The Griffin from “NCIS”

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Today’s location comes with a caveat.  Last Saturday evening while in L.A. for a brief visit, I headed to The Griffin, an Atwater Village bar I had been dying to stalk ever since seeing it in an episode of NCIS almost three years ago.  The place did not disappoint and I started writing this post pretty much immediately upon returning home.  Unfortunately, later that night the watering hole came under fire due to an unfortunate set of circumstances that began when an extremist hate group held an impromptu gathering on the premises.  When word of the meet-up got out, some neighborhood activists popped by to protest.  A fight ensued, police were called and both parties were forced to leave.  Thankfully, no one was hurt during the melee.  The Griffin’s reputation was, though.  The establishment, which did not endorse or host the meet-up, bore the brunt of the blame from locals, concerned citizens and many media outlets for even allowing the group to enter in the first place.  Now I wasn’t there, but from everything I’ve read, it seems the tavern was unexpectedly ambushed and the staff was guilty of little other than being completely ill-equipped to handle the situation.  The Griffin’s owners have since issued an apology and even hosted a neighborhood fundraising event a few days later, but many are still angry.  While I considered holding off on publishing this post due to the backlash, I thought better of it.  In no way do I believe that the bar owners or staff condone any sort of hatred or support those who do.  My experience there had the opposite feeling.  The employees that I spoke with could not have been more kind or accommodating, even though I was annoyingly running around snapping copious photographs and asking countless questions about the place’s filming history.  Of the watering hole, LA Weekly says, “The Griffin, dimly lit and always welcoming, is magical any night of the week.”  I couldn’t agree more – so I’m hitting ‘publish.’

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While watching the Season 13 episode of NCIS titled “Sister City (Part 1)” back in January 2016, I became transfixed with Tusovat’sya, the 4-star Russian restaurant supposedly located on the 700 block of K Street in Washington, D.C. where Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and Anthony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) tracked down Russian Counselor Anton Pavlenko (Lev Gorn).  The cavernous space’s brick arched ceilings practically had me drooling.

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While set in D.C., NCIS is shot in L.A., so I knew the eatery had to be somewhere close by.  Thankfully, the hunt to find it was easier than Gibbs and DiNozzo’s hunt for Pavlenko.  Feeling lucky, I inputted “Los Angeles,” “restaurant,” “cavernous,” and “brick” into Google and one of the first results kicked back was this Thrillist blurb about The Griffin which states, “Decked with arched brick ceilings, Gothic-style chandeliers, and red vinyl booths, The Griffin is like a medieval dungeon in Atwater Village.  The cavernous lair is anchored by a stone platform with two fireplaces and a large bar.”  The description alone had me convinced me it was the spot I was looking for and once I pulled up images, there was no denying The Griffin had portrayed Tusovat’sya.

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I was shocked at the discovery because not only had I long been aware of The Griffin thanks to its use in establishing shots of the bar where Nick Miller (Jake Johnson) works on New Girl, but I had stalked and blogged about the place for Los Angeles magazine back in 2014.  Since only the outside of the lounge appeared on the Fox series, I had never ventured inside, though, so I was completely unaware of its unique aesthetic (captured so beautifully on NCIS) . . .

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. . . none of which is belied by its pretty, but rather non-descript exterior.

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I promptly added The Griffin to my Re-Stalk List, but was not able to make it back out there until this past weekend.  Let me tell you, though, it was worth the wait!

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The Griffin was originally established in September 2007 at the site of the former La Strada Mexican eatery.  While I had assumed that the vaulted, sepulchral space was a historic relic of some sort, possibly an erstwhile bank or wine cellar, our friendly bartender informed us that the extraordinary chamber was actually a build-out commissioned by owners Aaron Chepenik and Jonathan Hensleigh after La Strada vacated the premises.

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The duo’s creation is nothing short of majestic.

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While researching this post, I was shocked to learn that the design is an almost exact replica of Chepenik and Hensleigh’s inaugural bar venture, also named The Griffin, at 511 Fremont Street in Las Vegas, which opened in January 2007.  You can check out some images of it here.

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Considering the cinematic feel of both places, it should come as no surprise that Hensleigh’s background is in the movie industry – the successful screenwriter has penned everything from Jumanji to Armageddon to Die Hard with a Vengeance).

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With its circular fireplaces, arched ceilings, faux stonework, hanging lanterns, and diamond muntin windows, The Griffin looks like something straight out of a movie – or perhaps a ride at Disneyland.

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In a 2008 Los Angeles Times article, Travis Woods lyrically describes the bar as such, “Stepping inside is like drifting into a 16th-century Spanish cathedral — arched stone supports crisscross along the cavernous vaulted ceiling, while two fireplaces hold court at opposite ends of the main lounge, each surrounded by the twin parentheses of semicircular red leather couches and the ellipses of several matching knee-high stools.”

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He also states, “A clever, surprisingly cozy environment, it could have easily slipped from ambience to Ambien; instead, it’s classy dungeon-chic without the torture of ridiculous lines, list-wielding bouncers and too-cool L.A. detachment,” which is exactly what we experienced.  The Griffin lacks that ultra-hip, holier-than-thou, pretentious vibe that plagues so many area bars.  The place may look high-maintenance, but it’s about as laid-back as can be.

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The Griffin’s dramatic design has landed it a couple of other onscreen appearances in addition to NCIS.

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As I mentioned earlier, the outside of the bar popped up regularly during Seasons 2-7 of New Girl in establishing shots of the watering hole where the gang hung out.  (In Season 1, a different exterior was utilized.)

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As I also mentioned earlier, only the outside of The Griffin appeared on New Girl.  Interior filming took place elsewhere – first at The Prince restaurant located at 3198 West 7th Street in Koreatown and then on a set re-creation of The Prince built on a soundstage at 20th Century Fox Studios in Culver City.

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The Griffin also pops up in the Season 2 episode of Love titled “Friends Night Out,” which aired in 2017, as the spot where Gus Cruikshank (Paul Rust) and his buddies hang out and discuss the television series Friends.

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The exterior of The Griffin also appears briefly in the episode.

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And it is at The Griffin that Henrietta Wilson (Aisha Hinds) and Athena Grant (Angela Bassett) grab drinks in the Season 1 episode of 9-1-1 titled “Point of Origin,” which aired in 2018.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The Griffin, from the “Sister City (Part 1)” episode of NCIS, is located at 3000 Los Feliz Boulevard in Atwater VillageThe Tam O’Shanter, from the “Dream On” episode of Glee, can be found right next door at 2980 Los Feliz Boulevard.

The Millennium Biltmore Hotel’s Gold Room from “Beverly Hills, 90210”

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Some locations hit you like a ton of bricks.  Today’s locale was one of those spots.  For ages, I had been trying to track down the supposed Las Vegas casino prominently featured in the Season 4 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 titled “And Did It . . . My Way.”  I was fairly certain that production had not actually travelled to Sin City for the shoot, but I could not for the life of me figure out where filming had taken place.  Then last year, while writing a post about San Francisco’s famed Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar, I learned about a ballroom at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel Los Angeles named the Gold Room.  Now the Grim Cheaper and I have stayed at the Biltmore countless times over the years and I know the place like the back of my hand, yet somehow I had never seen or heard of that particular ballroom.  I did not think much more about it until I began researching the historic hotel for a recent Discover Los Angeles post and came across this online brochure that lists some of the productions filmed at the Biltmore.  I read through it and as soon as I saw the words Beverly Hills, 90210, everything suddenly aligned in my head!  The Gold Room was the casino from “And Did It . . . My Way.”  I popped in my DVD of the episode to confirm things and, sure enough, I was right!  I was lucky enough to tour the ballroom recently as part of my research for the Discover L.A. article and, since getting there had been such a long time coming, figured I should pen a detailed post on the gorgeous space.

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The Gold Room is easily one of the most ornate ballrooms I have ever visited.  The lavish space is two-tiered and separated by a curved stone balustrade, as you can see below.

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The Gold Room originally served as a dining room for the Biltmore’s more elite guests and, at the time the hotel opened in 1923, was separated into two spaces.  The lower level, where patrons entered the venue, was known as the Palm Room . . .

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. . . while the top level, where patrons dined, was named the Supper Room.

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Once the two spaces were merged, the ballroom was re-christened the “Gold Room.”  And it has certainly earned that name.  The gilded venue, which can accommodate 350 guests, boasts a striking gold frieze, nine mirrored windows adorned with gold leaf, and a stunning gold cast-plaster ceiling.

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During the Prohibition years, the Gold Room served as a nightclub/speakeasy where guests, celebrities and “thirsty” Angelinos could partake.  The mirrored window pictured below actually contains a hidden doorway that was utilized to bring liquor into the space, as well as to shuttle guests out when the need arose.

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I had read about the hidden doorway while writing my Discover Los Angeles post and had even seen photographs of it, but the tiny opening is so discreet that, even though I knew what I was looking for, I could not find it until it was pointed out to me.

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Also of note, dotted along the gold frieze that lines the ballroom’s ceiling are panels containing invisible windows that were utilized by the paparazzi to spy on celebrities partying down below during the space’s tenure as a nightclub.  You can see a great photograph of one of those panels here.

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Thanks to the Gold Room’s beauty and versatility, it is not very hard to see how it has ended up onscreen countless times over the years.  In “And Did It . . . My Way,” it convincingly served as the Las Vegas casino that Brenda Walsh (Shannen Doherty) and Stuart Carson (David Gail) secretly headed to in order to elope after becoming disillusioned by their parents’ reaction to their recent engagement.  No secret is safe in Beverly Hills, though, and the rest of the West Beverly gang, as well as Jim (James Eckhouse) and Cindy Walsh (Carol Potter), inevitably follow and finally manage to talk some sense into the couple, who call off the nuptials.

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The spot where Brenda and Stuart danced after canceling the wedding is the Biltmore’s Bernard’s ballroom, which you can see photos of here and here.

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Way back in 1973, the Gold Room popped up very briefly in the caper classic The Sting as the upscale Chicago restaurant where Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw) offered to finance Kid Twist (Harold Gould) and Johnny Hooker’s (Robert Redford) bookie scheme.  Though recognizable, the room looked quite a bit different at that time.

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The Gold Room is where Dr. Alex Hesse (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Dr. Larry Arbogast (Danny DeVito) attend a pharmaceutical convention in 1994’s Junior.

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In the 2005 comedy Wedding Crashers, John Beckwith (Owen Wilson) attempts to crash Claire Cleary’s (Rachel McAdams) engagement party, which is taking place in the Gold Room.

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That same year, the Gold Room popped up in Rumor Has It as the spot where Sarah Huttinger (Jennifer Aniston) first laid eyes on Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner).

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Also in 2005, the Gold Room once again masked as a casino, albeit one in Monte Carlo, in the Season 5 episode of Alias titled “Mockingbird.”

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Dagny Taggart (Taylor Schilling) and Henry ‘Hank’ Rearden (Grant Bowler) attend a party there in the 2011 drama Atlas Shrugged: Part I.

And in the Season 5 episode of New Girl titled “Decision,” which aired in 2016, Cece Parekh (Hannah Simone) and Schmidt (Max Greenfield) tour the Gold Room, their dream wedding venue, which just so happens to have a last minute availability due to the fact that Shia LeBeouf cancelled his upcoming solitaire tournament.

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For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The Gold Room is situated off of the Galleria at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel Los Angeles, which is located at 506 South Grand Avenue in downtown L.A.  You can visit the hotel’s official website here.

Carondelet House from Maroon 5’s “Sugar” Music Video

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I am a sucker for any kind of choreographed dance, especially if a wedding is involved.  So when my mom sent me a link to this video of an epic seven-minute wedding dance, in which all 250 guests were included in on the action, I was all over it!  In one portion of the video, a white curtain was lowered to reveal the groom, accompanied by a microphone and back-up band, lip-syncing a rather catchy song that I surmised was named “Sugar.”  I had never heard the song before (I know, I know – my musical knowledge is limited at best), but immediately loved it and got to Googling so that I could download it.  Turns out, the song, which is indeed titled “Sugar,” is by Maroon 5 and, when I came across the music video during my online search, I practically started drooling.  In it, Adam Levine and the rest of the group crash several weddings in one evening in order to perform “Sugar” live.  While watching, I happened to recognize Carondelet House, one of the wedding venues Adam crashed, which had me even more floored.  I had walked by the location last October while on my way to stalk the American Cement Building and thought it was one of the prettiest facades I had ever seen.  Even though I had no idea at the time what the property was or what it housed, I figured it had to have been used in a production at some point.  Little did I know that I would later spot it in what has now become one of my favorite music videos of all time.

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Carondelet House was originally constructed in 1928 as a private residence.

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The 7,683-square-foot site, which boasts Spanish and Italian design elements, also once served as the administration building of the prestigious Otis College of Art and Design.

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In 2011, Alan Dunn, owner of the Tres L.A. catering company, toured the property and, figuring it would make a beautiful event space, purchased it and transformed it into Carondelet House.

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The site features two courtyards, brick detailing throughout, a fireplace, hand-painted vaulted ceilings, exposed beams and ductwork, and hardwood flooring.  You can check out some interior photographs of it here.   It is easily one of the prettiest properties I have ever laid eyes on, both inside and out.

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Its picturesque brick façade stands out from all of the other buildings on the street.

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Though Carondelet House has hosted everything from fashion shows to celebrity events, it is most often used as a wedding venue – which made it the perfect spot to film “Sugar.”

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A wedding was actually taking place when we showed up to stalk it.  I love the below image of guests arriving at the nuptials.

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In the “Sugar” music video, which was shot on December 6th, 2014, Adam and his bandmates crash several weddings at a string of venues around L.A., surprising guests with a spontaneous performance.  The video opens with Maroon 5 leaving the Carondelet House and hopping into Adam’s convertible to drive to the first venue.

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One of the weddings that was crashed also took place at Carondelet House, so the property’s interior was featured in the video, as well.

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I am not typically cynical by nature, but I was a little skeptical about Maroon 5’s performances being a surprise.  So much goes into a film shoot, like securing a permit, paying location fees, shutting down traffic, hiring police officers, etc., etc., etc., that I just found it very hard to believe that the production was done on the sly, without the knowledge of anyone associated with the various weddings.  But it pretty much was!  While researching the video, I came across a blog post about the December 4th wedding of Ryan and Melanie, which took place at the Carondelet House.  As it turns out, Maroon 5 coordinated with each venue prior to the shoot and, in this particular case, Ryan knew about the performance ahead of time, though no one else did – not the bride, not the wedding planner, not the photographer, not the videographer, not the guests.  So outside of the groom, the performance was a complete surprise to all involved!  Such a cool idea for a video!  And can we just take a moment to talk about how beautiful Ryan and Melanie’s wedding was?  Love the wine bottle “guest book.”  Love the rustic place settings.  LOVE the guest seating “game.”  And those Edison bulbs strung against the brick wall are uh-ma-zing!  I would like to do that in my home!  Two thumbs up on all of it!

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You can watch the “Sugar” video by clicking below.  It has such a feel-good vibe, not to mention that Adam Levine just seems like the coolest, most down-to-earth guy ever in it!  I could watch it on repeat all day, every day.

Carondelet House portrays the Baltimore Blade newspaper offices, where Mary (Drew Barrymore) works, in the 2009 romcom He’s Just Not That Into You.

 

One of the property’s courtyards also appears in the ending scene in which Conor (Kevin Connolly) announces that he loves Mary.

Jess Day (Zooey Deschanel) and Winston Bishop (Lamorne Morris) unload Jess’ car in front of Carondelet House in the Season 1 episode of New Girl titled “Bells,” which aired in 2011.

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It is never stated what the property is supposed to be in the episode, but I believe it is intended to mask as the exterior of Jess and the gang’s loft.  The building that typically serves as the loft on the series is located about three miles to the east, but because the “Bells” episode also made use of MacArthur Park, which is less than a block away from Carondelet House, I am guessing it was more economical to shoot there on that one occasion.

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Carondelet House is the site of a wedding in the Season 3 episode of You’re the Worst titled “The Inherent, Unsullied Qualitative Value of Anything,” which aired in 2016.  (Thanks to Molly, from Almost Makes Perfect, for telling me about this one!)

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Nick Viall took some of his girls to Carondelet House during a group date – the best group date ever, in my opinion (hello, Backstreet Boys!) – on the Season 21 episode of The Bachelor titled “Week 3,” which aired in 2017.

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For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

 Stalk It: Carondelet House, from Maroon 5’s “Sugar” music video, is located at 627 South Carondelet Street in Westlake.  You can visit the venue’s official website here.

Jess’ House from “New Girl”

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A couple of weeks ago, my good friend/fellow stalker Lavonna asked me to track down the residence where Jess (Zooey Deschanel) lived prior to moving into the ultra-cool Binford Building on fave show New Girl.  Jess’ former house only appeared once on the series, in the Season 1 episode titled “Kryptonite”, and thankfully I had already tracked down another location from that episode a few weeks prior – John O’Groats Restaurant in Rancho Park, which I blogged about here.  I had an inkling that Jess’ former dwelling was most-likely located near O’Groats (since location managers tend to stick to sites in close proximity to each other while filming an episode), so I started searching aerial views of neighborhoods adjacent to the eatery and, sure enough, stumbled upon the home fairly quickly.  Yay!  So after dragging the Grim Cheaper out to John O’Groats for breakfast in mid-May, we headed right on over to stalk the place.

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In the “Kryptonite” episode of New Girl, Jess – with her eccentric new roommates, Nick (Jake M. Johnson), Schmidt (Max Greenfield) and Winston (Lamorne Morris), and her best friend, Cece (Hannah Simone), in tow – returns to her former residence to demand her television set and clothes back from her cheating ex-boyfriend, Spencer (Ian Wolterstorff).  An argument, of course, ensues over one of Jess’ t-shirts, resulting in the ever-hilarious Schmidt slapping Spencer across the face, using his pinky ring for extra force.  Gotta love it!  As you can see below, Jess’ former house looks much the same in person as it did onscreen.  For whatever reason, producers covered over the side porch area with a large fern and removed the hinges and kick plate from the front door, but other than that, the place appears just as it did in the episode.

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Even though, in real life, the 1923-era house only boasts a scant three bedrooms, three baths, and 2,200 square feet of living space, it sold this past March for just under $1 million!  Welcome to L.A., my fellow stalkers!  You can check out the property’s real estate listing here.

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Oddly enough, a different residence stood in for Jess and Spencer’s home in New Girl’s pilot episode.  While only the interior of a house was shown in that episode (in the scene in which Jess catches Spencer cheating) it is not the same property that  was used in “Kryptonite”, as you can see in the screen captures pictured below as compared to the photographs on the home’s real estate listing.  [What do y’all think of my photo collage below, by the way?  I am trying out some different photography editing websites, like PicMonkey (my favorite so far), and experimenting with different collages, fonts, shapes, etc. in order to step things up.  Do any of you have a photo editing site that you would recommend?]

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I am ABSOLUTELY OBSESSED with the collage capabilities of Polyvore (a fashion website, on which I made the graphic below) and am looking for a similar site, but one with which I would be able to edit my own photographs instead of simply using site-provided pics – something similar to Photoshop, but easy to use.  The GC purchased Photoshop Elements, the dumbed-down version of Photoshop, for me and I could not even get past the set-up screen!  #Idon’tgetlayers!  Winking smile

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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.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Jess’ house, from the Season 1 episode of New Girl titled “Kryptonite”, is located at 2045 Pelham Avenue in Century City.

The “New Girl” Apartment Building

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My good friend/fellow stalker Lavonna has been begging me to track down locations from New Girl for a good three months now, but because I had never seen an episode of the series I was unable to do so.  Until last Monday evening, that is, when the Grim Cheaper and I finally sat down and started watching it from the beginning.  Thank you, Hulu!  I have to admit that I did not have very high hopes for the show as, for whatever reason, I am not that big of a fan of actress Zooey Deschanel (whose mom played Eileen Hayward on fave series Twin Peaks, but I digress).  I ended up LOVING it, though, and both the GC and I are now absolutely hooked!  After watching the first few episodes, I immediately started doing research on the warehouse-style loft apartment building where the New Girl gang lives (Lavonna’s most coveted locale from the series) and thankfully, Christine, over at fave website OnLocationVacations, had posted the address several times on her Daily Filming Locations page.  So I dragged the GC right on out to the Arts District in Downtown L.A. this past Saturday afternoon to do some stalking of the place.  (On a side-note, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, just taught me how to process my photographs using the soon-to-be defunct Picnik editing program, so I have been having a little fun with them today.  Don’t mind me.  Smile)

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I had never before visited – or even heard of – the “Arts District” (or “Artists District” as it is sometimes referred to) until this past Saturday, but according to the Los Angeles Downtown Arts District website, the area is the site of an average of 900 movie shoots per year!  Um, yes please – sign me up!  It is basically a stalker’s heaven – and one of the coolest spots that I have been to in all of my stalking travels.  The District became a haven for the artistically-inclined in 1976 thanks to the many affordable studio-type spaces available in the countless then-abandoned buildings and warehouses located there.  Artists gradually began to take over the many spacious lofts, turning them into art studios and illegal living spaces (the area was not yet zoned as residential).  In the 1980s, the Artists-In-Residence ordinance was passed which allowed lessees to use their flats as live/work spaces and, as a result, even more artisans flocked to the area.  Today, the Arts District is a flourishing mecca of artists and hipsters and boasts fabulous brick buildings, sidewalk cafes and more galleries than you can shake a stick at.  While there, not only did I feel like I had been transported back to my beloved Manhattan, but we ended up falling bass-ackwards into one of my most sought-after filming locations ever!  But that is another story for another post.

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In real life, the property where the New Girl gang lives is known as the Binford Building and it was originally constructed in 1906, but was not converted into a residential structure until the mid-1980s.  The 36-unit domicile was the brainchild of real estate developer Michael Kamin, owner of the Mika Company, who, in a 1986 Los Angeles Times article said, “We wanted to make the building a statement and an art piece  — something that says this is an exciting place to live, something to keep the focus on this street.”   I would say he succeeded – in spades!  The structure is definitely unique and the most eye-catching on the entire block.

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In New Girl, the Binford Building is where Jess (Zooey Deschanel), Nick (Jake M. Johnson), Schmidt (Max Greenfield), and Winston (Lamorne Morris) live.  The exterior of the structure is shown weekly on the series.

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The building’s main entrance has also popped up from time to time.

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That entrance is shown above.

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As you can see, the Binford’s real life directory and intercom are even visible on the show.  Love it!

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The interior of the gang’s apartment is just a set, though, located at Fox Studios where (I am fairly certain) the series is lensed.  You can check out some photographs of the interior of an actual Binford Building unit here.  As you can see, it does not look anything like the New Girl loft.  I am absolutely IN LOVE with the group’s sprawling, FOUR-bedroom, industrial, brick-walled loft, by the way.  The GC and I also live in a loft-style apartment that I ADORE, but it is 750-square feet, has no actual bedrooms and only ONE teeny-tiny closet!  Yes, ladies, I have to share a closet with my husband – GASP!  The GC recently commented that he has noticed his side of the closet getting gradually smaller over the years.  Ha!  And here I thought I was being all sly.  Winking smile So yes, I have been known to drool copiously while watching New Girl.  I definitely have apartment envy!

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I could do without their public-style bathroom, though, which is an aspect of the show that I still do not entirely understand.

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According to a message board on the Animation Nation website, the premiere episode of the cartoon Family Dog (which was part of Steven Spielberg’s anthology series Amazing Stories) was created by animator Brad Bird in one of the Binford Building lofts.  The family in the series was even named “The Binfords” in honor of the property.  Traction Avenue, the street where the Binford is located, was also mentioned (and briefly seen on a freeway sign) in Bird’s 2004 hit, The Incredibles.

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You can watch a video about the Binford Building lofts by clicking above.

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Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Lavonna for asking me to find this location (and for turning me on to New Girl) and to Christine, from OnLocationVacations, for tracking it down!  Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The Binford Building, aka the New Girl apartment building, is located at 837 Traction Avenue in the Arts District of Downtown Los Angeles.