Lorenzo Lamas’ House from “Sex and the City”

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This past weekend was hands down the best. Oscar. weekend. ever.  I ended up stalking only one event (the torrential rain kept me indoors the rest of the time), but while there I got to meet one of my top-five celebrity crushes, Mr. Joshua Jackson from Dawson’s Creek.   Like I said, best. Oscar. weekend. ever.

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I also met Alex Newell from Glee . . .

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and The O.C.’s Peter Gallagher (who happened to be playing in a celebrity golf tournament in Palm Springs).

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I also got to do a bit of location stalking during the few, brief moments when the sun was out, most of it Sex and the City-related.  While doing research for my most-recent Los Angeles magazine Scene It Before post, about the backlot stoop where Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) attempted to smoke a cigarette in the Season 3 episode titled “Escape from New York,” I got inspired to track down some of the missing locations from the episode and the one that followed it, titled “Sex and Another City.”  (Both episodes took place in L.A.).  The locale I was most intent on finding was the ultra-modern pad that Keith Travers (Vince Vaughn) took Carrie to look at in “Sex and Another City.”  In the episode, the real estate agent informs Keith that the residence belongs to actor Lorenzo Llamas and that he has it listed at $3.4 million, but that it will probably go for $3.2.

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When Carrie sees the inside of the place, she says, “This is not a house, this is an airport!”

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Thanks to its modern style and stellar views, I was convinced that the residence was located somewhere in the West Hollywood area, so I was shocked to come across this listing which stated that it was actually in Studio City.  From there, tracking down the home’s exact location was a snap.  Sadly though, when I went to stalk it, I learned that the pad is located on a private road and is not accessible to the public.  I did manage to catch a glimpse of it from a few blocks away, though.

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Sex and the City Vince Vaughn house (13 of 13)

According to this article, the unique home had a bit of a stilted start.  Architect Michael Pearce completed building the exterior of the structure in 1996, shortly before it was acquired by the bank.  A man named Robert Seltzer subsequently purchased it for $600,000 and commissioned architect David Kellen to finish the project.  The residence was then put on the market in 2004 for, in a case of life imitating art, $3.4 million.  It appears to have been put on the market again in 2013 for $2,795,000, but I do not believe that it ever sold.

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According to the real estate listing, the property was in need of some repairs and TLC at that time.  As you can see below, it does appear that some sort of work is currently being done on the place.

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The stunning home boasts four bedrooms, five baths, 5,873 square feet of space, a 0.59-acre plot of land, an infinity pool, a spa, a rooftop deck, three balconies, twenty-foot ceilings, glass walls, a gourmet kitchen, three fireplaces, and a sauna.  You can see some interior photographs of the pad hereAccording to this article, Leonardo DiCaprio (whom I was devastated did not win the Best Actor Oscar on Sunday night) even checked out the property at one point in time.

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Sex and the City Vince Vaughn house (7 of 13)

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.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Lorenzo Lamas’ house from the “Sex and Another City” episode of Sex and the City is located at 3596 Woodhill Canyon Road in Studio City.  Woodhill Canyon Road is private and not accessible to the public, but you can catch a glimpse of the residence from Mound View Place, which is located just a few blocks east.

Bob Hope’s Palm Springs House

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While in Palm Springs this past weekend, I dragged my boyfriend – ahem, fiance (I swear, I’m never going to get used to saying that!) out to stalk Bob Hope’s former residence, which is located high up on a cliff at the very top of Southridge Drive.  I wasn’t so much interested in seeing the home because it had once belonged to Bob Hope, but rather because it was designed by famed architect John Lautner.  And I am absolutely obsessed with Lautner homes!  Once upon a time, I actually hated his designs – I thought they were just simply too weird.  But over the years they have really grown on me.  I love that all of his homes are so incredibly unique and recognizable.  One look at a poured concrete wall or a curving roof line and you know immediately if a house was designed by Lautner.  It’s no wonder that his homes have been used in countless Hollywood productions over the years including Charlie’s Angels, Diamonds Are Forever, The Big Lebowski, and Lethal Weapon 2.

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Not everyone is as big a fan of John Lautner as I am, though.  Legend has it that Bob Hope wasn’t exactly happy with the house that Lautner designed for him.   According to this article, Judith Lautner, John’s daughter, states that Bob “made life hell for my father.  He destroyed a lot of the thinking.  He just stepped in and said ‘No, no, no.'”   Legend also has it that Bob never even spent one night in the home, but instead used it solely for entertaining purposes.  The home, which was built in 1979 and was designed to look like the skirts of a volcano, measures 17,531 square feet, has 6 bedrooms and 9.75 bathrooms!

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Unfortunately, Bob’s former home is located in a private, gated community, so I wasn’t able to get very close to it.  🙁  And, judging from the signs pictured above, the neighborhood is not very stalker friendly!  When I saw the sign which read “Trespassers will be photographed and may be prosecuted”, I was pretty much outta there!   Bob’s former community is very exclusive and was once also home to actors Steve McQueen and William Holden.  Lautner also designed another home – the Elrod House – just down the road from Bob’s, but, unfortunately, I didn’t realize that until after I got home, so I didn’t get any photographs of it!  Ugh, I am such a blond sometimes!

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Because I couldn’t get very close to the house while stalking it, I had to settle for doing some cyberstalking as soon as I got home.    It’s funny, but in aerial images the home actually appears to be rather small, but rumor has it that the open circle cut-out in the roof is so large that a helicopter could actually land there!!  I don’t know if that is true or not, but being that the home measures almost 18,000 square feet, it is definitely a possibility!  Another rumor floating around about the former Bob Hope residence is that the shape of the pool was loosely based on the comedian’s profile.  So cool!  You can see another amazing aerial view of the home here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: Bob Hope’s Palm Springs house is located at 2466 Southridge Drive.  The Elrod House is located just a few houses down at 2175 Southridge Drive.  Both are in a private, guard-gated community, so DO NOT trespass.  If you are into hiking, apparently the nearby Araby Trail offers some great views of both homes.

The Californication House

First off let me wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving! 🙂 Now on to stalking! Yesterday, while doing some Venice Beach stalking, I visited a location I have long been obsessed with finding – the house from the David Duchovny series Californication. I have long been a DD fan – ever since I saw my first X-Files episode over 15 years ago I have pretty much been obsessed. So when my boyfriend got the Season 1 DVD’s of Californication a few weeks ago, I had to watch! Sadly, I have to admit that I don’t really like the series. But I did become a huge fan of Hank Moody’s ex-wife Karen’s home while watching. On the show Karen lives in a very modern style cement and wood home that is very reminiscent of James Woods’ house on the TV show Shark. It also has some of the same characteristics of John Lautner homes. So, I course I immediately became obsessed with it. 🙂 Luckily, while doing some cyberstalking I came across this awesome website which gave me the home’s location. YAY!

The home, which is known as the McKinley Residence, was built by architect David Hertz for his family and originally only consisted of the structure that is pictured above. The original structure consisted of two separate buildings, one in the front and another in the back, that were joined via a covered bridge. A few years later Hertz bought an adjoining lot and built the property’s second structure which also consisted of two buildings. Today the property is made up of a total of four buildings all surrounding an outdoor courtyard and pool area and connected via several enclosed bridges. David Hertz has designed numerous homes throughout the West Coast and has a strong commitment to only building “green” structures and protecting the environment. He is also the inventor of a building material called “syndecrete” which is a “green” cement based surfacing substance that is used in the building of many homes.

The McKinley Residence is a frequent filming location. Besides Californication, the house has been featured in Adaptation, Men, Women & Dogs and a Season 3 episode of CSI: Miami entitled “Murder in a Flash.” The house has also been featured in Dwell Magazine and Shape Magazine. You can see all of the projects this extraordinary house has been featured in here. You can also see some great interior photos of the home here. The McKinley Residence is an amazing home to see in person and I highly recommend stalking it!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Californication house is located at 2420 McKinley Avenue in Venice.