TV – Page 22 – IAMNOTASTALKER

April 15, 2009April 14, 2009

The Adamson House

I spent all last week on the hunt for a location from my fave 90s TV show Beverly Hills, 90210. The spot I was looking for was the location that stood in for Baja, Mexico in the Season 2 episode entitled “Mexican Standoff”. In the episode, Brenda sneaks off to a Mexican resort town for the weekend with Dylan without telling her parents. I knew from this amazing website that the “Mexico” scenes were actually shot near the beach in Malibu, so I started my hunt there. And it wasn’t long before I found the right spot!

While watching the “Mexican Standoff” episode, I noticed an abundance of intricate Spanish tile in the background of pretty much every scene. (You can see an example of that tile behind Dylan in the above screen capture.) The tiles were my big tip-off, as there is actually a famous house in Malibu that is known for its exquisite tile work. In fact, the house has been deemed the “Taj Mahal of tile”. I had done some research on the home a few years back when I was working and immediately thought of it when I watched the “Mexican Standoff” episode this past week. The home, which is named the Adamson House, is owned by the State of California and has been open to the public as a museum since 1983. So, I, of course, dragged my boyfriend right out there this weekend for a tour.

In 1891, a man named Frederick Hastings Rindge purchased what is now known as the city of Malibu for the bargain price of $10 per acre. Rindge’s wife, May, was fiercely protective of her family’s privacy and did everything she could to keep outsiders out, including fencing off the 17,000 acre property and hiring armed guards who patrolled the area day and night. For close to forty years the Rindges were Malibu’s only occupants. But in the 30s, May ran into some financial trouble and had to sell off parcels of her property. Not wanting to sell to just anyone, May made sure she sold her land to wealthy, distinguished individuals who understood the need for privacy. Most of those individuals were movie stars. And thus, the city of Malibu, celebrity haven, was born. It was Frederick and May’s daughter, Rhoda Agatha Rindge, and her husband Merritt Adamson who in 1930 built the 4,000 square foot Mediterranean style home that is now known as the Adamson House.

Rhoda and Merritt’s custom home, which was designed by Stiles O. Clements, took a year and a half to build and is situated directly above the Malibu Lagoon. May Rindge, who was a tile connoisseur and owned her own tile company named Malibu Potteries, commissioned all of the custom, handmade tile that eventually made her daughter’s home so famous and, in the end, saved it from demolition. In 1966, four years after Rhoda’s death, the State of California was granted eminent domain on the Adamson House and its surrounding property. The state purchased the home from Rhoda’s heirs for $2.6 million and set about razing the property to build a beach parking lot. Unbelievable!! Thankfully, the Malibu Historical Society and the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation stepped in and fought to stop the demolition of the home. That fight turned into a ten year battle. During that time, the chancellor of Pepperdine University leased and lived in the property. In 1976, thanks to the home’s unique tile work and its historical significance to the city of Malibu, the house was saved from the wrecking ball. In 1983, after a lengthy renovation process, the home was opened to the public as a museum. The Adamson House is currently both a California Historic Landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places.

And, let me tell you, it is an absolutely incredible place to visit. The tile work in the home is nothing short of A-MA-ZING! I’ve never seen anything like it before in my life and doubt I ever will again. I was shocked when I heard that construction on the home took only a year and a half to complete, as the detailing is so incredibly intricate and elaborate that I would have expected it to have taken much longer. Everything from the clock in the kitchen to the heater grates in the ceiling are made from hand-painted tiles! The house could not be more exquisite and I HIGHLY recommend taking the tour to see it for yourself.

That being said, I have to say that the actual tour was one of the most BIZARRE experiences of my life. There are simply no words to accurately describe our tour – or our docent for that matter. I’m not quite sure what was wrong with her, but I think it is safe to say she was a few bricks shy of a load. A sample bit of her dialog from the tour: “Now we are in the upstairs . . . the ceiling . . . has . . . and you can see . . . and there are . . . this piece of . . . . . . . . . . . . . string . . . during World War II . . . there were bombs . . . who can guess why there are no lights?” And I’m pretty much QUOTING her! LOL When I asked why the Rindge family sold the Adamson House to the State of California she told me it was because “they were tired of it”. LOL LOL LOL At one point during the tour, my boyfriend turned to me and said “Please don’t ask if 90210 was filmed here – that might just make her head explode!” Within the first five minutes I became convinced we were on a hidden camera show – I was hoping it was I Get That A Lot – and at any moment a camera crew was going to jump out at us from behind a wall. I was actually laughing so hard on more than one occasion that I had to completely turn away from the group and stare at the wall. LOL I haven’t laughed that hard in a really long time, so I guess the tour wasn’t a total bust! In fact, as I sit here writing about it, I’m STILL laughing. 🙂 We even made friends with another couple, who were just as bewildered over our docent’s behavior as we were. At the end, one of them said to us, “I realize that they are all volunteers, but isn’t there some sort of screening process???” LOL But I must say that despite our nimrod of a tour guide, seeing the house in person is still an experience I’d recommend.

Oddly enough, only a very small section of the Adamson House was used in the “Mexican Standoff” episode of Beverly Hills, 90210. Of course our docent had no clue whatsoever where, or even if, 90210 had filmed on the property back in 1992 and I had a surprisingly difficult time locating the exact spot used on my own. After the tour on Saturday, I went home and watched the “Mexican Standoff” episode once again and finally figured out where it had been filmed. Unfortunately, I had only taken one photograph of that spot while on the tour. LOL So, I actually had to drag my boyfriend BACK to the house the following day to take some more pictures. Thank the lord our docent was nowhere to be found. 🙂 The area featured on Beverly Hills, 90210 was the little porch and driveway located to the side of Adamson House garage.

In the scene, Brenda and Dylan get into an argument over a girl that Dylan dated the previous summer. Brenda is in quite the little snit until a mariachi band strolls over and serenades them with a Spanish version of the Morris Albert song “Feelings”. The two make up and then dance the night away under the Mexican sky. GOD I LOVE THAT SHOW! 🙂 The new one doesn’t even compare!!! You can watch the scene filmed at the Adamson House here.

The “Baja” beach where Brenda and Dylan surf the following morning is very obviously the Malibu Lagoon State Beach, which is located directly in front of the Adamson House.

The location where Brenda and Dylan run into Jake Hanson in the beginning of that same episode is the beach parking lot located just south of the Adamson House. It is actually the place where you must park your car if you are going on an Adamson House tour. That’s the Malibu Pier in the background behind Dylan.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Adamson House is located at 23200 Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. The grounds are open daily to the public from sunrise to sunset. You do not need to be part of a tour to walk around the grounds. The interior of the house is only made available to the public via docent led tours. Tours are held Wednesday through Saturday from 11am to 3pm, with the last tour beginning at 2pm. Tours cost $5 per adult and $2 per child under the age of 16. Kids 5 and under are free. You can visit the Adamson House website here.

March 24, 2009March 24, 2009

On Location With The Mentalist!

Yesterday morning while doing some Downtown Los Angeles stalking, I happened to stumble upon a large film crew outside of Union Station. I, of course, asked one of the background actors what was being filmed and almost fell over when she told me it was my new favorite show, The Mentalist!!!! I asked if Simon Baker was on set and she laughed and said “Everyone’s been asking for him all morning! It’s cause he’s such a cutie.” LOL Sadly, SB had already been wrapped for the day, as had actress Robin Tunney. 🙁 Such a bummer!!

[ad]

But I did get to see actor Tim Kang, who plays Detective Kimball Cho on the show (pictured above). I love Kang’s character, so I was pretty floored to see him in person. He was filming a scene that basically consisted of him sitting on a bench reading a newspaper at the entrance to Union Station’s former ticket concourse. Needless to say, it wasn’t that exciting. LOL

I didn’t stick around very long to watch the filming as not a whole lot was going on and, sadly, the crew wasn’t all that friendly. The area where the scene was being filmed wasn’t shut off to the public as filming areas normally are, so I am guessing that the crew was just slightly annoyed at the many random people who were walking directly into their shot while the cameras were rolling. I guess the people didn’t notice the many signs that were posted around the area announcing that filming was taking place (pictured above). LOL I can’t tell you the number of people I saw who walked right in front of the camera and into the former ticket concourse, then stopped and looked around with confusion on their faces, only to walk right back out in front of the camera once again. I’m not kidding! I can imagine how that might have gotten old for the crew real quick!

Countless productions have filmed at the historic train station since its opening in 1939, including Nick of Time (Johnny Depp’s daughter is kidnapped there), Charlie’s Angel’s: Full Throttle (Demi Moore lived in the former ticket concourse area which is pictured above), Can’t Hardly Wait (Jennifer Love Hewitt and Ethan Embry finally get together in the station’s waiting area), 24, Alias, Blast From The Past, Bugsy, Catch Me If You Can, Blade Runner, Guilty by Suspicion, Garfield, The Italian Job, Pearl Harbor, and a 1950’s movie actually entitled Union Station.

Union Station is an absolutely beautiful place to visit and I highly recommend stalking it, even if you aren’t a film locations buff. The interiors, which have been beautifully maintained, immediately transplant you back to the 1930s. It’s not hard to see why the station has been a favorite of location scouts over the years. Union Station, which was built by architects John Parkinson, Donald D. Parkinson, and Jay van der Lin, is on the National Register of Historic Places and according to Wikipedia, is considered the “Last of the Great Railway Stations” built in the U.S. You can see some great photographs of the station here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Union Station is located at 800 North Alameda Street in Downtown Los Angeles. Ironically, it is located just around the corner from The Mentalist’s CBI Headquarters. 🙂

January 20, 2009June 2, 2010

The New York County Courthouse from “Law and Order”

One New York filming location that will look familiar to anyone who passes it – unless they’ve been living under a rock for the past ten years – is the New York County Courthouse. This massive building, with it’s hundred foot wide grand staircase and towering granite colonnade, has been featured in thousands of productions over the years. But it should be most recognizable to fans of the crime show genre as the courthouse from all of the Law and Order series. It is at this courthouse that McCoy and Briscoe, Benson and Stabler, and Eames and Goren see all of their cases tried. Besides being featured weekly on the three Law and Order series, the courthouse has also been featured in Miracle on 34th Street, Twelve Angry Men, Legal Eagles, Regarding Henry, Nuts, Wall Street, Good Fellas, The Devil’s Advocate, Married to the Mob, City Hall, The Hurricane, Kojak, Cagney and Lacey, Naked City, NYPD Blue, The Equalizer, The Godfather, and Aftershock: Earthquake in New York.

Fellow stalker Ivan just alerted me to the fact that the Courthouse also appeared in the Season 2 episode of the Batman television series titled “An Egg Grows In Gotham” (pictured above). Thanks, Ivan!

The New York County Courthouse was built back in 1919 by Boston architect Guy Lowell, who also built the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Guy actually won the commision of the building in a 1913 design contest. His original winning design for the courthouse featured a circular shape, but plans changed and he ended up building the courthouse in a six-sided, hexagonal form (bird’s eye view pictured above). Looking at the building from the front, one would never know it was built in this way. Very cool! The building, which was made a New York City Landmark in 1966, is absolutely beautiful – and overwhelming – in person. I am telling you, we don’t have anything like this in L.A.!

In the Sixth Season of Sex and the City Carrie reported for jury duty at the United States Courthouse, which is located right next door to the Law and Order Courthouse. In the episode, entitled “Hop, Skip and A Week”, Carrie and her boyfriend Berger share a “Hollywood kiss” on the courthouse steps just before she checks in to perform her civic duty. At first I thought Carrie and Berger had their kiss on the steps of the Law and Order Courthouse, but upon closer inspection I realized it was a different Corinithian-style building altogether. The two courthouse buildings look amazingly similar, and are both very beautiful, especially because they are situated right next to each other. They create quite an imposing view as you come upon them. The U.S. Courthouse was built in 1933, a bit later than the New York County Courthouse. It was designed by Cass Gilbert, who also designed New York’s Woolworth Building. Even though I am pretty sure New York jury duty is nowhere near as fun as jury duty in L.A., I think it would be very cool to perform my civic duty in such a historic building.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The New York County Courthouse is located at 60 Centre Street in Lower Manhattan. Carrie reported for Jury Duty at the US Courthouse located right next door at 40 Centre Street.

January 9, 2009February 13, 2009

Park Avenue Princess

Today I thought I’d write yet another post about yet another Sex and the City: The Movie filming location – Charlotte York’s Upper East Side apartment. 🙂 From the beginning Charlotte York was Sex and the City’s reigning Park Avenue Princess – a role I’d like to see myself in someday 🙂 – and, in real life, her apartment really was located on New York’s prestigious Park Avenue. Well, the exterior of it anyway. All of the interiors of Charlotte’s apartment existed only on a soundstage at New York City’s Silvercup Studios. I found the location of Charlotte’s pad, once again, thanks to my go-to SATC locations guide.

This apartment originally belonged to Charlotte’s first husband, Trey. The two moved into it after they got married in the third season of Sex and the City. After their divorce in Season Four, a fight for the apartment ensued and Charlotte ended up winning it thanks to her divorce lawyer – and future husband – Harry Goldenblatt. Charlotte’s building was built in 1916 by New York City architecture firm Schwartz & Gross. The 13-story building is situated in the elusive Carnegie Hill area of New York and houses only 24 apartments.

The scene from Sex And The City: The Movie that took place at this location was quite memorable as it was the first time in the film that we saw Carrie in her wedding attire – complete with a blue bird on her head. LOL On the morning of her would-be nuptials, Carrie and the girls head out of this building and into a waiting limousine. Carrie’s huge Cinderella dress has to be carefully pushed into the limo, causing her wedding planner Anthony to lament, “It’s like pushing a cream puff through a key hole.” LOL

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Charlotte and Harry’s apartment is located at 930 Park Avenue on New York’s stylish Upper East Side.

October 13, 2008September 29, 2017

Ray’s Pumpkins

Last week, thanks to Mike over at MovieShotsLA, I was able to stalk the pumpkin patch that was owned by Ray Pruit’s family on the original Beverly Hills, 90210. I was shocked when Mike told me that the property where filming took place is the location of an actual pumpkin patch in real life. I had been convinced that producers just dressed an empty lot for the filming of 90210, but in reality they rented out a real pumpkin patch that has occupied the same corner in Sherman Oaks for over fifteen years.

When I drove up to the patch I just about keeled over with excitement as there was a large sign out front which read “Ray’s Pumpkins”. I naively thought the owner named the patch after Ray Pruit because of the filming that took place there, but it turns out that the actual owner’s name is Ray! How cool is that!

Ray really could not have been nicer and spoke to me about the filming of 90210 for a good 15 minutes. He said that everyone on the cast and crew was very nice and very professional. Even though the pumpkin patch scene lasted only about four minutes and was shown in only one episode (the Season 5 episode entitled “Homecoming”), the filming took a full two days to complete. Ray told me that during the filming, some construction was being done on an apartment building located across the street from the patch. At one point the construction noise got too loud, so the producers of 90210 actually paid to have all construction shut down for the remainder of the shoot! LOL The cast and crew of 90210 returned to Ray’s later that same year and the real Ray’s Christmas tree lot stood in for the one owned by the Pruit Family in a Christmas episode of the show. Ray said there is always some sort of filming taking place at the patch. He couldn’t remember all of the productions that had filmed there, but he did say that Dancing With The Stars featured the patch in a brief segment last year.

Ray’s Pumpkin’s is a very cool pumpkin patch and I highly recommend stalking it. There are hundreds upon hundreds of pumpkins to choose from and tons of cute Halloween merchandise and decorations for sale. Ray told me that he also gets quite a few Valley celebs visiting his patch each year, so you just might get to rub elbows with the stars while pumpkin shopping. 🙂 Unfortunately I visited Ray’s after it was already dark outside, so my pics didn’t turn out very well and don’t really do the patch justice. But a BIG THANK YOU to Mike for providing the top pic. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Ray’s Pumpkins is located at the corner of Hazeltine Avenue and Moorpark Street in Sherman Oaks. Ray also owns the Peterson Ranch Fruit Stand located at 3402 Los Angeles Avenue in Somis, CA. The fruit stand is also a frequent filming location. It is most often used in commercials and was featured recently in a car ad.