March 2008 – Page 2 – IAMNOTASTALKER

March 19, 2008February 17, 2009

Donna Martin Graduates!

Can’t tell you how excited I am about Tori Spelling’s new book, sTORI Telling ! I absolutely can’t wait to start reading it!!! I love me some 90210 gossip! In honor of Miz Spellings new tell-all, I thought I’d do a little post about the 90210 gang’s alma mater, the fictional West Beverly High School, which I stalked way back when I first moved to LA. In reality, the school isn’t located anywhere near Beverly Hills. It’s called Torrance High School and it can be found in the 90501 zip code, about 25 miles south of Rodeo Drive.

I found this location thanks to my go-to stalking guide and I cannot tell you how excited I was to be there in the flesh. When 90210 was on the air, back when I was in high school, I wanted nothing more than to be Brenda Walsh. I loved her cowboy boots, her men’s ties, and (most of all) her boyfriend, Dylan. In high school, I actually changed my phone number to 34-LUKE-3 – I kid you not! (Needless to say, I didn’t have many friends in high school – lol) So, even though it was 7 years later when I finally got to see West Beverly High in person and 90210 was long past its prime, even though Brenda Walsh had long left the show and Donna Martin was no longer a virgin, I was still absolutely beside myself! I never dreamed I’d get to see West Beverly with my own two eyes.

Unfortunately, Torrance High School looks much better on camera than it does in person. It’s lost a bit of its luster since the 90210 days and it is pretty run down in person, but I loved being there just the same! We visited the school on a weekend and pretty much had free reign to walk around. While many different parts of the school are recognizable from various episodes, most scenes were filmed in the center courtyard known in real life as the Senior Patio. You’ll immediately recognize the center fountain, large archways, and long staircase from various episodes of 90210. The Hello Day, time capsule and senior portrait scenes were all filmed in or around the Senior Patio. You will also recognize the main entrance to the school, which was also featured in numerous scenes.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Torrance High School is located at 2200 W. Carson Street in Torrance. The school was also featured in Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, She’s All That, Skin, Not Another Teen Movie, and Bring It On, as well as countless other productions. The Senior Patio can be found behind the main school building. I suggest visiting Torrance High on a weekend, when you will have more freedom to explore the property.

March 18, 2008February 13, 2009

Les Baux de Palm Springs

Thanks to the Real Estalker’s recent post about the sale of Suzanne Somers’ Palm Springs abode, I was able to stalk it this past weekend while I was in the area. In 1977, Suzanne and her husband, Alan Hamel, bought their cherished desert home, which they named Les Baux de Palm Springs after the Les Baux village in France. This leads me to wonder – how does one go about naming their home? Do they actually go down to the local courthouse and file a home naming petition? Is that just a rich person/movie star thing? Because now I am seriously considering naming my house Casa del Cazadora. 🙂

Stalking the house was highly disappointing as not much of Les Baux is visable from the road. The house is located behind a tall gate, up a long driveway, on a private road. All of us stalkers will just have to resort to cyber-stalking the house here. Les Baux, which sits on over 65 acres, is being listed for a whopping $35 million!! That’s one heck of a lot of Thigh-Masters!! The couple is apparently downsizing and building a new home on a lot measuring a measly 15 acres.

One item stalkers can view from the road is Suzanne’s decaying mailbox. Now, I’m no real estate agent, but I am pretty sure that if I was listing Suzanne’s house, I’d demand she install a new mailbox. Heck, for that commission I’d even spring for one myself! I mean, come on, Suzanne – didn’t anyone teach you about a little thing called curb appeal?? 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Les Baux de Palm Springs is located at 385 Alta Vista Road. For the best views of the house, drive past the gated driveway (and dilapidated mailbox) on Alta Vista Road until it turns into Ridge Road. You will see Les Baux on the right hand side. Apparently, Mr. Barry Manilow lives right next door to Les Baux! Looks like I am going to have to stalk him next time I am in the neighborhood.

March 18, 2008December 6, 2013

Vacation Homes of the Stars

Since the early 1930’s, Palm Springs has been a favorite desert oasis for the Hollywood elite. With its perfect winter and springtime weather, fabulous shopping, and beautiful desert ambiance, it’s not very hard to see why. While visiting the desert this weekend, I dragged my boyfriend on my very own little stalking tour of Downtown Palm Springs. Much to my boyfriend’s delight, the Palm Springs Visitors’ Center was kind enough to provide a free Map of the Stars’ Homes to act as our guide. 🙂

Our first stop was the home of Oscar winner, best-selling author, and Hollywood producer Sidney Sheldon. Sheldon was a top television and movie producer back in the 1960’s, creating such hits as I Dream of Jeannie, The Patty Duke Show and The Bachelor and The Bobby-Soxer. His home looks like it is straight out of the 60’s and is very reminiscent of the Brady Bunch home in Studio City. Unfortunately, the house appears to be in serious disrepair and needs a little TLC.

The next home we hit up was Kirk Douglas’ 1960’s style beauty just down the road from Sidney Sheldon’s house. Before selling this house in 1999, Kirk spent many a weekend here with his wife. My boyfriend absolutely fell in love with this house and all of its mid-century splendor. The house definitely has a Palm Springs/Old Hollywood feel to it and has been perfectly maintained. I am actually surprised the house hasn’t been used as a filming location, as it has a definite “Rat Pack” vibe to it.

Down the road from Kirk and Sidney, is the home Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn used to vacation at. I was shocked at the normalcy of this house – especially the lack of a gate or foliage to hide the property from stalkers and prying eyes. I am guessing they owned this home long before Kate Hudson became a household name and paparazzi favorite.

Just a few blocks away is Marilyn Monroe’s former desert home. I absolutely love this house! It looks as if it hasn’t been touched since Marilyn lived there in the 1950’s. The home, like most on the Palm Springs movie star tour, is very stalker-friendly, with no gate or wall hiding it from view.

Last, but not least, we stalked two former Elvis Presley homes. The first is the honeymoon home of Elvis and Priscilla – they lived here from May of 1967 to early 1968. It was while living in this house that the two fell in love with Palm Springs and decided to purchase another home located in the Little Tuscany section of Palm Springs. While I am not a huge fan of 1960’s architecture, I must admit that this house is definitely not short on charm. It is just so “Elvis”! 🙂 I think it is extremely cool that the owners have chosen not to remodel or change the exterior of the home and have left it looking almost exactly as it did in Elvis’ day.

The last home we stalked was the Little Tuscany abode Elvis and Priscilla purchased in the late 1960’s. At the time of his death, this home, along with Graceland, were the only two properties owned by The King. While Elvis’ honeymoon home is charmingly reminiscent of Old Palm Springs, this Little Tuscany house is absolutely hiddy and a total eyesore! The perimeter of the home is actually surrounded by large rocks painted white, resembling snow. It’s pretty atrocious!!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The city of Palm Springs is located 110 miles east of Los Angeles. You can stop by the Palm Springs Visitors’ Center, located at 2901 N. Palm Canyon Drive, for your very own free Map of the Stars’ Vacation Homes. Via Lola Street is chock full of stars’ homes, including the former homes of Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell at 550 Via Lola, Kirk Douglas at 515, and Sidney Sheldon at 425. Marilyn Monroe’s former house is located just a few blocks away at 1326 Rose Avenue. Nat King Cole lived for a time at number 1258. 1350 Ladera Circle is the home Elvis and Priscilla Presley lived in when they first got married. 845 Chino Canyon is the Little Tuscany home Elvis owned at the time of his death.

March 17, 2008February 13, 2009

Seeing Stars!!!

Oh my stars! Just got a shout out from my stalking hero over at www.seeing-stars.com! Thanks, Seeing Stars! You’ve so just made my night! 🙂

March 16, 2008February 13, 2009

Stalking Palm Springs Style

This weekend my boyfriend and I took a little road trip to Palm Springs for a relaxing weekend getaway – but there’s no resting for this stalker! Of course, I just had to do a little stalking while I was there! 🙂 Once again, the stalking gods were watching out for me, because we stayed at Desert Springs, A JW Marriot Resort and Spa in Palm Desert. Little did I know that the Desert Springs resort was an oft used filming location for Hollywood productions. While I did remember that Newport Harbor: The Real OC was filmed in the hotel a couple of years ago, I didn’t realize that The Real Housewives of Orange County, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and Saved by the Bell were also all filmed at the resort.

Chrissy and the gang stayed at the Desert Springs Marriott in the pilot episode of the Laguna Beach spin-off Newport Harbor: The Real OC. Producers used the front entrance, the lobby and the pool area for filming. You might also remember the scene in the hallway outside of Chrissy’s hotel room when she gets into big trouble with her “daddy” for being in her room with Clay alone. You can watch the full episode of Newport Harbor at mtv.com.

The Desert Springs Marriott was also used in the episode of Saved by the Bell when Jessie Spano’s father gets married. As soon as the front desk clerk told me that episode had been filmed at the hotel many, many years ago, I immediately remembered it. The resort is surrounded by a huge lagoon complete with a fleet of boats to transport guests from one end of the hotel to the other. A pivotal scene in the episode (if anything from SBTB could ever be considered pivotal) takes place between Zack and Jessie at the boat launch in the lobby of the hotel. Unfortunately, the lobby just underwent a major renovation, so it looks very different than it did in the SBTB days, but you should recognize it all the same.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Desert Springs, A JW Marriot Resort and Spa is located at 74855 Country Club Drive in Palm Desert. You can make reservations here. While the hotel is beautiful with amazing grounds and landscaping, I wouldn’t exactly recommend it as a place to go to relax. The hotel definitely has a party vibe, complete with an in-house nightclub named Costas. It is a great place to grab a drink or dinner, though. My boyfriend and I have been long time fans of the Sea Grille restaurant inside the hotel.

March 13, 2008February 13, 2009

"Welcome to Malibu, Bitch!"

Thanks to the ultimate OC stalking guide, I was able to stalk the ginormous mansion used as the home of Marissa Cooper on the second season of The O.C. In real life, the house is owned by NFL star Brian Bosworth and it isn’t located anywhere near the O.C. The mansion can actually be found on a gated road just off Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu and it is every bit as beautiful (and huge!) as it looks on TV.

Even though Marissa’s mansion is located on a private road with no public access, you can still get a pretty good view of it from Pacific Coast Highway and I would definitely recommend driving by. Even for non O.C. fans (do any actually exist?), the house is definitely a site to behold! For an up close view of the house, you can always check into Promises Treatment Center, the rehab du jour for troubled celebs including BritBrit, which is located just down the road on the same gated street. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Marissa Cooper’s home is located on a private road at 6375 Meadows Court in Malibu. For the best views of the home, simply drive along Pacific Coast Highway to just south of where it meets Meadows Court and look east. Although PCH is a very busy road, in that area it is fairly easy to pull over and snap a few pics of the home.

March 12, 2008November 8, 2010

Owen Wilson’s Former House

In honor of Owen Wilson and Kate Hudson’s rekindled romance (pictures of the two frolicking in Miami surfaced on the pages of US Magazine this week), I decided to stalk Owen’s Santa Monica abode. Several months back, I had read an article on TMZ which chronicled Owen’s suicide attempt and listed his home’s general location as the 900 block of 23rd Street. A different article published at the same time described his home as “gated”. So, this past Saturday, armed with those two clues, I set out to find his house.

Success came rather easily, being that there is only one gated home located on the entire 900 block of 23rd Street. 🙂 I am continually shocked by the normalcy of so many celebrity homes, and Owen’s was no different. While large and beautiful, his home was in a very normal Santa Monica neighborhood and I would never guess a movie star lived behind the tall hedges.

Owen lives in an adorable white clapboard residence and, although much of the house is blocked by tall palm trees and other foliage, you can catch a good view of the side of it by walking along 23rd Street. You can see the back of the house by driving down the alleyway in between 23rd and 24th Streets.

Update: Just got a comment from JJ saying that Owen moved out of this house and into a new Malibu house. Did a little research and apparently JJ is correct. Looks like I have a new location to stalk!! 🙂 From what I can find online it seems Owen still owns this Santa Monica house.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Owen Wilson lives at 947 23rd Street in Santa Monica, in between Idaho Avenue and Washington Avenue. After stalking Owen, you can visit Courteney Cox’s former home, which is located in the same neighborhood at 606 Alta Drive.

March 11, 2008February 13, 2009

Charlie’s Angels

Although I am not a big fan of Charlie’s Angels 2: Full Throttle – it was just a bit too over the top for me! – when I found the address of Cameron Diaz’s house from the movie on my fave stalking website – and since I just happened to be in the neighborhood this weekend – I just had to stalk it!

In Charlie’s Angels 2, Cameron Diaz’s character, Natalie, moves into a new beachfront home with her boyfriend, Pete. That house is located in Hermosa Beach and it is absolutely adorable!! The home was actually built in 1905, as stated on a plaque located on the front of the house. It’s not very hard to see why the producers chose to use this house for filming – it is extremely charming and cute, much like Cameron’s character in the movie. I highly recommend stalking it, even if you are not a Full Throttle fan!

Stalk It: Natalie’s house is located at 2028 The Strand in Hermosa Beach. You can park on Hermosa Avenue and hit up the shops (and Starbucks!) before making your way down Pier Avenue towards The Strand – a walkway that runs along the beach. The house is located near where The Strand meets 20th Street.

March 10, 2008February 13, 2009

Weekend in "the O.C.!"

First, I must apologize for being so remiss in my blogging last week – my best friend in the world was visiting me from Switzerland and, while we did do a little stalking during his visit, I didn’t have time to write many posts. When my friend left to return to Switzerland on Saturday morning, I was completely bummed out, so my boyfriend told me to pack a bag and we took a spontaneous little road trip with no planned destination. Well, the stalking gods were definitely looking out for me because destiny led us right to the Marriott-Manhattan Beach Hotel, which just happened to be a filming location from the first season of The O.C.! Let me tell you, that cheered me right up! 🙂

After checking into the hotel, I immediately logged onto the ultimate O.C. stalking guide, Seeing Stars, to see if any scenes had been filmed in the area. I almost fell off the bed when I realized The O.C. was filmed in the very hotel I was staying in! The Marriot-Manhattan Beach was used in the fourth episode of the very first season for the cotillion rehearsal scenes. The scenes were filmed in the Manhattan Ballroom located just off the lobby. Additional scenes were also filmed in the area just outside the ballroom, to the left of the lobby bar.

But the stalking didn’t end there! Almost directly next door to the Marriott is Raleigh’s Manhattan Beach Studios, the very studio where The O.C. was filmed. The studio looks more like an office building complex than a movie studio, but many famous productions have been filmed there, including Ally McBeal, CSI:Miami, and Medium. Ironically enough, though, the studio appears to be leasing out office space to non-industry people. How cool to have your offices located right on a movie lot! I am going to have to talk to my boss about that! 🙂

Stalk It: The Marriott-Manhattan Beach is located at 1400 Park View Avenue. If you decide to stay there, make sure to ask for the AAA rate – we got a great deal!! Raleigh’s Manhattan Beach Studios is located at 1600 Rosecrans Avenue. The main gate can be found on a side street called Redondo Avenue. Unfortunately, at this time, the studio does not offer tours. 🙁

March 9, 2008February 18, 2009

Dancing in the Friends’ Fountain!

I’ve done some pretty cool things in my life, but I must say that one of my favorite and most memorable adventures was dancing in the fountain that was used in the opening credits of Friends! Back in 2002, I attended a seminar put on by my acting school that just happened to be held on the Warner Brothers Ranch Lot. When I found out the seminar was going to be held at the Ranch I swear I almost died! I had heard sometime before that the Friends fountain was located somewhere on the Ranch and I had been trying to figure out a way to get onto the lot to see it in person. Thank you acting school!

When I drove onto the lot early the morning of the seminar, I actually went right past the famous fountain without even realizing it. Walking to the class, my eyes were one hundred percent peeled, looking in all directions for the fountain, but I couldn’t seem to find it. During class, I happened to mention to a friend that I was dying to see the fountain, but had no idea where it was, and she said “You drove right past it when you drove onto the lot!” LOL During our lunch break she led me out to the location of the fountain and we snapped a couple of pics sitting on it and dancing inside of it. Sadly, the pic of me dancing did not come out! 🙁 But we did get to eat lunch on the lawn right in front of the fountain, and I was pinching myself the whole time!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Warner Brothers Ranch Lot is located at 411 North Hollywood Way in Burbank. While there are, sadly, no public tours offered of the Ranch, the fountain is completely visible through the front gates to the left of the guard shack. If you walk down Hollywood Way you can peek through the main gates and snap a quick pic. 🙂