Shaheen’s House from "Into the Night"

Last week, fellow stalker Owen, from the When Write Is Wrong blog, emailed me with the following message, “I know you aren’t big on blogging about popular movie locations, especially those discussed elsewhere on the Internet (which is why I have SADLY never been able to read about Marty McFly’s house on your site!!!), but I have a location that may be of interest.”  His logic was five-fold: “The reasons I think it may be worth an IAMNOTASTALKER post: 1. It’s from Into the Night — not exactly a popular movie or a location that has been discussed ad nauseam online.  2. The house is in San Marino, which isn’t too far from where you live … or at least where you live for the next few weeks.  3. The house is definitely unique.  It has mosque-like architecture yet is in the midst of a neighborhood of typical suburban homes.  It seems soooooooo out of place.  4. Because it’s so out of place, I’m curious if there is a story behind it.  If there is, I suppose it’d make for an interesting blog.  5. In addition to the house’s uniqueness, its grounds are impeccably manicured … or at least look that way from the ‘street view’ on Google Maps.  It would probably make for some nice photos.”  I was, of course, intrigued by Owen’s email and immediately popped the address he provided into Google.  Well, let me tell you, once I saw the Street View image of the place, I knew that it was a must-stalk and dragged the Grim Cheaper right on over there less than 24 hours later.  Thank you, Owen!

I did not tell the GC anything about the house prior to us stalking it and I believe his exact words upon first pulling up to the place were, “What the #&%@!& is that?”  LOL  To say the dwelling is unique would be an understatement.  In fact, I think it is safe to say that I have never seen anything quite like it before in my entire life.  Well, outside of Disneyland, anyway.

Owen was certainly correct in his assertion – the abode is definitely out of place in the neighborhood and bears a significant difference from the Anywhere, U.S.A.-style residences located directly to its left and right, both of which are pictured below.

You can see its disparity from the neighboring homes below.

According to An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles, the home has been dubbed “The Mosque” by neighboring residents.  And while the book states that the four-bedroom, four-bath, 5,283-square-foot structure, which sits on 0.54 acres, was originally built in 1980, all of the property records that I was able to dig up dated its construction at 1973.  Amazingly enough, though, outside of the one-sentence blurb in An Architectural Guidebook, I could not find any history of the place online or in print, which is absolutely bizarre!  I mean come on, a house like that must have some sort of a backstory.  The only information that I was able to gather online was that the same people who originally purchased the property in 1973 (and who also most likely commissioned the place) still own it to this day.

Even odder still was the fact that I could not find a copy of Into the Night anywhere!  For whatever reason, the 1985 flick is not available to stream on iTunes, Netflix, Amazon, or YouTube.  None of my local Blockbusters had the DVD, either, nor did Vidiots in Santa Monica, which usually stocks every movie known to man.  I think it is safe to say that I spent more time trying to track down a copy of the flick than I did researching the house!  Thankfully, I was finally able to find the DVD at Videotheque in South Pasadena, which wound up being one of the coolest video stores that I have ever been to.  I highly recommend a visit if you are looking for a hard-to-find rental.  But I digress.  The Moorish-style residence, which is supposedly located in Beverly Hills’ Trousdale Estates neighborhood, only appears once in Into the Night, in the scene in which Ed Okin (Jeff Goldblum) goes to the home of Shaheen Parvici (Irene Papas) to sell some stolen jewels.

As you can see below, the home has not changed much in the 28 years since Into the Night was filmed.

Although, the reflecting pool shown in the flick featured a fountain that is no longer there.  And while the façade of the home appeared to be gray in Into the Night, I am not sure if the exterior was actually that color at the time of the filming or if it appeared to be so due to the movie’s lighting.

The real life interior of the home was also used in Into the Night.

As was the property’s massive pool and central courtyard area.

You can check out some fabulous aerial views of the pool and courtyard on Bing Maps.  What I wouldn’t give to see the pool in person!  It looks pretty amazing.

Fellow stalker Gilles informed me that the house also appeared in the Season 5 episode of Dynasty titled “Domestic Intrigue” as the supposed Istanbul, Turkey-area hotel where Adam Carrington (Gordon Thomson) met with Dominique Deveraux (Diahann Carroll).

The interior of the property masqueraded as the interior of the palace belonging to Rashid Ahmed (John Saxon) in the episode.  For the exterior of Rashid’s palace, an incredibly unique mansion named Casa Blanca in Carpinteria was used – a place I am definitely going to have to stalk in the near future!  You can check out some photographs of it here.

You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER.  And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

Big THANK YOU to Owen, from the When Write Is Wrong blog, for telling me about this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Shaheen’s house from Into the Night is located at 2250 Montecito Drive in San Marino.