La Villa Consolata – The Day Spa from the “Driven” Episode of “CSI: Miami”

P1030134

Back in January, a fellow stalker named Brandi left a comment on my post about the mansion from The Beverly Hillbillies movie informing me that the property’s indoor spa had not actually been used in the Season 4 episode of CSI: Miami titled “Driven”, as I had originally presumed, but that that spa could actually be found at a different ostentatious estate, this one on Mapleton Drive in Beverly Hills.  One quick online search and I discovered that Brandi was, indeed, correct and I immediately added the residence to my “To-Stalk” list.  As fate would have it, just a few days later, the Grim Cheaper and I happened to be watching the 2001 romantic comedy Good Advice (for about the hundredth time, mind you – it is one of our favorite movies EVER!) and I just about fell off the couch when I spotted the very same spa from CSI: Miami!  So I decided that I just HAD to stalk the estate as soon as possible and dragged the GC right on out there this past Saturday afternoon.

P1030126 P1030127

P1030129 P1030130

As you can see above, in real life, the “Driven” mansion is absolutely GINORMOUS and actually looks more like a palace than a private residence.  In fact, according to the Wikinfo website, the property is one of the largest single family homes in all of the United States!  Ironically enough, while we were stalking the dwelling, a Hollywood tour van happened to pull up and the guide announced that the estate had once been leased by Donatella Versace, to which the GC yelled out, “It was also featured in an episode of CSI: Miami!”  Thanks for having my back, honey!  Smile And while I cannot find any information online to back up the Donatella Versace claim, it does look like exactly the sort of place that I would imagine her living.  There are also a few internet reports floating around that the home was lived in (at different times, of course) by both Janet Jackson and Tommy Hilfiger, but I believe that information is incorrect.  According to CurbedLA, the residence was originally built in 1993 by Pacific-Brokerage-Services-founder Steven Wallace and was awarded to his ex-wife, Jo-Anne, in their divorce shortly thereafter.  Current property records show that Jo-Anne still owns the mansion to this day, although it is possible she rented it out to various celebrities over the years.

ScreenShot3318 ScreenShot3328

ScreenShot3332 ScreenShot3327

ScreenShot3323 ScreenShot3324

ScreenShot3331 ScreenShot3330

As you can see in the above photographs from the home’s MLS listing, the 6-bedroom, 7-bath, 27,816-square-foot abode, which sits on 1.15 well-manicured acres of land, is nothing short of unbelievable!  The property, dubbed “La Villa Consolata”, features a whopping eight fireplaces!, a domed entryway, a gourmet kitchen, formal gardens, a gym, an indoor and an outdoor pool, a massage room, a game room, a two-level library (which I would give anything to have in my own home!), a master bedroom wing, three elevators!, staff quarters, three family rooms, a detached theater, a guard house, a wine cellar, and a three-level underground disco named “Atlantis”!  Who knew that those kinds of amenities were even available in homes?!?!  And while the residence has been on and off the market for a couple of years now, it seems to currently be back on again at the bargain price of $27.5 million.  You can check out the dwelling’s real estate website and see more photographs of it in all of its ornate grandeur here.

[ad]

ScreenShot3349 ScreenShot3353

ScreenShot3342 ScreenShot3352

In the “Driven” episode of CSI: Miami, La Villa Consolata stood in for a supposed Dade-County-area day spa where a group of wealthy women are robbed at gunpoint.

ScreenShot3343 ScreenShot3344

ScreenShot3345 ScreenShot3346

The mansion’s indoor lap pool was used extensively in the episode.

ScreenShot3333 ScreenShot3334

ScreenShot3321 ScreenShot3320

That pool area is pictured above and I have to say that it is pretty darn magnificent!

ScreenShot3355 ScreenShot3356

ScreenShot3357 ScreenShot3358

The interior of La Villa Consolata also masqueraded as a second location in “Driven”.  Towards the end of the episode, the mansion stood in for the residence belonging to Cynthia Gilmore (Jacqueline Pinol), where a home-invasion robbery took place.

ScreenShot3335 ScreenShot3337

ScreenShot3339 ScreenShot3338

In Good Advice, La Villa Consolata’s indoor pool is where Cathy Sherman (Rosanna Arquette) attends a yoga class and gets interrupted by a phone call from her husband, Barry Sherman (Jon Lovitz).  I SO love that Cathy has a coffee with her while practicing yoga, by the way!  SO something I would do!  Smile

ScreenShot3372 ScreenShot3373

ScreenShot3366 ScreenShot3375

In the Season 1 episode of Charmed titled “The Wedding from Hell”, La Villa Consolata’s front exterior;

ScreenShot3378 ScreenShot3380

ScreenShot3381 ScreenShot3382

interior;

ScreenShot3386 ScreenShot3388

ScreenShot3384 ScreenShot3389

and backyard stood in for the mansion where Mrs. Grace Spencer (Barbara Stock) lived.

ScreenShot3367 ScreenShot3371

ScreenShot3369 ScreenShot3368

Oddly enough, though, the mansion grounds shown in the beginning of the episode are unmistakably those of The Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, which I blogged about way back in October of 2008.  I have no idea why two different locations would be used to stand in for the same backyard, but I am guessing that it was some sort of a timing issue in which La Villa Consolata was not available for the entire stretch of time that was needed to film “The Wedding from Hell”, so producers found a similar-looking spot to double for it in certain scenes.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Brandi for finding this location!  Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: La Villa Consolata, aka the mansion from Good Advice, the “Driven” episode of CSI: Miami and “The Wedding from Hell” episode of Charmed, is located at 330 South Mapleton Drive in the Holmby Hills section of Los AngelesThe home used for all of the backyard scenes in Mommie Dearest is located across the street at 355 South Mapleton Drive.

Our Wedding Photographer – Rob Greer

IMG_1389-1

Deciding the order in which to publish the various blog posts that I am planning to write about the different movie/filming location elements of my wedding has proved to be a bit of a challenge for me.  Today’s entry was originally going to be about our invitations, but then I realized that I can’t very well write about them without first blogging about our wedding photographer, as he took the photograph that wound up serving as the inspiration for those invitations.  So, while it may seem as if I am doing things a bit out of order, please bear with me, as I promise there is a method to my madness.  Anyway, I have always been someone who has believed in the notion of fate, that things happen for a reason, that there are invisible strings in the universe that tie random people together for very significant, if sometimes unknown, purposes.  And the way we found our wedding photographer definitely upheld that belief.  Back in early 2009, I was doing some cyber-stalking of fave show CSI: Miami when I came across this blog post written by Rob Greer, a photographer who was lucky enough to have had the Season 7 episode of the show titled “Smoke Gets in Your CSI’s” film in his photography studio.  Because that particular episode was one of my very favorites of the entire series, I just about had a heart attack upon reading his post and immediately dragged the Grim Cheaper out to stalk the studio where filming had taken place.  Well, amazingly enough, Rob happened to find the post I that I ended up writing about his studio and must have enjoyed it, because he continued to check in and read my blog from time to time.  So, a few months later, when I announced that the Grim Cheaper had finally proposed, Rob posted a comment on my site asking if we would consider him as our wedding photographer.  Well, I was absolutely FLOORED over that comment and immediately called him up to make an appointment.

[ad]

IMG_1386

Our meeting with Rob took place inside the studio where CSI: Miami had been filmed, so, as you can imagine, I was in absolute heaven!  And not only did he take us on a tour of the space and show us exactly where filming had taken place, but he also played parts of the episode for us on his television so that we could see exactly what had appeared on the show.  So incredibly cool!!  Well, right then and there I became convinced that he was the photographer for us.  Not only were his wedding pictures phenomenal, but my parents and I ended up just really hitting it off with him.  And incredibly enough, so did the Grim Cheaper!  In typical GC fashion, he had originally been appalled at the idea of hiring a wedding photographer and had suggested that we just have my father take pictures that day.  I’m not kidding!  But once he met Rob and saw his work, his mind immediately changed.  At that time, the GC had just become interested in photography and Rob was kind enough to show him all of his various high-end lenses, teach him some camera tricks, and even gift him with a certificate for a free photography class!  Most importantly, though, for whatever reason, the GC just felt comfortable with Rob.  He typically does not like to have his photograph taken, but when Rob was behind the camera he really loosened up.  Rob’s rates were also reasonable, which only added to the GC’s appreciation of him.  So, without so much as even perusing through another wedding photographer’s website, we hired Rob on the spot.  And I am so glad we did!  His photographs turned out phenomenal!  And one of the engagement session pictures that he took wound up serving as the inspiration for our save-the-date cards, our invitations, and our programs.  But more on that tomorrow!

ScreenShot6330 ScreenShot6331

IMG_1395 IMG_1398

In the “Smoke Gets in Your CSI’s” episode of CSI: Miami, Rob’s studio stood in for the loft/black-market organ transplant operating room belonging to Dr. Donald Phelps (aka Peter Lavin).  Both the exterior . . .

 ScreenShot6333 ScreenShot6335

 IMG_1392 IMG_1388

. . . and the interior of the property were used in the filming, although the interior was dressed to appear very dark and dreary in the episode.

IMG_1402 IMG_1403

In reality, the 4,635-square foot loft is BEAUTIFUL, although my photographs don’t really do it justice.  You can see some much better pictures that Rob took of his studio here.  At the time of the filming, Rob actually lived in the loft, but has since moved to a house in Pasadena.  Besides CSI: Miami, three AT&T commercials were also filmed in the space.

bret-and-lin-doing-brad-and-jen brad-and-jen

I will be posting many of Rob’s photographs throughout the next few weeks as I blog about the wedding, but for today I thought I’d publish one of my favorites from that day – the one in which we recreated the famous Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston wedding photograph.  And while Rob wasn’t actually too keen on taking the above picture of us (he didn’t want people who saw it to think he was a copy-cat artist), he really worked hard to make sure it turned out exactly as I wanted, even going so far as to print out a copy of the Brad and Jen picture to bring with him on the day of the wedding and then tweaking my veil to make sure it went over my shoulder just like hers did in the photograph.  Love it!

ScreenShot6328

Our wedding was actually quite a bit frustrating for Rob because he typically prefers to take all of the bride and groom and wedding party photographs prior to the ceremony, but I was adamant about not seeing the GC on our wedding day until I walked down the aisle.  Call me old-fashioned, but I think that moment of first seeing each other at opposite ends of the aisle is a magical one and I wasn’t going to give it up for anything.  Because I wanted to wait, though, our “posed” photography time was limited to the cocktail hour (which in reality was only set to last 45 minutes) and Rob had concerns that, when all was said and done, I would be unhappy over the fact that there quite possibly would not be enough photographs taken of the event.  He was also concerned that, due to the time constraint, he would not be able to produce the same caliber of pictures that he is typically known for.  For me, though, it was far more important to have the memory of seeing my husband for the first time as I walked down that aisle than to have fabulous photographs of my wedding day, so Rob agreed to wait to take the posed pictures until after the ceremony.  And, as it turned out, he really needn’t have worried.  Not only do we now have more photographs of that day then we know what to do with, but they are literally ALL fabulous.  Shortly after the wedding, Rob asked the GC and me to pick out our 60 favorite images to put in the album that was included in our photography package, but today, over three months later, we still cannot narrow down our favorites to a mere 60!  I’m not kidding!  The GC and I keep trying to go through the images, but we absolutely CANNOT decide.  We love all 750 of them!  But, trust me, that is a good problem to have!  And I am SO incredibly glad that I waited and did not see the GC before the ceremony.  The above photograph was taken of him just as I began my walk down the aisle and the look in his eyes is absolutely priceless.  Not only is that look a memory that I will carry with me for the rest of my life, but Rob also magically managed to capture it on film, so I pretty much got the best of both worlds.  Thank you, Rob!  You can see the entire gallery of the photographs Rob took of our wedding on his website here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: You can visit Rob Greer’s wedding photography website here.  His former studio is located at 678 South Avenue 21 in the Brewery Lofts complex in Los Angeles.  The complex is a private, gated community, so please do not trespass.   If you are interested in stalking the location, there are several public art walks held on the premises each year that are open to the public.  You can find more information about the art walks here.

CSI: Pasadena

img_1558

My dad is not a big fan of Hollywood. And by Hollywood I mean the industry, not the town. He can’t stand all of the overindulged, self-absorbed actors, even though his own daughter is one (minus the overindulged, self-absorbed part, of course). 🙂 He just barely tolerates my stalking and often asks me why I care so much about celebrities. But there is one actor and one show that my dad absolutely loves – and that’s loves with a capital L-O-V-E-S. That show is CSI: Miami and that actor is David Caruso. My dad often walks around the house randomly quoting characters from the show saying “H is on it!”, he nicknamed his Harley Davidson “H”, and he has so many CSI: Miami reruns saved up on TiVo that he often burns through all of the memory causing my mom’s shows not to record. Yes, my dad loves himself some Horatio Caine. When we were in New York this past December, my boyfriend and I just had to snap the above photo of Horatio Street for my dad. 🙂

[ad]

p1000718

So when I found out that CSI: Miami would be filming in Pasadena last Wednesday, I just had to drag my dad out to stalk it. Except truth be told, there really wasn’t much dragging involved. My dad, who normally hates stalking with me, was more than a willing participant this time around. He was absolutely floored at the possibility of meeting his TV idol. And so was I. CSI: Miami has always been my favorite CSI and I, too, love me some Horatio Caine. I also love me some Emily Procter. I am absolutely obsessed with her cute little Southern accent – I want one just like it. 🙂 So on Wednesday morning, bright and early, we showed up at the Pasadena location where where they were filming. And I have to say that it was an absolute dream day!

p1000737

The crew truly could NOT have been nicer to us. When we arrived and told them we were big fans of the show, they welcomed us with open arms and invited us to take a seat to watch the crew setting up the scene. One of the A.D.’s told us that David Caruso would arrive on the set within 45 minutes and that he was very fan friendly and would most likely take a photograph with us. Let me tell you we were floored! And I have to say that watching the crew set up for the scene was almost as exciting as watching the actual filming. It was amazing to compare the real life overcast grey sky that was above our heads with the orange and pink sky that appeared on the filming monitors. It turns out that a special filter is placed on top of the cameras during filming to make the sky look more bright, sunny, and “Miami-like”. It was eerie to see.

p1000734

p1000733

Just before actual filming was to begin, a large water truck came by and sprayed water all over the street. I had known from watching a director’s commentary on DVD a while back that streets are often wetted down prior to a film shoot – for some reason, wet streets look better on camera than dry streets – but I had no idea how it was done. So that was very cool to see. If you’ve never noticed this phenomenon before, you will now. 🙂 Start looking at streets in the background of your favorite television shows and movies – nine times out of ten they will be soaking wet. One of the crew members was joking that while you never see it rain on CSI: Miami, miraculously somehow the streets are always wet. LOL

p1000758-800

After the street was sprayed, a white van pulled up and out stepped David Caruso. And I just about died. There he was, Horatio Caine, in the flesh, aviator sunglasses and all. He immediately waved to us and said “Hi guys!” while a make-up artist put the finishing touches on his face and hair. Then he called us over and introduced himself. It was unbelievable! Last October, when my dad and I got to watch The Closer be filmed, not one cast member came over to talk to us. So this was quite a surprise! And when my dad handed over his CSI: Miami Season One DVDs to be signed, David seemed genuinely touched and told us how appreciative he was to meet fans of the show. He also gave us little autographed pictures of himself. Then the A.D. called him over to begin filming and David gave both my dad and me a hug! 🙂 A few minutes later while they were setting something up for the shot, David walked over to us once again and asked if we wanted to take a picture with him. He really could not have been sweeter and I can honestly say that out of all the actors I’ve met in my eight years living in L.A., David Caruso was by far the nicest. A crew member told us that on one occasion when they were filming in Long Beach, a large tour bus filled with 75 German tourists pulled up, and got very excited that David Caruso was there. David stopped filming and proceeded to sign autographs and take pictures with each and every person on that bus!!! My dad kept saying “I just knew he’d be nice!” 🙂 I hope that when I become a successful, famous actress that I will be that nice! 🙂

p1000777

p1000781

p1000780

After our pics, we got to watch David film a scene with Elizabeth Berkley (of Saved by the Bell and Showgirls fame), who play’s H’s ex-wife Julia on CSI: Miami. I cannot even tell you how amazing it was to be standing less than five feet away from David Caruso as he filmed a scene. And I just about died when he did his trademark putting-on-sunglasses-and-staring-off-into-the-distance move. It was the coolest thing ever! I was very impressed with how quickly filming moved, too. I’d say David filmed his scene in less than forty minutes, which in Hollywood time is almost unheard of! What I was most impressed with, though, was how happy the cast and crew seemed to be. There was a lot of joking around between takes and A LOT of laughter in the air. Everyone seemed to be really enjoying their jobs and like they were just happy to be there.

p1000783

When David was wrapped for the day he had a crew member ask for my address as he had some CSI memorabilia in his trailer that he wanted to give us. How nice is that! Then, as we were leaving the set, one of the crew members told us to stop back by later in the afternoon when the rest of the cast would be there filming a different scene. So, of course, a few hours later my dad and I headed back to the set. 🙂 As soon as we arrived, one of the A.D.’s ran over to us and handed me a large envelope from David Caruso. Inside was the memorabilia he had planned to send me, including several photographs autographed to both me and my dad, a Horatio Caine bobble head, and some CSI: Miami postcards and buttons. That was just such a nice thing to do, we couldn’t even believe it!!! My dad was especially excited about the bobble head which is now sitting on his desk. 🙂

p10007901

As if all that wasn’t enough, a few minutes later the same A.D. walked over with Rex Linn who plays Detective Frank Tripp on the show. Rex introduced himself and, like David, seemed genuinely happy to be speaking with fans of CSI:Miami. Rex signed my dad’s DVD’s, posed for pictures with us, and even let me hold his prop gun. 🙂 Like David, Rex could NOT have been nicer or more outgoingly friendly to us.

p1000792

p1000793

While we were speaking with Rex, Eva La Rue came out of the house where they were filming and Rex took us over to meet her! Eva was also completely friendly and super down to earth. And gorgeous in person – much prettier than she even appears on television.

p10008161

p1000817

Then the most amazing thing happened. Are you sitting down for this?? Rex asked if we wanted to go inside the house to watch a few scenes be filmed. Did we want to go inside and watch filming with Detective Frank Tripp as our personal tourguide????? Is he crazy? Of course we did! Rex then took us through the backyard of the house where a scene was being filmed, introduced us to virtually every crew member on set, explained what all sorts of equipment was, and what was happening during the filming. Rex is an amazing man and I could not believe he was taking time out of his busy day to give us a tour of the set. I mean stuff like this just doesn’t happen in real life!

p1000813

Once filming began, Rex led us over to the monitors and pulled out Emily Procter’s directors chair for me to sit in. I was like WHAT? I can’t sit in her chair!!!! LOL

p1000832

p1000835

After we watched a bit of the filming that was taking place in the backyard, Rex was called inside to finish up a scene he was filming in the house with Eva La Rue. He told us we could come inside to watch, so we, of course, followed him. That scene was especially exciting for us because we got to watch firsthand as Eva administered one of the flashlight tests that the CSI shows are so famous for. SO COOL! After that scene, Rex was wrapped for the day, but he told us we could go back outside to watch more of the filming in the backyard.

p1000821

Which we, of course, did. 🙂 And that is when we got to meet both Megalyn Echikunwoke, who plays the new medical examiner on the show and who was very sweet . . .

p1000846

. . . and my fave, Emily Procter. Emily was a total sweetheart and she really does have Calleigh Duquesne’s cute little Southern accent in real life. I love it! Emily was wrapped for lunch at that time and we ended up walking out of the house behind her. On her way outside she made it a point to stop to thank the L.A. County policemen who were on duty and she gave both of them autographed pictures of herself. I was completely amazed at this. Not just Emily, but the entire cast seemed to be just so appreciative, thankful, and friendly. It was so heartening to see. And it just made me love the show even more than I already did. What a truly amazing group of people!

Sitting back and looking at these pictures of me on the set of my favorite TV show makes me think about how much I love L.A. As much as I say I want to move to New York, it’s days like this one when I realize I am right where I am supposed to be. 🙂 More importantly, though, being on the set was a truly extraordinary experience for my dad. Especially since he just recently got out of the hospital and has been sick on and off for the past few years. I believe having such a memorable encounter with the cast of his favorite television show brought him some much needed healing in a form he never would have found in a hospital or a doctor’s office. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: CSI: Miami was filmed at 887 El Campo Drive in Pasadena, right around the corner from the Brothers and Sisters House. Look for the episode to air sometime in March.