomas Jefferson, existed on the site where the garden and library now stand. In 1873, that market was torn down and a courthouse built in its place. Jefferson Market Courthouse, which opened in 1877, was designed by Calvert Vaux, one of the men responsible for designing Central Park, and architect Frederick Clarke Withers. In 1885, the Gothic-style building (pictured above) was voted the fifth most beautiful in the entire country. In 1931, an eleven story detention center for women was constructed on the lot directly adjacent to the Courthouse. And while the Courthouse served the Third Judicial District of New York from 1874 to 1945 and the detention center even housed a certain famous prisoner named Mae West at one time, by the 1940’s, both structures had fallen into serious disrepair and were threatened with demolition. Thankfully New York preservationists stepped in and convinced the City of New York to renovate the Courthouse and turn the space into a Public Library. They also petitioned to have the dreary detention center torn down and a garden created in its place. Which is exactly what happened. The library opened to the public in 1967, the detention center was destroyed in 1973, the garden was planted in 1974, and the rest, as they say, is history. Jefferson Market Garden, which measures one third of an acre, opened to the public in 1975 and, while owned by New York City Parks & Recreation, remains a community project, cared for by local Manhattanites.

Today’s garden consists of a central lawn, a koi pond, a rose garden, beds of various annuals, and several benches upon which to sit and enjoy the view. It seems like the perfect place to spend a sunny afternoon. In fact, while we were stalking the place, quite a few people were seated on the benches talking and enjoying the warm Autumn weather, while several artists stood nearby and painted the scene on portable easels. It looked like something straight out of a movie. 🙂 Jefferson Market Garden is a truly beautiful place, and not surprisingly, has been the site of numerous nuptials ever since Miranda and Steve tied the knot there back in 2004.

On Sex and the City, the garden first showed up in a beginning scene of the “Ick Factor” episode, in which the recently engaged Steve and Miranda have some issues while walking home after doing their weekly shopping. Not only do Miranda’s shopping bags explode during the scene, spilling their contents onto Greenwich Avenue, but Steve also steps in a wad of chewing gum, causing Miranda to proclaim “We should get married right here in this mess!”, to which Steve replies, “We’re gonna have to if I can’t get this gum off.” LOL LOL LOL Ahhh, I so love Steve!

It is then that Miranda looks up and notices the picturesque garden setting situated right in front of them and announces to Steve that she thinks it might just be the perfect spot for the two of them to get married.

And get married there, they do, in a beautiful ceremony which took place later in that very same episode, which, as I’ve mentioned before, has to be one of my favorite episodes of all time. Carrie’s closing line of “For better or for worse, we were all ourselves that day, just the way Miranda wanted it.”, which she utters just after Samantha’s announcement that she has breast cancer, never fails to bring a tear to my eye!

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On a sad side note – Jefferson, the restaurant where Miranda and Steve held their wedding reception in the “Ick Factor” episode (pictured above), has since been closed. 🙁 Such a bummer, as I had so wanted to stalk that place. You can see photographs of the former Jefferson restaurant here and here, though.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! : )

Stalk It: Jefferson Market Garden is located on Greenwich Avenue, in between Sixth Avenue and West 10th Street. The garden is open every afternoon, except Mondays, during the months of May through October. You can visit their website here. Miranda and Steve’s wedding reception took place directly across the street from the garden at the now-defunct Jefferson restaurant, which was formerly located at 121 West 10th Street.

November 19, 2009November 18, 2009

Scout Bar from “Sex and the City”

Yet another Sex and the City location that I stalked while in New York last month was O’Nieals Grand Street Bar, which stood in for Scout, the watering hole owned by Carrie and Miranda’s ex-boyfriends, Aidan and Steve, on the show. And even though I had actually stalked this location during last year’s New York vacation and also blogged about it, because I had not been able to venture inside, it was a place I had always planned on returning to. So, since my good friend Steffi, who is an even bigger fan of Sex and the City than I am (if that’s at all possible) and who has always loved the character of Aidan, accompanied me to New York this year, I decided there was no time like the present! On this particular occasion, though, nothing was going to stop me from journeying inside! 🙂 And, let me tell you, I am so glad I did, because O’Nieals’ interior is nothing short of magnificent.

One look around O’Nieal’s dark Mahogany interior and it’s easy to see why producers chose to use it as the bar that Carrie’s furniture designing former boyfriend built. Upon seeing Scout for the first time on the show, Carrie says “There was no sign of him, but he was everywhere. In the mahogany bar, wood floors, carved ceiling. The whole place looked and felt just like Aidan.” And in real life, that same sentiment is true – the place truly does look and feel just like the character played by John Corbett. So much so, in fact, that it’s hard to believe the bar wasn’t a set built by production designers specifically for the series.

O’Nieal’s decor consists almost entirely of dark, shiny, hand-carved wood and, let me tell you, it is absolutely gorgeous. But my favorite part of the bar had to be its amazingly intricate ceiling, which unfortunately I just could not get a very good photograph of. 🙁 But take my word for it, the ceiling is beautiful. O’Nieals has a definite old New York vibe to it and, I am happy to report, looks exactly the same in person as it did onscreen in Sex and the City. The staff also could NOT have been nicer and allowed me to take all of the photographs I wanted, even though I wasn’t dining at the establishment. On a side note – Being able to take pictures inside of bars and restaurants is just one of the many reasons that I love New York so much. In L.A., unfortunately, there are many venues that don’t allow any sort of interior photography. And, while part of me understands an establishment’s desire to keep stalkers like myself from taking pictures of their celebrity patrons, for the most part I think the whole thing is just plain ludicrous. A few months back my fiancé and I grabbed some cocktails at a place called the Writers Bar in Beverly Hills. The upscale (read: snooty) bar had numerous autographed scripts displayed on their walls and when I went to a photograph in front of one which had been signed by Julia Roberts, the manager came rushing over and demanded that I put my camera away. Dumbfounded, I asked him why, to which he replied “We do not allow cameras here due to our high-profile clients”. LOL LOL LOL Now, if I had been trying to take a photograph of a celebrity sitting nearby (and by the way, my fiancé and I were the only two people in the entire bar at the time), I can totally understand the manager requesting that I put my camera away. But it was very obvious what I was taking a picture of and why and being that we had just shelled out $25 per drink, I found the whole thing highly ridiculous and my fiancé and I vowed never to return. Which we haven’t. But thankfully, in my many visits to New York, I have NEVER EVER – not even once – been told to put my camera away – even in cases when celebrities actually were dining right next to me. 🙂 But, I digress. Anyway, as I said before, O’Nieals is a very hip, absolutely gorgeous little spot and I HIGHLY recommend stalking it.

O’Nieals was featured twice on Sex and the City. It first showed up in the Season Four episode entitled “Ghost Town”, in which Carrie visits Scout to drop off a congratulatory Mulberry bush for Aidan and Steve, just before the bar is set to open.

O’Nieal’s shows up once again later in that same episode, when the girls attend Scout’s grand opening party.

The bar was also featured in the Season Four episode entitled “Time & Punishment”, in which Carrie shows up at Scout only to discover Aidan flirting with a skeezy bartender named Shana. And, even though Steve continued to own the bar throughout the rest of Sex and the City’s six year run, for some reason, it never again appeared onscreen.

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On a sad side note – While in New York, I was also dying to visit Collins Bar, the spot where Miranda first met Steve in the Season 2 episode of Sex and the City entitled “The Man, The Myth, The Viagra” (pictured above). Unfortunately, though, the beloved dive bar closed its doors in July of 2007 and the building that formerly housed it is in the process of being torn down to make room for a new hi-rise condominium development. Such a bummer!!!! You can see some great pictures of the former Collins Bar here and here, though.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Scout, aka O’Nieals Grand Street Bar, is located at 174 Grand Street in New York’s SoHo area. You can visit their website here. Collins Bar was formerly located at 735 Eighth Avenue, near Time’s Square.

November 18, 2009November 17, 2009

Whitney Port’s Apartment from “The City”

As fate would have it, last year’s New York vacation ended just a few weeks prior to the series premiere of the MTV Hills spin-off entitled The City. That, of course, meant that I had to wait almost an entire year to stalk any of the locations featured on the new show. 🙁 And, while I have to admit that I don’t even really like the series all that much, at the top of this year’s NYC stalking list were quite a few locales used on it. One of the locations I most wanted to stalk was the building where series’ heroine/burgeoning fashion designer Whitney Port supposedly lived during Season One. But, of course, as is often the case on The City, things weren’t quite as cut and dry as they seemed. Thanks to fellow stalker Virginie, who posted a comment on my site back in January with a link to this article from the blog Curbed, I found out that the building shown as Whitney’s on the show isn’t where the reality starlet actually lived. So much for The City being a “reality” show. LOL But even though Whitney didn’t actually live in the building featured on the series, because the place is a filming location, I, of course, still had to stalk it! 🙂

The building where “Whit” supposedly lived on The City is ultra-tall, ultra-modern, ultra-luxurious, and just oh-so-New-York! And, thanks to the dwelling’s quintessential New York feel, it’s not very hard to see why producers chose to use it as the residence of the girl Page Six Magazine dubbed as “The New Carrie Bradshaw”. The building is the ideal home for a modern-girl-about-town. And I would just about give my left foot to live there! 🙂

Ironically enough, though, Whitney wasn’t too keen on the place when she first toured it with then-boyfriend Jay Lyons in the Season One episode entitled “The L Word”. Upon first seeing the apartment, Whitney said, “I kind of envisioned myself whenever I moved here that I would be, like, in one of those shorter brick buildings.” Um, you mean, like, a brownstone, Whitney? LOL LOL LOL Boyfriend Jay changed her mind, though, and later in that same episode Whit became a resident of the building, where she remained through the show’s first season. Or so MTV would have you believe. But we know different, don’t we? 🙂

As you can see in the above screen capture, the balcony of Whitney’s apartment doesn’t look at all like the balconies of the building shown in the show’s exterior shots, which is how the bloggers over at Curbed were able to figure out that MTV was trying to pull the wool over its viewers eyes. The building Whitney actually lived in is located less than a mile away from her “fake” building and is called the Elektra. Sadly, I was not able to stalk that location during this year’s trip, though. 🙁 And, as fate would have it, during The City’s Second Season, which just premiered last month, Whitney moved out of her hi-rise digs and into a “shorter, brick building” somewhere in Greenwich Village. And while I have not figured out the exact location of that spot yet, I definitely plan to stalk it during next year’s New York trip. 🙂

Whitney’s “fake” building, which was designed by architect Stephen B. Jacobs, is fairly new to the New York skyline. The property was just recently completed in 2006 and is comprised of 390,000 square feet of living space which is divided into 250 individual condominium units. The building features a 24-hour doorman, a concierge, a lobby, a garage, a business center, a gym, a yoga room, a massage room (and here I don’t even know what a massage room is!), a sauna, a residents’ lounge complete with fireplace, a children’s playroom, a conference room, and an indoor pool and spa. Individual apartments in the building boast floor to ceiling windows, marble baths, hardwood floors, sweeping views, and private balconies.

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A side note about my photographs – I accidentally took the above pictures from the opposite end of Fifth Avenue from where the The City’s set-up shots were taken. If you want to snap a pic from the exact spot where the screen captures were taken, head over to the corner of Fifth Avenue and West 32nd Street. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Whitney Port’s “fake” apartment building from The City is located at 325 Fifth Avenue. In reality, Whitney lived at a building named The Elektra, which is located at 290 Third Avenue.

November 16, 2009November 16, 2009

Bethesda Fountain and Terrace

Just around the corner from the Central Park Boathouse Cafe, which I blogged about on Friday, is another New York landmark known as Bethesda Fountain and Terrace. Because the area is one of my favorite places in all of New York, I’ve actually stalked it numerous times during my many trips to the Big Apple, but, for some reason, never thought to blog about it. Which is actually quite ironic being that the fountain has been immortalized in countless movie and television productions over the years. So, with the mindset of ‘it’s better late than never’, today I thought I’d give it a go. 🙂 The first time I visited Bethesda Fountain and Terrace was back in 2004 during my very first trip to Manhattan. My fiancé and I happened upon the fountain while walking through Central Park and I immediately recognized it from an episode of fave show Sex and the City and just about flipped out. Since that time, I’ve made it a point to visit the area at least once whenever I’m in New York. On a side note – Due to the below freezing temperatures, fountains in Manhattan are turned off during the winter months, which is why Bethesda Fountain is not running in the above photograph which was taken in December of 2004.

Bethesda Fountain, which measures 26 feet tall and 96 feet in diameter and is one of the largest fountains in New York, was the only sculpture that was included in “The Greensward Plan”, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux’s original design blueprint for Central Park. In the plan, the fountain and terrace area were intended as a gathering place for park-dwellers, a picturesque spot for Manhattanites to congregate and socialize.

The statue that flanks the top of the fountain is named “Angel of the Waters” and was designed by Emma Stebbins, sister of Central Park Commissioner Henry G. Stebbins. The statue, which was built in Germany, took over seven years to construct and wasn’t unveiled until 1873, an additional five years after its completion. The idea behind the neoclassical statue was based on “The Pool of Bethesda”, a man-made bath in Jerusalem, which, as legend had it, was often frequented by angels who could cure the ailing. The fountain was built in commemoration of the Croton Aqueduct, Manhattan’s very first fresh water system, which had been completed thirty years prior. The statue’s largest angel measures eight feet tall and holds a lily in one hand symbolizing the purity of New York’s water, while blessing the waters of the fountain with her other hand.

The four cherubs which stand beneath the main angel represent Peace, Purity, Temperance, and Health.

British architect Jacob Wrey Mould designed the two large staircases which flank the terrace, as well as all of the area’s ornamental details, which include wildlife carvings and over 16,000 intricate Minton tiles.

The Terrace and Fountain area quickly became the focal point of Central Park and even boasted an outdoor restaurant at one time. But during the 1970s, Central Park fell into a terrible state of disarray and, sadly, remained that way for over a decade. When my parents checked into the Plaza Hotel during their very first trip to New York back in 1980, the concierge told them in no uncertain terms NOT to enter the Park under any circumstances. Today, Central Park is so incredibly beautiful and picturesque, that it is EXTREMELY hard for me to imagine it ever being a scary place. During that time, Bethesda Fountain became a haven for the homeless and drug addicted of New York and was even given the nickname “Freak Fountain”. It wasn’t until 1980, when the Central Park Conservancy stepped in with their plan to restore the Park to its original grandeur, that things began to change. The Conservancy’s first step was to renovate the fountain, which had actually been left dry for over a decade. A few months after the fountain was restored, the Terrace area was also renovated. Today, Bethesda Terrace is so grand and so tranquil that it’s hard to believe at one time it was one of the most dangerous areas of the park.

Because it is so incredibly picturesque, Bethesda Terrace is one of the most photographed areas of Central Park and has long been a favorite of movie producers. As mentioned above, I first recognized the area from a Season 2 episode of Sex and the City. In that episode, which was entitled “The Freak Show”, Carrie meets a “normal” guy while sitting by the fountain one spring day and, in an unprecedented move, gives him her unlisted phone number.

In Home Alone 2: Lost In New York, Kevin is chased onto Bethesda Terrace by Harry and Marv, aka the “Sticky Bandits”. He just narrowly escapes them by hiding in the trunk of a horse drawn carriage.

Not only does Nate run near the fountain in the Season 1 episode of Gossip Girl entitled “Poison Ivy”,

but in that very same episode the fountain shows up as the spot where Serena and Blair have a much needed heart-to-heart.

The Terrace is also the site of the grand finale of the “That’s How You Know” song and dance number from the movie Enchanted.

In Elf, while Will Ferrell is trying to save Christmas, Santa’s sleigh knocks off the tip of the “Angel of the Waters” statue and almost crash-lands on the Terrace’s top level.

The fountain is also the location of the New York City Junior Science Fair from which Mel Gibson and Rene Russo’s son is kidnapped in the 1996 movie Ransom.

It’s also the spot where George Clooney, Michelle Pfeiffer, and their two children frolic in some puddles while on their way to a soccer game in the movie One Fine Day.

The music video for the They Might Be Giants song “They’ll Need a Crane” was also shot in its entirety at Bethesda Fountain.

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The fountain has also been featured in the movies The Producers, The Way We Were, Deconstructing Harry, Sunday in New York, Eyewitness, Stuart Little 2, Hair, Godspell, Everyone Says I Love You, Angels in America, The Prisoner of Second Avenue, Tommy Boy, Bullets Over Broadway, It Should Happen to You, It Could Happen to You, Madigan, Green Card, and The Manchurian Candidate, and in episodes of TV’s The Amazing Race, Law and Order, and Lipstick Jungle.

Bethesda Fountain and Terrace is an absolutely beautiful spot and I honestly can’t recommend stalking it enough! It has long been considered “the heart of Central Park” and is definitely a New York must-see!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Bethesda Fountain and Terrace are located just off of 72nd Cross Street Drive in Central Park.