Victoria Tennant filming locations

December 10, 2013December 9, 2013

Melrose Avenue from “L.A. Story”

Another L.A. Story location that has been waiting patiently in my stalking backlog is the block of Melrose Avenue where Harris K. Telemacher (Steve Martin) and Sara McDowel (Victoria Tennant) walked and talked after attending a fundraiser for a private art museum in the 1991 flick. Unfortunately though, because the movie was lensed over twenty years ago and that area of Melrose has changed quite a bit during the interim, I am unsure of the exact spot where filming took place. But I sure did my best to try to pinpoint it.

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While watching Harris and Sara’s walk-and-talk scene in L.A. Story, I noticed a neon sign in the background that spelled out “Wacko.” Harris had mentioned in the scene that they were wandering down Melrose, so I decided to begin my hunt there and did a Google search for “Wacko” and “Melrose Avenue.” Sure enough, I was led to an April 1997 Los Angeles Times article that stated, “Wacko, a toy and trinket shop with a bizarre inventory ranging from eyeball magnets to ‘mystic smoke for fingertips,’ is famous for its colorful neon name sign that has become an icon of hipness known worldwide.” (I must not be all that hip being that I had been completely unaware of the sign prior to reading the article. Winking smile ) From there, finding the address of the former Wacko storefront – at 7404 Melrose Avenue – was fairly easy.

It was not until later that I realized a street sign for “Martel Avenue” was visible in the background of the scene. My search would have been a whole lot easier had I noticed that earlier! D’oh!

Wacko was originally established in 1984 by entrepreneur/art collector Billy Shire. Shire’s parents had founded the Soap Plant, a boutique specializing in handmade soap, ceramics and leather clothing, in Los Feliz in 1971. In 1980, Billy took over the family business and moved it to a strikingly unique corner building at 7400 Melrose Avenue. The new space was larger, enabling Billy to expand his wares to include jewelry and books. Four years later, when two vacant storefronts located next door to the Soap Plant became available, he opened a “pop culture toy shop” named Wacko, aka “The Second Happiest Place on Earth.” Besides selling Japanese robots, wind-up trinkets and games, Wacko also offered the largest selection of postcards in all of Los Angeles. In 1986, Shire founded an art showplace named La Luz de Jesus Gallery in the space located upstairs from the Soap Plant and Wacko. All three were so successful that nine years later he opened up sister locations in a 6,500-square-foot space at 4633 Hollywood Boulevard in Los Feliz. Sadly, as the Melrose Avenue clientele shifted from punk to hipster in the late ‘90s, his business began to decline and he wound up closing his outposts there in 1997. His Hollywood Boulevard shops are still alive and well, though. Today, Wacko’s former Melrose Avenue home is the site of a boot shop and cell phone store. You can check out what the building looked like during the Wacko days here.

While the former Wacko building was an easy find, I still have not been able to pinpoint the exact storefronts that Harris and Sara walked in front of in L.A. Story. It is clear from the position of Wacko’s neon sign in the scene that the two were on the north side of Melrose Avenue, heading east from the Martel Avenue intersection towards North Fuller Avenue. None of the storefronts on that particular block match up to what appeared onscreen, though.

Granted a lot can change in 22 years time, but I was absolutely certain that I would find something that had remained the same, something that would allow me to identify the exact storefronts. Sadly though, the Grim Cheaper and I walked up and down that particular block of Melrose several times, screen captures in hand, without turning up a single thing.

The storefront that I most wanted to locate was the spot with the neon-decorated three-panel window, where Harris and Sara paused and where Harris uttered his famous line, “So there I was jabbering at her about my new job as a serious newsman – about anything at all – but all I could think was wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, and most wonderful, and yet again, wonderful.”

While I originally thought that the window that appeared behind them in the scene was arched, as you can see in the screen capture pictured below (which I lightened a bit), that is not actually the case. Some sort of arched backdrop was used to create that illusion, but in reality the window is rectangular in shape.

My best guess is that the storefront used is the one located at 7365 Melrose Avenue, which now houses Freak Chic Tattoo. That is just a guess, though. While the shop does boast a similarly-shaped three-panel window, because there are no other identifying marks, it is virtually impossible to say for sure.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Harris and Sara’s walk-and-talk from L.A. Story took place on the 7300 block of Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles’ Fairfax district. The couple was on the north side of the street in the scene, near the storefronts located at 7377 and 7383, heading east. I believe that Harris and Sara stopped in front of the storefront located at 7365 Melrose Avenue. The former site of Soap Plant and Wacko can be found at 7400/7404 Melrose Avenue. You can visit the Soap Plant/Wacko official website here.

August 6, 2013August 5, 2013

The “L.A. Story” Brunch Restaurant

One L.A. Story location that I never in a million years thought I would be able to stalk was the exterior of the fictional Dr. Dalmar’s eatery (said to be located on the corner of Sunset and Crescent), where Harris K. Telemacher (Steve Martin) and his girlfriend Trudi (Marilu Henner) brunched with some friends towards the very beginning of the 1991 flick. I had long known that a patio at the now-defunct Ambassador Hotel had been used as the actual brunch site and consequently assumed that some other portion of the property had been featured as the restaurant’s entrance. Because the Ambassador was demolished in early 2006, though, this was one locale that I just did not put a whole lot of thought into.

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It was not until I was scanning through L.A. Story to make screen captures for my post on the apartment building where Trudi lived in the movie, that I came across the brunch scene and spotted two street signs – one reading “4th St” and the other reading “3rd St” – visible in the background. Because the Ambassador Hotel was located near 7th and 8th Streets, I realized that the entrance to Dalmar’s had to be elsewhere. I also realized, due to the placement of said street signs, that the Dalmar’s exterior was in between 4th and 5th Street.

I also noticed that the Dalmar’s entrance was situated near the end of a T-shaped intersection, as you can see below. So I started searching for a T-shaped intersection on 5th Street in the vicinity of the Ambassador Hotel and, voila, I found the right spot after just a few minutes of searching.

As it turns out, the exterior of the L.A. Story brunch restaurant is actually the entrance to a mid-Wilshire area apartment complex named Regent Place.

In the beginning of the L.A. Story brunch scene, Harris and Trudy are shown walking on a brown trellised deck.

Well, let me tell you, I could NOT have been more excited to see that deck in person, especially being that I had for so long been under the incorrect assumption that it was no longer standing.

Harris and Trudi are also shown walking on that deck after finishing brunch . . .

. . . and then out to the valet stand in front of Dalmar’s, where Harris accidentally drives off, leaving Trudi standing on the curb alone. “Yeah, I know what you were concentrating on!” I LOVE that line. (For those who have no idea what I am referring to, you need to rent the movie immediately! Winking smile )

In 2005, L.A. Story production designer Lawrence Miller filmed a featurette titled “The L.A. of L.A. Story” that detailed several of the locations used in the movie for the 15th Anniversary Edition DVD. One of the places that he chronicled was the brunch site and he actually ventured out to then soon-to-be demolished Ambassador Hotel for the segment. During the spot, he mentioned that the featurette was the very last production that would be shot on the premises prior to the demolition, which took place on January 16, 2006. (I am still bitter that the hotel was torn down. Such an incredible shame!) Lawrence also spoke about the fact that Dr. Dalmar’s was modeled after the Hotel Bel-Air’s Terrace restaurant. Producers had actually originally wanted to film the brunch scene at the Bel-Air, but, for whatever reason, the hotel would not allow it. Lawrence did a fabulous job with the set design, though, because Dalmar’s did end up looking very much look like the Terrace (or at least what the eatery used to look like prior to the Bel-Air’s 2011 remodel).

The spot that was used as the brunch site was located on the south side of the Ambassador Hotel near the swimming pool. Pictured below is what that area looked like in 2005 when Lawrence returned to film “The L.A. of L.A. Story.” You can check out a picture of that portion of the hotel during the Ambassador’s heyday here.

For the shoot, Lawrence built a large trellis overhang that matched one of the Ambassador’s actual trellises (that actual trellis is pictured below) and he also brought in hundreds of trees.

Pictured below are some behind-the-scenes images of the brunch scene shoot, in which you can get a better look at the set-up.

The Ambassador Hotel was also featured in two other scenes in L.A. Story. The infamous Embassy Ballroom (where Bobby Kennedy spoke just prior to being assassinated on June 5, 1968) was used as a soundstage during the filming and was where the two El Pollo Del Mar hotel rooms were constructed. According to Lawrence, “The window wall was used in both hotel rooms and was moved back and forth depending on which part of the scene we were shooting.” He goes on to say, “The large furniture in the suite was used in both hotel suites. That was our little trick to make it appear a little more glamorous than it was.”

The ballroom in its 2005 state when Lawrence filmed “The L.A. of L.A. Story” is pictured below.

And finally, the scenes that took place at the fictional hot spot L’Idiot, where Harris dined with his new love interest, Sara McDowel (Victoria Tennant), and her ex-husband, Roland Mackey (Richard E. Grant), were filmed at the Ambassador Hotel’s coffee shop. Both the exterior of the coffee shop . . .

. . . and the interior were used in the shoot.

According to Lawrence, the coffee shop’s walls and columns were covered over with white corrugated fiber glass during the filming and neon lights were also installed to make the site appear less “tropical.”

As you can see below, though, the booths were left intact during the filming. Man, how I wish that place was still around! Sad smile

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The exterior of Dr. Dalmar’s, the L.A. Story brunch restaurant, is actually the entrance to the Regent Place apartment complex, which is located at 426 South Norton Avenue, just south of Hancock Park, in Los Angeles. The interior of the brunch scene was filmed at the former Ambassador Hotel, which used to stand at 3400 Wilshire Boulevard in the Wilshire District of Los Angeles.

May 14, 2013May 13, 2013

Harris’ House from “L.A. Story”

Another L.A. Story location that production designer Lawrence Miller talked about in “The L.A. of L.A. Story” featurette included on the 1991 comedy’s 15th Anniversary Edition DVD was the Spanish-style dwelling where wacky weatherman Harris K. Telemacher (Steve Martin) lived. And even though the address of the home had been listed on the L.A. Story filming locations page for years, I figured the place was still worthy of a blog post. So I ran right out to stalk it – Starbucks latte in hand, of course – while visiting Los Angeles a couple of weekends ago.

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In real life, according to Property Shark, the West Hollywood abode, which was originally constructed in 1923, is not a private residence after all, but a multi-family dwelling consisting of four separate units that contain a total of four bedrooms, four baths and 3,366 square feet of living space.

Unfortunately, the site currently bears little resemble to its onscreen counterpart. In fact, when we first pulled up, I thought I had the wrong address! Boo!

The two-story house was one of the main locations used in L.A. Story and popped up repeatedly throughout the movie.

In “The L.A. of L.A. Story”, which was taped in 2006, Miller said, “The director had a concept of L.A. being a desert where people brought water to it and created paradise. This little compound here was selected primarily because of the beautiful trees and greens and foliage that sort of embraced the driveway. This location caused us a little bit of a problem in that the week before we were to shoot here, the neighbor next door decided he wanted to prune all of his greens, all of the trees, all of the things that we loved so much and it forced us to bring in Greensmen to try to duplicate what it was that was there. And it’s interesting looking at it fifteen years later and seeing that it still hasn’t all grown back.” (The screen captures below were taken from “The L.A. of L.A. Story.”)

Sadly, since the filming of the featurette, the foliage that once covered the front of Harris’ house has also been removed, completely changing the look of the place, despite the fact that the structure of the home itself has not been altered. Goes to show the aesthetic power of trees!

Miller also said that the home’s real life front door was swapped out during the filming for a custom-made leaded glass door.

And that the alarm keypad that controlled Harris’ fake barking dog was just a prop.

Unfortunately, that area of the house is not very visible from the street.

I was shocked to learn, thanks to Miller’s interview, that the real life interior of the home was also used in the filming. I would have bet money on it being a set! Areas of the property that appeared in the movie include the kitchen;

the bathroom, with the “slo mo” faucet;

the living room;

and the bedroom, which is, oddly enough, situated right next to the front door, as you can see below.

It was in that bedroom that Harris famously wrote “Bored Beyond Belief.” on a window.

The exact pane that Harris wrote on is the top middle panel of the window located just north of the front door, as denoted by the pink arrows below.

According to “The L.A. of L.A. Story”, the then owner of the property was paid a whopping $35,000 for its use in the movie (and we’re talking 1991 dollars!) and filming on the premises took five weeks to complete, including prep time. $35,000 for five weeks? Yeah, I’d take that! Winking smile

You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER. And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Harris’ house from L.A. Story is located at 1206 North Orange Grove Avenue in West Hollywood.

May 7, 2013May 6, 2013

The “L.A. Story” Fundraiser House

Another L.A. Story location that I was desperate to track down was the sloped-roof residence where Harris K. Telemacher (Steve Martin) and Sara McDowel (Victoria Tennant) attended a “private art museum” fundraiser in the 1991 comedy. Because the home was so architecturally unique, I was sure that it would be an easy find. I was wrong. After scouring countless online film location libraries and architectural databases and coming up empty-handed, I decided that I needed to call for reinforcements. I sent a few screen captures to Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, to see if he recognized the place and, as luck would have it, he did! During a visit to Los Angeles a couple of years back, Geoff and his wife had done some sight-seeing in the Palos Verdes area. They happened to drive by the L.A. Story house that day and took note of it due to its distinctive roof. All Geoff had to do was retrace their steps and, voila, he found the place in a snap. Yay! So I ran right out to the South Bay to stalk it while in L.A. two weekends ago.

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In real life, the residence is known as the Bowler house, named for John Bowler, the industrial building contractor who commissioned it. The dwelling, which was constructed in 1963, was designed by Lloyd Wright, son of legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and was composed of concrete, glass and Santa Maria stone. Lloyd also designed all of the property’s furnishings (which were angled to match the design of the house), cabinetry and vast landscaping.

Thanks to the triangular, pitched roof, which was manufactured out of blue corrugated fiberglass, the property is also sometimes called the Bird of Paradise house, which is something of a misnomer, as Lloyd had actually based the design on a diamond module.

The residence, which was renovated by Eric Lloyd Wright, Lloyd’s son, in 1991, features 3,904 square feet of living space, 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, a library, a formal dining room, a master suite, a laundry room, an in-ground swimming pool, separate guest quarters, and a 0.89-acre plot of hilltop land boasting 180-degree ocean views. The site was put on the market in mid-2008 for $2.5 million and wound up selling in January 2009 for $1.895 million. You can check out the real estate listing and some great interior photographs of the house here.

In L.A. Story, Harris and Sara head to the Bowler house to attend a formal fundraising dinner in which a man is trying to raise city funds to found an art museum that will not be open to the public. LOL Pictured below are the screen captures that I sent to Geoff when I asked for his help in tracking down the residence. It is amazing to me that he was able to recall a home pictured in dark, very limited screenshots simply from driving past it several years back. My hat is definitely off to him!

The real life interior of the home also appeared in the scene.

On a side-note – I would like to wish a HUGE congratulations to my girl Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog, who not only just got a big promotion at work (she can now get herself – and me! – into Disneyland for FREE anytime she wants!), but, most exciting, also recently got engaged . . . to Keith Coogan (yes, that Keith Coogan!). I am over-the-moon happy for her and wish her and Keith all the joy in the world!

I got to meet Keith this weekend (at Disneyland) and I cannot express how much fun it was to run around quoting lines from Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead with him. When he randomly said, “Rock and roll!” at one point during the day, I just about died! He is also really into filming locations, so, Pinky, I approve. You chose well! Winking smile

You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER. And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

Big THANK YOU to Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, for finding this location! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Bird of Paradise house, aka the L.A. Story fundraiser house, is located at 3456 Via Campesina in Rancho Palos Verdes.

May 2, 2013May 1, 2013

Sara’s Apartment Building from “L.A. Story”

After tracking down the location of the “talking” freeway sign and Now! clothing store from fave movie L.A. Story (which I blogged about here and here, respectively) a couple of weeks ago, I embarked upon a mission to uncover all of the unknown locales from the 1991 flick. And with a lot of help from the usual suspects – fellow stalkers Mike, from MovieShotsLA, Owen, from the When Write Is Wrong blog, and Geoff, from the 90210Locations website – I managed to do just that! One location that I actually found all on my own, though, was the unique sloped-roof building where Londoner Sara McDowel (Victoria Tennant) stayed while visiting Los Angeles in the movie. So I ran right out to stalk it while in SoCal this past weekend.

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Thankfully, this one was quite the easy find. I had an inkling that Sara’s building was located in the West Hollywood area, where a considerable amount of L.A. Story was lensed. So I did a Google search for “West Hollywood apartment building” and “butterfly roof” and, sure enough, one of the results was a WeHo.org page that included a write-up about the historic Hollywood Riviera building located at 1400 North Hayworth Avenue, which turned out to be the right spot. (Although it actually houses condominiums, not apartments.) Woot woot!

The Hollywood Riviera was designed by prolific Los Angeles-based architect Edward H. Fickett in 1954. The extremely unique, 38-unit, post-war-modern-style building features a sloped butterfly roofline, louvered windows, floating exterior staircases, canted (yeah, I had to look that one up, too) balconies, and a central courtyard with a swimming pool.

It also has a pretty cool retro-style sign.

Incredibly, of the 37 West Hollywood apartment buildings that Fickett designed during his lifetime, only five are known to remain standing to this day. Most were demolished to make way for larger, more modern structures. Due to this sad fact and the building’s unique architecture, the West Hollywood Historic Preservation Commission designated the Hollywood Riviera a Historic Cultural Resource in 2010.

In L.A. Story, Sara, the love interest of Harris K. Telemacher (Steve Martin), stays at the Hollywood Riviera while in town to write an article about Los Angeles for The London Times. The building shows up numerous times throughout the movie.

The areas of the Riviera that appeared in the flick include the front exterior;

the front door of one of the units (I am guessing that the unit’s real life apartment number was used in the filming);

and the courtyard and pool.

I am fairly certain that the real life interior of one of the units was utilized in the shoot as well, although Sara’s homestead was two stories, while all of the Hollywood Riviera condos that I have found real estate listings for online consist of only one story, so who knows. You can check out a real estate listing for an actual unit here to see how it compares.

I am also fairly certain that Sara’s balcony was a real Hollywood Riviera balcony.

The Hollywood Riviera was also where Elaine (Lesley Ann Warren) lived in 1999’s The Limey.

And while several websites (including this one and this one) state that the building has appeared in numerous movies and television shows, I could not find the names of any of the other productions that filmed on the premises.

You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER. And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Sara’s apartment building from L.A. Story, aka the Hollywood Riviera, is located at 1400 North Hayworth Avenue in West Hollywood.

April 11, 2013April 10, 2013

The “L.A. Story” Freeway Sign

One locale that the Grim Cheaper suggested I track down a few years back – and that I have wondered about ever since – was the spot where the freeway sign from the 1991 classic comedy L.A. Story once stood. Because it was a prop sign that was situated on a long expanse of a non-descript Southern California road, though, I figured that, short of getting ahold of a crew member, it would be a virtually impossible find. Cut to two weeks ago when, while doing research on the O’Neil house from Beverly Hills, 90210, I came across this Wikimapia page which stated that the L.A. Story freeway condition sign had been located on Burbank Boulevard in Encino. I just about fell out of my chair upon learning this news because I had never before seen it mentioned anywhere. And while I tried to find other articles that backed up the claim, I came up empty-handed. I knew that the information had to have come from somewhere, though, so I searched Amazon to see if a DVD commentary for the movie was available. While no such commentary exists (how is that possible?!?!), I did come across a listing for the 15th Anniversary Edition of L.A. Story which included – are you ready for this? – a vignette titled “The L.A. of L.A. Story: An Interactive Map of the Popular Sites Filmed for L.A. Story”. Um, yes, please! The DVD is sadly out of print, but I did find a used copy of it on eBay for $5 and, let me tell you, it was the best $5 I ever spent – although I am sure the GC would disagree. Winking smile

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The L.A. of L.A. Story, which was shot in 2006 and is absolutely amazeballs, features production designer Lawrence Miller (who sadly passed away in 2009) returning to ten of the movie’s most iconic locations to tell the stories behind them. LOVE IT! One of the locales visited was, of course, the famous freeway sign. In the piece, Lawrence describes shooting on Burbank Boulevard, just east of Hayvenhurst Avenue, but never specifies the exact spot where the sign stood. I was having a heck of a time pinpointing the location via Google Street View, so I enlisted the help of Mike, from MovieShotsLA, who found the right area almost immediately. Thank you, Mike! As you can see below, the two double-pronged trees visible behind Lawrence in the feature match up perfectly to the spot that Mike found on Burbank Boulevard. So the two of us ran right out to stalk the site this past Sunday afternoon while I was in town for a couple of days.

In L.A. Story, wacky weatherman Harris K. Telemacher (Steve Martin – who also wrote the screenplay!) encounters a rather cheeky freeway condition road sign that instead of foretelling traffic statuses, predicts the future of his life. According to Lawrence, the sign was custom-built and was programmed to “talk” to Harris in several different languages so that its lines would not need to later be dubbed when shown in foreign countries. So interesting!

As you can see below, the Los Angeles cityscape was digitally added to the background of the road sign scenes.

In real life, the area behind where the sign once stood is comprised of a massive amount of foliage.

In The L.A. of L.A. Story, Lawrence also states that Burbank Boulevard was chosen as the sign site because it is a “freeway lookalike” that is easy to close down, and that he was the person who actually chose the exact spot where the sign would be installed on the day of the shoot.

As you can see below, the area still looks very much the same today as it did in 2006 when the special was filmed.

Unfortunately though, there is currently quite a bit more plant growth than there was when Lawrence visited the site seven years ago.

Which is especially upsetting because when The L.A. of L.A. Story was filmed, he was actually able to find the hole where the sign once stood, which I just about lost my mind over! And while Mike and I ferociously dug through the underbrush looking for that hole (we were pretty much on our hands and knees pulling back weeds – I can only imagine what passersby were thinking!), we were unable to uncover it. I did vow to go back with a rake and a shovel one day, though, so have no fear! I will locate that darn hole if it’s the last thing I do! Winking smile

You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER. And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for finding this location! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The L.A. Story freeway sign was located on eastbound Burbank Boulevard, just east of Hayvenhurst Avenue at what Google Maps lists as 16388 Burbank Boulevard, in Encino.

January 20, 2012January 20, 2012

The “L.A. Story” Gas Station

Last week, while doing research for my post on L’Orangerie, aka Chez Quis restaurant from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, I came across some information on The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations website about the Gilmore Gasoline Service Station on Highland Avenue in Hollywood – a very cool-looking, old-time gas station that appeared in the 1991 movie L.A. Story. Thanks to the place’s unique, Art Deco architecture and historic feel, I became just a wee-bit obsessed with it and immediately added the address to my ever-growing “To-Stalk” list.

I think part of the reason that I became so enamored with the Gilmore Gasoline Service Station is that it reminded me of the circular, 50s-style drive-in restaurant that was used in Britney Spears’ “For Those Who Think Young” Pepsi commercial – which was sadly just a set that was built inside of a soundstage. For reasons that are beyond my comprehension, I have long been obsessed with all of the Pepsi ads featuring Britney. I honestly cannot get enough of ‘em. In fact, I just watched about twelve different versions of both “The Joy of Pepsi” and “For Those Who Thing Young” videos. But I digress. Anyway, because he has an affinity for all things historic, I figured that the Gilmore Gasoline Service Station was one location that the Grim Cheaper would actually not mind being dragged to. Sadly though, when we arrived, we found the structure to be in a pretty pitiful state. Such a shame!

The Gilmore Gasoline Service Station has an absolutely fascinating backstory. The structure was originally built for the Gilmore Oil Company, which was founded by one of the most influential and prominent families in Los Angeles history. Arthur Freemont “A.F.” Gilmore, a dairy business owner from Illinois who migrated to Southern California during the 1880s, found fortune in 1903 when he accidentally struck oil while drilling a water well on some property that he owned in the Rancho La Brea area. In 1919, after A.F. had passed away, his son, Earl, founded the Gilmore Petroleum Company, which later became the Gilmore Oil Company. Their Red Line service stations, which bore the motto “Someday you will own a horseless carriage. Our gasoline will run it.”, soon became common fixtures across all of Los Angeles. The Gilmore family is most famous, though, for founding the Gilmore Bank and the world-famous Farmers Market at 3rd & Fairfax, and for building Gilmore Field – the now-defunct minor league baseball park that was once home to the Hollywood Stars baseball team.

The double-canopied Gilmore Gasoline Service Station was designed in 1935 by an engineer named R.J. Kadow. It was one of the first Gilmore stations to be constructed and is now, sadly, one of the last remaining of its kind. After the Gilmore Oil Company was sold in 1945, the station went through a succession of different owners and, in early 1990, after the then-tenant decided not to renew his lease, there was talk of possibly tearing the structure down. Thankfully, the Melrose Neighborhood Association stepped in and, on March 23rd, 1992, the building was declared a Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument. Despite the station’s historic status, though, it has somehow been allowed to fall into disarray in recent years. According to a November 1990 Los Angeles Times article, there were once plans to restore the building and open a snack shop/gas station/classic car rental on the site, but I am not sure if those plans ever came to fruition and, as you can see above, the place is currently in dire straights. You can check out some photographs of the station taken during better days here.

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In L.A. Story, Harris K. Telemacher (Steve Martin) and Sara McDowel (Victoria Tennant) stop at the Gilmore Gasoline Service Station, where they ask for a “full service” treatment – their tank filled, car washed, and all four tires removed and exchanged LOL – before heading to a fund-raising dinner. As you can see in the screen captures pictured above, at the time that the movie was filmed in 1991, the gas station was an incredibly cool little place. I cannot express how disheartening it was to discover that a unique piece of Southern California’s history – one with historic cultural status, no less – has been allowed to deteriorate in such a way. As I said earlier, what a shame!

Fellow stalker Chas, of the It’sFilmedThere website, also let me know that the station was featured in the 1982 movie 48 Hours as the supposed San-Francisco-area gas station where parolee Reggie Hammond (Eddie Murphy) told detective Jack Cates (Nick Nolte) where he had hidden the stolen money.

On an L.A. Story side-note – I would so love to find the supposed-Santa-Barbara-area El Pollo del Mar (the Chicken of the Sea – LOL) motel that appeared in the flick. I know that the interior scenes were filmed at the since-demolished Ambassador Hotel, but I am interested in tracking down the exterior. Does anyone happen to know where it is?

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The former Gilmore Gasoline Service Station, from L.A. Story, is located at 859 North Highland Avenue in Hollywood.