Be sure to check out my latest Discover Los Angeles post – about 12 iconic action movie locations that can be found in and around the City of Angels.
The Cat & Fiddle
We’ll always have the Cat & Fiddle. Or so Angelinos thought. Sadly, the historic restaurant closed its doors this past December. When news of the impending shuttering hit the blogosphere in late October, I became desperate to stalk the eatery – especially once I read via several online news outlets that it had appeared in Casablanca (though, due to the fact that the 1942 classic was filmed pretty much solely at Warner Bros. Studios, I had my doubts as to the authenticity of the claims). I had visited the Cat & Fiddle once many moons prior (the Grim Cheaper’s friends took us there for cocktails on his birthday in 2002), but failed to take any photos. So I ran right back out there for a proper stalk last November while my friends Lavonna, Kim, Melissa and Maria were in town (that’s Melissa and Maria above).
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The Spanish-style courtyard complex that housed the Cat & Fiddle for almost thirty years was originally constructed between 1928 and 1929. The property was known as the “Court of Olive” at the time and had been commissioned by silent film star Fred Thomson and his wife, journalist/screenwriter Frances Marion. In its earliest inception, the two-story site served as a shopping pavilion. It later became known as the “Fred Thompson Building” and went on to house a studio commissary, a studio wardrobe department, professional offices and several restaurants. You can check out some photographs of the place in its early days here. Miraculously, the building still looks exactly the same today as it did then.
Kim and Paula Gardner, proprietors of the Cat & Fiddle, brought their eatery to the Fred Thompson Building in 1985. The couple had originally established the British-style pub/restaurant at 2100 Laurel Canyon in the Hollywood Hills (that space is now Pace) in October 1982, but it became immensely popular in a very short time and neighboring residents soon complained about the noisiness of the patrons, and the Gardners were forced to move.
For the Cat & Fiddle’s new home, Kim and Paula chose a shaded unit with a large patio located at the rear of the Thomson Building.
The Cat & Fiddle remained popular after the move and even celebrities were known to drop by. Such stars as Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, Paul McCartney, Noel Gallagher, Russell Brand, Shania Twain, Nathan Fillion, Abbie Cornish, Jeremy Piven, David Cross, Ed Helms, Lizzy Caplan, Bill Hader, Seth Green, Rosamund Pike, Dave Grohl, and Chris Evans were all spotted there at one time or another, while Christopher Lloyd, Morrissey and Drew Barrymore were longtime regulars.
Upon Kim’s death in 2001, Paula took over daily operations of the restaurant along with daughter Ashlee. While the place continued to be an extremely popular watering hole among celebs and non-celebs alike, in late 2014 the building’s owner, Jesse Shannon, informed Paula and Ashlee that he had chosen not to renew their lease. (Apparently, they had been paying less than half the market value of the space for quite some time.) The Cat & Fiddle’s last day of business was on December 15th. Paula and Ashlee are currently looking for a new spot to rent and hope to someday reopen their beloved restaurant. As for the historic space that once housed it? Shannon stated that he would be spending millions to restore the building to its 1920s state and that it would then be leased out to what Eater LA called a “familiar” name.
There are differing reports as to where exactly in the Cat & Fiddle space Casablanca was filmed. Obviously, the movie was shot long before the Cat ever came onto the scene, but the flick was supposedly lensed in the unit where the restaurant was later situated). Some claim that the room below, which is named the “Casablanca Room,” appeared in the movie.
While others claim that filming took place on the patio. The patio area truly is picturesque and, while it does bring to mind the atmosphere of Casablanca, I still had serious doubts that any filming of the movie had occurred on the premises.
As it turns out, my suspicions were correct. I recently watched Casablanca – and then later scanned through it a second time – and did not see the Cat & Fiddle pop up anywhere. As I mentioned above, from what I have been able to garner online, it seems that production of the movie never left the studio. Even the countless reports about a scene being lensed at the Van Nuys Airport have been debunked. So then how did the Cat & Fiddle rumors come about? My best guess is that the Thomson Building was featured at some point in either the 1955 television series Casablanca or its 1983 successor. That is just a guess, though. What I can say with absolutely certainty – unless I seriously missed something – is that the 1942 film did not shoot any footage at the Cat & Fiddle property. On a side-note – Casablanca is such a fabulous movie! I’ve seen it several times now and it just never gets old. If you have yet to watch it, I highly recommend that you do.
Thanks to Geoff, from the 90210Locations site, though, I learned that something was filmed at the Cat & Fiddle! In the Season 1 episode of Ray Donovan titled “Road Trip,” Tommy Wheeler (Austin Nichols) got into some trouble at the restaurant and Ray (Live Schreiber) had to remedy things for him.
Only the exterior of the pub was used in the episode, though. Interiors were filmed elsewhere.
For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 
Stalk It: The Cat & Fiddle was formerly located at 6530 West Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. You can check out the restaurant’s official website, which is is still online, here.
The Bel Age Hotel from “Beverly Hills, 90210”
Ah, change. It’s one of my least favorite things, especially when it comes to filming locations. So I was devastated when the Wyndham Bel Age Hotel, one of the most prominent locations from Beverly Hills, 90210, closed in 2007 to undergo a huge renovation and was renamed The London West Hollywood. I had been to the Bel Age prior to its closure, but failed to take any photographs of the place. I was so incredibly excited to be there that the visit is seared into my memory for eternity, but I still wish I had pictures. Back in 2003, I was enrolled in an acting school and two of my classmates happened to work at the Bel Age. One evening during class, upon learning what a 90210 freak I was, they offered to take me on a tour of the place. The whole thing was very last minute, which is why I did not have my camera. So around 11 p.m. that night (class got out late), we headed to West Hollywood and my friends proceeded to take me through every square inch of the hotel – we’re talking restaurants, kitchens, back hallways, suites, ballrooms, and, most memorably, the rooftop pool. The whole thing was pretty epic for someone as obsessed with 90210 as I am and, looking back, the fact that I did not have a camera is rather tragic. But there’s good news! Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I recently stopped by The London – and this time I brought a camera! – and I was shocked to discover that, despite the extensive remodel, the hotel is still very recognizable from 90210.
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For a good two decades the Wyndham Bel Age was the place to see and be seen in West Hollywood. Located right off the Sunset Strip, the wood-paneled, pink-hued, all-suite hotel, which was built in 1984, featured a fitness center, a salon, a florist, an antique gallery, a rooftop pool, two restaurants (the exclusive Franco-Russian-inspired Diaghilev and the more casual Club Brassiere, which turned into a jazz club at night), 24-hour room service (yes, please!) and an art collection rivaling that of a museum. The Bel Age displayed pieces from Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, and Erte (not just in public spaces, but in each guest room, as well!), just to name a few, and also boasted an open-air sculpture garden. In late 2005, the property was purchased by the Blackstone Group and subsequently closed for its $50-million renovation on May 15th, 2007. It re-opened as The London the following May.
As I mentioned, though, the hotel is still very recognizable from its 90210 days.
The Bel Age popped up countless times on Beverly Hills, 90210. It was pretty much the producers’ go-to hotel of choice. The property was first featured in the Season 1 episode titled “The Green Room.” As you can see below (though my photograph is facing the opposite angle from the screen capture), the lobby is still very similar today to how it was in the ‘90s. During the Bel Age days, the lobby was all pine wood paneling and muted pink accents. That wood paneling has since been painted white, but its shaping and embellishments remain the same. The large mauve rugs were sent packing, though, and the lobby currently boasts bright white marble floors.
The front desk is also still situated running the entire length of the western side of the lobby, just as it was pre-remodel. (My apologies as my below photograph was, again, taken from the opposite angle of the screen capture.)
The large corridors that branch off from the lobby are, also, still much the same as they were on 90210, minus a lot of pink and floral furniture.
The corridors house the entrances to the property’s banquet rooms (I believe) and were seen in several episodes of Beverly Hills, 90210.
The hallways between suites also haven’t changed much, aside from the addition of a lot of white paint. I got the photograph below off of Trip Advisor and, as you can see, the chair railings, crown moldings, diagonally-situated wall panels, and carved wooden doors that appeared on 90210 are all still intact today. The art work that once lined the Bel Age’s corridors was all, sadly, sold at an auction following the hotel’s 2007 closure and is therefore no longer on display.
One of the Bel Age’s actual rooms was used as the corporate suite where Dylan McKay (Luke Perry) lived in “The Green Room.” Though it is a bit hard to make out in the screen captures below, the room featured in that episode was Suite 211.
As you can see, the room from “The Green Room” matches a photograph of a former Bel Age hotel room that I got from the SanFrancisco.com website. You can check out what The London’s rooms currently look like here.
In the Season 1 episode of 90210 titled “The First Time,” Brandon Walsh (Jason Priestley) took his former girlfriend Sheryl (Paula Irvine) to meet Dylan for lunch at the Bel Age. At the time, the restaurant where they ate was known as Club Brasserie. That eatery is now the Boxwood Café. As you can see in the screen capture and photograph below (which I got off of the London website), the space’s unique peaked ceiling was not changed during the remodel.
Room 211 made an appearance in “The First Time,” too.
The Bel Age was also where the West Beverly High Mother/Daughter Fashion Show was held in the Season 1 episode titled “Perfect Mom.”
The actual fashion show took place in one of the hotel’s ballrooms, though not much of it can be seen in the episode due to the dark lighting. You can check out what the ballroom looks like today here.
In the Season 2 episode titled, “Things to Do on a Rainy Day,” Brenda Walsh (my girl Shannen Doherty), Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth), Donna Martin (Tori Spelling) and David Silver (Brian Austin Green) booked a room at the Bel Age in order to try to meet the guys from Color Me Badd, who were staying at the hotel. That so sounds like something I would do, by the way! Oh, who am I kidding – I HAVE done that!
Me doing my best Kelly-Donna-Brenda-standing-in-the-rain impersonation.
A real room – or a set very closely resembling one – was used in the filming of “Things to Do on a Rainy Day.” As you can see below, the gang’s suite, most notably the railing and curtain, matches the below photograph of one of the Bel Age’s former rooms, which I got off of the Agoda website.
In the Season 3 episode titled “Back in the High Life Again” (which was probably my least favorite episode of the ENTIRE series), Jack McKay (Josh Taylor) threw a soiree in his room at the Bel Age upon getting released from prison.
It was in the “High Life” episode, at the hotel’s rooftop pool, that Dylan finally chose Kelly. Gag! Mike and I did not make it up to the pool during our visit, but you can see what it looks like in its current state here. Thankfully, the pool was not altered during the remodel.
Most famously, the West Beverly Senior Prom was held at the Bel Age in the Season 3 episode titled “A Night to Remember.” And we all know what happened at the West Beverly Senior Prom! That night resulted in one of 90210’s most memorable storylines EVER. Let’s hear it for “Donna Martin graduates!”
The gang’s prom took place in one of the hotel’s ballrooms – I believe the very same ballroom that was used in “Perfect Mom.” If you look at a current photo of that ballroom, you can see that the space’s ceilings and crystal chandeliers remain the same today as they were in 1993 when the episode was filmed.
For as long as I can remember there has been a bit of a mystery surrounding the bathroom scene in which Donna got sick in the episode, but I am very happy to report that while writing this post I figured things out and can officially put that mystery to rest. A few years back, there was a blog called “Tales of an Extra” that was written by a man who was a professional background actor. (For whatever reason, the blog is no longer online.) The man appeared in numerous episodes of Beverly Hills, 90210 and had this to say about his experience shooting Season 3’s “Senior Poll” at the L.A. Forum, “Some scenes of some of the female characters and extras were shot in the ladies room, which were to be used as part of a prom scene in the episode, and had nothing to do with the Forum.” That post caused many people, myself included, to believe that the scene in which Donna got sick at the prom was most likely shot at the Forum. The bathroom from “A Night to Remember” is pictured below. The space never struck me as a bathroom that would be located at a sports arena, though. Not to mention the fact that it would be rather odd that a scene from “A Night to Remember” would be shot during the filming of “Senior Poll,” which was two episodes ahead of it chronologically. My friend Owen, from the When Write Is Wrong blog, managed to track down the set decorator for both episodes for me, so I emailed her to try to clear things up. She informed me that the prom bathroom was a set created for the shoot and was most definitely not located at the Forum. Because the room certainly had that set look, I believed her. But that left me wondering about the supposed prom scene filmed in a Forum bathroom.
Then all of a sudden it hit me! Maybe there was a bathroom scene in the “Senior Poll” episode! I popped in my DVD and, sure enough, there was! And in it, Kelly was wearing a prom dress! In the scene, Kelly, Donna, Andrea (Gabrielle Carteris) and some other West Beverly girls are shown getting ready to take their yearbook pictures for the senior poll. Kelly had won “Most Beautiful” and chose to wear a formal gown for her photo. It was that scene that was shot in a Forum bathroom. Mystery solved!
One thing I was not able to figure out, though, is where the stairs that the gang walked down in “A Night to Remember” were – or are – located. Mike and I did not see them while stalking The London, nor do I remember them from my 2003 tour of the Bel Age. They appear to have been located somewhere in the lobby, though.
The same stairwell also appeared in 90210’s “Perfect Mom” episode.
I also came across a more recent photo of the stairs in a 2006 WeHo News article. Though the picture is taken from a wide angle, it does not clear up where the stairs were – or again, are – located. Oh, how I would love to find them!
The apartment building where Mel Silver (Matthew Laurance) lived – and where the gang drank champagne before the prom – in “A Night to Remember” was actually the back side of the Bel Age hotel, which can be found on Larrabee Street. For the shot, producers simply installed an awning reading “121 Doheny Palm.” Aside from that minor change, the area still looks pretty much exactly the same today as it did in 1993.
The interior of Mel’s apartment appears to have been some sort of banquet room or large suite, complete with a large built-in bar, at the Bel Age.
The wooden doors (see screen cap above) and carpeting of Mel’s apartment match those of the hotel, as seen later in the episode while the gang is waiting for Donna to come out of the bathroom. The framed artwork hanging on Mel’s wall is also a direct match to the artwork pictured hanging in the Bel Age hallways in previous episodes.
The Bel Age also served as the location of Steve Sanders (Ian Ziering) and Janet Sosna’s (Lindsay Price) wedding reception in the Season 10 episode titled “Baby, You Can Drive My Car.” Though producers changed the name to the “Beverly Royale Hotel” for the scene.
While the Bel Age’s lobby . . .
. . . and one of its rooms appeared in the episode . . .
. . . I believe the room where the actual wedding reception took place was just a set.
The Bel Age also appeared in many episodes of Beverly Hills, 90210 during its later years, but because I pretty much stopped watching the series during Season 5, it would be impossible for me to chronicle them all.
90210 is hardly the only production to have been lensed at the hotel. In the 1985 crime drama Prizzi’s Honor, Charley Partanna (Jack Nicholson) and Irene Walker (Kathleen Turner) met up a couple of times at the Bel Age.
In one scene, they had drinks at Diaghilev restaurant.
That same year, Alec Newbary (Judd Nelson) rescued Jules (Demi Moore) from a date-gone-wrong at the Bel Age, said to be Washington, D.C.’s VanBuren Hotel, in St. Elmo’s Fire.
The staircase also made an appearance in the scene.
The Bel Age pool was the site of Sammy Joe’s (Heather Locklear) photo shoot in the 1991 miniseries Dynasty: The Reunion.
Allison Parker (Courtney Throne-Smith) attended a work party at the Bel Age in the pilot episode of Melrose Place, which aired in 1992
The Bel Age was also where Charles Reynolds (Linden Ashby) stayed in the Season 1 episode of Melrose Place titled “Peanut Butter and Jealousy.” Only the exterior of the hotel was used in the episode, though.
Interior scenes were filmed at another location altogether.
In the Season 4 episode of Ally McBeal titled “The Getaway,” which aired in 2001, Richard Fish (Greg Germann) and John Cage (Peter MacNicol) headed to Los Angeles for a vacation and checked into the Bel Age.
The pool was featured in the episode, as well.
In the Season 2 episode of Desperate Housewives titled “I Wish I Could Forget You,” which aired in 2005, the Bel Age Hotel was where Bree Van De Kamp (Marcia Cross) went for a romantic weekend with her new boyfriend George Williams (Roger Bart).
Bree and George ate at Diaghilev in the episode.
The stairs from 90210 also made an appearance.
In the Season 1 episode of Melrose Place 2.0 titled “San Vicente,” which aired in 2009, Ella Simms (Katie Cassidy) threw a party for movie executive Curtis Heller (Nolan North) at what was by then The London.
While it has been said that the Bel Age pool was featured in the opening scene of 1991’s L.A. Story, I am fairly certain that is incorrect. As you can see in the screen capture below as compared to an old photograph of the Bel Age pool that I got from the Top Travel News website, the patio area at the Bel Age is considerably larger than the patio that appeared in L.A. Story.
For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 
Stalk It: The London West Hollywood, aka the former Bel Age Hotel from Beverly Hills, 90210, is located at 1020 North San Vicente Boulevard in West Hollywood. You can visit the hotel’s official website here.
Latest “L.A.” Mag Post – Norms Restaurant
Be sure to read my latest Los Angeles magazine post here – about Norms restaurant from Drag Me to Hell. My articles typically get published in the late morning/early afternoon hours.
The Andrew McNally House from “Kingdom Come”
Los Angeles never ceases to surprise me. Though I feel like I know the city and its environs like the back of my hand and have spent the last decade of my life researching its locations, I am constantly learning of new spots that I had no idea even existed. Such was the case with an architecturally unique property located pretty much right in my own former backyard. A fellow filming location enthusiast name Liesel recently asked me why I had yet to blog about the Andrew McNally House in Altadena. The answer to that question was simple – despite the fact that the locale is historically significant, architecturally important AND a filming location, not to mention the fact that I lived less than three miles from it for over ten years of my life, somehow I had never heard of the place.
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The massive Queen Anne-style residence was originally built in 1887 for Andrew McNally (of Rand-McNally map company fame). It was designed by architect Frederick L. Roehrig, who also designed Stacy’s (Brittany Murphy) childhood home from Little Black Book, Pasadena’s iconic Castle Green apartments, and the Frederick Hastings Rindge House (a locale that I have stalked, but have yet to blog about as I am unsure of its filming history).
The residence was built facing south, away from the street, so the photographs below actually show the rear of the property. Unfortunately, the front side is not visible from the street. You can see a picture of what it looks like here, though.
You can also catch a slight glimpse of the front of the home from the 600 block of East Deodara Drive, as shown in the Google Street View images below.
The residence, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007, boasts 10 bedrooms, 2 baths and a whopping 6,938 square feet. Though it originally sat on 15 acres of land, the property was subdivided after McNally passed away in 1904 and today measures 0.82 acres.
Though its exterior is striking, the most interesting aspect of the home can actually be found inside. In 1893, McNally acted as a commissioner for the Columbian Exposition at the World’s Fair in Chicago. While there, he became so enamored of a Turkish display that upon the Fair’s closing, he purchased said display and had it shipped home. In 1894, McNally employed Roehrig to build an addition to the southeastern corner of the Altadena residence in order to exhibit it. The architect wound up constructing a 25×25-foot, one-and-a-half story, eight-sided room that he topped with a conical roof. It became known as the “Turkish smoking room.” The space was ornate to say the least and featured a built-in banquette, elaborate screens, tall arches, diamond-shaped paned glass windows, and carved wood paneling. You can see historic pictures of the smoking room, which is still intact today, here and here and you can check out some more recent photographs of it, as well as the rest of the interior, here.
According to Liesel, the smoking room appeared in an episode of NCIS, but try as I might (and boy, did I try – I spent countless hours searching!) I could not figure out which episode. If anyone out there knows, please fill me in.
Liesel also let me know that the residence masqueraded as Depew’s Funeral Home in the 2001 dramedy Kingdom Come.
The interior of the house also appeared in the movie.
Several different rooms were used in the filming. You can see photographs of those rooms here.
Amazingly, the Andrew McNally House is still a private residence. Yep, someone actually lives there! I can’t even imagine how cool that must be!
For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.
Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Liesel for telling me about this location! 
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: The Andrew McNally House, from Kingdom Come, is located at 654 East Mariposa Street in Altadena.
Huron Substation from “NCIS: New Orleans”
I have been a fan of the television show NCIS ever since it premiered in 2003. While I never got into its 2009 spin-off, NCIS: LA, the Grim Cheaper and I recently caught the backdoor pilots for the series’ most recent offshoot, NCIS: New Orleans, and absolutely loved them. I was also thrilled while watching to recognize the location used as the NCIS New Orleans field office in the episodes – it’s actually the Huron Substation located in Los Angeles’ Cypress Park. Mike, from MovieShotsLA, had told me about the locale years ago because of its appearance in the movie Must Love Dogs, but for whatever reason, I had never stalked it. Once it popped up on NCIS, though, I figured it was high time that I did and finally ventured on over there last week.
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The Huron Substation was originally constructed in 1906 in order to provide electricity for the Yellow Cars transit line. As journalist Jean Merl explained in a 2009 Los Angeles Times article, “The trolleys, operated by Henry E. Huntington’s Los Angeles Railway, were the local counterpart to Pacific Electric Railway’s Red Cars, which covered four counties. Both systems operated streetcars powered by electricity and required scores of substations to convert alternating current to the direct current used by the cars.”
The massive, peaked-roof, brick structure was designed by civil engineer Edward Sigourney Cobb, who, according to the L.A. Times article, also helped to build Angels Flight, the famed funicular railway in Bunker Hill.
The City of Los Angeles sold the Huron Substation at the end of the 1950s and the site proceeded to go through several incarnations, including stints as a signal manufacturing plant, a welding shop and a furniture workshop.
The Huron Substation was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument on December 20th, 1988. A short time later, the interior was completely destroyed in a fire. Thankfully, then owner Bob Josten subsequently renovated the space, bringing it back to its original glory.
In 2005, a woman named Meike Kopp purchased the property. She uses the space as her private residence, but also rents it out for special events and filming – lots and lots of filming.
It’s no wonder the site has become so popular with location scouts – the Huron Substation is nothing short of spectacular. The interior is made up of sweeping 45-foot tall ceilings, huge arched windows, exposed brick, 12-foot high doors, an open first level that measures 32 by 46 feet, a second floor mezzanine, an enormous open staircase, and a large back patio. You can check out some photographs of the interior here. I can’t even imagine how cool it must be to live there!
While I did not get to see the interior, I was able to catch a glimpse of the patio area through the back fence. It, too, is pretty spectacular.
NCIS: New Orleans was first introduced via the Season 11 episodes of NCIS titled “Crescent City” and “Crescent City: Part 2.” The Huron Substation only appeared as the New Orleans NCIS field office in those two episodes.
Once the series was picked up, filming moved to the Big Easy and a set of the field office was built on a studio soundstage. You can see photographs of the set here.
Though production designer Victoria Paul stated in a November 2014 NOLA.com article that the set’s design was inspired by the carriageway used in the establishing shots of the field office (pictured below), it is obvious that the general layout and look of the space, with the exposed brick walls, large open staircase, carriage door and second floor mezzanine, were at least in part modeled after the Huron Substation. (The carriageway used on the series is located at approximately 723 St. Ann Street in New Orleans.)
As I mentioned earlier, I recognized the Huron Substation in NCIS: New Orleans due to its appearance in Must Love Dogs. In the 2005 romcom, the property was where Jake (John Cusack) lived. The upstairs area was used as his living space . . .
. . . while the downstairs was used as the workspace for his boat.
The Huron Substation was also extensively throughout 2001’s The Fast and the Furious as Dominic Toretto’s (Vin Diesel) garage.
In 2003’s Malibu’s Most Wanted, the site stood in for a nightclub where Brad ‘B-Rad’ Gluckman (Jamie Kennedy) performed.
Josh Groban’s 2006 “February Song” music video was filmed in its entirety inside of the Huron Substation.
You can watch that video by clicking below.
The Jonas Brothers also shot their 2007 “Kids of the Future” video on the premises.
You can watch that video by clicking below.
In the 2010 dramedy The Kids Are All Right, the Huron Substation masqueraded as WYSIWYG (an acronym for “What You See Is What You Get”), the restaurant owned by Paul (Mark Ruffalo). The building was used extensively in the filming. Areas utilized included the exterior;
the patio;
and the bottom floor, which was transformed considerably for the shoot.
That same year, the Huron Substation was transformed into Lou Pine’s, “the oldest were [werewolf] bar in Mississippi,” for the Season 3 episodes of True Blood titled “It Hurts Me Too” and “9 Crimes.”
The interior of the building appeared in the two episodes as well.
The Huron Substation also stood in for the interior of New York’s Central Park Boathouse in the 2010 comedy Date Night, though the scene that took place there was rather dark making the space fairly unrecognizable onscreen.
In 2012, the substation masked as the gym belonging to Chad Raber (Daniel Sobieray), a personal trainer who has been murdered, in the Season 1 episode of Major Crimes titled “Before and After.”
Huron Substation also appeared in the films Catwoman and Secretary and in episodes of Heroes and Dollhouse, though I am unsure of which episodes specifically.
For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.
Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for telling me about this location! 
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: Huron Substation, from NCIS: New Orleans, is located at 2640 Huron Street in Cypress Park. You can visit the property’s official website here.
The “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” Police Station
Once in a while a filming location comes along that blows my mind. Today’s post is about one of those locations. Recently, fellow stalker Chas, of the It’s Filmed There site, texted to let me know that he had just tracked down the police station from fave movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. I was shocked to learn not only that the place still looks exactly the same today, almost thirty years later, but that it is located in L.A.! (For those not in the know, Ferris was set in Chicago and, aside from a few SoCal locales, largely filmed in the Windy City.) So I ran right out to stalk it while visiting L.A. two weeks ago.
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In real life, the site is not a police station at all, but the former Los Angeles headquarters of Hills Bros. Coffee. The structure, which was built in 1929 and designed by architect George H. Kelham, housed both a warehouse and second floor offices for the java company. It is those second floor offices that masked as the police station in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
Today, the property belongs to the Southwestern Bag Company.
Sadly, I was not able to get inside to see the interior, but while doing research for this post came across these fantastic images online that were taken by location scout Nick Morley. I contacted Nick to ask if he would allow me to use some of his photographs for this post and he wrote back right away giving me the go-ahead! Thank you, Nick! You can also check out another set of pictures that show the building’s first floor here.
In Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, the police station is where Jeanie Bueller (Jennifer Grey) is taken after being picked up by the police for making a phony 911 call. It is also where she meets “Boy in Police Station” (Charlie Sheen) and says one of my favorite lines in movie history – “Why don’t you put your thumb up your butt!”
The scene was shot in the lobby area of the building’s second floor, right at the top of the staircase. As you can see in Nick’s photograph as compared to the screen capture below, the space looks exactly the same today as it did in 1986 when Ferris Bueller’s Day Off was filmed.
The office where Det. Steven Lim (Robert Kim) informs Katie Bueller (Cindy Pickett) about Jeanie’s fake 911 call is located adjacent to the second floor lobby area. In Nick’s photograph below it is shown from an opposite angle than the screen capture pictured.
It, too, looks much the same today as it did when the movie was shot.
Oh, what I wouldn’t give to get into that building! I would so love to pose for a pic on the stairs where Jeannie stood in the scene!
Chas actually found this location thanks to its appearance in a couple of other movies. While putting together a page about filming locations from Divergent a few months back, Chas tracked down the spot where Tris (Shailene Woodley) came into contact with her mother. As it turns out, that was the Hills Bros. Coffee building. Only the exterior of it was shown in Divergent, though.
Then while watching the 1987 action-comedy Beverly Hills Cop II a couple of weeks ago, Chas realized that the shaping, sizing and paning of the windows of the “Detroit” police station where Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) worked matched those of the windows of the building in Divergent. So he went searching for interior photographs of the Hills Bros. building and came across Nick’s page of images. Sure enough, what was shown in Nick’s pics matched the Beverly Hills Cop II police station.
Upon closer inspection, he realized that the staircase and lobby area from the Beverly Hills Cop II police station were an exact match to those from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. So he then compared screen captures from FBDO to Nick’s photographs and confirmed that the two places were one and the same!
The Hills Bros. Coffee building has actually appeared in countless productions over the years. The north side of it masked as a – yep, you guessed it! – police station in the 1988 thriller Jack’s Back.
In fave movie License to Drive, which was also released in 1988, Les Anderson (Corey Haim) falls asleep during driver’s ed class and dreams about speeding around in a Ferrari with his crush Mercedes Lane (Heather Graham). At one point, Les lights a cigarette for her, throws the match out the window and starts an explosion. That bit was shot in the alleyway that runs along the western side of Hills Bros. Coffee.
In 1990’s Child’s Play 2, Hills Bros. Coffee masked as the social services office where Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent) was sent after his foster father was killed.
The interior of the building – as well as that famous staircase – was also utilized in the film.
Hills Bros. Coffee served as a police station once again in 1992’s Unlawful Entry.
Thanks to The Rockford Files Filming Locations blog, I learned that the building was used as the Bunker Hill Division of the Metropolitan Police Station in the series’ 1996 made-for-television movie “If the Frame Fits.”
Hills Bros. Coffee masked as a police station yet again in 1998’s The Negotiator.
In the Season 1 episode of Angel titled “She,” which aired in 2000, the building stood in for both an ice factory and a private security firm office.
Hills Bros. Coffee regularly masqueraded as Ojai Foods on the television series Brothers and Sisters, which ran from 2006 to 2011.
It also popped up in the 2011 movie The Muppets.
And in the Season 1 episode of How to Get Away with Murder titled “Smile, or Go to Jail,” Hills Bros. was used extensively as the police station where both Annalise Keating’s (Viola Davis) new client, Paula Murphy (Ana Ortiz), and murder suspect Rebecca Sutter (Katie Findlay) were being held.
The interior of the building also appeared in the episode. There’s that staircase again!
The building is featured as a Los Angeles police station circa 1932 on the HBO series Perry Mason.
Hills Bros. Coffee also apparently popped up in the Season 1 episode of Castle titled “A Chill Goes Through Her Veins” (though I could not track it down to make screen captures for this post) and in several episodes of CSI: NY (though I am unsure of which episodes specifically).
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Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Chas, of the It’s Filmed There website, for finding this location! 
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: The Ferris Bueller’s Day Off police station is located at 635 South Mateo Street in downtown L.A. The address of the building is also sometimes listed as 642 Mateo Street, but that address is incorrect and would be located across the street from where the building actually stands.