Van Nuys locations – IAMNOTASTALKER

March 20, 2012March 19, 2012

Erin’s Florida House from “The Office”

I would like to start off today’s post by wishing my good friend and fellow stalker Lavonna a VERY HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY! In honor of her big day, I decided that I just had to write about an Office-related locale, because not only it is Lavonna’s very favorite show, but she is actually the person who is responsible for getting me hooked on the series in the first place – for which I will always be grateful. And while I do have a few Office locations in my back pocket, so to speak, as fate would have it, this past Sunday morning I received a timely email from fellow stalker Geoff, of the 90210Locations website, who wanted to let me know that he had just tracked down the supposed Tallahassee, Florida house where Erin Hannon (Ellie Kemper) lived in the Season 8 episodes of the series titled “Last Day in Florida” and “Get the Girl”. So I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out to stalk the place that very afternoon.

The eagle-eyed Geoff tracked this location down thanks to a sign reading “Stagg Street” which he spotted in the background of the scene in which star-crossed lovers Erin and Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) finally kissed in the “Get the Girl” episode. A quick Google search informed Geoff that Stagg Street was located in Panorama City, so he started looking through aerial views of the area and thankfully it was not long before he found the right abode.

As Geoff later pointed out to this directionally-challenged stalker, Erin’s Florida house is actually located directly behind Chandler Valley Center Studios, where The Office is lensed!

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In the “Last Day in Florida” episode of The Office, broken-hearted Erin decides that she will not be returning to Scranton, Pennsylvania once the Sabre “Special Project” has been completed. She winds up being hired as a personal assistant/house cleaner to an “old lady” named Irene (Georgia Engel) and moves into her Tallahassee home. In the following episode, “Get the Girl”, Andy drives out to Florida in order to profess his love to Erin in the hopes that she will quit her new job and return to Scranton with him.

In person, Erin’s Tallahassee house looks much the same as it did onscreen in The Office, minus some Florida-themed foliage and the dolphin water fountain that Andy tried to fix in the “Get the Girl” episode. In real life, the tiny dwelling, which was originally built in 1951, measures 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, and 1,040 square feet. I have only been to Florida once, when I was about three years old, and do not remember much about it, but the GC spent quite a few of his childhood years in the Sunshine State, so I asked him if the abode looked like one that would be found there. His answer, “No, not at all.” LOL (The building that is visible behind the house in the above photographs is Chandler Valley Center Studios. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to live that close to where The Office is filmed!)

I am fairly certain that the real life interior of the property was also used in the episodes.

The intersection where Andy and Erin kissed is located a block and a half north of the house, but, unfortunately, I did not realize that at the time, so I did not take any photographs of it.

On an Office side-note – I was beyond floored when I recognized that the supposed Tallahassee, Florida hotel where the gang stayed during the “Special Project” episodes (“Tallahassee”, “After Hours”, “Test the Store”, “Last Day in Florida”, and “Get the Girl”) was actually the Hyatt Regency Valencia, the very same hotel which appeared in the first Twilight movie and which I stalked way back in November of 2009. Quite a bit of the property was used in the five episodes, including the front exterior;

several rooms;

the main lobby;

and Vines Restaurant and Bar.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, for finding this location and a very big HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY to my good friend Lavonna! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Erin’s “Florida” house from the “Last Day in Florida” and “Get the Girl” episodes of The Office is located at 7777 Cherrystone Avenue in Panorama City. The home backs up to Chandler Valley Center Studios, where The Office is filmed, which is located at 13927 Saticoy Street in Van Nuys. Erin and Andy kissed in the “Get the Girl” episode just up the street from the house at the intersection of Stagg Street and Cherrystone Avenue. The “Tallahassee, Florida” hotel where the gang stayed during the “Special Project” episodes is the Hyatt Regency Valencia, which is located at 24500 Town Center Drive in Valencia. You can visit the hotel’s official website here.

June 14, 2011June 15, 2011

Barone’s Famous Italian Restaurant from “The Office”

One location that I have been on the lookout for for quite a few weeks now is the Italian restaurant where the Dunder Mifflin gang hosted the annual Dundies Awards ceremony in the Season 7 episode of fave show The Office titled “Michael’s Last Dundies”. I had an inkling that the eatery was most likely located somewhere in the Van Nuys area, near Chandler Valley Center Studios where the series is lensed, so one of my first lines of attack was to do a Google search for the terms “Italian restaurant”, “Van Nuys”, and “filming”. My query kicked back numerous results, most of which pointed to an eatery in Valley Glen named “Barone’s Famous Italian Restaurant” and when I looked at an exterior image of the place on fave website LA Time Machines, I saw that it indeed matched up perfectly to what had appeared on The Office. So I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out to stalk the place and grab some lunch two Sundays ago.

Barone’s Famous Italian restaurant was originally founded way back in 1945 by brothers Tony, Frank, and Mike Arpaia, all of whom had just returned home after finishing a stint in the Air Force during World War II, and their sister, Josephine Barone. The siblings purchased a defunct eatery named Barto’s at the corner of Beverly Glen and Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks and, in order to to save a bit of money, simply dropped the “T” and added an “N” and an “E” to the former restaurant’s exterior signage, thus creating “Barone’s Famous Italian Restaurant”. The establishment became so popular that just four years later the family was forced to move it to a larger space located at 14151 Ventura Boulevard, where it remained until 2006, at which time it was moved to its current home on the corner of Oxnard Street and Mammoth Avenue in Valley Glen. It was that Valley Glen location that I set out to stalk two weekends ago.

Barone’s Famous Italian restaurant, which has served such luminaries as Huntz Hall, Leo Gorcey, Lucille Ball, John Wayne, and Jane Russell, is still family-owned and operated to this day, 66 years after its inception. The eatery has long been known for its rectangular-shaped pizzas, an idea which was born out of a need to fit more pies into the restaurant’s tiny oven, but because I am diabetic and have to stay away from carbs, the GC and I were unfortunately not able to sample any. I instead opted for the Chicken Marsala entree, while the GC sampled Barone’s “Famous Stuffed Mushrooms” and a Caesar salad, and, sadly, I have to say that none of it was especially tasty. Sad smile I had such high hopes for the place, too! Being that we saw no less than thirty pies make their way out the door for delivery in the short time that we were dining there, though, I am guessing that it is the pizzas that have kept people coming back to this place time and time again for over six decades.

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In the “Michael’s Last Dundies” episode of The Office, Michael Scott (aka Steve Carell), Deangelo Vickers (aka Will Ferrell), Pam Beesly (aka Jenna Fischer), Jim Halpert (aka John Krasinksi) and the rest of the Dunder Mifflin Scranton Branch employees gather at the supposed Scranton, Pennsylvania-area Louis Volpe’s Italian Restaurant to celebrate the 2011 Dundie Awards. Chaos, of course, ensues and they all end up getting kicked out of the establishment by the restaurant’s manager after Deangelo screams out the word “vomit” numerous times during his acceptance speech.

Upon entering the restaurant, though, I was shocked to discover that it looked NOTHING at all like what had appeared on the show. From what I was able to discern after talking to the restaurant’s super-nice hostess, while the “Michael’s Last Dundies” episode did use the exterior of Barone’s for some filming, all of the interior scenes were filmed elsewhere – at a location that I am unfortunately still on the hunt for. UPDATE – fellow stalker Owen recently tracked down one of the series’ crew members, who informed him that the interior of Louis Volpe’s was in actuality just a set that was built at Chandler Valley Center Studios.

Some filming has taken place inside of the Barone’s space over the years, though. The eatery was the spot where Mark “Rat” Ratner (aka Brian Backer) took Stacey Hamilton (aka Jennifer Jason Leigh) out on a date, for which he forgot his wallet, in the 1982 movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High. At the time, the restaurant was a German establishment named Hoppe’s Old Heidelberg, which was originally founded in 1958.

Thankfully, as you can see in the above screen capture and photograph, even though the establishment has gone through several ownership changes throughout the years, very little of the interior has been altered since Fast Times at Ridgemont High was filmed almost three decades ago. So incredibly cool!

In 1995, Hoppe’s Old Heidelberg was sold to a new owner, Switzerland native and Chef-of-the-Year-awardee Ueli Huegli, who renamed the place Matterhorn Chef and gave the menu a Swiss flair. In 2005, the restaurant was featured in the Billy Bob Thornton movie Bad News Bears.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Barone’s Famous Italian Restaurant, which served as the exterior of Louie Volpe’s restaurant from the “Michael’s Last Dundies” episode of The Office, is located at 13726 Oxnard Street in Valley Glen. You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.

June 9, 2011June 8, 2011

Darryl’s House from “The Office”

This past weekend I dragged the Grim Cheaper out to the San Fernando Valley to do some stalking of the home belonging to Darryl Philbin (aka Craig Robinson) on fave show The Office. Fellow stalker Owen had actually tracked this location down well over a year ago and it is, ironically enough, located directly next-door to the abode where Meredith Palmer (aka Kate Flannery) lives on the series, which I blogged about a few weeks back. And even though I had the address written down in my trusty stalking notebook and even though Owen had reminded me that the two dwellings were located right next door to each other, for some reason I completely forgot that fact when I went to stalk Meredith’s house in early May. Yes, I am most definitely a blonde. 😉 As soon as I realized my mistake, Darryl’s house was moved to the very top of my To-Stalk list and I dragged the poor GC right on back over there this past Sunday afternoon to finally snap some pics of the place.

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Darryl’s house was actually only featured in one episode of The Office – the Season 6 episode titled “The Meeting”, in which Dunder Mifflin paper salesman Dwight Schrute (aka Rainn Wilson) convinces human resources director Toby Flenderson (aka Paul Lieberstein) that warehouse manager Darryl is lying about his claim that he injured himself while standing on a ladder at work. In order to prove his case, Dwight persuades Toby to conduct a stakeout of Darryl’s home. While on the stakeout – during which Dwight invites Toby to someday visit his “run-of-the-mill-slaughterhouse” where he is currently restoring a life-size train LOL – the two are parked in front of the residence located next door and to the west of Darryl’s.

The two then spot a rather large individual wearing a sports jersey and carrying a humongous bag of dog food whom they assume is Darryl. Dwight immediately pulls his car up to the front of Darryl’s house in order to confront him, while Toby yells out, “Hey you, a**hole! You gonna eat all that dog food yourself?” As it turns out, the person whom they thought was Darryl is actually his younger sister, who was played by actress Jahmilla Jackson.

Once they realize their mistake, Dwight and Toby panic and Dwight tries to drive away quickly, but ends up plowing his car into Darryl’s garbage cans. Interestingly enough, Meredith’s house can be spotted in the background of that part of the scene.

I am very happy to report that Darryl’s house looks pretty much exactly the same in person as it did onscreen.

Even the two blue Adirondack chairs which were situated on the front porch during the episode are there in real life!

Interestingly enough, in the Season 7 episode of The Office titled “Search Committee”, Darryl is shown typing up his resume, on which his home address is visible. It reads “14152 Emelita Ave, Scranton, PA 18505”. In real life, the address of the house used as Darryl’s is 14152 Emelita Street in Van Nuys. SO INCREDIBLY COOL!

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Owen for finding this location! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Darryl’s house, from “The Meeting” episode of The Office, is located at 14152 Emelita Street in Van Nuys. During their stakeout, Darryl and Toby are parked in front the residence located at 14156 Emelita Street. Meredith’s house, from the “Michael’s Last Dundies” episode of The Office, is located next-door to Darryl’s at 14142 Emelita Street in Van Nuys. Toby’s house from that same episode of The Office is located just around the corner at 5752 Calhoun Avenue, also in Van Nuys. And Jim and Pam’s house is located just a few blocks northeast at 13831 Calvert Street in Van Nuys.

September 1, 2010August 7, 2010

Oscar’s House from “The Office”

Another filming location from The Office that I stalked recently was the ranch-style abode where accounting executive Oscar Martinez (aka Oscar Nunez) lives on the show. I found this location, as always, thanks to fellow stalker Owen who, along with a bit of assistance from fellow stalker Chas, of ItsFilmedThere, has somehow managed to track down pretty much every single locale that ever appeared on the show. Thank you, Owen!

While watching the Season 2 episode of the series titled “The Secret” a few years back, Owen spotted an address number of 5232 in the background of a scene. He immediately set about searching aerial views of neighborhoods near Chandler Valley Center Studios in Van Nuys, where the series is lensed, for homes with a 5232 address number, and, sure enough, it wasn’t long before he had found the right place. YAY! So, while I was in the area with my fiancé – ahem, my husband 🙂 – a few weeks ago, I dragged him right out to stalk Oscar’s abode!

Oscar’s house actually only appeared in “The Secret” episode and has yet to show up again on the series. In the episode, Oscar calls in sick to work on a Friday and his co-worker and part-time volunteer sheriff’s deputy Dwight Schrute (aka Rainn Wilson) becomes convinced that Oscar is not truly ill. Dwight decides to investigate the matter further and, after first conducting interviews with everyone in the office to get their take on whether Oscar is faking or not, he heads over to “the perp’s” house to see if he is actually ill. When he catches the not-yet-out-of-the-closet Oscar with another man in his driveway, he becomes ecstatic, drives up to the couple and proclaims, “Man, you are so busted! Ice skates, shopping bags! I think I know what’s going on here . . . you weren’t sick at all!” Not realizing that he has stumbled upon a much larger secret, Dwight blackmails Oscar into owing him “one great, big, giant favor redeemable by me at a time and place of my choosing.” Have I mentioned how much I love this show? 😉

I am very happy to report that, minus a few trees in the front yard, Oscar’s house looks exactly the same in person as it did on the show. Love it!

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Located less than a block away from Oscar’s house is the residence where Pam bought a lamp during “Michael Scott’s Dunder Mifflin Scranton Meredith Palmer Memorial Celebrity Rabies Awareness Pro-Am Fun Run Race For the Cure” (and yes, that was the race’s actual name) in the Season 4 episode of the series titled “Fun Run”. During the race, Jim and Pam happen upon an estate sale at a local residence and instead of continuing on with the run in order to “prevent a disease that’s already been cured” (LOL), they decide to do some shopping. I know this probably goes without saying, but I also found this location thanks to fellow stalker Owen. And even though it only appeared very briefly in one episode of the series, because I was already in the area, I just had to stalk it!

And it, too, looks much the same in person as it did on the series, even though very little of it was ever actually seen in the episode.

Ironically enough, the “Fun Run” house looks like it could almost be a twin to Oscar’s house! Many homes in the area actually have that extra little roof gable above the garage and, therefore look quite a bit alike, so it is truly a feat that Owen was able to track down the houses which were used on the show.

Big THANK YOU to Owen for finding both of these locations!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Oscar’s house from The Office is located at 5232 Longridge Avenue in Van Nuys. The house where Pam buys the lamp in the “Fun Run” episode is located a few blocks north of Oscar’s house at 5306 Longridge Avenue.