Villa Primavera – The “In a Lonely Place” Apartment Building

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While doing research on the Double Indemnity house, which I blogged about a couple of weeks ago, I came across some information about Villa Primavera – a courtyard-style apartment building that was featured in the 1950 film noir classic In a Lonely Place.  I immediately became intrigued with the West-Hollywood-area building due to an anecdote that was listed on the movie’s IMDB trivia page.  Apparently, In a Lonely Place director Nicholas Ray had lived at Villa Primavera upon first moving to Southern California in the 1940s and was so enamored with the place that he decided to build a replica of the entire complex, courtyard and all, on a soundstage at Columbia Studios (now Sunset-Gower Studios) in Hollywood to be used as Humphrey Bogart’s bachelor pad in the flick.  At some point during the shoot, Nicholas walked in on his wife, Gloria Grahame, who also starred in the movie, in bed with his 13-year-old son from a previous marriage.  Nicholas immediately moved out of the home he shared with Gloria and into the Villa Primavera apartment set, where he ended up living – in what was essentially an exact replica of his former apartment – until filming wrapped.  Because the building was so inextricably linked with both In a Lonely Place and the behind-the-scenes turmoil that marked the shoot, I was absolutely dying to see the place in person and dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out to do just that a few days later.

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Villa Primavera was constructed by legendary husband and wife architecture team Arthur and Nina Zwebell in 1923 and was the couple’s very first Spanish-Revival-style building.  The charming complex features red-tile roofs, white adobe walls, and a central courtyard with a large tiled fountain, an outdoor fireplace, lush foliage, and wandering brick pathways.  The individual apartment units boast corner fireplaces, exposed wood ceilings, and tile floors.  The Zwebells loved the design so much that they eventually moved into the Hacienda-like property for a time and legend has it that James Dean and Katharine Hepburn also once called the place home.  Sadly though, as you can see above, the ten-unit complex is gated and not much of it can be viewed from the street.

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I did manage to catch a brief glimpse of the interior courtyard and central fountain through the front gate, though, and they both looked absolutely beautiful.

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Amazingly enough, when the GC and I first arrived at Villa Primavera, this little guy ran up to greet us.

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And I just about died when I realized that he was a polydactyl cat, aka a “Hemingway cat”, aka a cat with more than five toes on one or more of its paws!  I had watched a television special on the unusual felines a little over ten years ago and have been absolutely obsessed with them ever since.  I cannot tell you how incredibly fitting it was that we ran into a so-called “Hemingway cat” while visiting an apartment building with such a storied Old Hollywood history!  Love it!

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In In a Lonely Place, Villa Primavera stood in for the supposed-Beverly-Hills-area “Beverly Patio” apartments where frustrated Hollywood screenwriter Dixon Steele (aka Humphrey Bogart) and his beautiful new neighbor, Laurel Gray (aka Gloria Grahame), lived.

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The location was such an integral part of the murder mystery – which was fabulous by the way – that it led Roger Ebert to write in an August 13th, 2009 review, “The courtyard of the Hollywood building occupied by Humphrey Bogart in In a Lonely Place is one of the most evocative spaces I’ve seen in a movie.  Small apartments are lined up around a Spanish-style courtyard with a fountain. Each flat is occupied by a single person. If you look across from your window, you can see into the life of your neighbor.”  It is thanks to that interior view of neighboring units that Laurel is able to provide an alibi for Dixon after he is accused of murdering a young woman whom he had been seen with the night before.  And while the courtyard area that is pictured above;

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and the interior of both Dixon and Laurel’s individual apartments were recreations built at Columbia Studios, some actual filming did take place on location at Villa Primavera.

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In the beginning of In a Lonely Place, Dixon returns home from the Beverly Hills police station after being questioned about the murdered woman and walks across the lawn of the real life apartment building.  As you can see, a fake sign reading “Beverly Patio Apartments” was installed for that scene.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Villa Primavera, the In a Lonely Place apartment building, is located at 1300-1308 North Harper Avenue in West Hollywood.

Le Petit Bistro from “90210”

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A couple of Saturday nights ago, the Grim Cheaper and I found ourselves in West Hollywood, tired and hungry after a long day of stalking.  We happened to come across an absolutely adorable little French restaurant named Le Petit Bistro and decided to pop in for a bite to eat.  Now, usually I do not like to frequent eateries that are not mentioned on my (very long and ever-growing) “To Stalk” list, but because the place was so darn cute I made an out-of-character exception.  So imagine my surprise when later that week I happened to be perusing through my friend and fellow stalker Geoff’s 90210Locations website and saw that Le Petit Bistro was listed as a filming location from fave show 90210!  I literally just about fell off my chair and immediately started mentally kicking myself for not taking more pictures of the place.

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In the Season 3 episode of 90210 titled “How Much Is That Liam In The Window”, college student/budding writer Charlie Selby (aka Evan Ross, who I just found out is Diana Ross’ son!) takes Annie Wilson (aka Shenae Grimes) out for a date at Le Petit Bistro, his favorite French restaurant.  After the waiter approaches their table and says something in French, Annie asks Charlie, “Are you sure you didn’t secretly drug me and take me to Paris?”  (The menus pictured above are the eatery’s actual menus, by the way! How incredibly cool is that?)

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Annie’s assessment of the Zagat-rated restaurant, which first opened in 1993, could NOT have been more spot-on!  Thanks to its dark red walls, French-accented waiters, wood-paneled bar, and covered patio (made complete with twinkle lights), the Grim Cheaper and I absolutely did feel like we had been magically transported to Paris!  And I am very happy to report that besides the incredible ambiance, Le Petit Bistro also serves up some out-of-this-world food!  For whatever reason, I opted for a bit of a strange order that night – a parmesan cheese salad that was one of the evening’s specials, the Blue Crab Cakes appetizer, and a side of marinated wild mushrooms.  Even though it might sound odd ordered all together like that, it was an absolutely incredible meal, especially the mushrooms!  My mouth still waters just thinking about those mushrooms weeks later!  The GC ordered one of the restaurant’s fish specials which was adorned with homemade mushroom risotto and it was also scrumptious!  And best of all (in the GC’s eyes at least), the prices were extremely reasonable.  We both absolutely fell in love with the place and cannot wait to go back!

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Besides being a filming location, Le Petit Bistro is also something of a celebrity hot spot. Just a few of the famous faces who have dined there over the years include Dr. Dre, Neve Campbell, Julio Iglesias, Alfred Molina, Sean Connery, Salma Hayek, Robert Forster, Denise Grayson, Suzanne Somers, director Jared Hess, and Flight of the Conchords’ Jemaine Clement.

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Ironically enough, the very brief exterior establishing shot of Annie and Charlie’s date restaurant on 90210 was not of Le Petit Bistro, but of a different L.A.-area French eatery – Figaro Bistrot, which is located at 1802 North Vermont Avenue in Los Feliz.  While making screen captures for today’s post, I immediately recognized Figaro as I have walked past the cute little French restaurant numerous times in the past and have always wanted to stalk it due to its appearance in a Louis Vuitton ad featuring Madonna (which you can see photographs of here).  And I should clarify here that while I have never been a particularly big fan of Madonna, I am a HUGE fan of Louis Vuitton.  Winking smile I also spotted Archie Panjabi, who plays investigator Kalinda Sharma on The Good Wife, dining on Figaro’s sidewalk patio a couple of months back.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Le Petit Bistro, from the “How Much Is That Liam In The Window” episode of 90210, is located at 631 North La Cienega Boulevard, just north of Restaurant Row, in West Hollywood.  You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.

Mr. Bones Pumpkin Patch . . . A Second Time

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This past weekend, I dragged the Grim Cheaper out to one of my all time favorite Halloween-themed stalking locations – Mr. Bones Pumpkin Patch in West Hollywood.  The family owned and operated patch, which is located on a vacant plot of land on North Doheny Drive in between Keith and Harland Avenues, has been serving L.A.’s west side since 1986 and each year during the month of October is the place to see and be seen in Southern California.  And even though I’ve actually blogged about this location once before, way back in October of 2008, since it is a landmark Haunted Hollywood stalking venue, I thought it was only fitting that I write about it once again since we are just a few days away from Halloween. 

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For whatever reason – I am guessing due mostly to its centralized location – the patch has been a celebrity magnet ever since its inception almost two and a half decades ago.  Anyone who’s anyone stops by there during the month of October for a bit of Halloween fun.  Just a few of the stars who have been spotted there recently include Tobey Maguire and Jennifer Meyer, Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale, Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott, The Girls Next Door’s Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt, Britney Spears, Marcia Cross, Scott Baio, Chris Noth, Sara Gilbert, Justin Chambers, Jessica Alba, Mark Wahlberg, Courteney Cox, Christina Aguilera, Laurence Fishburne, Halle Berry, Usher, Breckin Meyer, Dave Grohl, Victoria’s Secret-model Alessandra Ambrosio, and Cougar Town’s Busy Philipps.  I could literally go on and on here, but that gives you somewhat of an idea of the patch’s extensive celebrity clientele.  Unfortunately, the GC and I did not see any stars while we were stalking the place this past Sunday, but we did run into Heidi Klum and Seal during our first visit there back in 2007 (the two are pictured above) and last year we missed both Tori Spelling and Gwen Stefani by mere minutes!  UGH!

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And while I love Mr. Bones, I must admit that the Grim Cheaper isn’t too crazy about the place thanks to the fact that they charge a $4 entrance fee for each adult (kids are $2).  That fee can later be applied to any pumpkins or Halloween merchandise that is purchased, but as the GC says, Mr. Bones has to be the only pumpkin patch on the planet that has a cover charge.  😉  Besides pumpkins, the patch also boasts plenty of activities to keep the kids (and those adults who want to join in on the fun) occupied, including a large pumpkin-shaped jump house, face painting, a super slide, a small straw maze, a petting zoo, and a pumpkin decorating station.  The patch also offers catered lunches of pizza, kosher hot dogs, and sausages.  And I can personally attest to the fact that the hot dogs there are fabulous.  😉

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Mr. Bones also boasts quite a large paparazzi following.  The paps have been a fixture there pretty much ever since the place first opened.  As you can see in the above pictures, for a time Mr. Bones employees tried to thwart photographers’ efforts by surrounding the property with large black-out curtains which blocked views of the patch from the street.  And each year it seemed that not only did those curtains grow taller and taller, but so did the paparazzo’s ladders.

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But this year things changed considerably.  I guess the patch has now resigned itself to the fact that as long as it is going to be there each year, so are the paparazzi, because they have now set up a cordoned off “press area” at the corner of the property in which the photogs are allowed to stand and take pictures.  A pumpkin patch with a cover charge and a press area?  Only in L.A., I swear!  SO LOVE IT!

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I honestly cannot recommend stalking Mr. Bones enough!  Be forewarned, though, its pumpkins do run on the expensive side – but, then again, you can’t put a price tag on celebrity sightings now can you?  🙂 

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: Mr. Bones Pumpkin Patch is located at 702 North Doheny Drive in West Hollywood.  You can visit the official Mr. Bones website here.  The patch is open this year from October 2nd through the 31st.  Mr. Bones charges a cover fee of $4 per adult and $2 per child during the weekends.  That fee can later be applied to the cost of any pumpkins or Halloween merchandise that is purchased while there.