“The Bodyguard” Mansion – aka The Beverly House Compound

P1030960

After the sad passing of singer Whitney Houston last month, I mentioned to fellow stalker Mike, from MovieShotsLA, that we should try to track down the mansion where one of Whitney’s most legendary characters, pop star Rachel Marron, lived in 1992’s The Bodyguard. For some very odd reason, I thought that the place had yet to be found, but Mike told me that way back in 2007 he had come across an article on fave website The Real Estalker about “The Beverly House Compound”, the most expensive home then for sale in the United States.  In the comments section of the post, someone had reported that the very same mansion had been used as Rachel’s residence in The Bodyguard.  How I had not previously come across that information in all my years of stalking is absolutely beyond me, especially considering that the location is one that I have long been itching to stalk.  Well, believe you me, once Mike gave me the address, I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out to Beverly Hills to see the place for myself.

P1030956 P1030957

P1030958 P1030961

The Beverly House Compound has a vast and storied Hollywood history.  It was originally designed by Gordon B. Kaufmann, the very same architect who also designed the Hoover Dam, the Los Angeles Times Building, Scripps College, and the Athenaeum at the California Institute of Technology, a very popular filming location that I have yet to blog about.  The Compound was commissioned by banker Milton Gerz in 1927 and cost over $1 million to construct – and we’re talking 1920’s money!  In 1947, William Randolph Hearst and his mistress Marion Davies purchased the lavish three-story, 27-room estate, which sat on over 7 acres of land, for $120,000.  Hearst died at the residence in 1951, as did Davies in 1961.  Legend has it that John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier spent part of their 1953 honeymoon at the property and supposedly the mansion was also used as the West Coast headquarters for the Kennedy Presidential Campaign in 1960.

ScreenShot4240 ScreenShot4241

In 2007, financier Leonard Ross, who purchased The Compound in 1976, put it up for sale for a whopping $165 million, making it the most expensive home on the market in the entire country at the time.  In 2010, the estate, minus three acres of land, was re-listed at the reduced price of $95 million.  According to several articles, the lavish property, which has been expanded over the years, currently boasts four separate houses, a cottage, an apartment, 72,000 square feet of living space, 29 bedrooms, a two-story library, two movie projection rooms, a living room with a 22-foot arched ceiling, two tennis courts, a tennis pavilion, staff accommodations, a 50-foot entry hall, an 82-foot cascading waterfall, a disco, and three separate pools.  You can check out some fabulous interior photographs of the mansion on the This and That and More of the Same blog here.

[ad]

ScreenShot4131 ScreenShot4132

ScreenShot4133 ScreenShot4134

In The Bodyguard, the exterior of The Beverly House Compound stood in for the exterior of the palatial home where Rachel Marron lived.

ScreenShot4136 ScreenShot4137

ScreenShot4139 ScreenShot4138

All of the interiors of Rachel’s estate were filmed at the nearby Greystone Mansion, though.  You can see photographs of the room that was used as Rachel’s fake bedroom here and here.

ScreenShot4212 ScreenShot4213

ScreenShot4215 ScreenShot4216

And you can see a photograph of the Greystone Mansion kitchen here

ScreenShot4129 ScreenShot4130

And for the gate to Rachel’s home a third location was used!  The gate actually belongs to the mansion located at 10231 Charing Cross Road in Beverly Hills, which just so happens to be the very same residence where Jeffrey Lebowski (David Huddleston) lived in The Big Lebowski.

ScreenShot4220

A current Google Street View image of that gate is pictured above.  And while it looks considerably different today than it did in The Bodyguard, you can see that the basic positioning remains the same.

The Bodyguard Gates ScreenShot4218

I tracked down the location of Rachel’s gate thanks to an address number of “10224” that was visible in the background of the scene in which Frank Farmer (Kevin Costner) first arrived at Rachel’s mansion.

ScreenShot4222

That gate also looks considerably different today, but, as you can see above, much like was the case with Rachel’s gate, the basic positioning remains the same.

ScreenShot4153 ScreenShot4154

ScreenShot4155 ScreenShot4156

The Beverly House Compound has been the site of constant filming over the years.  In The Godfather, it was used as the mansion where movie producer Jack Woltz (John Marley) lived.  Yes, that mansion.

ScreenShot4157 ScreenShot4159

ScreenShot4163 ScreenShot4162

According to The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations website, only the exterior of The Compound was used in the filming, though.  All of the interior scenes – including the infamous horse head scene – were shot at an estate located at 95 Middleneck Road on Long Island.

ScreenShot4140 ScreenShot4141

ScreenShot4144 ScreenShot4145

In the Season 1 episode of The Colbys titled “The Turning Point”, the residence stood in for the supposed Rome mansion where Francesca “Frankie”Colby (Katharine Ross) vacationed with Lord Roger Langdon (David Hedison).

ScreenShot4146 ScreenShot4150

ScreenShot4151 ScreenShot4152

Ironically enough, though, in the following episode, which was titled “Thursday’s Child”, Greystone Mansion stood in for that same Rome mansion.

ScreenShot4164 ScreenShot4166

ScreenShot4167 ScreenShot4169

In the 1979 movie The Jerk, the grounds of The Compound were used as the backyard of the home where Navin (Steve Martin) lived after he became rich.

ScreenShot4165 ScreenShot4171

As you can see above, though, the front of Navin’s home was a different location entirely.

ScreenShot4173 ScreenShot4174

ScreenShot4175 ScreenShot4179

In 1985’s Fletch, The Compound was where Alan Stanwyk (Tim Matheson) lived.

ScreenShot4176 ScreenShot4177

ScreenShot4178 ScreenShot4180

The real life interior of the property was also used in the filming.

ScreenShot4184 ScreenShot4186

ScreenShot4188 ScreenShot4193

In 1985’s Into the Night, the mansion was where Jack Caper (Richard Farnsworth) lived.

ScreenShot4189 ScreenShot4190

ScreenShot4191 ScreenShot4192

The real life interior of The Compound was used in the filming of that movie, as well.

ScreenShot4194 ScreenShot4196

ScreenShot4197 ScreenShot4198

Way back in 1966, The Compound was used as the home of Mrs. Sampson (Lauren Bacall) in the thriller Harper.

ScreenShot4200 ScreenShot4210

ScreenShot4203 ScreenShot4202

At that time, the backyard and pool area of the property looked considerably different than they do today.

ScreenShot4223 ScreenShot4235

ScreenShot4226 ScreenShot4227

In the Season 3 episode of Charlie’s Angels titled “Rosemary, for Remembrance”, the mansion was where Jake Garfield (Ramon Bieri) lived.

ScreenShot4228 ScreenShot4231

ScreenShot4233 ScreenShot4234

ScreenShot4236ScreenShot4239

The real life interior of the mansion was also used in the filming of that episode.

Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for telling me about this location!  Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The Beverly House Compound, aka Rachel Marron’s mansion from The Bodyguard, is located at 1011 North Beverly Drive in Beverly HillsGreystone Mansion, which was used as the interior of Rachel’s home, is located at 905 Loma Vista Drive in Beverly Hills.  The gate to Rachel’s mansion, which looks considerably different today, is located at 10231 Charing Cross Road in Beverly Hills.

The Milbank Mansion – aka Chapman Academy Preschool from “Daddy Day Care”

P1030787

A couple of weeks ago, Tony, my friend and fellow stalker who has the fabulous On Location in Los Angeles Flickr photostream (seriously, it’s amazing – go check it out!), asked me for some help in tracking down the ginormous Mediterranean mansion that stood in for the prestigious Chapman Academy Preschool in the 2003 comedy Daddy Day Care.  Tony had informed me that the residence was used regularly for filming and that it had also been featured recently in the Season 10 episode of fave show CSI: Miami titled “By the Book”.  So I started doing some research on oft-filmed-at Mediterranean estates in Los Angeles and, amazingly, fairly quickly came across a photograph of a gorgeous Country Club Park property named the Milbank Mansion that, sure enough, was the right spot.  So, while Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I were out doing some stalking in the area this past Monday morning, we stopped by the place.  And I have to say that it is pretty darn incredible in person!  Not to mention pretty darn huge!

P1030782 P1030780

P1030781 P1030786

The Milbank Mansion was originally built in 1913 for prominent local businessman Isaac Milbank and his wife, Virginia.  The 12-bedroom, 5-bath, 10,059-square-foot home, which sits on 1.79 acres of land, was designed by G. Laurence Stimson, the very same architect who also gave us the legendary Wrigley Mansion, now the Tournament of Roses House, in Pasadena.  The estate is located in the heart of Country Club Park – a historic 250-acre neighborhood situated on the site of the original Los Angeles Country Club, which closed its doors in 1905.  The area was developed and subdivided  by none other than Isaac Milbank himself, along with a business partner named George Chase, beginning in 1906.  The Milbank Mansion, which, according to a June 1988 Los Angeles Times article, is “considered to be the most substantial surviving estate built for a single family in the city of Los Angeles before World War I”, became a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument on December 13, 1989.  You can see some interior photographs of the property here.

[ad]

ScreenShot3728 ScreenShot3731

ScreenShot3732 ScreenShot3730

In Daddy Day Care, both the exterior . . .

ScreenShot3734ScreenShot3737

ScreenShot3735 ScreenShot3740

. . . and the interior of the Milbank Mansion were used as the Chapman Academy Preschool.

ScreenShot3747 ScreenShot3748

ScreenShot3749 ScreenShot3761

In the Season 10 Halloween-themed episode of CSI: Miami titled “By the Book”, the mansion stood in for the island estate where a female body that had been entirely drained of blood was found hanging upside down.

ScreenShot3751 ScreenShot3762

ScreenShot3757 ScreenShot3759

The interior of the estate was also used in the episode.

ScreenShot3741 ScreenShot3743

ScreenShot3744 ScreenShot3742

In the 1929 silent film Wrong Again, the exterior of the Milbank Mansion was used as the residence where stable hands Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy mistakenly returned a horse named “Blue Boy” thinking they would be able to collect on some reward money being offered for a missing painting also known as “Blue Boy”.

ScreenShot3771 ScreenShot3770

ScreenShot3772 ScreenShot3773

In the 1975 film noir Farewell, My Lovely, both the interior and the exterior of the Milbank Mansion stood in for the brothel belonging to “L.A.’s famous madam” Francis Amthor (Kate Murtagh).  Of the estate, detective Phillip Marlowe (Robert Mitchum) says, “It was an old house, built as they once built them and don’t build them anymore.  Fitting and proper for housing the world’s oldest profession.”

ScreenShot3764 ScreenShot3765

ScreenShot3768ScreenShot3769

In 2006’s Running with Scissors, the interior of the mansion stood in for the home where Dr. Finch (Brian Cox) lived with his crazy family – wife Agnes (Jill Clayburgh) and daughters Hope (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Natalie (Evan Rachel Wood).  The property was dressed rather heavily for the production, though, and is virtually unrecognizable onscreen.

ScreenShot3763

As you can see above, for the exterior of Dr. Finch’s mansion a different location was used.

P1030784 P1030785

The Milbank Mansion was also supposedly featured in Harold Lloyd’s 1922 silent film Dr. Jack, the 1971 movie Hit Man, and the reality series Beauty and the Geek, but unfortunately I could not find copies of any of those productions to verify that information.  And while several websites have stated that the property also appeared in the 2001 biopic Ali, I scanned through the movie yesterday while making screen captures for this post and did not see it anywhere.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Tony for asking me to find this location!   You can check out Tony’s FANTASTIC On Location in Los Angeles Flickr photostream here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The Milbank Mansion, aka the Chapman Academy Preschool from Daddy Day Care, is located at 3340 Country Club Drive in the Country Club Park section of Los Angeles.

La Villa Consolata – The Day Spa from the “Driven” Episode of “CSI: Miami”

P1030134

Back in January, a fellow stalker named Brandi left a comment on my post about the mansion from The Beverly Hillbillies movie informing me that the property’s indoor spa had not actually been used in the Season 4 episode of CSI: Miami titled “Driven”, as I had originally presumed, but that that spa could actually be found at a different ostentatious estate, this one on Mapleton Drive in Beverly Hills.  One quick online search and I discovered that Brandi was, indeed, correct and I immediately added the residence to my “To-Stalk” list.  As fate would have it, just a few days later, the Grim Cheaper and I happened to be watching the 2001 romantic comedy Good Advice (for about the hundredth time, mind you – it is one of our favorite movies EVER!) and I just about fell off the couch when I spotted the very same spa from CSI: Miami!  So I decided that I just HAD to stalk the estate as soon as possible and dragged the GC right on out there this past Saturday afternoon.

P1030126 P1030127

P1030129 P1030130

As you can see above, in real life, the “Driven” mansion is absolutely GINORMOUS and actually looks more like a palace than a private residence.  In fact, according to the Wikinfo website, the property is one of the largest single family homes in all of the United States!  Ironically enough, while we were stalking the dwelling, a Hollywood tour van happened to pull up and the guide announced that the estate had once been leased by Donatella Versace, to which the GC yelled out, “It was also featured in an episode of CSI: Miami!”  Thanks for having my back, honey!  Smile And while I cannot find any information online to back up the Donatella Versace claim, it does look like exactly the sort of place that I would imagine her living.  There are also a few internet reports floating around that the home was lived in (at different times, of course) by both Janet Jackson and Tommy Hilfiger, but I believe that information is incorrect.  According to CurbedLA, the residence was originally built in 1993 by Pacific-Brokerage-Services-founder Steven Wallace and was awarded to his ex-wife, Jo-Anne, in their divorce shortly thereafter.  Current property records show that Jo-Anne still owns the mansion to this day, although it is possible she rented it out to various celebrities over the years.

ScreenShot3318 ScreenShot3328

ScreenShot3332 ScreenShot3327

ScreenShot3323 ScreenShot3324

ScreenShot3331 ScreenShot3330

As you can see in the above photographs from the home’s MLS listing, the 6-bedroom, 7-bath, 27,816-square-foot abode, which sits on 1.15 well-manicured acres of land, is nothing short of unbelievable!  The property, dubbed “La Villa Consolata”, features a whopping eight fireplaces!, a domed entryway, a gourmet kitchen, formal gardens, a gym, an indoor and an outdoor pool, a massage room, a game room, a two-level library (which I would give anything to have in my own home!), a master bedroom wing, three elevators!, staff quarters, three family rooms, a detached theater, a guard house, a wine cellar, and a three-level underground disco named “Atlantis”!  Who knew that those kinds of amenities were even available in homes?!?!  And while the residence has been on and off the market for a couple of years now, it seems to currently be back on again at the bargain price of $27.5 million.  You can check out the dwelling’s real estate website and see more photographs of it in all of its ornate grandeur here.

[ad]

ScreenShot3349 ScreenShot3353

ScreenShot3342 ScreenShot3352

In the “Driven” episode of CSI: Miami, La Villa Consolata stood in for a supposed Dade-County-area day spa where a group of wealthy women are robbed at gunpoint.

ScreenShot3343 ScreenShot3344

ScreenShot3345 ScreenShot3346

The mansion’s indoor lap pool was used extensively in the episode.

ScreenShot3333 ScreenShot3334

ScreenShot3321 ScreenShot3320

That pool area is pictured above and I have to say that it is pretty darn magnificent!

ScreenShot3355 ScreenShot3356

ScreenShot3357 ScreenShot3358

The interior of La Villa Consolata also masqueraded as a second location in “Driven”.  Towards the end of the episode, the mansion stood in for the residence belonging to Cynthia Gilmore (Jacqueline Pinol), where a home-invasion robbery took place.

ScreenShot3335 ScreenShot3337

ScreenShot3339 ScreenShot3338

In Good Advice, La Villa Consolata’s indoor pool is where Cathy Sherman (Rosanna Arquette) attends a yoga class and gets interrupted by a phone call from her husband, Barry Sherman (Jon Lovitz).  I SO love that Cathy has a coffee with her while practicing yoga, by the way!  SO something I would do!  Smile

ScreenShot3372 ScreenShot3373

ScreenShot3366 ScreenShot3375

In the Season 1 episode of Charmed titled “The Wedding from Hell”, La Villa Consolata’s front exterior;

ScreenShot3378 ScreenShot3380

ScreenShot3381 ScreenShot3382

interior;

ScreenShot3386 ScreenShot3388

ScreenShot3384 ScreenShot3389

and backyard stood in for the mansion where Mrs. Grace Spencer (Barbara Stock) lived.

ScreenShot3367 ScreenShot3371

ScreenShot3369 ScreenShot3368

Oddly enough, though, the mansion grounds shown in the beginning of the episode are unmistakably those of The Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, which I blogged about way back in October of 2008.  I have no idea why two different locations would be used to stand in for the same backyard, but I am guessing that it was some sort of a timing issue in which La Villa Consolata was not available for the entire stretch of time that was needed to film “The Wedding from Hell”, so producers found a similar-looking spot to double for it in certain scenes.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: La Villa Consolata, aka the mansion from Good Advice, the “Driven” episode of CSI: Miami and “The Wedding from Hell” episode of Charmed, is located at 330 South Mapleton Drive in the Holmby Hills section of Los AngelesThe home used for all of the backyard scenes in Mommie Dearest is located across the street at 355 South Mapleton Drive.

The “Nanny and the Professor” House

P1030093

Last week, fellow stalker James posted a comment on my site challenging me to find the residence where the Everett family – widowed Professor Harold Everett (Richard Long) and his three children, Hal (David Doremus), Butch (Trent Lehman), and Prudence (The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ Kim Richards), and their nanny, Nanny Phoebe Figalilly (Hayley Mills’ sister, Juliet Mills) – lived in the 1970s television series Nanny and the Professor. And while I had never before even heard of the Mary-Poppins-like comedy, I was immediately intrigued and added the location to my “To-Find” list. Fellow stalker Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, beat me to the punch, though, and sent me an email in which he informed me of the address to the home less than 24 hours after James had posted the challenge! Nice! Thank you, Geoff! So this past weekend, I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out there to stalk the place.

[ad]

ScreenShot3283 ScreenShot3294

ScreenShot3284 ScreenShot3285

In the short-lived Nanny and the Professor, which only lasted two seasons and ran from January 1970 to December 1971, the Everett family lived in an idyllic white clapboard residence supposedly located at 10327 Oak Street in what, I believe, was Los Angeles.

ScreenShot3290 ScreenShot3289

You can see the “10327” address placard pictured in the background of the above screen captures.

P1030095 P1030092

P1030094 P1030102

Thankfully, the house is also numbered 10327 in real life, which is how Geoff was able to track it down. The Colonial-style residence, which was originally built in 1935, measures 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, and 2,128 square feet. And, amazingly enough, it still looks EXACTLY the same today as it did in 1970 when the series was taped, despite the fact that a whopping forty-two years have since passed.

Nanny and the Professor House 2 Nanny and the Professor House

Even the decorative light post which appeared in the show is still there in real life! So incredibly cool!

P1030096 P1030097

P1030099 P1030100

As you can see above, the Nanny and the Professor house truly is idyllic in real life.

P1030101

So much so that the homeowners even posted a sign in the front yard which reads, “Please . . . Do Not Disturb! This House is Not For sale.” LOL I guess they had quite a few people stopping by wanting the buy the place.

ScreenShot3277

Kim Richards was only five years old – and absolutely adorable – when the series began filming and, although she had already acted in over 20 commercials by that time, “Prudence Everett” was the future child star’s first major role.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Nanny and the Professor house is located at 10327 Glenbarr Avenue in the Cheviot Hills section of Los Angeles. Claire and Phil’s house from Modern Family is located just a few blocks away at 10336 Dunleer Drive.