I’m taking a break from my regularly scheduled Big Little Lies reporting today to bring you a post about one of my favorite buildings in all of Pasadena – The Stuart at Sierra Madre Villa. I’ve written about the Mid-Century Modern apartment complex and its cameo in That Thing You Do! before – way back in November 2013 – but last June, my friend/fellow stalker Kim sent me a photo of the place after seeing it pop up on American Woman, asking if I had any idea where it was. It since went on to be featured prominently on the 2018 series (which has sadly been cancelled and won’t be returning for a second season), so I figured the site was worthy of a redo and stopped by for another stalk of it while passing through Crown City last week.
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The spectacular Neo-Formalist style property was designed by architect Edward Durell Stone, who also gave us New York’s Museum of Modern Art and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The structure, completed in 1958, originally served as the headquarters and plant of the Stuart Pharmaceutical Company.
The Mid-Century masterpiece boasts a myriad of striking architectural elements including saucer-like chandeliers, an arcade formed by cast concrete block screens, a long reflecting pool with fountains (which were not turned on the day I visited), gold columns, and pristine grounds designed by landscape architect Thomas Church.
Stuart Pharmaceutical’s forward-thinking owner Arthur O. Hanisch believed in creating a work environment that would foster both the health and comfort of his many employees. As such, he had a plethora of then unique recreational amenities added to the complex including a pool, a pool house, a shaded pavilion, a garden court, a dining hall/lounge, and a terrace. The original pool is actually still intact today and is pictured below.
Though the outside of The Stuart is stunning . . .
. . . it is the inside that sets my heart aflutter.
The two-story atrium that serves as the lobby’s centerpiece is nothing short of perfection!
Boasting massive hanging planters, globe lights, an open staircase, a coffered ceiling and textured wall paneling, the space is spectacular to behold.
It’s like the quintessential layout from a 1950s advertisement!
Or a Mad Men set come to life!
As architectural historian Lauren Weiss Bricker stated in a 2004 Future Anterior article, Hanisch hoped to “build a completely new building concept. He wanted his building to conform to the landscaping, not in the general California way but in a way that would combine timeless beauty with increased efficiency and a utilization of the Southern California climate to make for maximum comfort for his employees, both in working and recreation areas.” I’d say he succeeded! I can’t even imagine getting to work in such a beautiful space.
You can check out what The Stuart originally looked like here. Amazingly, not much of its interior or exterior has changed over the years, though it did go through its fair share of trying times.
Shortly after the Stuart Pharmaceutical Company merged with Johnson & Johnson/Merck Pharmaceuticals in 1990, the building was shuttered and then eventually put on the market. In 1994, the Metropolitan Transit Authority snapped it up and, in a horrific turn, made plans to raze it to build a . . . parking lot. Thankfully, the Pasadena Heritage Group stepped in, securing the property’s placement on the National Registry of Historic Places, thereby saving it from demolition. The group couldn’t save the building from the vandals and vagrants that descended upon it during the years it sat vacant, though, and it suffered major damage and theft. It was finally purchased by BRE Properties in 2002 and underwent a massive renovation helmed by preservation architect Robert Chattel during which the site was turned into a mixed-used apartment complex/performing arts center. The 188-unit The Stuart at Sierra Madre Villa opened its doors to new residents in 2007. Though some ancillary structures were torn down during the renovation, the original main headquarters, which serves as a leasing office and communal space, was left largely intact, as was the pool, behind which the residential buildings were erected, as you can see below.
On American Woman, The Stuart masks as the supposed Wilshire Boulevard May Company department store where Bonnie Nolan (Alicia Silverstone) gets a job after leaving her philandering husband. It initially shows up in the series’ second episode titled “Changes and the New Normal,” first in the scene in which Bonnie shops for a suit prior to meeting with an employment agent and then as the spot where she puts her interest in fashion to good use by landing a saleswoman gig.
That episode saw some on location filming at the building.
As did the episodes titled “The Breakthrough” . . .
. . . and “I Will Survive.”
But for the most part, The Stuart was utilized in establishing shots.
And only the exterior of it appeared onscreen.
Interiors were shot on a set built at Warner Bros. Studio where American Woman was lensed.
The series is hardly the only production to feature The Stuart.
The Wonders pose for publicity photos in the building’s atrium in 1996’s That Thing You Do!
The Stuart portrays the fertility clinic that Kal (Ellen DeGeneres) and Fran (Sharon Stone) visit in the “2000” segment of the 2000 made-for-television movie If These Walls Could Talk 2.
And in the Season 2 episode of Animal Kingdom titled “Betrayal,” which aired in 2017, The Stuart serves as the office of Morgan Wilson (Laura San Giacomo).
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Big THANK YOU to my friend Kim for alerting me to this location’s appearance on American Woman!
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 
Stalk It: The Stuart at Sierra Madre Villa, aka the May Company department store from American Woman, is located at 3360 East Foothill Boulevard in Pasadena. You can visit the complex’s official website here.
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