Don’t forget to read my latest Los Angeles magazine post here – about the apartment building from Taken, as well as my review of Taken 3. My articles typically get published in the late morning/early afternoon hours.
St. Vincent Court from “The Mentalist”
I cannot wait for the Secret L.A.-themed February issue of Los Angeles magazine to hit newsstands! The City of Angels is chock full of tucked-away gems and I absolutely love discovering them. The Grim Cheaper and I just stalked one, in fact, that is also a filming location – St. Vincent Court, which appeared in a recent episode of The Mentalist. I first discovered the tiny and incredibly unique alleyway while on a Watson Adventures’ Downtown L.A. Movie Locations Scavenger Hunt with Mike, from MovieShotsLA, back in November 2010. So I recognized it immediately when it popped up on The Mentalist and ran right out to re-stalk it while in L.A. last week.
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St. Vincent Court is so named because it stands on the site of what was Los Angeles’ first college, Saint Vincent’s College. The school was originally founded in 1865 at the Lugo Adobe House. Two years later, it moved to a two-story building on 6th Street, between Hill and Broadway, in downtown L.A. St. Vincent Court, which is actually a small alleyway, was known as St. Vincent Place at the time and served as the main pathway onto the campus. In 1887, the school relocated to a new venue and the property subsequently served as a military compound. Then, in 1906, it was chosen to be the location of the very first Bullocks department store. The new store was constructed on the corner of 7th and Broadway, adjacent to St. Vincent Place, which was used as a pass through and for deliveries. Bullocks soon purchased the building located across the alley and built an air bridge to connect the two structures. The alley became dirty and dingy, as alleys tend to do, though, and in 1956 Bullocks and the City of L.A. teamed up to give the small space a facelift. Façades and false fronts were built, awnings installed, a café and flower shop added, and the alley’s name changed to St. Vincent Court. The site was dedicated in 1957 and became a California Registered Historical Landmark that same year.
St. Vincent Court is situated behind a rather unremarkable breezeway and is virtually hidden from view. Despite the signage out front announcing its existence, one could easily walk by without even realizing it is there.
From the outside, it looks like any other of the city’s non-descript alleys. Step inside, though, and you’ll find that it is anything but.
Inside, the place looks like Disneyland.
The fake balconies;
ornate overhangs;
whimsical signage;
elaborate doorways and windows;
and sidewalk seating . . .
. . . . all add up to give the alley an amusement park/movie set/fake European/old world-feel. To say that St. Vincent Court is unique is a vast understatement. The place is like a Hollywood backlot that has been randomly plopped into the middle of downtown.
Despite some recent opposition to outdoor seating in the alley, mid-week St. Vincent Court is typically bustling with hungry downtowners seeking authentic European and Mediterranean-style meals at lunchtime.
In the Season 7 episode of The Mentalist titled “Orange Blossom Ice Cream,” Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) and Teresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney) went undercover in Beirut in order to capture a terrorist. No filming actually took place in the Middle East, though. Instead production simply headed to . . . downtown Los Angeles. The hotel where Patrick and Teresa stayed in the episode was none other than the Millennium Biltmore.
Two of the Biltmore’s hallways were used in the episode . . .
. . . but I am fairly certain that Jane and Lisbon’s suite was just a set built on a soundstage at Warner Bros. Studios where The Mentalist is lensed.
For outdoor filming, production head to St. Vincent Court. The alley was first shown in the scene in which Patrick was taken to meet with terrorist Jan Nemic (Mark Ivanir).
Nemic’s lair was actually the back side of the Los Angeles Theatre.
Later in the episode, Lisbon and Jane dined on some manakish at a local Beirut eatery.
The restaurant scene was filmed at the Sevan Garden Kebab House, which is located at the northeastern end of St. Vincent Court. Unfortunately, I did not get any photos of the place’s interior. You can check some out here, though.
After dinner, Jane and Lisbon head out to St. Vincent Court and hail a cab.
At the end of the episode, Lisbon and Jane are shown walking up the Biltmore’s stairs . . .
. . . and onto the hotel’s rooftop to share some orange blossom ice cream.
St. Vincent Court also appeared in the Season 1 episode of Moonlight titled “Out of the Past.”
Memphis Raines (Nicolas Cage) sped through the alley while being chased by cops in Gone in 60 Seconds
And Taylor Swift danced there in her “Delicate” music video.
For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 
Stalk It: St. Vincent Court, from the “Orange Blossom Ice Cream” episode of The Mentalist, is located on 7th Street, in between South Hill Street and Broadway, in downtown Los Angeles’ Jewelry District.
Burning Man’s House from “Major Crimes”
My friend Owen and I share an uncanny synchronicity. The other night I received an email from him which said the following, “837 Beacon Ave., L.A. You may want to stalk this place after you watch the Season 7 premiere of Parks and Recreation.” I had yet to see the episode, but immediately looked up the address via Google Street View and just about fell off my chair. The very same house had also appeared in that week’s Major Crimes and I had made a mental note while watching to track it down. As I said, uncanny! It was as if Owen had read my mind!
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The reason Owen thought I would be interested in stalking the residence should be apparent to those who read my site regularly. As you can see below, the property is abandoned and there is nothing this stalker loves more than an abandoned site.
In the Major Crimes episode that I had watched, Season 3’s “Special Master: Part Two,” the Major Crimes Division gang tried to catch a serial murderer/rapist known as “Burning Man” who was killing women in abandoned houses all over L.A. They finally manage to locate him at his abandoned childhood home in what is said to be Boyle Heights. In reality, though, the property is in Westlake.
The interior of the residence also appeared in the episode.
In the Season 7 episode of Parks and Recreation titled “2017,” which aired the day after “Special Master: Part Two,” April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza) and Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt) stumbled upon an open house at the property while driving through Pawnee, Indiana’s “creepy Warehouse District.”
I loved the fact that the owner was holding open houses every day in the episode. He was really motivated to sell! 
While touring the interior, Andy states that the residence has the “fairly standard layout” of 12 closets, 3 bomb shelters, 5 dumbwaiters, 2 and 3/8 baths, and no kitchens.” Ah yes, and there is also a staircase to nowhere and a fire pole on the premises. Once the couple learns that the pad used to be a holding cell for assembly line workers from the Pawnee Doll Head Factory who had gone insane, they spontaneously decide to purchase it. Sold!
In real life, the property, which was originally built in 1895, boasts 6 bedrooms, 2 baths, 3,264 square feet of living space, and a 0.18-acre plot of land. And I am guessing that it does actually have a kitchen.
Though the property is abandoned in real life, I think it is in better shape than its façade would have one believe. Granted the place is not turn-key by any means, but it’s not dilapidated, either. I am also fairly certain that the windows are boarded up in order to protect them and not due to being broken.
Owen also let me know that April and Andy’s new home had appeared in several other productions over the years. In the Season 8 episode of The X-Files titled “Via Negativa,” which aired in 2000, the house serves as the supposed Pittsburgh headquarters of the Third Eye cult.
The interior of the property also appears in the episode.
Detective Michael Raines (Jeff Goldblum) and his team arrest some murder suspects at the house in the Season 1 episode of Raines titled “The Fifth Step,” which aired in 2007. Only the interior of the residence is featured in the episode.
In the Season 2 episode of The Mentalist titled “The Scarlet Letter,” which aired in 2009, the home masks as an apartment building where the stepmother of a murder victim lives.
The interior of the dwelling was also utilized in the filming, though obviously altered to appear as if it was comprised of separate apartment units.
That same year, the property was featured in the movie Blood and Bone as the boarding house where Isaiah Bone (Michael Jai White) stays after being released from prison.
The interior of the home also appears in the movie.
As you can see, it is in much better shape than one would expect. The woodwork is gorgeous! All the place needs is a little Magic Eraser and it would be amazing!
For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.
Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Owen, from the When Write Is Wrong blog, for finding this location! 
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: Burning Man’s house from Major Crimes is located at 837 Beacon Avenue in Westlake.
South Fork Inn from “Revenge”
Finding today’s location had me feeling like a complete moron. Though my obsession with Revenge has waned in recent months (I have only watched three episodes from the current season), I remained hell-bent on tracking down the Colonial-style structure used in establishing shots of the South Fork Inn on the series. I figured the location was most likely a private home and scoured the internet for months looking for it, all to no avail. Then a couple of weeks ago, I decided to once again try my hand at finding it and proceeded to search through every location database that I knew of, comparing the Colonial-style homes listed with screen captures from the show. I found the right spot fairly quickly and could not believe my eyes once I did. Turns out the location is well-known to me – it was featured regularly and prominently on my favorite TV show of all time, Beverly Hills, 90210. South Fork Inn is none other than the Marion Davies Guest House at the Annenberg Community Beach House, aka the former Sand & Sea Club, aka the very same spot that stood in for the Beverly Hills Beach Club on 90210. (Insert facepalm here.) Granted, the property has changed quite a bit since 90210 filmed on the premises, but still, how I did not recognize it is beyond me.
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The five-acre beachfront property, which was originally known as Ocean House, was constructed in 1928 at a cost of $3.5 million for newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst and his mistress, Marion Davies. The lavish compound was designed in the Georgian Colonial-style by architects Julia Morgan and William Flannery. The site was comprised of a three-story main house featuring 55 bathrooms, 37 fireplaces, a theatre, a ballroom and a basement pub. The property also boasted three detached guest houses, as well as servants quarters, dog kennels, tennis courts, and two swimming pools. (Flannery designed the main estate, while Morgan was responsible for the pool, guest houses and other detached structures, as well as all interiors.) The parties held at the compound during Hearst and Davies’ tenure there were legendary and often included guest lists numbering in the thousands. Such luminaries as Howard Hughes, Clark Gable, Charlie Chaplin, Bette Davis, Carole Lombard, Cary Grant, Winston Churchill, and Gloria Swanson all spent time at the massive estate at one time or another.
Hearst and Davies vacated the mansion in 1946 in order to move to Beverly Hills. The couple took quite a loss on the place, selling it to a man named Joseph Drown for a measly $600,000. Drown immediately transformed the site into a hotel named Oceanhouse and a beach club named the Sand & Sea Club. The hotel was never a huge success, though, and in 1956, Drown had the main house and many of the original structures demolished. He then added three new buildings to the premises and continued to operate the property as the Sand & Sea Club.
For reasons that are a bit hazy, the land where the Sand & Seas Club stood was acquired by the State of California in 1959. The state in turn handed management of the land over to the City of Santa Monica. It was still being leased back by Drown, though, and the site run as a beach club. In 1964, Drown sold the club to Douglas Badt, who continued to operate it as the Sand & Sea Club until October 1990, when the city decided that a private club could not be situated on public land. It became a public club for a short time after that and was used often for filming. Then, the 1994 Northridge Earthquake rendered the site unsuitable for public use. It sat vacant and boarded up for several years following. (I took the below photo of the place in 2000.)
The city eventually started making plans to renovate the site and turn it into a public beach club, and renowned philanthropist Wallis Annenberg donated $28 million to the cause. Annenberg had been a member of the Sand & Sea Club as a child and wanted to see the once-great property resurrected. During the renovation, all of the remaining Ocean House structures were demolished, aside from one of the guest houses, which is currently known as the Marion Davies Guest House . . .
. . . and a 110-foot Italian marble swimming pool. Sadly, other than those two elements, no part of Hearst’s original compound, or the Sand & Sea Club remains.
The Annenberg Community Beach House opened on April 25, 2009. The site is open to the public daily and is also used as a special events/wedding venue – and, of course, for filming.
The Marion Davies Guest House pops up regularly as the South Fork Inn on Revenge.
The Guest House is only used for establishing shots, though. The interior of the Inn is just a set built inside of a soundstage at MBS Media Campus where the series is lensed.
In the pilot episode of Revenge, which was shot on location in North Carolina, the City Club of Wilmington was used as the exterior of the South Fork Inn.
Oddly, the interior South Fork Inn scenes from that episode were shot elsewhere, though.
As you can see in the images below, the property used for interior filming (which could very well be a private residence) is addressed “400.” That number does not match up to the address of the City Club of Wilmington, which is located at 23 South 2nd Street. UPDATE – A fellow stalker named Brian let me know that the interior scenes were shot at the Dudley Mansion located at 400 South Front Street in Wilmington. You can see some interior photographs of the place here.
Fellow stalker Glenn also just let me know that a different exterior was used as the South Fork Inn in the Season 3 episode titled “Homecoming.” That location is actually The Culver Studios at 9336 West Washington Boulevard in Culver City.
The Annenberg Community Beach House also popped up in the Season 3 episode of Revenge titled “Confession,” this time as a swanky beach club in the scene in which Nolan Ross (Gabriel Mann) first met Patrick Osbourne (Justin Hartley).
Filming of that scene took place on the patio overlooking the pool area.
During the second and third seasons of Beverly Hills, 90210, which aired in 1991 and 1992, the Sand & Sea Club masked as the Beverly Hills Beach Club, where Brandon Walsh (Jason Priestley) worked and the rest of the West Bev gang hung out. The Marion Davies Guest House was not used in the filming of those episodes, though. [To make screen captures for this post, I had to re-watch several of the episodes in which Dylan McKay (Luke Perry) and Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth) cheated on my girl Brenda Walsh (Shannen Doherty) and let’s just say it had me feeling all kinds of ragey! ;)]
During the third season of Saved by the Bell (or fifth, if you’re watching Netflix), which aired in 1991, the Sand & Sea Club masked as the Malibu Sands Beach Club, where Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) and the gang worked for a summer.
While the Marion Davies Guest House was not used in the filming of Saved by the Bell, either, it was briefly visible in the background of the episode titled “The Game,” as you can see below.
No interior filming of Saved by the Bell took place at the Sand & Sea Club. The interior of the Malibu Sands Beach Club was just a set built inside of a soundstage.
While doing research on the Sand & Sea Club for this post, I came across the photograph below. Apparently, Bethenny Frankel was a Production Assistant on Saved by the Bell during the early ‘90s and worked on some of the beach club episodes! How cool is that?
The Sand & Sea Club also made an appearance in the 1990 movie Side Out.
For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 
Stalk It: The Marion Davis Guest House, aka South Fork Inn from Revenge, is part of the Annenberg Community Beach House, which is located at 415 Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica. You can visit the property’s official website here.
New “L.A.” Mag Post – About the Los Altos Apartments
Be sure to check out my new Los Angeles magazine post here – about the Los Altos Apartments from Transparent. My articles typically get published in the late morning/early afternoon hours.
FBI Headquarters from “The Mentalist”
Around this time last year, The Mentalist embarked on a huge change of course by having Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) and Teresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney) leave the Sacramento-based California Bureau of Investigation and then join the Austin, Texas branch of the FBI. So, of course, that meant that I had a new location to find – the building used as FBI Headquarters. I spent countless hours searching for the stunningly modern structure, though, but was never able to track it down. For a while, I even thought it might actually be located in the Lone Star State. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I enlisted the help of my friend Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, and he came through big time! While doing a Google Image search, he happened upon this Tumblr page on which a commenter stated that the building used on the series is the Dr. Dianne G. Van Hook University Center at the College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita. As soon as Owen shared the information with me, I became desperate to stalk the place. So last week, when we headed out to West L.A. for my dad’s doctors appointments, I begged the Grim Cheaper to take a little detour to Santa Clarita beforehand. Despite the fact that this would take us sixty miles out of our way (round-trip), he agreed! He’s seriously so good to me!
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The Dianne G. Van Hook University Center was designed by architect Leo A. Daly in 2010 at a cost of almost $29 million. The 110,000-square-foot ultra-modern structure contains 23 classrooms, 6 computer labs, 6 meeting rooms, a lecture hall/theatre, a book store, a video conference room, and a large outdoor patio. The building was named in honor of the college’s longtime superintendent/president, Dr. Dianne G. Van Hook, who has been running the COC since 1988.
Though the College of the Canyons has appeared in countless productions over the years (including Weeds, NCIS, and The Girl Next Door), for this post I am focusing solely on the University Center. The building first showed up in the Season 6 episode of The Mentalist titled “My Blue Heaven” and has subsequently been used in every episode since, usually in establishing shots.
The Dianne G. Van Hook University Center is just as stunning in person as it is onscreen. I love how the façade is made up of both sharp and rounded lines.
The interior of the building also pops up occasionally on The Mentalist, so I was beyond thrilled to discover that it is accessible to the public.
The University Center’s interior is also just as stunning in person as it is onscreen.
In the recently-aired Season 7 episode of The Mentalist titled “The Silver Briefcase,” Lisbon and Jane were shown walking along the building’s catwalk . . .
. . . and down the main staircase.
So I just had to pose for a pic on the stairs. 
The building’s incredible views were also shown in “The Silver Briefcase.” Man, what I wouldn’t give to see that place at night!
The interior of the actual FBI offices on The Mentalist are sets located inside of a soundstage at Warner Bros. Studio in Burbank. I actually got to see those sets while on a tour of the lot back in June with my friends Lavonna, Kim, Kaylee and Katie. Unfortunately, no photographs were allowed, though.
The University Center also popped up in the Season 12 episode of NCIS titled “Blast From the Past” as the spot where Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) went undercover as an IT specialist.
Big THANK YOU to Owen, from the When Write Is Wrong blog, for finding this location!
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: Dr. Dianne G. Van Hook University Center, aka the Austin Headquarters of the FBI on The Mentalist, is located on the College of the Canyons campus in Santa Clarita. The building does not have an exact address, but is situated on University Center Drive, just west of where it intersects with Rockwell Canyon Road.
My Latest “L.A.” Mag Post – About Beso from “Gone Girl”
Don’t forget to check out my latest Los Angeles magazine post here – about Beso restaurant from Gone Girl. My articles typically get published in the late morning/early afternoon hours.
Hyatt Westlake Plaza from “The Karate Kid”
2014 was definitely the year of The Karate Kid. Not only did the flick turn thirty, but two of its missing locations were finally found – Mr. Miyagi’s house, which I blogged about here, and the fictional Encino Oaks Country Club, which, as it turns out, was actually the Hyatt Westlake Plaza hotel in Thousand Oaks. The latter was only brought to my attention recently thanks to this June LA Weekly article. So while I was in the area one (very rainy) day a couple of weeks ago, I stopped by to investigate further.
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I had actually stalked the Hyatt Westlake Plaza once before, way back in February 2010, because of its appearance in the Season 1 episode of fave show Beverly Hills, 90210 titled “Palm Springs Weekend.” (You can read that post here.) I later came to find out that the hotel was also used for some interior filming in the Season 5 episodes titled “P.S. I Love You: Part I” and “P.S. I Love You: Part II,” which were also set in Palm Springs. As I said in that post, which you can read here, Hyatt Westlake Plaza was obviously 90210’s go-to Palm Springs hotel stand-in. But more on that in a bit.
In The Karate Kid, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) heads to the Encino Oaks Country Club to pick up Ali Mills (Elisabeth Shue) for a date. Ali tells Daniel that she will meet him outside at 9:30, but she winds up being late. According to the LA Weekly article, Daniel waited for her just outside of the Hyatt Westlake Plaza’s main entrance. Thankfully, that information was easy to verify as the hotel’s entrance looks exactly the same today as it did in the fall of 1983, when The Karate Kid was shot.
In the scene, Daniel stood in front of the easternmost beam of the hotel’s porte-cochère.
You can even see the Hyatt’s tiled lobby fountain in the background, which was also visible in the “P.S. I Love You” episodes of 90210.
Today, the fountain is no longer tiled, but its shape remains the same as it was when 90210 was filmed in 1995.
Once Daniel gets tired of waiting for Ali in The Karate Kid, he heads inside the country club to try to see what is holding her up. He sneaks in through the kitchen and eventually sees Ali in a luxe ballroom kissing his nemesis, Johnny (William Zabka). According to LA Weekly, filming of that scene took place in the Hyatt’s Grand Plaza Ballroom, so I headed inside to check it out. Sadly, due to the fact that the hotel has been remodeled several times over the past thirty years, it no longer looks anything like it did onscreen, which gave me some pause.
The most notable change was that of the chandeliers. In The Karate Kid, the ballroom chandeliers were made of ornate crystals, while the room’s current chandeliers are almost Mediterranean in style and feature iron accents.
I did notice that the ballroom’s recessed ceiling squares and positioning of heating vents did appear to be a direct match with what appeared in The Karate Kid. Despite that fact, though, I started to have doubts about the location. It was hard for me to believe that the hotel would do away with such fancy crystal chandeliers, especially considering that the new chandeliers make the room much less elegant and far more casual. I thought it was more likely that filming had taken place at a different spot, one that still had those chandeliers in place.
I also was unable to locate the set of double doors that led to the kitchen in the movie, which only gave me further hesitation that the Grand Plaza Ballroom was the ballroom from The Karate Kid. I know, I know. I was definitely nitpicking, especially considering that it has been thirty years since filming took place. What can I say? I don’t like to be 95% sure, or 99% sure, or even 99.9% sure about locations I present on my blog. Before reporting anything, I want to be 100% certain about all of my assertions.
This past Monday, I started searching for other ‘80s productions filmed at the hotel, hoping one might show the Grand Plaza Ballroom. If I could find some sort of image of the ballroom and those crystal chandeliers were indeed in place, then I could verify that it was the same spot used in The Karate Kid. Thanks to IMDB, I learned that Hyatt Westlake Plaza had been featured in two Season 6 episodes of Knots Landing, “Vulnerable” and “The Long and Winding Road.” The episodes were filmed in 1985, just two years after The Karate Kid was shot. I spent hours searching for them online, but, sadly, Knots Landing is not available to watch anywhere! I finally managed to find a (rather dramatic) scene from the “Vulnerable” episode on YouTube and, miraculously, it took place in the Grand Plaza Ballroom! Eureka! You can watch it by clicking below.
Maddeningly though, the cameras never panned high enough in the scene to show the chandeliers. I did spot some similarities between the Knots Landing ballroom and The Karate Kid ballroom, though. As you can see below, the single and double wood frame décor elements were present in both productions.
The chair railings that run across both rooms are also a match.
As is the shaping of the doorframes. The wallpaper also seems to be the same in both films, though it is hard to tell.
I still was not convinced that the two rooms were one and the same, though. I wanted to see an image of those chandeliers! That would clinch things for me. Then, like a lightning bolt, it hit me! I suddenly remembered that in “P.S. I Love You: Part II,” Donna Martin (Tori Spelling) made a speech to her fellow sorority sisters – wait for it – in a ballroom. I immediately popped in my DVD of the episode and, sure enough, the crystal chandeliers from The Karate Kid were visible! I finally had my confirmation!
While I was at it, I figured I might as well also chronicle all of the productions filmed on the premises. In the 1985 movie Tuff Turf, Hyatt Westlake Plaza once again masqueraded as a country club, this time the El Canyon Country Club that Morgan Hiller (James Spader), Frankie Croyden (The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ Kim Richards) and their friends snuck into. The front exterior of the property . . .
. . . and the lobby area were used in the flick.
Oddly though, the ballroom featured in the movie was actually the Riviera Country Club’s Crystal Ballroom in Pacific Palisades. You can see pictures of it here.
As I mentioned above, Hyatt Westlake Plaza appeared in two episodes of Knots Landing, Season 6’s “Vulnerable” and “The Long and Winding Road.” In the episodes, the hotel was where Mack MacKenzie (Kevin Dobson) and Karen MacKenzie (Michele Lee) confronted the shady Dr. Ackerman (Laurence Haddon) while he was participating in a bridge tournament. After the confrontation, Dr. Ackerman runs outside to the Hyatt’s parking lot and shoots himself.
In the Season 1 episode of Beverly Hills 90210 titled “Palm Springs Weekend,” which aired in 1991, the Hyatt Westlake Plaza masked as two hotels. It first stood in for the Desert Palm Mirage, where Brenda Walsh (Shannen Doherty) thought she was supposed to meet Dylan McKay (Luke Perry) for a romantic rendezvous.
“I had to sleep in a broom closet!”
And it also played the Desert Mirage, the hotel where Brenda later caught Dylan with another girl.
I so love that the elevators still look exactly the same today as they did when 90210 was filmed 24 years ago.
In Season 5’s “P.S. I Love You” episodes, the Hyatt was used as the interior of the hotel where the KEG/Alpha Convention was being held.
The Hyatt’s hot tub was also used in the scene in which Brandon Walsh (Jason Priestley) and Valerie Malone (Tiffani Thiessen) almost rendezvoused. The hot tub is denoted with a yellow arrow in the photograph below (which I got off of the hotel’s website). It is located just beyond the pool. As you can see, the tiered shaping of the top of the pillar visible behind Brandon on 90210 matches that of the Hyatt’s pillars. And the boulders situated near the pool are also a match to what appeared onscreen.
Hyatt Westlake Plaza has also appeared on The Bachelor. For a time, it was where contestants were put up prior to moving into the mansion. I do not believe that it has been used in the show’s more current seasons, though. The screen captures below were taken from the first episode of the series’ 14th season, which starred Jake Pavelka.
On a side-note – my dad has a couple of doctor appointments in L.A. this week and I am heading out there with him. While I will have a new Los Angeles magazine post for tomorrow, I will not have a new post for Friday.
For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 
Stalk It: Hyatt Westlake Plaza, aka Encino Oaks Country Club from The Karate Kid, is located at 880 South Westlake Boulevard in Thousand Oaks. You can visit the hotel’s official website here.
Big Red Sun from “Chef”
Spoiler alert! If you have not yet seen Chef (and if not, what’s the hold up? I told y’all on Friday that it was one of my favorite movies of 2014!), you might not want to read today’s post as I will definitely be spoiling the ending. Don’t say I didn’t warn you! Anyhow, at the conclusion of Chef, Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) is approached by his food critic nemesis, Ramsey Michel (Oliver Platt), who informs him that he would like to financially back him in the opening of a new restaurant. Ramsey says that he has already secured a space for the venture on “Rose Avenue in Venice.” The movie then flashes six months into the future to a scene in which Carl is show re-marrying his ex-wife, Inez (Sofia Vergara), inside of his new eatery named El Jefe. Well, once I managed to track down Inez’s house from the flick, I immediately set about finding El Jefe. Thankfully, it was not that difficult of an undertaking.
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Because Ramsey had mentioned Rose Avenue when talking to Carl about the restaurant, I decided to begin my search there and, sure enough, found the El Jefe space at 560 Rose, just a few blocks west of Lincoln Boulevard. In real life, the space does not house an eatery, but a gift shop named Big Red Sun.
Actually to call the place a gift shop would be oversimplifying. In reality, Big Red Sun is a boutique, a nursery and a special events venue all rolled into one. The store was originally founded by landscape artist Selena Souders in 2008. Selena had first opened a Big Red Sun in Austin, Texas in 1994. She would often travel to Los Angeles to purchase succulent plants and other goods to sell there and soon was dreaming of opening a West Coast outpost. She acquired an adorable little cottage in 2007, painted it royal blue and repurposed it into a retail space. Big Red Sun: Venice was opened the following year. (The Texas outpost is still in operation, as well.) Because the site is so unique, Selena also decided to offer it up to host special events. You can check out some photographs of a wedding held on the premises here. (Notice the pics of David Foster at the top of the page! Loves it!)
I fell in love with Big Red Sun upon first glance. The shop sells some of the most unique items for the home that I have ever seen. I ended up purchasing the really cool coconut shell-looking planter pictured below to put in the Grim Cheaper’s advent calendar. (He is a major green thumb.) The site sells many nursery-type materials, but also stocks specialty gifts and home décor items. Had I had more time to spend there, I am sure I would have purchased countless other goodies.
I so wanted to come home with the amazing succulent garden pictured below, but I am pretty sure the GC would have killed me.
Chef made extensive use of the Big Red Sun property . . .
. . . and featured several areas of the store, including the front exterior.
In the movie, the El Jefe sign was placed where the Big Red Sun signage is in real life.
The interior was also used in Chef. For the shoot, all of the shop’s shelving and display pieces were removed to make the space look more like a restaurant. Despite that fact, though, it is still very recognizable from its onscreen appearance. I did not take any photos of the inside of the store as a large shipment of products had just been delivered and there were countless boxes scattered about the center of the room. Wish I could have stuck around to peruse what was in those boxes, because, as I said, the merchandise I did see was amazing. You can check out some photographs of the inside of Big Red Sun on Apartment Therapy here.
The store’s gorgeous backyard was also featured in the movie.
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Until next time, Happy Stalking! 
Stalk It: Big Red Sun, aka El Jefe restaurant from Chef, is located at 560 Rose Avenue in Venice. You can visit the shop’s official website here.
Inez’s House from “Chef”
My favorite movie of 2014 was, hands down, The Other Woman. Running a close second was Chef, which I am guessing many of you have not heard of. Sadly, it was a bit of a sleeper. Take my word for it, though, the flick is fabulous. As are its locations! But more on that in a minute. The Grim Cheaper and I first heard about Chef thanks to Carson Daly who talked about it on his morning radio show on 97.1 FM a couple of months back. Carson had just watched the movie the night prior and was mesmerized by it. He even mentioned that it made him cry. So when the GC and I came across the title when perusing the Instant Video selections on Amazon a couple of weeks back while spending the night at my parents’ house, we decided to watch it. And we all had much the same reaction as Carson. Chef is heartwarming, funny and feel-good. We absolutely loved it! One thing that had us debating during our viewing and repeatedly pausing the movie (much to the GC’s chagrin), though, was the real life location of Inez’s (Sofia Vergara) onscreen house.
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Because of its Spanish-style architecture, my mom and the GC were convinced that the residence was located in Pasadena. I had my doubts, though. If a place of that massive size and spectacular beauty was actually located in the Crown City, I figured I most likely would have come across it during my ten-plus years of living there. As it turns out, my instincts were right. After some digging, I ended up finding the pad in Brentwood.
Chef centers around Carl Casper (Jon Favreau, who produced, wrote, directed and starred in the movie), a high-end chef who loses his job after getting into a Twitter war with a food critic. Following the advice of his ex-wife, Inez, Carl winds up purchasing an old food truck in Miami and refurbishing it, before driving it back to Los Angeles, selling his fare along the way. His son, Percy (Emjay Anthony), accompanies him on the journey and their adventure is nothing short of magical. Inez’s house in the flick is quite magical, as well.
In real life, the residence, which was built in 1926, features five bedrooms, three baths and 6,430 square feet of living space.
The dwelling looks just as spectacular in person as it did onscreen.
The real life interior of the house, which you can see photographs of here, was also used in the flick.
For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 
Stalk It: Inez’s house from Chef is located at 250 South Bristol Avenue in Brentwood.