Veep – IAMNOTASTALKER

April 4, 2018April 5, 2018

Pasadena Elks Lodge from “Veep”

Anyone who has visited Pasadena has likely taken note of the sprawling pillared building situated on the southeast corner of Colorado and Orange Grove Boulevards. As the many signs adorning the structure indicate, it serves as Elks Lodge #672. I passed the site regularly during the 15+ years I called Crown City home and knew of its frequent use as both a filming location and production basecamp (Star Waggons are ubiquitous in the massive parking lot out front), but because the lodge is private and only accessible to members, I never set foot on the premises. When I learned, thanks to this Instagram photo posted by Veep executive producer David Mandel, that the property had been featured extensively in the popular HBO series’ Season 6 episode “Georgia,” though, I became a wee bit obsessed with changing that. So, while in L.A. a couple of weeks ago, I decided to stop by to see if I could possibly be given a tour. Thankfully, the member who answered my knock could not have been nicer and immediately invited me in to see all the areas that appeared on Veep and to regale me with a brief history of the lodge and the Elks organization itself.

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The Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks of the United States of America (B.P.O.E.) was initially founded in 1867 by singer Charles Algernon Sidney Vivian as a drinking club for Manhattan performers, of all things. Originally dubbed the “Jolly Corks,” per the Elks official website the main function of the organization was “to circumvent a New York law that closed saloons on Sundays.” The group’s focus eventually became far more altruistic and service-oriented, leading to its name change. According to the website, the order chose their eponym based upon a “number of attributes that are deemed typical of those to be cultivated by members of the fraternity. The Elk is distinctively an American animal. It habitually lives in herds. The Elk is the largest of our native quadrupeds, it is yet fleet of foot and graceful in movement. It is quick and keen of perception; and while it is usually gentle and even timorous, it is strong and valiant in defense of its own.”

Today, the Elks organization boasts a million members with 2,000 lodges dotted across the U.S.

Lodge #672 was erected in 1911. Designed in the Colonial Revival style by architect Myron Hunt (who also gave us Thornton Gardens, Occidental College, Wattles Mansion, the Langham Huntington Hotel, and the Huntington Library, Art Collection, and Botanical Gardens), the 31,000-square-foot structure has served as the Pasadena headquarters of the B.P.O.E. ever since.

Though a Bennett-and-Haskell-designed annex was added to the property in 1928 and a restoration took place in 2010, little of the lodge has changed over the course of its 107-year history.

You can check out some early photos of it here.

Though Lodge #672 appears quite large from the street, I was shocked at the sheer size of the place upon entering. The structure is huge with myriad meeting places, event venues and ballrooms, each of them prettier than the next.

The Main Ballroom, pictured above and below, was being dressed for an event while we were there.

Our tour guide informed us that the Veep production team altered the Main Ballroom’s bar for the “Georgia” shoot . . .

. . . adding in the mirrors and shelving you see below for a scene that ultimately wound up on the cutting room floor.

A few faux maroon pillars, like the one pictured below, were also installed for the filming of the deleted scene . . .

. . . and the walls surrounding the bar were painted with the faces of Old Hollywood stars. While the Elks chose to leave the paintings intact, I was not able to view them, unfortunately, due to the fact that they were temporarily covered over with the faux stone walls you see below by yet another production that filmed on the premises just prior to us stalking the place.

The room below, which I believe is named the Fireside Room, is situated off the lodge’s main entrance.

The formal space boasts a fireplace . . .

. . . and a perimeter of decorative columns.

It is the Lodge Room, though, that is the most impressive.

The venue, which is situated on the second floor and boasts plush seating along the two side walls, serves as the Elks’ meeting room.

Calling it grand would be an understatement.

Though the room is original to the property, the stage was added in 1945 and a remodel took place in 2000.

You can check out some more images of the lodge’s interior here.

The Pasadena Elks Lodge portrays two different locations in “Georgia.” The Lodge Room masks as Georgia’s Election Monitoring Headquarters where Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) flip-flops on which candidate she is backing (based upon which of them happens to be offering to donate the most money to her presidential library at the time) in the county’s first free and democratic election.

The lodge’s Fireside Room portrays the lobby of the Tbilisi Grand Hotel, where Selina and her team stay while in town.

A prop elevator was set up in the corner of the room for the shoot, as you can see in the background of the images below.

In reality, that area serves as a doorway to Lodge #672’s front office.

The image below is the only view we get of the Main Ballroom in the episode. It appears in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment as the Tbilisi Grand’s restaurant in the scene in which Jonah Ryan (Timothy Simons) discovers that his fellow congressmen are dining without him.

Only the interior of the Pasadena Elks Lodge is featured in “Georgia.”

For exterior shots of the Tbilisi Grand, producers used a mash-up of locations both near and far. The establishing shot of the hotel is of an actual Georgian lodging – the Ambassadori Tbilisi Hotel and Casino located at 17 loane Shavteli Street. You can check out some images of it here.

All on location exterior filming took place much closer to home at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel located at 506 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles.

The hotel was significantly roughed up for the shoot, with graffiti added to the walls and strewn furniture discarded on the sidewalk out front.

The Pasadena Elks Lodge has been host to many filmings over the years.

In the 1992 comedy The Distinguished Gentleman, the EPA oversight hearing of the Committee on Power and Industry takes place in the Lodge Room.

Senator Bob Rumson (Richard Dreyfuss) campaigns in the Lodge Room in the 1995 comedy The American President.

Though no part of Lodge #672 can actually be seen, per the book Twilight: Director’s Notebook, Bella’s (Kristin Stewart) bedroom set was rebuilt on the premises for a reshoot of the scene in which she and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) kiss for the first time in 2008’s Twilight.

Ron Donald (Ken Marino) caters his own reunion at the Pasadena Elks Lodge in the Season 1 episode of Party Down titled “James Rolf High School Twentieth Reunion.”

As you can see, when the episode was shot in 2009, the Main Ballroom’s bar was in its original state and looked much different than it does now after the alterations made by the Veep crew.

In the 2010 comedy The Back-up Plan, Nana (Linda Lavin) marries Arthur (Tom Bosley) in the lodge’s Fireside Room.

Thanks to my buddy Mikey, from the Mike the Fanboy website, I learned that the lodge masked as Elder & Massey Auction House, where Doug Wilson (Kevin Nealon) attended a NASA inventory liquidation auction and almost won a flight-worn suit of Captain Jim Wetherbee, in the Season 8 episode of Weeds titled “Unfreeze,” which aired in 2012. Mikey was actually on set the day filming took place and got to meet and take a photo with Kevin. You can read about his experience here.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Pasadena Elks Lodge, from the “Georgia” episode of Veep, is located at 400 West Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. You can visit the lodge’s official website here. Please keep in mind that the club is private and not accessible to the public.

January 8, 2018January 8, 2018

Rise N Grind from “Veep”

I have never been one for New Year’s resolutions. That being said, in 2018 I am hoping to regularly exercise, be kinder (to myself and others), drink more water and less champagne, and cut down on my daily latte regimen. The last one is going to be much easier said than done. No matter what, though, I will definitely not be cutting down on my stalking of coffee shops – that I can promise. One café that I recently visited was Hollywood’s Rise N Grind, which I became enamored with after it made a brief appearance in an episode of Veep.

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In Season 6’s “Georgia,” Catherine Meyer (Sarah Sutherland) and girlfriend Marjorie Palmiotti (Clea DuVall) meet with Dan Egan (Reid Scott) at a supposed New York coffee shop to ask if he would be willing to be their sperm donor. The encounter is extremely quick, as Dan readily agrees to the proposition – literally no questions asked.

Though I’ve always been prone to coffee shop adoration, the café that appeared in the episode intrigued me even more so than usual. I was immediately taken with the space’s modern décor. A black and white color schematic? A marquee “coffee” sign? Painted brickwork? Touches of wood throughout? Yes, yes, yes, and yes! The place couldn’t be any more “me” if it tried! So I, of course, set out on a mission to track it down.

While watching, I noticed what looked to be a menu board constructed out of skateboards in the background of the scene. So I did a Google search for “Los Angeles,” “coffee shop,” and “skateboards.” The second result kicked back was a listing for Rise N Grind located at 6501 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. One glimpse at the photographs of the place posted online told me it was the right spot. I ran out to stalk it just a short time later.

Opened in July 2014 by nightclub impresario Robert Vinokur, Rise N Grind is fairly new to the Hollywood coffee scene.

Situated inside of a corner building in the heart of Tinseltown, the site is easily one of the most artfully-decorated cafes I’ve ever visited.

Prior to opening, Vinokur completely and painstakingly re-designed the 7,000-square-foot, 2-story, 1994 building, which previously housed a designer suit outlet.

As writer Kim Sudhalter chronicled in a post for the Only in Hollywood blog while the space was being renovated, “Last month I drove up Wilcox and saw a crew of painters working on the building gracing the northwest corner of Wilcox and Hollywood, near my old office. As I got closer, I noticed they were carefully painting the face of each brick white, leaving the brick-colored mortar intact in between. I drove by several times in the next week and they were still at it . . . hand-painting bricks one by one. The final effect was so elegant I knew something special was happening.” Something special indeed! The white brick motif was carried out inside the café, as well, to stunning effect.

The result is a thoroughly modern venue that manages to be industrial, but wholly welcoming at the same time.

“Welcoming” is one of the key characteristics Vinokur hoped to embody in his design – a space where patrons could feel comfortable hanging out for hours on end. To that end, the café provides free WiFi, power outlets for customer use, a copious amount of seating, a large menu offering sandwiches, pastries, juices, and salads, and java specialties provided by Stumptown Coffee Roasters.

As described on LinkedIn, the site is a “laptop haven for all creative minds.”

Regarding the name, Rise N Grind, as Vinokur explained to the Los Angeles Times, is a play on both a motivated get-out-of-bed attitude and the city’s longstanding skateboard culture, which is paid homage to via the menu board I spotted in the background of Veep – a massive display of more than 150 decks displaying the store’s moniker and its many food and drink offerings.

While stalking the place, I, of course, had to partake of a latte and it was fabulous. Rise N Grind will definitely be a frequent stop whenever I find myself in Hollywood. Whoops – there I go, already abandoning that less-lattes-in-2018 plan!

Only the interior of Rise N Grind appeared on Veep. The exterior shots shown were of Orwashers, “New York’s Original Artisan Bakery,” at 440 Amsterdam Avenue on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. With its corner location and black and white façade, Orwashers does bear quite a resemblance to Rise N Grind, as you can see below.

Back in 2003, when the Rise N Grind site housed a clothing store named Roma, it appeared in the background of S.W.A.T., in the scene in which Alex Montel (Oliver Martinez) is captured by Jim Street (Colin Farrell) shortly after escaping from a police bus.

As you can see in the screen captures as compared to the photographs above and below, the building looked completely different – and much less attractive – at the time. The white brick edifice really suits it!

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Rise N Grind, from the “Georgia” episode of Veep, is located at 6501 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. You can visit the café’s official website here. Exterior footage from the episode was shot at Orwashers, located at 440 Amsterdam Avenue on New York’s Upper West Side. You can visit the bakery’s official website here.

December 6, 2017December 6, 2017

Arrowhead Pine Rose Cabins from “Veep”

I often find myself thinking about how fabulous it would be if Instagram had existed back when Beverly Hills, 90210 was still on the air. One of my most-loved down-time activities is perusing the feed of actors currently starring on shows I watch to see the various behind-the-scenes stories and photos they post. Not only do the images provide a rare peek at the intimate goings-on of the production of a television series, but they’re an incredible source of filming location information. Like I said, I can only imagine if the app was in existence during the 90210 days. Perhaps then the world would know the location of Tal Weaver’s (Gabriel Macht) house, as well as the mansion where the infamous red dress photo shoot took place (two of my most-wanted yet-to-be-found spots). But I digress. One of the best IG accounts for production info is Julia Louis-Dreyfus’. The Veep star regularly posts photos of the behind-the-scenes happenings of her hit HBO series – like this 2016 image showing the cast and crew during the filming of Season 5’s “Camp David,” which Julia states in the caption took place in Lake Arrowhead. I was more than a little perturbed when I came across the pic one day this past March being that I had literally just returned home from a trip to the mountain town days prior. Regardless, I quickly got to Googling to figure out exactly where filming had occurred and was thrilled to head back to Lake Arrowhead in September so that I could finally stalk it.

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A Google search of the words “Veep,” “filming,” and “Lake Arrowhead” led me to this 2016 Yelp review posted by user Stephanie B. in which she mentioned that the show had used Arrowhead Pine Rose Cabins, located at 25994 California 189 in Twin Peaks, to mimic Camp David shortly before her stay. One look at images of the hotel online confirmed Stephanie’s assertion. From there, I just had to figure out exactly which of the property’s 20 cabins were utilized in the episode. Thankfully, the resort boasts quite an extensive website with numerous photographs of each bungalow, so that wasn’t hard to do. But more on that in a bit.

Arrowhead Pine Rose Cabins was initially built in the early 1900s as housing for U.S. Forest Service rangers and staff. It was not until Helen and Fred Dowd saw the site’s potential as a vacation destination in the 1950s that the property was transformed into a sprawling hotel. The couple first leased the location, which they named “Arrowhead Road Resort,” from the Forest Service before eventually buying it outright in the ‘60s. More cabins were added to the premises during their tenure, but sadly, many of the original cottages from the early 1900s no longer stand thanks to several fires that hit the area over the years.

Fred’s passing in 1989 caused Helen to consider retirement and she put Arrowhead Road Resort on the market shortly thereafter. Four years later, Twin Peaks locals David and Tricia Dufour happened to visit some friends staying at the hotel and were given a tour of the vast property by Helen. It was love at first sight. The couple quickly snatched up the resort and re-named it Arrowhead Pine Rose Cabins.

David, a general contractor, and Tricia, an interior designer, still own and manage the site to this day and have used their vocational talents to expand upon and improve the grounds and cabins, with David adding meandering streams and two large koi ponds to the premises and Tricia re-imagining the décor.

Today, the sprawling resort features 6 forested acres of land, a swimming pool, a Jacuzzi, volleyball courts, ping pong tables, hammocks, log swings, a myriad of outdoor seating areas, a jungle gym, a fire pit (perfect for s’mores!), and, as I mentioned earlier, 20 individual cabins ranging in size from studios that sleep 2 to a 7-bedroom lodge that can accommodate 21 guests.

During the month of December, each of those cabins is decorated for Christmas, which I think has to be about the coolest thing ever!

Arrowhead Pine Rose Cabins truly is gorgeous in person. It is not hard to see why David and Tricia fell in love with the place or how it came to be used on Veep. Bonus – the employees are super friendly, as well! When I first arrived at the hotel, I popped in to the front office to explain why I was there and make sure it would be OK to take photos. The woman working at the desk told me to feel free to walk around and explore the grounds. While she was unsure of exactly where filming had taken place, thankfully I had already hatched all of that out beforehand, so she kindly handed me a map of the resort to help me find my way to the appropriate spots!

In “Camp David,” President Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), her bagman Gary Walsh (Tony Hale), her ex-husband Andrew Meyer (David Pasquesi), his girlfriend Monica (Lauren Bowles), Selina’s daughter Catherine (Sarah Sutherland), and Catherine’s girlfriend Marjorie Palmiotti (Clea DuVall) head to Camp David for a “pre-Christmas Christmas celebration.” Though the trip is supposed to be an outing solely for family, unbeknownst to the rest of the group Selina has invited her entire team along, as well as Chinese President Lu Chi-Jang (Tzi Ma), his aides, and Finnish stateswoman Minna Häkkinen (Sally Phillips) – or as Selina refers to her “that a**-burger salad” – in order to discuss the building of manufacturing plants in key states where Selina needs votes. While three supposed Camp David cabins are shown in the episode, only two of the resort’s lodgings were utilized, with Fisherman’s Hideaway, aka Cabin #12 (pictured below), doing double duty portraying two different spots.

The front of Fisherman’s Hideaway first pops up as Camp David’s Aspen Lodge, where President Meyer and her family stay in the episode. In real life, the two-bedroom structure, which is Pine Rose Cabins’ most secluded unit, features a wooden deck with a BBQ, a full kitchen, a queen bed, a double bed, a foldout sofa, and a fireplace.

Only the exterior of the cottage was used in the filming. The interior of Selina’s cabin, which is much larger than Fisherman’s Hideaway’s interior, was a set built at Paramount Studios where the series is lensed. As you can see in these images of the inside of the actual Aspen Lodge, the Veep set was designed to closely resemble the president’s real life country retreat.

The north side of Fisherman’s Hideaway later pops up in “Camp David” as the cabin where Selina meets with President Lu Chi-Jang and the rest of the Chinese diplomats.

As you can see below, some changes were made to the structure for the shoot. Not only were the picnic table, bench swing, plastic storage compartment, utility box, and metal piping removed from the cabin, but a large pile of wood was added next to the door and the front porch area was digitally covered over with siding and a window to make it appear enclosed.

It is in front of the Fisherman’s Hideaway’s north side door that Lu Chi-Jang learns that President Eisenhower is no longer alive . . .

. . . and that Mike McLintock (Matt Walsh) inadvertently takes up chewing nicotine gum.

The supposed interior of that cabin was also a studio-built set.

Finally, Pine Rose’s Wild Bill’s cabin, aka Cabin #15, is where Selina’s team holes up in the episode.

In real life, the one-bedroom Western-themed lodging boasts a fireplace, a full kitchen, a deck, a BBQ, a queen bed, and a day bed.

Unlike Fisherman’s Hideaway, the interior of Wild Bill’s was utilized in “Camp David.” You can see images of it here.

The episode also made extensive use of Pine Rose Cabins’ beautiful grounds.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Arrowhead Pine Rose Cabins, from the “Camp David” episode of Veep, is located at 25994 California 189 in Twin Peaks. You can visit the hotel’s official website here. The cabins that appeared in the episode are Fisherman’s Hideaway and Wild Bill’s, both of which are denoted in pink in the aerial view below.

November 20, 2017November 17, 2017

Hilton Garden Inn Arcadia from “Veep”

It has been said that everyone has their own special superpower. I don’t know if that is true or not, but if so, mine is definitely my brain’s ability to take note of small, seemingly insignificant and rather trivial details, and commit them to memory, completely of its own volition. Case in point – I have stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn Arcadia on a couple of occasions over the years. Though I did not spend much time on the premises during either of my visits (typically when in L.A., I am out and about stalking during all waking hours), last year, while watching the closing scene of Veep’s Season 5 premiere, “Morning After,” in which Jonah Ryan (Timothy Simon) attempts to check into a very crowded “Carson City” hotel, I immediately recognized the orange and pink ombré curtains visible behind him as those of the Garden Inn. Had I scrutinized or taken particular note of the hotel’s lobby area during my stay? No, not at all. In fact, prior to viewing the episode, had you asked me about the HGIA’s curtains, I probably would not have been able to recall them. But as soon as the draperies entered my eye-line during Veep, something in my brain clicked and I knew immediately where filming had taken place. Because I had failed to snap any photos of the hotel on my visits and because it is one of the series’ more minor locations, I never blogged about it. But when the Grim Cheaper happened to book us another stay there a few weeks back, I decided it was finally time I do so.

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In “Morning After,” Jonah, Amy Brookheimer (Anna Chlumsky), Dan Egan (Reid Scott), and Richard Splett (Sam Richardson), along with a slew of other staffers from both the Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Bill O’Brien (Brad Leland) presidential campaigns, descend upon Carson City, Nevada to head up a recount in the area. While in town, the group stays at a local unnamed motel. The exterior shown in the episode is a partial view of the Carson City Plaza Hotel and Event Center located at 801 South Carson Street, as well as the small strip mall situated across from it at 711 South Carson. (Though I have actually been to CC, I do not have any photos of those particular spots, so you’ll have to excuse the Google Street View image below.)

All actual filming of the “Morning After” hotel scene, though, took place at the Hilton Garden Inn Arcadia. The view of the curtains in the shot below is what caught my eye while watching.

After viewing the episode, I headed over to Google to pull up images of the hotel to confirm my hunch. One look at pictures of the Hilton Garden Inn’s lobby, with its peachy curtains and uniquely-etched front doors, cinched things for me.

Hilton Garden Inn Arcadia also popped up in the next episode of Veep, titled “Nev-AD-a.” (Confused about that title? This Veep clip should clear things up.) Oddly, a different hotel exterior, that of the Carson Tahoe Hotel at 800 North Carson Street, was utilized for the establishing shot in the episode. (Again, please pardon the Google Street View image below.)

In “Nev-AD-a,” exes Dan and Amy head back to their hotel after their first day of re-counting votes . . .

. . . and are shocked to discover that their rooms are located right across from each other.

In the episode, Dan is staying in Room 129 . . .

. . . while Amy is in 130. Both of these rooms can be found on the Hilton Garden Inn’s first floor, directly off of the lobby.

I am fairly certain that the interior of room 130 (or another of the property’s rooms) was also used in the episode. Like a dolt, I did not take any photos of the room we stayed in, but as you can see in these images from the hotel’s website, the Garden Inn’s bed and lamps match what appeared onscreen.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Hilton Garden Inn Arcadia, from the “Morning After” and “Nev-AD-a” episodes of Veep, is located at 199 North 2nd Avenue in Arcadia. You can visit the hotel’s official website here.

May 15, 2017May 12, 2017

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library from “Veep”

I don’t do museums, as many of my longtime readers well know. One that I did partake of and thoroughly enjoy, though, was The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, which I visited with my parents and the Grim Cheaper waaaay back in 2005 (so long ago that when I went looking for my photos of it to post here, I wasn’t sure if they were film or digital!). Surprisingly (to me, at least), I was thoroughly fascinated and engaged while venturing through the many unique exhibits chronicling the life of our nation’s 40th president, especially those dedicated to his Hollywood years. But, being that the site was not a filming location at the time, I didn’t deem it blog-worthy. So I was thrilled when I spotted the place pop up on the recently-aired Season 6 episode of Veep titled “Library,” as it meant I could finally devote a column to it.

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The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library was initially established in 1991, 2 years after The Gipper left office. The dedication ceremony, which took place on November 4th, was attended by a wide array of important figures from our nation’s history, including George H.W. Bush, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, then President George W. Bush, Lady Bird Johnson, Betty Ford, Barbara Bush, Pat Nixon, Rosalynn Carter, John F. Kennedy Jr., and Caroline Kennedy. The legion of notable attendees led Ronald Reagan Foundation chairman Lodwrick Cook to proclaim the event as “the largest gathering of American Presidents and Presidential families ever assembled.”

The $60-million library (the most expensive presidential library to be built at the time) originally sat on 100 acres and boasted 22,000 square feet of exhibit space. Thanks to a large expansion and land purchase, the acreage now totals 300 and the library now encompasses a whopping 125,000 square feet of exhibits.

The Spanish-style museum, which was renovated in 2011, is chock full of slices of Americana, as well as artifacts and mementos honoring Reagan’s life, including a 9-foot-tall section of the Berlin Wall, a steal beam retrieved from the World Trade Center site, the actual Chasen’s booth where Ronald proposed to wife Nancy, two restaurants, countless photographs, a presidential limousine, a multitude of the president’s handwritten love letters to Nancy (which were my favorite part of the entire museum – I teared up reading nearly each and every one), and re-creations of the Oval Office, East Wing, White House Rose Garden, and White House West Lawn.

The library is also home to the Air Force One Pavilion, a massive exhibit hall housing a former Air Force One aircraft that was utilized by seven U.S. presidents, including Nixon, Carter, Ford, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton. The plane, known as “SAM 27000” or the “Spirit of ‘76,” was installed at the site in 2004, its nose mounted upward to appear as if it is just taking flight, as it did so many times throughout the course of Reagan’s presidency (during which it flew him over 660,000 miles, to 26 foreign countries and 46 different states).

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library also serves as the final resting place of both the former president and Nancy. (Nancy passed away on March 6th, 2106, long after we visited the site in 2005.)

On Veep, The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library masked as the Stuart Hughes Presidential Library, the opening of which former president Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and her staff attend, despite Selina’s assertion that “I don’t understand how a guy who never cracked a book can open up a library.” Filming of the “Library” episode took place in the Air Force One Pavilion, where Selina is miffed to learn that all of the former presidents in attendance have gathered for an “impromptu” photo shoot in front of Air Force One without her. As she says, “Former f*ckers! This is as ‘impromptu’ as a colonoscopy, except with quadruple the a**holes.”

You can check out some photos of the filming, which took place on October 10th, 2016, here.

Filming also included some shots of the library’s President Johnson-era Marine One helicopter, which I somehow failed to take photos of while I was there. (The choppers utilized during Reagan’s presidency have not yet been decommissioned and are still in use today as Navy VIP transports, which is why one of Johnson’s is on display instead).

Per Veep executive producer David Mandel’s Instagram, Hoyt Steptoe’s (Bo Foxworth) press conference from the episode was also shot on the grounds of the library.

And while I would have bet money on the Reagan Library’s Oval Office re-creation being used in the scene in which Selina sits behind the presidential desk – and then gets stuck climbing back over the barricade – upon closer inspection, that does not appear to have been the case.

Though the Reagan Library Oval Office does have a barricade that bars visitors from sitting behind the mock-up of the Resolute desk, it runs along the outer edge of the room, not down the middle as was portrayed on Veep – which was my first clue that a set may have been utilized in the scene. A window frame provided the second clue. As you can see in images here, here and here in comparison to the caps below, the window frame visible behind Selina in the segment is much more ornate than that of the actual library. (On a side-note – Selina’s hilarious “flipturn” over the barricade apparently caused Louis-Dreyfus a bit of bruising. And on another side-note – Barstool Sports wrote-up a hilarious blurb on said bruise that Seinfeld fans will likely appreciate.)

According to this Lansing State Journal article, Veep is the only scripted show to have done any filming at The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, though the site has been utilized for a few documentaries and televised events. Politically-minded fellow stalkers may remember that on September 16th, 2015, the second Republican presidential debate took place in the Air Force One Pavilion.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, from the “Library” episode of Veep, is located at 40 Presidential Drive in Simi Valley. You can visit the museum’s official website here.

May 5, 2017January 10, 2020

Guasti Villa from "Veep"

It’s no secret how much I hate incorrect filming location information. But sometimes errant info can lead to good things. Case in point – back in 2012, an article was published about the Los Angeles locales featured in The Artist. One of the sites detailed was Guasti Villa, aka Busby Berkeley’s former Jefferson Park mansion, which was said to have masked as the home of Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo) in the flick. (I cannot for the life of me remember what publication featured the article, nor can I find it online, but you can see reverberations of the Busby rumor here, here and here.) Prior to reading the blurb, I had been unaware of the historic residence, which is now part of the Peace Awareness Labyrinth & Gardens, but immediately headed on over there to stalk it. Upon arrival, I was thrilled to discover that the property is not only open to the public, but that tours are offered! I was less thrilled to learn, via our friendly tour guide, that the manse had not actually appeared in The Artist (Peppy’s pad was a similar looking mansion on Fremont Place, but more on that in a bit). I was filled in on some of the Villa’s other onscreen appearances, but somehow never got around to blogging about it. So when I saw it pop up in the most recent episode of Veep, I decided it was high time I amended the situation.

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The Beaux Arts/Italian Renaissance Revival-style mansion was originally built for Secundo Guasti, an Italian-born farmer who founded the Italian Vineyard Company on 5,000 acres of land in Ontario in 1904. The vineyard went on to become the largest winery in California and Guasti constructed a sprawling virtual city, or company town, there for his workers, with a store, a school, a post office, a bakery, a railroad station, a church, and a firehouse. Though the site is now part of the Guasti Redevelopment Project, many of the original buildings remain intact today.

In 1910, Guasti commissioned the Hudson and Munsell architecture firm to build an ornate mansion for him on a large plot of land on West Adams Boulevard.

Hudson and Munsell’s finished product, which took four years to execute, is a virtual work of art. The Grand Ballroom (below) alone features a curving staircase with an ornate balustrade, Carrara marble flooring, carved oak wood detailing, and a hand-painted ceiling mural.

The rest of the Villa boasts coffered ceilings, multiple fireplaces, a hydraulic elevator, servants’ quarters, a carriage house, ornate corbels, egg-and-dart mouldings, friezes, a gentlemen’s parlor, a ladies’ parlor, a porte-cochère, and a formal dining room (pictured below).

When Guasti passed away in 1937, his family sold the Villa to Hollywood director Busby Berkeley. You can see what the mansion looked like at the time that Busby lived there here.

Though Busby was an undeniable genius when it came to directing, choreography and cinematography, finances were not his forte. Due to mounting debt, he was forced to sell Guasti Villa in 1946. The manse was purchased by the Los Angeles Physicians Aid Association, who transformed it into a retirement home, adding two residential wings to the property. During the group’s ownership, the property fell into a bit of a decline.

In 1974, the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness (MSIA) acquired the Villa and turned it into their headquarters and learning center, painstakingly restoring the property in the process.

During the process, the church restored and revitalized much of the home’s original detailing. The result of their efforts is not only breathtaking, but fascinating and historically enlightening. I honestly could not have enjoyed the tour more.

Guasti Villa, which is a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, is like a preciously preserved time capsule of what the city was like at the turn of the century.

MSIA not only revived the Villa, but its surroundings, as well. In 2002, the church added expansive meditation gardens to the premises, complete with a hand-carved stone labyrinth.

The labyrinth was closely modeled after the famous winding walk at Chartres Cathedral in France, which you can see photographs of here, here, and here. Made of travertine, it measures 40 feet in diameter and its pathway spans 1/3 of a mile. I was invited to walk the labyrinth while touring Guasti Villa and it was an entirely calming experience. My mind is constantly running, so only focusing on my steps and breath as I traversed the course was an extremely relaxing experience.

The lush meditation gardens also feature 16 fountains, a koi pond, a myriad of trees and plants, and countless tucked-away, shaded spaces.

Because of its unique and stunning beauty, it should come as no surprise that the site, which is known as the Peace Awareness Labyrinth & Gardens, has been featured onscreen numerous times.

In the Season 6 episode of Veep titled “Georgia,” Guasti Villa masked as the palace of Murman Shalikashvili (Eugene Alper), the Republic of Georgia president who, as Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) describes, “The poisoning and the torture and the death squads aside, I think Murman is really good people. Honestly. And he’s a hell of a storyteller.”

The site also appeared in Veep’s Season 6 finale titled “Groundbreaking.” In the episode, the labyrinth area masked as the Arizona spa, ahem, the Whispering Sands Wellness Center where Selina stayed after losing the presidency.

In that same episode, Guasti Villa’s formal dining room portrayed the office of Sherman Tanz (Jonathan Hadary).

Thanks to the Silent Locations website, I learned that the mansion not only appeared in the 1923 Stan Laurel short White Wings . . .

. . . but that it also portrayed the supposed Beverly Hills home of Colonel Wilburforce Buckshot (James Finlayson), where Laurel hid out with pal Oliver Hardy, in 1930’s Another Fine Mess.

In the Season 3 episode of Hunter titled “Hot Pursuit: Part 2,” which aired in 1987, Guasti Villa served as the residence of Big Jack Hemmings (Robert Ridgely). Both the exterior . . .

. . . and the interior appeared in the episode.

The mansion was featured extensively in Meat Loaf’s 2006 “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” music video.

The Villa’s interior was also utilized in the video.

You can watch “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” by clicking below.

The property portrayed two different spots in the Season 1 episode of Truth Be Told titled “Live Thru This.” It first popped up as the New Soul rebab center where Erin Buhrman (Annabella Sciorra) was once a patient.

And it is also where Poppy Scoville-Parnell (Octavia Spencer) interviews Erin’s sober coach.

As I mentioned above, the mansion did not appear in The Artist. Peppy’s residence, which does bear a striking resemblance to Guasti Villa (as you can see below), can actually be found about 3 miles away at 56 Fremont Place in the Mid-Wilshire area. That property is also an oft-filmed spot which I wrote about here.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Guasti Villa, from the “Georgia” episode of Veep, can be found at the Peace Awareness Labyrinth & Gardens, located at 3500 West Adams Boulevard in Jefferson Park. For information about touring the site, click here.

February 3, 2017February 3, 2017

Skylight Books from “Veep”

While we are on the subject of historic book shops featured in Washington, D.C.-based productions (you can read my post on Idle Time Books from A Few Good Men here), I would be remiss if I did not mention a bookseller that popped up on my new favorite show, Veep. The Grim Cheaper and I recently became obsessed with the HBO series thanks to a recommendation from my good friend Lavonna and blew through all 48 episodes in about 2 weeks. It is easily one of the best-written, best-acted, most hilarious shows I have ever had the pleasure of watching. I mean, any production that pretty much starts out with the main character sh*tting their pants at a public event is something I am going to be all over! I, of course, started researching its locations right out of the gate and was a little heartbroken to discover that the first four seasons were shot in the D.C. area, especially considering we had only just returned from the District a few weeks prior. There was a silver lining, though – Veep relocated to Los Angeles for Season 5. But somewhere along the way I forgot that fact and viewed all of the L.A.-based episodes without paying any sort of attention to the locales. It was not until we completed our binge that I remembered, which meant I had to go back and re-watch all of the fifth season (though that was by no means a chore). During my second go-around of the episode titled “C**tgate,” I recognized Skylight Books, one of my favorite L.A. bookstores, featured in a scene. Though I stalked and blogged about the place long ago, way back in 2011 (hence why I look so different in the above pic), I figured it was worthy of a re-do.

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Skylight Books was established at the former site of another landmark bookstore, Chatteron’s, which shut its doors in 1994 upon the death of its owner after two decades in business. The space remained vacant for the next two years before eventually being brought back to life thanks to the efforts of a group of twelve people, including actors Milton Katselas, Tony Danza and Jeffrey Tambour, who banded together to create Skylight Books. The shop opened its doors to the public on November 1st, 1996.

Skylight Books quickly became a Los Feliz staple and remains so today.

The store is known for its bright and airy aesthetic, the hundreds of signings with notable authors it hosts each year (you can check out the Skylight Books events page here), and the 20-foot tall ficus tree that stands at its center.

Its book inventory is also unparalleled. I always stumble upon the most unique and noteworthy finds while there. I once walked away with a fold-out map of famous literary locations. You just don’t see stuff like that anywhere else. The shop has a fabulous selection of cards and gifts, as well.

In “C**tgate, President Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) heads to a D.C.-area bookstore with her boyfriend, Charlie Baird (John Slattery), for a holiday shopping photo-op. While there (spoiler alert!), Charlie learns that Selina has decided not to bail out his bank, forcing him into bankruptcy. (Because as much as Selina hopes “to fiscal f*ck the Fed has a trillion dollars stuffed in a mattress somewhere,” that sadly isn’t the case.) Needless to say, the outing does not end well. Not only does Charlie storm out, but he plastic-surgery shames the president over her recent eye lift. And I just have to say here that Louis-Dreyfus is sheer magic as Selina. I mean is there any role she doesn’t absolutely nail? From Margo Chester in Christmas Vacation to Elaine Benes on Seinfeld to Vice President/President Meyer on Veep – she is perfection in every part.

Little of Skylight Books was shown in Veep, but I immediately recognized the space’s light wood shelves, brickwork, and the ficus tree branches that canopy the stacks.

Only the interior of the shop was featured in the episode. For the exterior establishing shot, an actual D.C. bookstore named Kramerbooks & Afterwords was utilized. That location can be found at 1517 Connecticut Avenue Northwest in Dupont Circle.

As mentioned in my 2011 post, Skylight Books was one of the main locations used on Joan of Arcadia. In the pilot, Joan Girardi (Amber Tamblyn) got a job at the bookstore, which was referred to by its real name, but was said to be located in Arcadia, Maryland. She continued to work there throughout the series’ two-year run. During the show’s first season, filming took place regularly at the Los Feliz shop.

But for Season 2, a set re-creation of Skylight Books was constructed on a soundstage. As you can see, production designers changed things up quite a bit with the set. Though similar to Skylight, the re-creation is much larger and features more brickwork. You can read an interesting article on the store’s use in the series here.

Calvin Weir-Fields’ (Paul Dano) book signing at the end of the 2012 dramedy Ruby Sparks takes place at Skylight Books, as well.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Skylight Books, from the “C**tgate” episode of Veep, is located at 1818 North Vermont Avenue in Los Feliz. You can visit the store’s official website here. The oft-filmed Fred 62 restaurant can be found a few doors away at 1850 North Vermont. You can visit Fred’s official website here. The Dresden, another oft-filmed restaurant, is located a block south at 1760 North Vermont. You can visit that eatery’s official website here.