Chris’ Apartment from “Parks and Recreation”

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I realize that I am on serious Parks and Recreation overload here, but today’s location is one that I could not not blog about being that I am absolutely OBSESSED with it!  What is the location you ask?  The supposed Indianapolis-area ultra-modern loft that Chris Traeger (Rob Lowe) owns on the series.  I became just a wee bit consumed with the pad the first time it popped up during Season 3 of P&R.  One look at its high ceilings, open floor plan and towering staircase and I literally went weak in the knees and started drooling.  Oddly enough, though, I did not recognize the place even though I had once previously stalked it.  There I go having yet another blonde moment!

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Way back in December of 2008, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I went on a quest to track down the liquor store from L.A. Confidential, which we had heard was located on Larchmont Boulevard.  (As it turns out, it wasn’t – the L.A. Confidential liquor store is actually on South Cochran Avenue.  You can read my post on it here.)  During the hunt, we spent hours driving back and forth down Larchmont looking for the store’s facade and also stopping in to speak with several different area shop owners, trying to gather some intel.  And while no one had any information on the liquor store, one helpful person informed us that the movie Funny People had recently spent several weeks filming at the Larchmont Lofts on the corner of Larchmont Boulevard and Melrose Avenue.  So Mike and I, of course, went to take a look at the building and snap some pics.  We did not venture inside, though, nor did I ever see Funny People, so I had no idea what the interior of the actual apartment units looked like.

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Flash forward to a couple of weeks ago when fellow stalker Justin asked me to track down some Parks and Recreation locales, one of which was Chris Traeger’s apartment building.  At the time, I was not even sure if the location was a real one.  Chris’s loft is so darn sleek and shiny that I figured it might just be a set.  But I started to do some digging anyway and eventually discovered (thanks to fave website OnLocationVacations) that Chris’ pad was real and that it was located in none other than the Funny People building!  Talk about a small world!  Once I found out that information, I, of course, immediately began searching for rental rates being that Chris’ apartment is pretty much my dream home.

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The three-story, ultra-modern Larchmont Lofts building was first completed in 2008.  Its 21 loft-style units were originally slated to be sold as condominiums for $750,000 to $1.25 million a piece.  Not a’ one of ‘em was purchased, though, according to fave website CurbedLA, and the spaces were eventually leased out as apartments.  Rates currently start at a whopping $3,000 a month for a 1-bedroom, 1-bath, 1,200-square-foot flat.  Um yeah, like the Grim Cheaper would ever go for that!  What I wouldn’t give to live there, though!  Sigh!

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Chris Traeger’s apartment first popped up in the Season 3 episode of Parks and Recreation titled “Indianapolis”.  Interestingly enough, though, while the front entrance and interior of one of the units were used in the episode, the exterior establishing shot was of a different location altogether, one that is no stranger to the screen.  The exterior of Chris’ building is actually the exterior of the residence where Mitch Hiller (Billy Campbell) lived in the 2002 movie Enough, which Mike, from MovieShotsLA, stalked a while back.  You can take a look at his photos of the property here.

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In the “Indianapolis” episode, Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) and Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) travel from Pawnee to Indianapolis to accept a special commendation on behalf of the Parks Department.  While there, they meet up with Chris, who, at that point in the show, lived in the area.  A brief scene from the episode was filmed in the Larchmont Lofts lobby, which you can see behind me in the photograph below.

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In “Indianapolis”, Chris is shown to live in Unit #207, which is one of the Larchmont Lofts’ three-story townhomes.

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As you can see below, the interior of his apartment is nothing short of STUNNING!  Love, love, LOVE it!

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Especially the large, open-air staircase.  Sigh!

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Chris’ apartment also appeared in the Season 3 episode of Parks and Recreation titled “Road Trip”, in the scene in which Chris hosts Leslie and Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) on an overnight at his home.  You can check out some interior photographs of the Larchmont Lofts building – including a three-story townhouse unit like Chris’ – on Curbed LA here.

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And I, of course, just had to pretend to buzz Chris from the intercom while I was there.  Smile

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In Funny People, Larchmont Lofts is the building where Ira Wright (Seth Rogen), Leo Koenig (Jonah Hill), Mark Taylor Jackson (Jason Schwartzman), and Daisy Danby (Aubrey Plaza, who, ironically enough, plays April Ludgate on Parks and Recreation) live.  The exterior of the building shows up quite a few times in the flick.

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As does the interior of one of the building’s two-bedroom flats.  As you can see below, the inside of Ira, Leo and Mark’s apartment in the flick closely resembles that of Chris’ apartment on Parks and Recreation – minus the awesome staircase, which is only a feature of the building’s three-story townhomes.

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Be sure to “Like” IAMNOTASTALKER on Facebook here and “Friend” me on my personal page here.  You can also check out the IAMNOTASTALKER About Me page here and you can follow me on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER.  And you can check out my latest post – about low-carb tacos – on my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

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Stalk It: Chris Traeger’s apartment building from Parks and Recreation is actually the Larchmont Lofts, which is located at 5700 Melrose Avenue in the Larchmont Village area of Los Angeles.  You can visit the complex’s official website here.  And to contribute to the Lindsay-Wants-to-Live-at-the-Larchmont-Lofts fund, you can click here.  Ha ha, just kidding.  Winking smile

Runyon Canyon Park from “The Hills”

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A few years ago, after my good friend Nat happened to spot Runyon Canyon Park pop up in an episode of fave reality series The Hills, she sent me an email asking if I had ever stalked the place.  And while I had long known that the locale was not only a big-time celebrity hangout, but also a popular filming location, because I am not a fan of hiking (or working out in general, if we are really being honest here), I had never added it to my “To-Stalk” list.  But I assured Nat, who is very much into calisthenic-type activity and who, unlike me does not actually consider walking to Starbucks a form of exercise, that the next time she came to visit, we would definitely hit the place up.  Which is how, bright and early a few Sundays ago, the Grim Cheaper, Nat and I found ourselves in Hollywood about to embark upon a morning hike at Runyon Canyon Park.  I even bought some new workout pants for the occasion!  (Now, shopping – that is definitely a type of exercise that I can get behind!)  Unfortunately for Nat, though, because there did not seem to be any restrooms on the trail and because I had downed a Venti iced latte shortly before arriving there, our trek was pretty short-lived.  See what I mean?  I was just not made for the outdoors.  The GC made fun of me relentlessly while we were hiking, by the way, due to the fact that I was carrying my Louis Vuitton purse.  Men!  I mean, what the heck else was I supposed to do with it?  Leave it in the car?  As if!

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The 160-acre parcel of land that now makes up Runyon Canyon Park was originally named “No Man’s Canyon”.  It came to be known by its current moniker thanks to one of its early owners, coal baron Carman Runyon, who used the sprawling site as a hunting and riding venue.  In 1929, the grounds were purchased by Irish tenor John McCormack, who had a large mansion built on the premises which he dubbed “San Patrizio”, in honor of St. Patrick.  When A&P Supermarket heir Huntington Hartford bought the estate in 1942, he renamed it “The Pines” and commissioned architect Frank Lloyd Wright to build a pool house on the site.  Hartford’s friend Errol Flynn was a frequent guest at the pool house and is rumored to have thrown some wild parties there.  Sadly, when Jules Berman, a wealthy liquor importer, purchased the property in the late 1960s, he demolished “The Pines”.  The Lloyd Wright-designed pool house was subsequently destroyed by a fire in 1972.  All that remains of the two historic structures are some ruins located near the Fuller Avenue entrance to the park.  So incredibly sad!  In 1984, the City of Los Angeles stepped in and acquired the vacant acreage, subsequently turning it into a public park, as it remains to this day.

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Thanks to Runyon Canyon Park’s proximity to Hollywood and the stunning views that it boasts (which you can see above), the place has long been a stomping ground of the rich and famous.  Just a few of the stars who have been spotted working out there include Gilles Marini, Famke Janssen, Eriq La Salle, Josh Hartnett, Hayden Panettiere, Justin Timberlake, Jessica Biel, Matthew McConaughey, Jake Gyllenhaal, Kathy Griffin, Scarlett Johansson, Josh Duhamel, Kellan Lutz, Ryan Gosling, Dane Cook, Orlando Bloom, Sheryl Crow, Ashley Tisdale, Haylie Duff, Anne Hathaway, Ali Fedotowsky, Amanda Bynes, Matthew Perry, Ali Larter, Joe Jonas, Amanda Seyfried,  Adrian Grenier, Natalie Portman, and Chris Pine.  And while we did not see any celebs during our hike, when fellow stalker Lavonna was in town this past November, she spotted B.J.Novak, aka Ryan Howard from The Office, walking the trails.

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In the Season 3 episode of The Hills titled “With This Ring . . .”, Whitney Port had a one-on-one training session/date with her personal trainer, Jarett Del Bene, at Runyon Canyon Park.

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And in the Season 4 episode of The Hills titled “Who To Choose?”, Lauren Conrad and Audrina Patridge discussed Audrina’s love life while on a hike at Runyon Canyon.  And I could swear that the park showed up in yet another episode of the series in which Lauren and Whitney were shown working out, but I cannot seem to find it anywhere.

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In the Season 4 episode of Seinfeld titled “The Trip, Part 2”, Jerry Seinfeld (who played himself), George Costanza (Jason Alexander), and Kramer (Michael Richards) visited Runyon Canyon Park immediately after Kramer was released from jail, where he was being held as the supposed “The Fog Strangler” serial killer.

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In the 2009 flick Funny People, Runyon Canyon Park was where Ira Wright (Seth Rogan), Leo Koenig (Jonah Hill) and Mark Taylor Jackson (Jason Schwartzman) discussed the illness of fellow comedian George Simmons (Adam Sandler).

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Thanks to fave book Hollywood Escapes: The Moviegoer’s Guide to Exploring Southern California’s Great Outdoors (and I just figured out how to write in color on my blog, by the way!  In heaven!!!!), I also learned that in the ultra-weird 2001 flick The Anniversary Party, Runyon Canyon was where Joe Therrian (Alan Cumming) and his wife Sally (Jennifer Jason Leigh), along with their friends Skye Davidson (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Levi Panes (Michael Panes), searched for their missing dog, Otis.

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Hollywood Escapes also states that 1983’s Breathless and 2005’s Undiscovered were filmed at Runyon Canyon Park, but, unfortunately, I could not find copies of either movie with which to make screen captures for this post.

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Some filming locations are also visible from the various Runyon Canyon trails, including the abandoned Solar Drive mansion from Law & Order: Los Angeles that I blogged about last December;

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and the John Lautner-designed Garcia House from Lethal Weapon 2, which I blogged about way back in February of 2008.  And there is a also private home known as Runyon Ranch located inside of the park that has been featured in countless movies and television shows over the years, including my fave, Beverly Hills, 90210, but I am saving that location for a different post.

Big THANK YOU to my good friend Nat for forcing me to suggesting that I stalk this location.  Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Runyon Canyon Park from The Hills is located at 2001 North Fuller Avenue in Hollywood.  You can visit the park’s official website here.