Colony 29 from “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”

Colony 29 Real Housewives (14 of 22)

After watching the Season 4 episodes of fave show The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills titled “Palm Spring Breakers” and “Escape to Bitch Mountain,” I became just a wee-bit obsessed with tracking down Colony 29, the sprawling enclave where the Housewives stayed during their brief desert visit.  Fortunately, it wasn’t a tough find thanks to the Greater Palm Springs website which listed the address.  So I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on over there on our way home from L.A. two weekends ago.  (On a Bravo TV side note – the GC and I are now completely hooked on Vanderpump Rules.  It is hands down THE BEST reality show since The Hills.  I love, love, LOVE Stassi and have informed the GC that all I want for my birthday in June is dinner at Sur and a picture with Ms. Schroeder.  He better be making reservations far in advance.  Winking smile)

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Colony 29 was designed by Pasadena resident John Burnham, who built the property’s 4,500-square-foot main dwelling as his winter retreat in 1929 (hence the name).  He later added a two-bedroom guest home and three smaller bungalows to the site between 1929 and 1937 to be used as retreats for his many visiting artist friends such as Maynard Dixon, Carl Eytel, John W. Hilton, Victor Clyde Forsyth, Jimmy Swinterton, Nicolai Fechin and Alson S. Clark.  The place soon became a haven for artists and, according to Forbes magazine, was Palm Springs first gated community.

Colony 29 Real Housewives (1 of 22)

Colony 29 Real Housewives (2 of 22)

Sometime during the 1950s, Burnham sold the main house and two of the bungalows to Francis Crocker, the electrical engineer who conceived the oft-filmed-at Palm Springs Aerial Tramway.  The Crocker family held onto the three dwellings until 1997 at which point they were purchased by a builder named Dave Johnston and his wife, Trudy.  Dave and Trudy later purchased the guest home, third bungalow and remainder of the land that originally belonged to the property and, in 2002, moved into the main house with their three children.  By that point, most of the site had fallen into a state of disrepair and the family spent the next ten years and millions of dollars restoring it.  The landscaping alone cost $1 million to execute!  The project was completed in 2012 and, while the original intention was to turn the place into a bed and breakfast, today, Colony 29 serves as a vacation rental and special events venue.

Colony 29 Real Housewives (12 of 22)

Colony 29 Real Housewives (13 of 22)

Today, Colony 29 boasts over 10,000 square feet of space, 6.5 acres of lands, thirteen bedrooms, two pools, three spas, six kitchens, an adult-sized tree house (love it!), a meditation garden, an outdoor massage area, an outdoor kitchen, covered patios, open-air showers, a fire pit terrace, a natural stream, a pond, a built-in stage, parking for 85 cars, two large outdoor event spaces, six outdoor “fire elements” and a grotto.

Colony 29 Real Housewives (18 of 22)

Colony 29 Real Housewives (19 of 22)

In the “Palm Spring Breakers” and “Escape to Bitch Mountain” episodes of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, new Housewife Jacqueline, ahem, Joyce Giraud de Ohoven (whom I canNOT stand, by the way) invites fellow cast members Lisa Vanderpump, Kyle Richards, Kim Richards, Yolanda Foster, Carlton Gebbia (whom I also canNOT stand) and my girl Brandi Glanville to the desert for a “relaxing” two-night getaway.

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The trip does not turn out to be very relaxing for anyone, though (obvs), despite the idyllic setting.  For some inexplicable reason, the episode was shot in June, when temperatures in Palm Springs average about 105 degrees, which I’m sure only added to the tension.

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The real life interior of the estate was also shown in the episodes.

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Besides the Housewives, interior designer Nate Berkus and actress Diane Keaton have also visited the property, and the Canadian reality show Operation Double did some filming there in 2012.

Colony 29 Real Housewives (11 of 22)

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.

Colony 29 Real Housewives (21 of 22)

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Colony 29, from the “Palm Spring Breakers” and “Escape to Bitch Mountain” episodes of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, is located at 147 South Tahquitz Drive in  Palm Springs’ Historic Tennis Club neighborhood.  You can visit the property’s official website here.

Regency Inn & Suites from “Mad Men”

Mad Men Howard Johnson Inn (13 of 14)

On my many trips back and forth from Palm Springs to L.A., I often pass by a red-roofed, A-frame Regency Inn & Suites situated alongside the Interstate 10 freeway.  I knew from doing research for my post about Rod’s Grill in Arcadia that the Regency Inn & Suites in Baldwin Park was used as the exterior of the supposed Plattsburg, New York Howard Johnson Motor Lodge in the Season 5 episode of Mad Men titled “Far Away Places.”  And while the motel near the 10 was pretty much an identical match to the motel I had seen in the episode, because I am so horrifically bad with direction, I was unsure if the two were one and the same.  In fact, at the time I had no idea where in the heck Baldwin Park actually was.  Then, two weekends ago, while the Grim Cheaper and I were making the trek from L.A. back to the desert, I once again spotted the lodging and immediately pulled out my trusty iPhone to see if it was the one that had appeared in Mad Men.  Sure enough, it was, so I had the GC head right on over there so that I could finally do some stalking of the place.  (As it turns out, Baldwin Park is located in between El Monte and West Covina.)

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According to the Highway Host website, the 69-room Regency Inn & Suites was originally constructed in the fall of 1967 as a Howard Johnson Motor Lodge.  It continued to operate as an HoJo until 1995.  Thankfully, aside from the name, little else has been changed since the place’s early days, as you can see in this 1960 image as compared to the photographs below.

Mad Men Howard Johnson Inn (11 of 14)

Mad Men Howard Johnson Inn (14 of 14)

Even the vintage Howard Johnson “Motor Lodge” signage is still located onsite.  LOVE IT!

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I originally found this location thanks to a Zap2it post that chronicled the October 2011 Mad Men shoot.

Mad Men Howard Johnson Inn (9 of 14)

Mad Men Howard Johnson Inn (4 of 14)

In the “Far Away Places” episode, Don Draper (Jon Hamm) and his new wife, Megan Draper (Jessica Pare), head to upstate New York for the weekend in order to meet with clients from the Howard Johnson Motor Lodge company about a new advertising campaign.  While eating at the Howard Johnson restaurant (the interior of which was actually Rod’s Grill in Arcadia, which I blogged about here), the couple gets into a huge fight and Don storms outside to the parking lot.  He winds up abandoning Megan by driving off, but has a change of heart a few minutes later.  When he returns for her, though, Megan is nowhere to be found and Don spends the rest of the day and night searching for her.

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The area used in the episode was the motel’s east entrance, which I could not get a good photograph of due to the positioning of the sun.

Mad Men Howard Johnson Inn (1 of 14)

Mad Men Howard Johnson Inn (2 of 14)

At one point in “Far Away Places,” Don is informed by the management that the Howard Johnson pool is off limits due to the fact that a non-potty-trained child had an “accident” in it.  Taking advantage of the plug, shortly after the episode aired the Howard Johnson chain offered a free one-night stay at one of eight locations to anyone legally bearing the name Don Draper.  The promotion featured a letter written by Brand Sr. Vice President Rui Barros and stated, “Dear Mr. Draper, It has recently come to my attention through the general manager at our Plattsburg Howard Johnson that there may have been an issue with the pool during your recent stay.  At Howard Johnson hotels, our owners strive to give each and every guest a great stay, one that creates the same happy-filled memories that the brand’s legacy is built upon.  Unfortunately, sometimes things happen that are beyond our control.  That’s why, on behalf of the brand, I would like to offer you an apology and welcome you back for another stay, this time on us.”  How incredibly cool is that?

Mad Men Howard Johnson Inn (10 of 14)

Mad Men Howard Johnson Inn (3 of 14)

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.

Mad Men Howard Johnson Inn (5 of 14)

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Regency Inn & Suites, from the “Far Away Places” episode of Mad Men, is located at 14624 Dalewood Street in Baldwin Park.

The Possible Interior of O’Hara’s Pub from “Bad Santa”

Get Shorty Miami Restaurant (2 of 7)

As I mentioned in last Tuesday’s post, thanks to fellow stalker Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, I am fairly certain that I have managed to find the bar that was used as the interior of O’Hara’s Pub in the 2003 comedy Bad Santa.  When Owen heard about my quest to track down the location a couple of weeks ago, he contacted a few of the movie’s crew members in the hopes that they could provide some assistance.  One did, informing him that the interior was a bar on Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica “near the beach.”  Once I heard that, my thoughts immediately went to Scarboni New York Lobster & Steak House – a now defunct restaurant formerly located at 312 Wilshire that I had visited for a brief moment a few years prior.  Sadly, the place has since been completely remodeled, which is why I cannot be certain that it was the spot used in Bad Santa.  I still ran right out to stalk it, though, while the GC and I were in L.A. two weekends ago.

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The structure that once housed Scarboni was designed by legendary architect Paul Revere Williams in 1928. The two-story, Spanish Colonial Revival-style edifice, which features Plateresque detailing and is known as the Edwin Building, was constructed by the H.W. Baum Company at a cost of $100,000.  At the time of its inception, it housed three lower-level retail storefronts (which have since been combined into one large space) and eleven upstairs offices.  In 2008, the Edwin Building was declared a Santa Monica Historic Landmark, protecting the exterior from any future alteration.  The interior, though, boasts no such protection, unfortunately.

Get Shorty Miami Restaurant (2 of 10)

Get Shorty Miami Restaurant (3 of 10)

In the ’80s, the first floor of the Baldwin Building was occupied by a restaurant named the Darwin.  It closed in 1988 and was subsequently taken over in 1992 by new owners, who established Italian eatery Pentola Taverna at the site.   (While The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations states that the building’s lower level housed a restaurant named Vesuvio’s Ristorante in the early ’90s, I believe that information is incorrect.  I am fairly certain that from 1988 through 1992 the space remained vacant.)  Little of the interior was changed upon Pentola’s opening because, as Taverna owner Blaine Ivy stated of the Darwin, “They cut down half the rain forest for the wood in that place, so that will remain largely intact.  We just want to lighten it up.”  LOL  A March 1993 Los Angeles Times article described Taverna as such: Part trendy pasta joint and part classic chop house, Pentola looks like a remake of the wood-paneled restaurants of the ’40s–a ’90s version of Musso and Frank or Chicago’s bustling Berghoff.  According to that same article, the property boasted two bars – “the main one seemingly a mile long, the other tucked into a corner of the restaurant.  Both are ornate, old-fashioned and crammed on a Saturday night.”  It is the main, seemingly-mile-long bar that I believe was featured in Bad Santa.  You can see a photograph of Pentola’s interior here.  Sadly, the main bar is not shown in the image, though – nor anywhere else online, maddeningly enough.  It is due to that fact that I cannot say for certain that the property was where Bad Santa was filmed.

Get Shorty Miami Restaurant (4 of 10)

Get Shorty Miami Restaurant (5 of 10)

Sometime in 2006, after Pentola Taverna closed its doors, Scarboni New York Steak & Lobster House opened in its place.  The new tenants remodeled the site a bit and Chowhound commenter robertholtz had this to say, “The booths are a little tight and the decor has yet to be broken in.  This style needs the grit of time to earn its charm; right now it sometimes feels like you’re on a movie set instead of a real location.  Ironic, considering that was how Pentola was often used.”  Love it!  You can see some photographs of the old Scarboni interior here.  Once again, the main bar is, unfortunately, not shown.  The Grim Cheaper and I actually ventured into Scarboni back in 2006 to grab a drink, but he took one look at the prices and nixed the idea.  Sadly, because of the way the restaurant was set up, I only caught a glimpse of the smaller bar – not the bar that I believe was used in Bad Santa.

Get Shorty Miami Restaurant (6 of 10)

Scarboni was shuttered after a scant 11 months and when new tenants took over, they gutted the interior to make room for a restaurant named Riva.   Along with the complete dismantling, the space was also made smaller in order to add a second, rear dining room.  Riva didn’t last long, either, though (I swear, the space is cursed), and shortly after its closing, the Riva owners opened a place named Fraiche at the site.  Fraiche subsequently closed in December 2012 and the site has remained vacant ever since.  The current state of the interior is pictured below.  As you can see, it is a sad shadow of its former self.  You can check out some photographs of Fraiche’s interior from the time that it was still in operation here.

Get Shorty Miami Restaurant (8 of 10)

Get Shorty Miami Restaurant (10 of 10)

In Bad Santa, I believe that Pentola Taverna was the bar where Willie (Billy Bob Thornton) lamented over his hatred for Christmas.  And I should mention here that I was not a fan of Bad Santa – not even remotely.  I was a fan of that gorgeous wood-paneled bar, though, and so badly wanted to see it in person.  I cannot express how heartbroken I am that it is now gone.  Why on earth would someone gut such a gorgeous interior?  Who purchases something like that and thinks, yeah, let’s get rid of it and start fresh?

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As luck would have it, the GC and I randomly decided to watch the 2000 flick Coyote Ugly a couple of nights before Christmas and I just about fell over when I spotted what I am fairly certain was the Bad Santa bar in the scene in which Lil (Maria Bello) tried to offer Violet (Piper Perabo) her old job back.  The white tile flooring and slatted wooden chairs at the Coyote Ugly bar match up to those of the bar from Bad Santa.

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As do the cabinets and drawers behind the bar;

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as well as the antique cash register, wooden beams flanking it, and mirrored shelving.

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At the time that we watched Coyote Ugly, I was not at all certain that Pentola Taverna was the spot used in Bad Santa, so I was floored when I spotted a backwards view of a restaurant name in the window of the Coyote Ugly bar.  Using Picasa, I flipped one of the screen captures I had made and, sure enough, the loopily-written “P” visible in the window was a perfect match to the “P” in Pentola Taverna’s former logo.  Woot woot!  (I got the below photograph of the Taverna exterior from the Edwin Building’s City Landmark Assessment Report.)

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Thanks to a commenter named Stewart on the Santa Monica Mirror website, I learned that the Pentola Taverna space (while it was vacant, I’m assuming) was where Lt. Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise) told Capt. Jack Ross (Kevin Bacon) that he had managed to find Lt. Col. Matthew Andrew Markinson (J.T. Walsh) in the 1992 flick A Few Good Men (one of my all-time favorites).  The main bar is visible in the scene, but too little of it is shown to be able to say with complete certainty that it is the same bar from Bad Santa.

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Pentola Taverna was also featured in the opening scene of 1995’s Get Shorty, in which Ray ‘Bones’ Barboni (Dennis Farina) stole Chili Palmer’s (John Travolta) $379 black leather jacket.  The western portion of the restaurant, where the smaller bar was located, was the main area used in the scene.

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At one point, Chili does wander over to the eatery’s eastern side and a limited view of the main bar is shown.  Unfortunately, yet again, not enough of it is visible to be able to determine with 100% certainty that it was the same spot that appeared in Bad Santa.  If anyone out there ever visited the Darwin, Pentola Taverna or Scarboni and can give me a definite answer either way, please let me know.

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The Art Deco-style buildings across the street from the Pentola Taverna space were also shown in the scene.

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Get Shorty Miami Restaurant (5 of 7)

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.

Get Shorty Miami Restaurant (1 of 10)

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The interior of the Bad Santa bar was most likely the now defunct Pentola Taverna, which was formerly located at 312 Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica.  The space is currently vacant, but most recently housed a restaurant named Fraiche.

Abbot’s Habit from “The Truth About Cats & Dog”

Abbot's Habit Truth About Cats and Dogs (8 of 20)

Last Saturday, after stalking the Venice exterior of O’Hara’s Pub from Bad Santa (which I blogged about here), the Grim Cheaper and I decided to walk around Abbot Kinney Boulevard for a bit.  At one point during our stroll, we passed by a corner coffee shop named Abbot’s Habit and I recognized it immediately as a location from the 1996 romantic comedy The Truth About Cats & Dogs.  So I dragged the GC right on over to do some stalking of it.  And that right there is what I love about L.A. – you never know what adventure is waiting around the corner.  It turned out to be quite a fortuitous stalk, too, because it led to me meeting my very favorite blogger and style icon, Emily Schuman from Cupcakes and Cashmere.  But more on that later.

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Abbot’s Habit, which was founded in 1991, is actually Abbot Kinney Boulevard’s oldest coffee shop.  Aside from that small tidbit, though, I could find no information whatsoever about the eatery’s history online.

Abbot's Habit Truth About Cats and Dogs (13 of 20)

Abbot's Habit Truth About Cats and Dogs (11 of 20)

I already had a Starbucks in hand (duh!) at the time that we stalked Abbot’s Habit, but the GC did not, so I encouraged him to try some of the place’s java.  He didn’t end up to be a fan, but he did really enjoy their “bacon, egg & cheese” breakfast sandwich.

Abbot's Habit Truth About Cats and Dogs (6 of 20)

Abbot's Habit Truth About Cats and Dogs (4 of 20)

While the GC was eating his sandwich, I happened to check Instagram and almost had a heart attack when I saw that Emily Schuman had just posted a photograph of herself dining at Gjelina.  I had heard of Gjelina before via Emily’s site and from my mom’s hairstylist in Palm Springs who had told me a few months prior that the place was his favorite restaurant in all of L.A.  And while I knew that the establishment was located on Abbot Kinney Boulevard, I was unsure of exactly where.  So imagine my elation when I saw that it was about three doors down from Abbot’s Habit!  I mean what are the odds?  Barely containing my excitement, I grabbed the GC and marched right on over there to ask Emily for a picture.  And I am thrilled to report that she could NOT have been nicer, even though I was interrupting her during a meal.  She didn’t even seem at all put off by the fact that I had totally Instagram-stalked her.  Emily is an absolute doll and meeting her was one of the highlights of 2013 for me – particularly when she told me she “loved” my “ensemble.”  The GC had been making fun of my outfit all day (especially the boots), so to hear my style guru compliment it was major validation.

Emily Schuman (1 of 1)

In The Truth About Cats & Dogs, Abbot’s Habit is where Noelle (Uma Thurman) and Abby (Janeane Garofalo) grab coffee shortly after becoming friends.  While there, a fellow patron very humorously tries to protect Noelle from a bee that has flown into the café.

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That scene took place in front of the window in Abbot’s Habit’s main room.

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Abbot's Habit Truth About Cats and Dogs (2 of 20)

The café was also the site of Becca Moody’s (Madeleine Martin) poetry reading in the Season 6 episode of Californication titled “Hell Bent for Leather.”  Both the exterior . . .

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. . . and the interior of Abbot’s Habit were shown in the episode.

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Becca’s poetry reading took place towards the back of the café’s rear room.

Abbot's Habit Truth About Cats and Dogs (5 of 20)

And while the Venice California History Site states that Abbot’s Habit was featured in the 1997 comedy Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, I scanned through the flick yesterday and did not see it pop up anywhere.

Abbot's Habit Truth About Cats and Dogs (9 of 20)

Abbot's Habit Truth About Cats and Dogs (10 of 20)

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.

Abbot's Habit Truth About Cats and Dogs (20 of 20)

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Abbot’s Habit, from The Truth About Cats & Dogs, is located at 1401 Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice.  You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.