The Filming Locations of “Big Little Lies” Season 2 – “I Want to Know”

BLL Season 2 - The Bad Mother

Season 2 of Big Little Lies comes to an end with “I Want to Know,” as does my episode-by-episode coverage of its locations.  Hope you enjoyed reading through the posts as much as I enjoyed putting them together.  So, without further ado . . . (Note – as was the case with my posts about the locales from “What Have They Done?,” ”Tell-Tale Hearts,” “The End of the World,” “She Knows,” “Kill Me,” and “The Bad Mother,” because I have already extensively detailed BLL’s inaugural season, I will not be covering flashbacks.  And places that appear in multiple episodes will be noted as such, so expect some crossover.)

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1. Celeste’s House (40 Yankee Point Drive, Carmel) – Celeste Wright’s (Nicole Kidman) magnificent home, featured throughout Seasons 1 and 2, sits cliffside on an exclusive tree-lined street in Carmel Highlands.  The pad’s exterior and interior appear frequently onscreen, though the master bedroom – where Celeste discovers a disturbing video shot by her sons in “I Want to Know” – and the twins’ room were just sets.

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2. Madeline and Ed’s House (30760 Broad Beach Road, Malibu) – Madeline Martha (Reese Witherspoon) and Ed Mackenzie’s (Adam Scott) residence, my favorite on the series, is located a good 300 miles from the Central Coast.  You can find it just north of Zuma Beach in Malibu.  The fab Cape Cod, which I dedicated a post to here, is a vacation rental in real life, so you can live out your very own Big Little Lies fantasy by booking some time there!  It doesn’t come cheap, though – rates start at $3,000 a night.

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It is in the property’s beachfront backyard that Madeline and Ed renew their vows in “I Want to Know” – one of the episode’s only high points in my opinion.

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3. Jane and Ziggy’s Beach Talk (Del Monte Beach, 653 Del Monte Avenue, Monterey) – Ziggy Chapman (Iain Armitage) has a heart-to-heart with his mom, Jane (Shailene Woodley), on Del Monte Beach, declaring her to be a “whole ‘nother person – your whole face and stuff has been different” when she’s with Corey Brockfield (Douglas Smith) – though I have to say that I didn’t really see any of that come across onscreen.  I thought she seemed much happier with Blue Blues’ owner Tom (Joseph Cross) in Season 1.  (#bringbacktom!)  Del Monte Beach also pops up in “What Have They Done?”,  “The End of the World,” “She Knows,” and “Kill Me.”

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4. Renata and Mary Louise’s Starbucks Run-In (1 Kersting Court, Sierra Madre) In one of my favorite scenes of the season (which you can watch here – warning, it’s NSFW!), Renata Klein (Laura Dern) gets into a huge kerfuffle with Mary Louise Wright (Meryl Streep) at a supposed Monterey-area Starbucks.  The coffee house is actually located in Sierra Madre, though.  It is the same spot where Tori Bachman (Sarah Sokolovic) hit on Ed in “The Bad Mother.”  You can check out a post I wrote about it here.

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5. Katie Richmond’s Office (7427 Beverly Boulevard, Fairfax) – Katie Richmond (Poorna Jagannathan) unsuccessfully tries to convince Celeste not to question Mary Louise herself at her upcoming custody hearing during a meeting at her law office, which can be found in a unique Tudor-style building located on the corner of Beverly Boulevard and North Vista Street in Los Angeles.

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6. Ira Farber’s Office (Scheper Kim & Harris LLP, The CalEdison DTLA, 601 West 5th Street, 12 Floor, downtown Los Angeles) – At another Los Angeles law office, this one located on the 12th Floor of TheCalEdison, Ira Farber (Denis O’Hare) cautions the ever-unpredictable Mary Louise to only answer the questions she is asked when she takes the stand at her upcoming hearing.

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7. Monterey Superior Court (Superior Court of California, Marina Division, 3180 Del Monte Boulevard, Marina) – The bulk of “I Want to Know” takes place at the Marina Division of the Superior Court of California, where Celeste and Mary Louise furiously face off for custody of Celeste’s twin boys.  The courthouse’s unique exterior is featured in full view in the episode.

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And the lobby appears, as well.

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But the actual courtroom itself is, I believe, just a set.

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8. Monterey Bay Aquarium (886 Cannery Row, Monterey) – Jane and Corey rekindle their relationship in front of the Open Sea display at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, where they both work.  Per the aquatic museum’s website, the million-gallon tank is one of the “largest live marine community exhibits in the world.”  The romantic segment was shot during off hours, which gave producers the opportunity to capture the two lovebirds in front of the “bubble curtain,” a mechanism that helps fish maneuver through dark waters which is only utilized at night.  The aquarium offers Romance Tours when the facility is closed, so you, too, can re-enact Jane and Corey’s kiss if you feel so inclined.

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9. Cypress Community Hospital (Lanterman Developmental Center, 3530 Pomona Boulevard, Pomona)  – Bonnie Carlson (Zoë Kravitz) ultimately says goodbye to both her mother, Elizabeth Howard (Crystal Fox), and her husband, Nathan Carlson (James Tupper), at an abandoned medical facility in Pomona known as Lanterman Developmental Center.  The vast property, which once housed the developmentally disabled, pops up as Cypress Community Hospital in almost every episode of Season 2.  (Big THANK YOU to my friend Owen for IDing this location!  Smile)

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10. Renata and Gordon’s House (27326 Winding Way, Malibu) – Renata also says goodbye to her husband, Gordon Klein (Jeffrey Nordling), in “I Want to Know,” coming to blows with him at their sprawling home, which is located in Malibu in real life.  Though both the interior and exterior are featured throughout Seasons 1 and 2 . . .

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. . . I believe Gordon’s mancave, which Renata takes a bat to, might have been a set.

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11. Jane’s Apartment (Ocean Harbor, 125 Surf Way, Monterey) – In Season 2, Jane calls a unit at Monterey’s Ocean Harbor home, though we only catch a quick glimpse of the interior, which I am fairly certain was a studio-built set, in “I Want to Know.”

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12. Bonnie and Nathan’s House (636 Crater Camp Drive, Calabasas) – At the end of the episode, Bonnie sends out an SOS text to the Monterey 5 from the bucolic home she shares with Nathan.  Their pad, which is really located in Calabasas, was used throughout Season 1 and 2.

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13. Carmel by the Sea Police Department (Junipero Avenue & 4th Avenue, Carmel) – In one of the most unfulfilling closing scenes I’ve ever witnessed, the Monterey 5 meet up at Carmel by the Sea PD (which plays itself) and the screen fades out as they walk inside, presumably to turn themselves in for Perry Wright’s (Alexander Skarsgård) murder.  It was a definite “Wait, that’s it?” moment.  As my friend Nat said after watching, “I had to check the episode information to verify that ‘I Want to Know’ was actually the finale!”  As disappointing as the episode and the entire season turned out to be, though, I still loved spending time with Madeline and the gang and am sincerely hoping for a Season 3.

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And that’s a wrap for me on Big Little Lies Season 2.  Well, until the DVD comes out with the deleted scenes, at least!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

The Filming Locations of “Big Little Lies” Season 2 – “The Bad Mother”

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Turmoil abounds in the sixth episode of Big Little Lies’ second season, “The Bad Mother.”  Celeste Wright (Nicole Kidman) and Mary Louise Wright (Meryl Streep) face off in court, Tori Bachman (Sarah Sokolovic) propositions Ed Mackenzie (Adam Scott), Bonnie Carlson (Zoë Kravitz) has a deathbed confession with her mom, Elizabeth Howard (Crystal Fox), and Renata Klein (Laura Dern) finds out about husband Gordon’s (Jeffrey Nordling) affair with the nanny!  Phew!  Read on for a list of where it all happened.  (Note – as was the case with my posts about the locales from “What Have They Done?,” ”Tell-Tale Hearts,” “The End of the World,” “She Knows,” and “Kill Me,” because I have already extensively detailed BLL’s inaugural season, I will not be covering flashbacks.  And places that appear in multiple episodes will be noted as such, so some crossover should be expected.)

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1. Corey’s House (263 Old Ranch Road, Sierra Madre) – “The Bad Mother” opens with Jane Chapman (Shailene Woodley) storming over to Corey Brockfield’s (Douglas Smith) home to find out if he’s working with the police.  A small Sierra Madre cottage was utilized in the short segment and both the exterior . . .

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. . . and the interior were seen, albeit very briefly.  (Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Peter for identifying this location for me! Smile)

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2. The Monterey 5’s Beach Meet-Up (White Point Park Parking Lot, 1801 West Paseo Del Mar, San Pedro) – Madeline Martha Mackenzie (Reese Witherspoon) and the gang have yet another secret parking lot meeting, this time at White Point Park in San Pedro, during which the cracks in their armor start to show.  This locale also appears in episode 5, “Kill Me.”

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3. Cypress Community Hospital (Lanterman Developmental Center, 3530 Pomona Boulevard, Pomona) – Bonnie makes several startling bedside confessions to her mother while sitting vigil in her room at Monterey’s fictional Cypress Community Hospital.  Filming actually took place at the shuttered Lanterman Developmental Center in Pomona, which also popped up in “The End of the World,” “She Knows” and “Kill Me.”  The facility, closed since 2014, formerly provided housing for the developmentally disabled, but currently sits vacant, which means I need to stalk it for a Haunted Hollywood post!  There’s even a carousel situated on the grounds of the abandoned property – can you think of anything more eerie?  (Insert scream face emoji here!)

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4. Madeline and Ed’s House (30760 Broad Beach Road, Malibu) – Madeline attempts to reconnect to the person she was on her wedding day by trying on her wedding dress (“It doesn’t fit, but we’re not talking about that!”) at her gorgeous home – which is just the magic wand Ed needs to repair their marriage.  Both the interior and exterior of Madeline and Ed’s Cape Cod-style pad are featured extensively throughout Seasons 1 and 2.  I dedicated a post to the house – which is actually located in Malibu and serves as a vacation rental in real lifeback in 2017.

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Interestingly, the front of the Mackenzie residence, the driveway of which appears briefly in “The Bad Mother,” is a different location entirely.  That property can be found at 2830 14th Avenue in Carmel.

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5. Celeste’s House (40 Yankee Point Drive, Carmel) – The gorgeous home where Celeste lives with her twin boys, Max (Nicholas Crovetti) and Josh (Cameron Crovetti), is one of the few Monterey 5 residences actually located on the Central Coast.  The rear patio and kitchen of the Carmel Highlands property appear in “The Bad Mother,” as well as in most Seasons 1 and 2 episodes, but the boys’ room and master bedroom were just studio-built sets.

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6. Renata’s House (27326 Winding Way, Malibu) – Renata and Gordon call a humongous mansion in Malibu home on the series, though due to their bankruptcy proceedings, it sits largely empty, much like their marriage.  In “The Bad Mother,” the backyard and living room of the property are featured.

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7. Monterey Bay Aquarium (886 Cannery Row, Monterey) – Jane brushes off Corey’s attempts at a reconciliation at the Rocky Shore touch pools exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, where they both work as educators.

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8. Monterey Superior Court (Superior Court of California, Marina Division, 3180 Del Monte Boulevard, Marina) –  Celeste and Mary Louise’s custody hearing gets underway at an actual Monterey courthouse – the Superior Court of California, Marina Division.  The site’s unique exterior is only briefly shown in the episode, though we catch a better glimpse of it in “I Want to Know.”

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The building’s real life lobby (where Renata has more trouble with a metal detector!), hallway and an anteroom are also featured in “The Bad Mother.”

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But I am fairly certain that the courtroom itself was a studio-built set.

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9. Jane and Ziggy’s Bodysurfing Beach (Del Monte Beach, 653 Del Monte Avenue, Monterey) – Corey interrupts Jane’s bodysurfing session with her son, Ziggy Chapman (Iain Armitage), at Del Monte Beach in order to tell her that he is not going to give up on their relationship easily.

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10. Tori and Ed’s Starbucks Meet-Up (1 Kersting Court, Sierra Madre) – Tori makes a major pass at Ed – and tells him about a rather disturbing diary that she keeps – at a Starbucks outpost in downtown Sierra Madre.  You can read a post about the locale, which also pops up in “I Want to Know,” here.

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11. Mary Louise’s Apartment (Ocean Harbor, 125 Surf Way, Monterey) – The actual interior of a unit at Monterey’s picturesque Ocean Harbor portrays the new apartment of Mary Louise, where Jane goes to confront her about her custody war with Celeste in “The Bad Mother.”  Jane also calls the complex home on the series.

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12. Bankruptcy Hearing (Spring Street Courthouse, 312 North Spring Street, downtown Los Angeles) – I am fairly certain that the scene in which Renata and Gordon’s nanny, Juliette (Nelly Buchet), seeks $160,000 in restitution for “other services rendered” – ahem, “stress management” – during a bankruptcy hearing was shot in a room at the Spring Street Courthouse in downtown L.A.  The same spot also portrayed Gordon’s jail in “Tell-Tale Hearts” and was the site of another of the couple’s bankruptcy hearings in “She Knows.”

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Be sure to check back Monday for my post on Big Little Lies’ season 2 finale, “I Want to Know.”

The Phillips Mansion

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The Grim Cheaper always tells me that it is not about the destination, but the journey.  He’s right.  Getting lost can have its perks.  While driving around looking for Spadra Cemetery (which I blogged about on Friday) a couple of weeks ago, we happened upon a seemingly abandoned mansion set back from the road behind a chain link fence.  The site appeared to be beckoning to me, so we pulled over for a closer look.

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As it turns out, the property is known as Phillip’s Mansion and it is one of Pomona’s oldest residences.  The pad was originally constructed in 1875 by a wealthy rancher named Louis Phillips, who I wrote about in my Spadra Cemetery post.

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According to the The Historical Society of Pomona Valley, the three-story, eight-room estate was built in the Second Empire or “Classic Haunted Mansion” style of architecture (I didn’t even know there was such a thing, but LOVE it) at a cost of $20,000.  The exterior was fashioned out fired bricks that were hand-made on the premises, while the ornate interior featured gas lighting, sixteen-foot tall ceilings, a whopping six fireplaces (!!!!), and cherry and maple woodwork.  Phillips, who in 1892 the Los Angeles Times named the “richest man in Los Angeles County” with an estimated net worth of around $3 million, lived there until his death in 1900.  His wife continued to reside at the mansion until she passed away in 1918.  Both are buried at Spadra Cemetery.  Their tombstone was, sadly, upended by vandals a few years back, the sight of which only adds to the spookiness of the graveyard.

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After it was sold, Phillips Mansion was used for a variety of purposes.  At one point in time, the site was turned into apartments and then it later served as a dorm for Cal Poly Pomona foreign exchange students.  Over the years, the property fell into disrepair and in the ‘60s was bought by an industrialist who planned to demolish it in order to build a factory.  Thankfully, the Historical Society stepped in and purchased it in 1966, rescuing it from the wrecking ball.  The organization immediately set about renovating the structure with the hopes of turning it into a museum.  The project took years and the museum finally opened to the public in 1978.  Sadly, it has not had much luck since that point.  Phillips Mansion, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, suffered severe damage in both the Upland earthquake of 1990 and the Sierra Madre earthquake of 1991.  The Historical Society began to restore the wreckage in 2002 and was even hosting special theatrical productions titled “A Premature Burial” on the premises each Halloween, but then tragedy struck in July 2008 when the property was damaged yet again in the Chino Hills earthquake.  The group is still currently working to repair the manse and return to its original glory.

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While stalking it, I felt like I was standing in front of the Bates’ house from Psycho.  The two properties look so much alike!

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Supposedly, two movies, one starring Buster Keaton and the other starring Tom Mix, were shot at a barn located on the Phillips Mansion property in the 1930s.  I am unsure of the names of the films, though, and, unfortunately, the barn is no longer standing.

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Fellow stalker Darnell let me know that the mansion itself appeared in the 2005 horror movie Mortuary as the home where Liz (Alexandra Adi) lived.

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While researching the mansion for this post, I was floored to discover that there is a dilapidated residence located directly behind it.  I had not noticed the second property while I was there, which is unfortunate being that not only is it fabulously run-down, but it was also featured prominently in Mortuary.  The dwelling is known as the Currier House and it was designed by architect Ferdinand Davis for local politician/philanthropist Alvin Tyler Currier in 1907.  The home, which cost $12,000 to construct, was originally located about 15 miles west in the City of Industry.  In 2004, after standing vacant for over a decade, the City of Industry gave the house to the Historical Society of Pomona Valley and paid to transport it to the grounds of the Phillips Mansion.

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In Mortuary, the Currier House masked as the abandoned Fowler Brothers Mortuary.

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I am unsure if the real life interior of the Currier House was used in the filming.  Being that the interiors shown in the movie do not appear nearly as run down as the exterior of the home, I am guessing that a set was used for all inside filming.  That is just a hunch, though.

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Update – my friend Scott Michaels, of the FindaDeath website and Dearly Departed Tours, recently got a chance to visit both the Phillips Mansion and the Currier House and was kind enough to share the photos he took with me to add to this post.

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During his tour, Scott got to see the interior of both residences.  The inside of the Phillips Mansion is pictured below.

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The Currier House could not be more fabulously dilapidated!

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I am in love with the photo below!  Scott thinks the happy face might have been left over from a filming of some sort, but he isn’t sure.  Either way, it’s spectacular!  Thank you, Scott, for the great pictures!

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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 Phillips Mansion is located at 2640 Pomona Boulevard in Pomona.  The Currier House is located directly behind it.

Spadra Cemetery

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Finding the words “ghost town” used to describe a cemetery is likely to cause my head to start spinning.  Which is exactly what happened while I was doing some research on abandoned locales for an upcoming Discover Los Angeles post.  I happened to come across an article on the Avoiding Regret blog about a forgotten, dilapidated old graveyard in Pomona named Spadra Cemetery and my eyes practically bugged out of my head.  The photographs displayed showed an overgrown, crumbling site marked by toppled, cracked tombstones.  I was instantly intrigued.  An abandoned cemetery?  Count me in!  I knew the place would be perfect for my Haunted Hollywood postings, so I ran right out to stalk it shortly thereafter.

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Prior to reading about the cemetery, I had never heard of Spadra.  The now defunct small town came to be thanks to a stagecoach line established in 1859 that ran from San Francisco to Memphis via Los Angeles.  Several stations were constructed along the route, one of which was in the area that came to be known as Spadra.  In 1864, a wealthy rancher named Louis Phillips purchased a 12,000-acre portion of land that included the station, with the intention of breaking it up and selling it off.  One of the first to purchase a parcel was a colorful character named Billy Rubottom, aka “Uncle Billy.”  Not only was Rubottom wanted in Arkansas on two separate murder charges, but he had also killed his son-in-law in El Monte.

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The enterprising Rubottom built a hotel and bar on his new land in 1866.  It was not long before stores, warehouses, a post office and a school sprung up around it.  Rubottom dubbed the fledgling community “Spadra,” in honor of his hometown of Spadra, Arkansas.  It doesn’t sound like it was a great place to reside.  According to a post on The David Allen Blog, a Historical Society of the Pomona Valley booklet describes the town as such: “The village of Spadra was characterized by murder, suicide and mysterious deaths.”  Not surprising considering its founder.

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The 2.5-acre Spadra Cemetery was established in 1868 on land donated to the town by Louis Phillips.

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Spadra continued to thrive and in 1874 the Southern Pacific Railroad extended their line to the town.  While that caused a boost in popularity, it was short-lived.  The following year, the line was again extended about thirty miles farther east to Colton and Spadra became an all but forgotten stop along the route.  As the neighboring town of Pomona began to grow and boom, thanks in large part to the fact that the area had a water supply, the population of Spadra dwindled.  The establishment of a mental hospital in the area in 1927 and a landfill in 1957 further drove people away.  The town was finally acquired by Pomona in 1964.  The last burial at Spadra Cemetery took place in 1971 and four years later the site was deeded to the Historical Society.  You can read a more in-depth account of Spadra’s history here.

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Today, Spadra Cemetery, which boasts 212 graves (that’s the official number, at least), is almost completely hidden from view and extremely hard to find.  Situated underneath State Route 57, the site shares a driveway with a company named Altec Southern California Service Rentals, which bars it from sight.  (A Google Street View image of the shared driveway is pictured below.)  We actually drove past the entrance twice before stopping to ask a local resident for directions.  Upon finally finding it, I was a bit disheartened to discover that no part of the property is visible from the street.

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The graveyard itself is located about 500 feet south of a locked gate and can only be reached via an open field to the west of it.  And no, the Grim Cheaper and I did not venture over past the gate.  The cemetery is on private land and I am not one for trespassing.  But man, do I wish I could have seen it because the images I found of it online are haunting.  There is good news, though!  The Historical Society does sometimes offer tours of the cemetery.  One such tour takes place annually on Halloween night.  I honestly cannot think of a better place to spend the holiday!

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I was thrilled to discover while researching this post that the entrance gate is also a horror movie location!  In a case of art imitating life, the gate stands at the entrance to the abandoned funeral home and cemetery that the Doyle family – Jonathan (Dan Byrd), Leslie (Denise Crosby) and Jamie (Stephanie Patton) – purchases in 2005’s The Mortuary.

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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: Spadra Cemetery is located at 2850 Pomona Boulevard in Pomona.  As I mentioned, it can be hard to find.  The entrance, which shares a driveway with Altec Southern California Service Rentals at 2882 Pomona Boulevard, is situated about 100 feet east of the 57 Freeway.  The actual graveyard is located about 500 feet south of the entrance gate, across a set of railroad tracks.  Pleased by advised that the cemetery is private property and venturing onto its grounds is trespassing.  There are legal ways to see it via the Historical Society of the Pomona Valley.  You can contact them regarding tours here.

Pomona College’s Harwood Court – aka Eastland School from “The Facts of Life”

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Well over six months ago, my good friend Mikey, from the Mike the Fanboy website, asked if I would like to do some stalking with him of Harwood Court, the Pomona College dormitory which stood in for the fictional Eastland School, attended by Blair Warner (Lisa Whelchel), Dorothy ‘Tootie’ Ramsey (Kim Fields), Natalie Green (Mindy Cohn), and Joanne ‘Jo” Polniaczek (Nancy McKeon), in the 1980’s television series The Facts of Life. My answer, of course, was a resounding “YES!”  Because both of our schedules have been a bit hectic as of late, though, we were not able to make it out there until this past Sunday afternoon.  Needless to say, we were both pretty excited about the whole adventure when it finally came to pass and, a few days before we headed to Claremont, Mikey sent me an email which stated, “Wow, this is just like going scuba diving with Jacques Cousteau, or playing football with Tim Tebow, or getting a pants-dropping lesson from Marky Mark!  Well, maybe not that last one!”  Um, my stalking skills being compared to the scuba skills of Jacques Cousteau?!?!  LOVE IT!

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This location was actually found by Robert, of the Movie Locations and More website, way back in the Summer of 2010.  Earlier that year, Robert had read online that the exterior of Eastland School was a building on the Pomona College campus in Claremont, but because Google Street View of that area is not particularly clear, he was unable to track down the exact structure used via the internet.  So when he came to Los Angeles for a stalking visit a few months later, he drove around the 140-acre campus, screen shot in hand, and, amazingly enough, was able to track down the building fairly quickly.  Thank you, Robert!  In reality, Eastland School is the Harwood Court residential hall – a 68,000-square-foot unisex dormitory that was built in 1921 and currently houses 170 students.  The structure, which was originally an all-female dorm, was completely renovated by the Wheeler & Wheeler architectural firm in 1990.  Thankfully though, it still looks much the same as it did onscreen in The Facts of Life.

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A few years ago, Mikey had actually purchased one of Molly Ringwald’s costumes from the first season of The Facts of Life, as well as a promotional lunch box from the series that he had signed by none other than Mrs. Edna Garrett (Charlotte Rae) herself, and he brought both items with him on our stalk to add to the fun.  On our way there, he mentioned that he thought I might be able to fit into the track jacket portion of Molly’s former costume and, shockingly, he was right!  I cannot tell you how nervous I was to be wearing such an amazing piece of television history, while drinking a Starbucks, no less, so I only kept it on long enough to snap a couple of pics.

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Molly is pictured wearing one of the track jackets above.  So incredibly cool!!

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While we were there, a resident happened to walk out of Harwood Court and we stopped her to ask if she would take a photograph of Mikey and me.  She obliged and afterwards I inquired if she was aware that her dorm was, in fact, The Facts of Life school.  Shockingly, she had not actually been aware, and, even more shockingly, she did not seem to be too impressed by the news.  Ah well, I guess not everyone is a stalker.  Winking smile

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Harwood Court showed up as the fictional Peekskill, New York-area Eastland School during the opening credits of The Facts of Life’s entire nine-season run.

“The Facts of Life” Filmed at Harwood Court Residence Hall at Pomona College

You can watch the series’ opening credits by clicking above.  On an interesting side-note – the show’s insanely-catchy theme song was co-composed by Alan Thicke, aka Jason Seaver, the patriarch of the Seaver family on Growing Pains, and real-life father of R&B singer Robin Thicke.

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While doing research before heading out to Pomona College with Mikey on Sunday, I discovered that Harwood Court had also appeared in several other productions.  In 1985’s Real Genius, it was featured as the dormitory where Chris Knight (Val Kilmer), Mitch Taylor (Gabriel Jarret), and Jordan (Michelle Meyrink) lived.

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And while some of the real-life interior of the building was actually used in the movie . . .

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. . . I am fairly certain that the hallway and dorm rooms were sets.

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In 1987’s Teen Wolf Too, Harwood Court stood in for the Hamilton College dormitory where Todd Howard (Jason Bateman) lived with his roommate, Stiles (Stuart Franklin).

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The back side of the building appeared in the movie’s beyond-words-awful “Do You Love Me” dance sequence.

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I believe that the interior scenes were all filmed on a set, though.

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In the Season 1 episode of the reality series Top Chef Masters titled “Masters Get Schooled”, the Elimination Challenge, in which professional chefs Michael Schlow, Hubert Keller, Tim Love, and Christopher Lee were required to cook a gourmet meal in a dorm room, was held at Harwood Court.

You can read Mikey’s fab write-up of our The Facts of Life stalk on the Mike the Fanboy website here and you can watch a video Mikey put together of our adventure by clicking above.

Big THANK YOU to Robert, from the Movie Locations and More website, for finding this location and to Mikey, from the Mike the Fanboy website, for inviting me to stalk it with him.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Harwood Court residence hall, aka Eastland School from The Facts of Life, is located on the campus of Pomona College at 170 East Bonita Avenue in Claremont.