Malibou Lake from “Parks and Recreation”

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A couple of months ago, I set out to find the lake house belonging to Donna Meagle (Retta) and her family in the Season 4 episode of fave show Parks and Recreation titled “Sweet Sixteen”.  (It was that search that led me to discover Johnson Lake in Pasadena, which I blogged about here.)  And while I was absolutely convinced that Donna’s home was located on the banks of the oft-filmed-at Lake Sherwood, I scanned through aerial views of pretty much every single property in that area and came up completely empty-handed.  Then fate took a hand and led me to some information about another oft-filmed-at lake in the vicinity – one that I had never before heard of – named Malibou Lake in Agoura.  I immediately became intrigued with the place and, after a few minutes of searching, found Donna’s house.  Yay!  Unfortunately though, because Malibou Lake is a bit of a hike from Pasadena, I was unable to drag the Grim Cheaper out there to stalk it until a couple of weekends ago.  But, let me tell you, it was well worth the wait!

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Malibou Lake Mountain Club, as the area has come to be known, was originally founded in 1922 by fishermen George Wilson and Bertram Lackey, who had purchased 350 acres of land in the Santa Monica Mountains with the intent of turning them into a lakeside community, resort and social club.  According to a November 2007 Los Angeles Times article, the development was named Malibou Lake with an “o” to avoid being confused with the nearby Malibu Lagoon.

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To create their idyllic development, Wilson and Lackey built a clubhouse, sold plots of land for housing, dammed up two nearby creeks, and waited for the 65-acre central basin to fill with water and become a lake.  That water took four years to arrive, though, to the consternation of the many new homeowners who had built what they thought were lakeside residences.  Finally in the spring of 1926, thanks to a long-overdue bout of storms, twenty million gallons of rainwater fell into the basin and Malibou Lake was born.

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I can honestly say that Mailbou Lake is one of the coolest, most picturesque places that I have ever stalked.

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Not to mention one of the most unique.  Pictured below is a sign that I never thought I would see in L.A.

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I cannot even imagine what it would be like to live there!  As you can see below, one lakeside house even had a sailboat docked nearby!  Sigh!

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And while the club, lake and surrounding houses are gated and private, I am very happy to report that much of the area is visible from public streets.

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Malibou Lake Mountain Club has appeared in hundreds upon hundreds of productions since its founding and it would be absolutely impossible for me to catalog them all here, but I will do my best to mention its more notable onscreen appearances.  In the “Sweet Sixteen” episode of Parks and Recreation, Donna’s lake house is where the gang threw a surprise party for Jerry Gergich (Jim O’Heir).  Sadly, the property is not visible from the road, so I was not able to snap any photographs of it.

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The interior of the house – which is uh-ma-zing, by the way – also appeared in the episode.  You can check out some interior pictures of the property here.

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The iconic drowning scene from 1931’s Frankenstein was filmed at Malibou Lake.  You can read a FABULOUS article about the exact spot where filming took place penned by screenwriter John Cox (a man truly after my own heart) on the Frankensteinia blog here.

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In the 1940 film The Great Dictator, Malibou Lake was where Hynkel – Dictator of Tomania (Charlie Chaplin) shot ducks and was later captured.

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In 1956’s The Bad Seed, Malibou Lake stood in for Fern School – the private school attended by Rhoda Penmark (Patty McCormack).

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The Malibou Lake Mountain Club clubhouse masqueraded as the Havenhurst Motel in the Season 4 episode of Perry Mason titled “The Case of the Angry Dead Man”, which aired in 1961.  The lake and its environs have actually appeared in countless episodes of Perry Mason over the years, some of which are detailed on the Perry Mason TV Series website here.

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Malibou Lake was where Lane Meyer (John Cusack) first met Beth Truss (Amanda Wyss) in 1985’s Better Off Dead.

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In 1990 and 1991, Malibou Lake stood in for “Easter Park” in several episodes of Twin Peaks, including the Season 1 episode titled “Cooper’s Dreams” (pictured below).

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The Malibou Lake Mountain Club office also appeared throughout the series as the Timber Falls Motel.  You can see some real life photographs of the office along with comparison screen captures on the In Twin Peaks blog here and on the Brad D Studios website here.

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Malibou Lake was used extensively as Urbania, Ohio in 1994’s Little Giants.

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In 1998’s Mr. Saturday Night, Malibou Lake stood in for the Catskills resort where Buddy Young Jr. (Billy Crystal) regularly performed his comedy routine and also met his future wife, Elaine (Julie Warner).

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In the 1999 dramedy The Story of Us, Malibou Lake masqueraded as the lake at Camp Pinewood, the summer camp where Ben Jordan (Bruce Willis) and Katie Jordan (Michelle Pfeiffer) spent Parents’ Weekend with their children, Erin (Colleen Rennison) and Josh (Jake Sandvig).

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In the 2002 horror flick The Ring, a house on Malibou Lake was used as the office of Doctor Grasnik (Jane Alexander), where Rachel (Naomi Watts) went to seek out more information on Samara Morgan (Daveigh Chase).

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The real life interior of the house was also used in the movie.

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Sadly, that property was torn down to make way for a new, larger residence sometime in 2010 or 2011.  The original home is still visible via Bing aerial maps, though, as you can see below.

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A view of the vacant plot of land that remained after the residence was torn down, which I found on fave website Zillow, is pictured below.

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And the new abode, which is currently for sale for a cool $1.29 million, is pictured below.  The GC and I had actually been gushing over it while stalking the lake.  You can check out its real estate listing here.  Um, yeah, I could live with that.  Winking smile

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John Cusack returned to Malibou Lake in 2005 to film the scene for Must Love Dogs in which Sarah Nolan (Diane Lane) chases down his character, Jake, to ask for a second chance.

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Thanks to fellow stalker Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, I learned that in the Season 4 episode of The Office titled “Dunder Mifflin Infinity”, which aired in 2007, Malibou Lake stood in for Lake Scranton where Michael Scott (Steve Carell) drowned his car due to “faulty” GPS directions.

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You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER.  And be sure to check out the latest post – about trying to track down a diabetic-friendly evening bag – on my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Malibou Lake Mountain Club is located at 29033 West Lake Vista Drive in Agoura Hills.  Donna’s lake house from the “Sweet Sixteen” episode of Parks and Recreation is located at 2140 East Lakeshore Drive, inside of the gated Malibou Lake Mountain Club community.  It is, unfortunately, not visible from the road.  The home that was used as Doctor Grasnik’s office in The Ring was formerly located at 29175 South Lakeshore Drive, but it has since been torn down and replaced with a new home.

The Coffee Gallery from “The Office”

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A few weeks ago, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, told me about a coffee house in Altadena named the Coffee Gallery which was featured in the Season 4 episode of The Office titled “Chair Model”.  He figured that because the place was both a coffee shop and a filming location that it would be right up my alley!  And how right he was!  So, yesterday I stopped by my parents’ house in the hopes that I could talk either my mom or my dad into accompanying me to stalk the place as I needed someone to take a picture of me while there.  Thankfully, my dad acquiesced and just before we were leaving my mom happened to ask what it was exactly that I wanted to stalk.  When I told her we were heading to the Coffee Gallery she informed me that one of her neighbors, a woman named Julie, actually owns the place!  Well, let me tell you, I just about fell over when I heard that and immediately ran down to Julie’s house to give her the third degree!  How I never knew that my parents’ neighbor owned a coffee house when I am a complete and total coffee fiend is BEYOND me, but I digress.  Unfortunately, Julie wasn’t home when I stopped by, so I was not able to get any behind-the-scenes scoop about the filming.  I’ve left word with her son, though, that I am VERY interested in speaking with her, so if I do find out any good trivia, I will for sure share it with my fellow stalkers! 

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The Coffee Gallery is a very cool place to hang out – and I mean that both figuratively and literally!  While it is a super hip little spot, it is also blissfully air-conditioned and after walking in from the 95-degree heat yesterday, I vowed never to leave!  😉  The Coffee Gallery actually reminds me a LOT of a place in San Mateo called the Coffee Critic where I used to hang out pretty much every afternoon when I was in high school, so walking through those front doors yesterday felt like returning home.  In fact, the cafes are so similar it was striking!  My dad even commented on how much alike they look, but I digress once again.  The Coffee Gallery is cozy and inviting and the barista who waited on us could NOT have been nicer.  I can say with certainty that I will for sure be frequenting the place regularly from now on.  Oh, and they serve up some great coffee, too!  😉

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In the “Chair Model” episode of The Office, Pam Beesly (aka Jenna Fischer) sets up her boss, Michael Scott (aka Steve Carell), on a blind date with Margaret, her landlady.  The two decide to meet for the first time at the Coffee Gallery.

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At first, Michael mistakenly believes that the above-pictured blonde woman is Margaret, even though she explained to him that she has straight brown hair and that she will be wearing blue jeans and a black top.  When he first sees the blonde, though, he says, “I give her a ten for looks and a three for her ability to describe herself”.  LOL LOL LOL 

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When he finally meets the real Margaret, he blurts out, “Ugh!” and then proceeds to pretend that he is not actually Michael Scott.  He is found out, however, when the barista yells out his name to announce that his drink is ready.   God, I love The Office!

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The two then sit by the cafe’s front window and proceed to have a very awkward conversation about how “hot” Michael’s former girlfriend was. 

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The Coffee Gallery’s super nice barista also told me that the 2005 flick Must Love Dogs had been filmed on the premises, as well.  The exterior of the coffee house was featured in a scene towards the end of the movie in which Jack (aka John Cusack) meets his ex-girlfriend’s father, Bill (aka Christopher Plummer), for the first time.  According to the barista, the Coffee Gallery was left open during the filming of Must Love Dogs and both John Cusack and Christopher Plummer were extremely nice and posed for photographs with all of the people who stopped by on their morning coffee run.  Let me just say here that I would absolutely die if I showed up at my local coffee house one morning to find a movie being filmed!  Sigh!  🙂

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Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for finding this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: The Coffee Gallery from Must Love Dogs and the “Chair Model” episode of The Office is located at 2029 North Lake Avenue in Altadena.  You can visit their official website here.