famous architecture – Page 8

October 20, 2010October 19, 2010

Stadium High School from “10 Things I Hate About You”

Yet another location that I stalked while vacationing in the Pacific Northwest this past May was Tacoma’s Stadium High School – the spot that stood in for Padua High in the 1999 teen comedy 10 Things I Hate About You. The Grim Cheaper and I, along with our good friends Kerry and Jim, visited this locale on our last day in Washington, whereupon we met up with fellow stalker David and his daughter, Olivia (pictured above), who live in the area. I was especially excited about stalking this location as it is an absolutely BEAUTIFUL place and is so incredibly unique in its architecture. When I first watched 10 Things over a decade ago, I was actually convinced that Padua High was a set that had been built solely for the filming. I was absolutely shocked to discover that the castle-like structure is, indeed, an actual high school in real life. I cannot even imagine being lucky enough to spend four years attending classes in a place like that! Sigh!

Stadium High School, which is located in the Stadium District of Tacoma, was first built in 1891 and was originally conceived as a luxury hotel which was set to be named either the Olympic or the Tourist. The hotel was commissioned by the Northern Pacific Railroad Company and the Tacoma Land Company and was designed by the Philadelphia-area architectural firm of Hewitt and Hewitt. Thanks to the Panic of 1893 and the Northern Pacific Railroad Company’s subsequent bankruptcy, though, construction on the French Renaissance-style hotel was abruptly stopped later that same year. The building, which at the time consisted of little more than a roof and exterior walls, was then turned into a lumber storage facility for the struggling railroad company. On October 11, 1898, disaster struck when a mysterious fire broke out at the unfinished structure, gutting the property completely. Shortly following the fire, the city made plans to demolish the decrepit building, until the Tacoma School District stepped in and purchased it on February 19, 1904. Architect Frederick Heath immediately set about transforming the vacant structure into a useable high school and on September 10, 1906, the then-named Tacoma High School opened its doors to its first students.

Three years later, Heath set about construction on a 2.5-acre, 32,000-seat stadium on a bluff situated adjacent to the school that overlooks the ocean. The new stadium was completed in 1910 and was given the name Stadium Bowl. The school’s name was eventually changed to Stadium High School in honor of the newly-built structure. The Bowl has been the site of numerous special events and speaking engagements over the years. Louis Armstrong once performed there and everyone from Baby Ruth to presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson have given speeches on the premises.

Stadium High School, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, is absolutely breathtaking in person. With its limestone and brick edifice, wrought iron detailing, and majestic views of Commencement Bay, I am extremely surprised that more productions have not found their way to the campus.

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The 10 Things I Hate About You crew spent six weeks shooting on location in Tacoma, dividing their time between the Stratford house, which I blogged about last month, and Stadium High School. Interestingly enough, according to an August 1998 News Tribune article (which I unfortunately cannot link to as the Tribune does not allow free access to its archives), the movie was originally set to be filmed right here in Los Angeles, but when the flick’s location scouts saw photographs of Stadium High School, they decided its look was perfect for their modern-day Shakespeare adaptation and the entire shoot was moved north. I find it so incredibly cool that an entire production was moved over 1,000 miles all because of one single location!

Stadium High School was used extensively throughout 10 Things I Hate About You. The areas of the school that were featured in the flick include the front entrance . . .

. . . and, according to one of the teachers that I spoke with while there, a few real life interiors – including the counselor’s office, the library, several classrooms, and a hallway.

Sadly though, the school’s interior was given an extensive facelift in 2006 and no longer looks the same as it did in the movie.

Stadium Bowl is the area of the school that was most memorably featured in 10 Things, though, and I am happy to report that it looks pretty much exactly the same today as it did back in June of 1998, when the movie was filmed. The Bowl first appeared in the scene in which Michael (aka David Krumholtz) accidentally rides his dirt bike off of a cliff.

It was later used in the scene in which Patrick Verona (aka Heath Ledger) – along with the Padua High School band – serenades Kat Stratford (aka Julia Stiles) with the Frankie Valli song “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”, which has to be one of my VERY favorite scenes in ALL of moviedom. Unfortunately, there is a large, locked fence which now surrounds the stadium, so I was not able to venture onto the bleachers to re-enact Patrick’s serenade. Such a bummer as that was one of the things I had most wanted to do while in Washington!

You can watch the serenade scene by clicking above.

And in a bit of trivia that fellow stalker David clued me into – the band Letters to Cleo was actually on the real life roof of Stadium High playing “I Want You To Want Me” during the filming of the movie’s final scene. And here I thought that whole segment had been shot in front of a green screen! So incredibly cool!

According to IMDB, the school was also featured in the 1990 romantic comedy I Love You To Death.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Stadium High School from 10 Things I Hate About You is located at 111 North E Street in Tacoma, Washington. In the movie, Heath Ledger danced in the southern portion of Stadium Bowl’s bleachers, in the area depicted by the pink circle in the above aerial view. Please remember that this location is a school and that it should not be stalked during operating hours when children are present. And please remember to always get permission from the front office before setting foot on any school campus.

October 15, 2010June 16, 2011

The Glen Capri Inn & Suites from “The Good Girl”

A few weeks ago, I dragged the Grim Cheaper out to stalk the Glen Capri Inn & Suites – a historic and oft-filmed Glendale-area motel that has appeared in over twenty movie and television productions in the past six years alone. I was most interested in stalking the property due to its appearance in the 2002 flick The Good Girl, which starred my girl Jen Aniston. And even though I didn’t like The Good Girl AT ALL (it was just far too dark and depressing for my taste), because JA had filmed there, I was dying to see the motel which was featured in it in person.

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The Glen Capri is famous not only for its vast motion picture history, but for its distinct architectural style, as well. The property was originally built in 1949 by Louis Armet and Eldon Davis, the architectural team who, according to an August 1999 Los Angeles Times article written by Ed Leibowitz, “defined ‘50s Googie architecture” – Googie being the unique mid-century modern-style of design which had its roots in the now-defunct, John Lautner-constructed Googies Coffee Shop. At the time of its grand opening, the Glen Capri Inn & Suites was called simply the Glen Capri Motel. In 2000, the interior of the property underwent an extensive remodel at which point it was given its more upscale-sounding moniker. Fortunately, the exterior of the property was left intact during the recent remodel and looks almost exactly the same today as it did when it was first built over six decades ago. It is thanks to the motel’s historic facade and authentic 60’s neon signage that location scouts have returned to film there time and time again.

Before arriving at the Glen Capri Inn & Suites, I was a little nervous that the place would not be very stalker-friendly and that taking photographs of the premises would be a big no-no. As it turns out, though, I needn’t have worried. The man working at the front desk was very nice and said that we could take all of the pictures that we wanted. AND there was even a “Wall of Fame” located in the main office, with signed headshots of all of the actors who had filmed at the motel on display.

As you can imagine, I just about died when I saw my girl Jen’s autographed picture hanging on the wall. SO INCREDIBLY COOL!

In The Good Girl, the Glen Capri stood in for the Texas-area motel where Justine Last (aka Jennifer Aniston) and Holden Worther (aka Jake Gyllenhaal) conducted their on-going affair.

Both the main office . . .

. . . and Room 8 were used in the flick. I don’t want to give away the ending, but Room 8 also featured significantly in the movie’s climactic finale. On a Good Girl side note – Mike, from MovieShotsLA, recently stalked Retail Rodeo, the discount store where Justine and Holden worked in the movie. You can see pics of it on his site here.

In 2004’s Raising Helen, the Glen Capri stood in for the New York-area motel where Helen Harris (aka Kate Hudson) and Jenny Portman (aka Joan Cusack) catch their underage niece Audrey Davis (aka Hayden Panettiere) on prom night. Audrey’s room was number 205.

In the 2004 teen comedy The Girl Next Door, Matthew Kidman (aka Emile Hirsch) took Danielle (aka Elisha Cuthbert) to the Glen Capri with the hopes of seducing her while there.

Ironically enough, Emile Hirsch returned to the Glen Capri two years later to film a scene for the 2006 drama Alpha Dog. In the flick, the Glen Capri stood in for the Albuquerque motel where Johnny Truelove and his girlfriend Angela Holden (aka Olivia Wilde) hid out after police had discovered the body of Zack Mazursky (aka Anton Yelchin).

In 2007’s Georgia Rule, the Glen Capri stood in for the Hull, Ohio-area motel where Arnold (aka Cary Elwes) stays while in town visiting his wife, Lily (aka Felicity Huffman), and his step-daughter, Rachel Wilcox (aka Lindsay Lohan). In the movie, Arnold stays in Room 206.

Other movies that have filmed at the Glen Capri include The Country Bears, Diamonds & Guns, and Janky Promoters. Episodes of Without a Trace, Parks and Recreation, Cold Case, Saving Grace, Night Stalker, Close to Home, Day Break, Windfall, Lovespring International, Mad Men, and Nip/Tuck have also been shot at the Glen Capri. You can check out the hotel’s very thorough filming page, which chronicles all of the productions that have been filmed on the premises over the past ten years, on its website here. Love it! There are actually several different motels in the Glen Capri chain and the one located at 326 Colorado Street, also in Glendale, has been used for filming, as well. It has appeared in episodes of Life and The Surreal Life and in a 2007 Smash Mouth music video.

On a Jennifer Aniston side note – my good friend and fellow stalker Kerry recently gifted me with the new Jennifer Aniston Perfume and I have to say that it is absolutely DIVINE. It is honestly the best scented perfume that I’ve ever smelled in my entire life! All of the literature written about it says that it has a “beachy” scent, but to me it seems to have more of a floral feel to it and is a bit reminiscent of Michael Kors signature fragrance, which I also love. Jennifer Aniston perfume smells so amazing that I literally cannot stop smelling my wrists when I wear it – I wouldn’t be surprised if I subconsciously gnaw my arm off in the coming weeks. 😉 Because the perfume is only available at Harrods in London (contrary to what Jen reported during her most recent Chelsea Lately appearance, it cannot be shipped outside of the UK), Kerry had to go through hell and high water to get it for me. So, I’ve had to resort to rationing it out in very small portions each day as I simply do not know WHAT I am going to do when I run out. 🙁 I am hoping that by that time it will be available in the US. (Are you listening, Jen?) Anyway, if you live in London or have plans to travel there, I HIGHLY recommend stopping by Harrods to pick up some JA perfume. Take my word for it, you will NOT be disappointed. And a HUGE thank you to Kerry for getting it for me! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Glen Capri Inn & Suites is located at 6700 San Fernando Road in Glendale. You can visit the hotel’s official website here. The Good Girl was filmed in the main office and in Room 8; Raising Helen also used the main office and Room 205; and Georgia Rule was filmed in Room 206.

September 23, 2010September 23, 2010

The Schaffer Residence from “A Single Man”

A couple of weeks ago, I dragged my new husband out to stalk an architecturally and cinematically famous house located in Glendale at the base of the Verdugo Mountains – the John Lautner-designed Schaffer Residence which appeared in fashion designer Tom Ford’s directorial debut, A Single Man. I found this location thanks to fellow stalker Gary from England, who immediately set about cyberstalking the residence after watching the flick back in February of this year. And even though I’ve never actually seen A Single Man – I try to avoid any and all movies that have a depressing subject matter – because I am a HUGE fan of legendary architect John Lautner and because the house is simply gorgeous, I just had to stalk it.

The two bedroom, two bath Schaffer Residence, which was originally built in 1949, measures 1,698 square feet and sits on a heavily wooded quarter acre of land. The home was constructed entirely out of steel, glass, redwood, and concrete and boasts an open floor plan with glass walls, which several websites have described as “transparent”. Apparently being in the home makes one feel as if they are actually outside. The house is so spectacular, that according to the John Lautner Foundation website, both architects Frank Gehry and Frank Escher consider the Schaffer house to be among their most favorite abodes ever created. Sadly, though, as you can see in the above photographs, not much of the house is visible from the street.

Nor is much visible from Bing’s aerial views, either. 🙁

Thankfully though, the Schaffer Residence is currently for sale (for a cool $1,495,000 and as fellow stalker Gary said in his email to me, “I am saving as I type!!!!!”) and there are plenty of pictures of the property on its real estate website. You can also check out some fabulous photographs of the interior of the home on the Big Shed website here. As you can see above, the Schaffer house is a post-modern masterpiece, stunning in its detail, and with its wood, steel, and glass features, is very reminiscent of both the abode belonging to Sebastian Stark (aka James Woods) on the television series Shark and the residence where Ted Crawford (aka Anthony Hopkins) lived in the movie Fracture.

In A Single Man, which premiered last year, the Schaffer Residence stands in for the Santa Monica-area home of Professor George Falconer (aka Colin Firth), and both the exterior . . .

. . . and the interior of the property were used quite extensively in the filming. When I skimmed through A Single Man earlier today to make the above screen captures, I was actually surprised to see how the home was portrayed onscreen. In the movie, George’s house is very dark and dreary, which is ironic being that, in reality, a huge part of what makes the home so special and unique are the large plate-glass windows which bathe the interior of the property in an exorbitant amount of natural light. As depicted in the real estate photographs and in all that I’ve read about the dwelling online, in real life the Schaffer residence is bright and airy – not at all how it appeared in A Single Man. In fact, after seeing how it was depicted onscreen, I’m quite surprised that director Tom Ford chose to use the home at all in the movie. I would have assumed that he’d want to film at a house that, at the very least, had less windows. But what do I know? 😉

The Schaffer Residence also made an appearance in the ultra-strange 2005 dramedy Happy Endings as the residence where Charley (aka Steve Coogan) and Gil (David Sutcliffe) lived.

On a side note – If you want to see photographs of the house where Charley (aka Julianne Moore) lived in A Single Man, you can do so on MovieShotsLA.

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On another side note – A Single Man director Tom Ford also just so happens to be the designer behind my girl Jennifer Aniston’s favorite sunglasses – the “Tom Ford Jennifer sunglasses” (pictured above). Jen loves the glasses so much, in fact, that legend has it that Tom even named them after her. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to own a pair of those! 🙂

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Gary for finding this location! 🙂

Stalk It: The Schaffer Residence from A Single Man is located at 527 Whiting Woods Way in Glendale. You can check out the home’s real estate website here.

October 7, 2009October 4, 2009

Central Park’s Gapstow Bridge

One of my favorite places in all of New York is the tiny, little bridge known as Gapstow Bridge. Actually, I take that back. I think it’s far more accurate to say that the bridge is one of my favorite places in the entire world. 🙂 I am so enamored with it, in fact, that my entire family now refers to it as “Lindsay’s Bridge”. 🙂 Gapstow Bridge and its surroundings are so incredibly picturesque and romantic that I’ve taken about three hundred photographs of it on my various trips to the Big Apple and I go out of my way to visit it at least once each day while in Manhattan. It’s just one of those places that has the ability to calm me and warm me all at the same time. I just can’t get enough of it.

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Part of what makes Gapstow Bridge so beautiful is its surroundings. The bridge spans the northeast corner of the Central Park Pond and overlooks the beautiful Plaza Hotel to the South, Wollman Rink to the North, and the skyscrapers of the Upper West Side to the West. Believe me when I say that there is no other place like it in the entire world. I can’t be sure where Heaven is located, but I’m pretty certain it has a view of Gapstow Bridge. 🙂

The bridge was first built in 1874 by prominent New York architect Jacob Wrey Mould, who also designed Central Park’s Bethesda Fountain and Belvedere Castle. The bridge was originally built out of wood with intricate cast iron railings, but sadly, due to years of wear and tear, the entire thing had to be completely replaced in 1896. The Gapstow Bridge that stands today was designed by Howard & Caudwell, is made out of a sturdy, medium-grade rock known as schist, measures 12 feet tall, and has a span of 44 feet. It truly looks like something straight out of a movie. And, as a matter of fact, it is!

Because Gapstow Bridge is so incredibly picturesque and unique, it’s no surprise that it is one of the most photographed places in all of Manhattan and has, of course, appeared in countless movie and television productions – many more so than I could ever account for here. But just to name a few . . .

The bridge, of course, appeared in an episode of the quintessential New York series Sex and the City. In the Season 6 episode which was entitled “Let There Be Light”, Carrie and new love Aleksandr Petrovsky sit and eat chocolates on a Central Park bench with the Gapstow Bridge in the background.

Gapstow Bridge was also the site of Nate and Blair’s reunion kiss in the Season 2 episode of Gossip Girl entitled “Remains of the J”. In the episode, Dorota mentions that the bridge is Blair’s favorite spot in all of New York. I knew there was a reason why she was my favorite GG character. 🙂

In Home Alone 2: Lost In New York, the bridge is the place where Kevin McCallister first encounters the Pigeon Lady.

It is also the spot where, on Christmas morning, Kevin gives her one of his turtle dove ornaments and tells her “I won’t forget you. Trust me.” I swear no matter how many times I see that scene, it always manages to bring a tear to my eye.

In the movie The Devil Wears Prada, the Runway Magazine “Urban Jungle” photo shoot takes place right in front of Gapstow Bridge. In the first screen capture pictured above, the camera is situated just above my bridge, facing South.

While visiting New York last December, my family and I happened to run into the production crew for the television series Rescue Me filming on my bridge! Unfortunately, they were just wrapping up when we got there, so we didn’t get to see any of the actual filming or any of the show’s stars.

According to one of the crew members, though, the scene involved two guest stars having a conversation right in front of the Gapstow Bridge. The above photograph shows one of the crew members removing the actors’ “marks” off of the pavement and thus denotes the exact spot where filming took place.

The day we happened upon the filming was an EXTREMELY cold winter day in New York. If I remember correctly, temperatures were a record low for that year. The poor crew members were freezing their buns off, especially when they had to remove their gloves in order to fiddle with something on a piece of equipment. I felt so bad for them, as they all looked absolutely miserable. 🙁 But, even in the extreme cold, they still could NOT have been nicer and answered all of my silly questions about the filming.

It’s a sad truth that most movie locations look better onscreen than they do in real life. It’s the magic of the camera and all the set dressing, I suppose, or the bigger than life quality that being in a movie gives to something that’s behind it. Gapstow Bridge is one of the rare exceptions to that rule. It’s even prettier and more picturesque in person than I’ve ever seen it come across onscreen and I can’t recommend stalking it enough!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Gapstow Bridge is located in the Southeast corner of Central Park in Manhattan. The best way to reach it is by entering the Park at the corner of Central Park South and Fifth Avenue and following the path that runs along the perimeter of the Pond.

June 1, 2009June 1, 2009

Cameron Frye’s House

Last Wednesday morning I almost fell out of my chair as I opened up my email account and saw an AOL news headline screaming out at me “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off House For Sale!” At first, I thought the article was talking about the Long Beach area home that stood in for Ferris’ in the film. But, in reality, it is the ultra-modern glass and steel abode that belonged to Ferris’ best pal Cameron Frye in the film that just recently went on the market. And, while I don’t usually like to blog about places that I have not actually visited myself, since I have received about a million emails this week about the cinematically historic home, I figured what the heck! So, here goes. 🙂

The house, which was built entirely out of steel, cedar, and glass, measures 5,300 square feet, sits on almost an acre of land, and boasts four bedrooms and four bathrooms. The home was built in 1953 by prominent architect A. James Speyer for a prominent textile designer named Ben Rose, and his wife, Fran. The famous garage – which is actually called “the Pavilion” or auto museum – is separate from the house and was not built until 1970. It was designed by architect David Haid and, in line with how it was portrayed on film, was built to store Ben’s antique car collection. The house had been featured in numerous architectural books and magazines long before Ferris Bueller was filmed and, apparently, it was through those magazines that location scouts discovered the house. 🙂 With its glass walls and simplistic design, the home reminds me quite a bit of the Stahl House in Los Angeles and the other Case Study Houses. Cameron Frye’s home is selling for a cool $2.3 million, which I think is pretty low considering you’d be buying a cinematic and architectural landmark! 🙂 You can read a great article about the home and its original owners here.

Several memorable scenes from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off took place at Cameron Frye’s home, including the “He’ll keep calling me, he’ll keep calling me until I come over. He’ll make me feel guilty. This is – uh – this is ridiculous! OK, I’ll go, I’ll go, I’ll go, I’ll go, I’ll go, I’ll go. Sh*t!” scene. LOL

I believe the real interior of the Ben Rose House was used in the scene when Ferris continually calls Cameron begging him to come over. The walls of the actual home are built entirely out of glass and, as you can see in the above screen capture, so are the walls of Cameron’s room.

But, of course, the most memorable scenes took place in the Pavilion and involved Cameron’s father’s 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California.

It is in the Pavilion that Cameron says to Ferris, “Less than 100 were made. My father spent three years restoring this car. It is his love, it is his passion . . .” to which Ferris replies. “It is fault he didn’t lock the garage.” LOL God, I love that movie!!!!

It is also in the Pavilion that Ferris “runs the car in reverse” in the hopes of removing the mileage that was accrued during their “day off”.

When that plan doesn’t work, Cameron flips out and ends up “killing the car”. LOL To shoot that scene, producers had to not only replace the Pavilion’s real life windows with breakaway glass, but also build several fake cars out of fiberglass, complete with small bombs that made the car smoke upon impact. I can’t even imagine being there to watch that scene be filmed!!! It must have been so much fun for the owners of the house!!!! Apparently, there is an entire wall of photographs from the filming of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off on display in the Pavilion. Love it!!!

You can visit the home’s real estate website and see photos of its interior here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Cameron Frye’s house is located at 370 Beech Street in Highland Park, Illinois.

May 14, 2009September 21, 2011

Bob Hope’s Palm Springs House

While in Palm Springs this past weekend, I dragged my boyfriend – ahem, fiance (I swear, I’m never going to get used to saying that!) out to stalk Bob Hope’s former residence, which is located high up on a cliff at the very top of Southridge Drive. I wasn’t so much interested in seeing the home because it had once belonged to Bob Hope, but rather because it was designed by famed architect John Lautner. And I am absolutely obsessed with Lautner homes! Once upon a time, I actually hated his designs – I thought they were just simply too weird. But over the years they have really grown on me. I love that all of his homes are so incredibly unique and recognizable. One look at a poured concrete wall or a curving roof line and you know immediately if a house was designed by Lautner. It’s no wonder that his homes have been used in countless Hollywood productions over the years including Charlie’s Angels, Diamonds Are Forever, The Big Lebowski, and Lethal Weapon 2.

Not everyone is as big a fan of John Lautner as I am, though. Legend has it that Bob Hope wasn’t exactly happy with the house that Lautner designed for him. According to this article, Judith Lautner, John’s daughter, states that Bob “made life hell for my father. He destroyed a lot of the thinking. He just stepped in and said ‘No, no, no.'” Legend also has it that Bob never even spent one night in the home, but instead used it solely for entertaining purposes. The home, which was built in 1979 and was designed to look like the skirts of a volcano, measures 17,531 square feet, has 6 bedrooms and 9.75 bathrooms!

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Unfortunately, Bob’s former home is located in a private, gated community, so I wasn’t able to get very close to it. 🙁 And, judging from the signs pictured above, the neighborhood is not very stalker friendly! When I saw the sign which read “Trespassers will be photographed and may be prosecuted”, I was pretty much outta there! Bob’s former community is very exclusive and was once also home to actors Steve McQueen and William Holden. Lautner also designed another home – the Elrod House – just down the road from Bob’s, but, unfortunately, I didn’t realize that until after I got home, so I didn’t get any photographs of it! Ugh, I am such a blond sometimes!

Because I couldn’t get very close to the house while stalking it, I had to settle for doing some cyberstalking as soon as I got home. It’s funny, but in aerial images the home actually appears to be rather small, but rumor has it that the open circle cut-out in the roof is so large that a helicopter could actually land there!! I don’t know if that is true or not, but being that the home measures almost 18,000 square feet, it is definitely a possibility! Another rumor floating around about the former Bob Hope residence is that the shape of the pool was loosely based on the comedian’s profile. So cool! You can see another amazing aerial view of the home here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Bob Hope’s Palm Springs house is located at 2466 Southridge Drive. The Elrod House is located just a few houses down at 2175 Southridge Drive. Both are in a private, guard-gated community, so DO NOT trespass. If you are into hiking, apparently the nearby Araby Trail offers some great views of both homes.

March 13, 2009March 20, 2009

The Most Photographed Home in the World!

About three months ago my mom challenged me to find a house that had been used in a famous photograph back in the 1960s. The only information she remembered about the photograph was that it was an advertisement of some sort shot in black and white and that it featured two women sitting in a glass home that overlooked all of Los Angeles. With those small pieces of information, I got to googling and came up with . . . nothing. This went on for months with me having absolutely no luck in finding either the house or the advertisement she had been talking about. Then about two weeks ago while my mom was flipping through a magazine at a hair salon, she came across this photographwhich was described as “the most iconic image of Los Angeles”. Sure enough it was the picture my mom had been talking about – only as it turns out it wasn’t an advertisement at all, but a photograph by legendary architectural photographer Julius Shulman. And the house featured in the image is actually quite well known. In fact, it has been called “the most photographed home in the world”. Its name is the Stahl House, otherwise known as Case Study House #22.

When my mom first described the home to me all those months ago, I had an inkling that it was either a John Lautner house or a Case Study House. And sure enough, I was right! To tell you the truth, I don’t know a lot about the Case Study Houses. Up until a few weeks ago, I had never even seen a photograph of one. But my best friend Kylee has long been obsessed with the Houses and I had learned enough about them from her to know that the house my mom was describing just might be one. The Case Study project began in 1945, when John Entenza, editor of Art and Architecture Magazine, commissioned several legendary architects including Richard Nuetra, Raphael Soriano, Charles and Ray Eames, Eero Saarinen, Craig Ellwood, and Pierre Koenig to build affordable homes in California using mostly wood, steel, and glass. The houses were intended to be model homes which the typical American family could easily duplicate using affordable materials.

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Interestingly enough, the Stahl House which is arguably the most famous of all the Case Study Houses, wasn’t originally commissioned as one. In 1954, a man named C.H. “Buck” Stahl purchased a vacant lot high up in the hills of Los Angeles at a cost of $13,500. Buck had the idea to build a house on the property constructed almost entirely of glass to showcase the lot’s incredible views. He said to the architects “I don’t care how you do it, there’s not going to be any walls in this wing.” He built a scale model of his dream home and started shopping the project around to different architects. They all told him his design was impossible, that it couldn’t be done. Enter architect Pierre Koenig, who at the time was involved in the Case Study Project. Pierre told Buck and his wife Carlotta that not only could the house be built, but that he wanted it to be a part of the Case Study Program. And thus Case Study House #22 was born. It is incredible to me that the most famous Case Study House wasn’t designed by an architect – it was designed by a man with a vision who wouldn’t take no for an answer. The iconic photograph that was burned into my mother’s memory was actually taken before construction on the home had even been completed. Here is a great article detailing how the most famous photograph of Los Angeles came to be.

After my mom discovered the name of the house, I decided to do some research on it as I thought it would make for an interesting blog post. While searching the web I stumbled upon this website where I found out that it was possible to actually tour the home and I just about died! If only all of my stalking exploits were this easy! 🙂 I quickly made reservations for my mom and her friend and me and my best friend to take a tour of the legendary Stahl House the following week. And I must say, at the reasonable price of $20 per person, it was entirely worth it.

When you enter the front door of the house your mouth pretty much just drops to the floor at the site of the incredible views. Honestly I’ve never seen views like that anywhere in my entire life. They were literally breathtaking! And the house!!! Words can’t even properly describe the house! I can’t imagine living, or even getting to spend one night, there. Our tour, which lasted about an hour, was led by Buck Stahl’s widow and son, Carlotta and Mark Stahl, respectively. Mark said that growing up in the house he really had no idea how special it was. To him it was just his home. He said that only when he got a bit older and noticed his friends were always wanting to hang out there and swim in his pool, did he realize the home was anything out of the ordinary. I must say it was fascinating to be given a tour of the Stahl house by members of the actual Stahl family. Case Study House #22 is one of the only Case Study Houses that is still owned and occupied by the original residents, so it is in amazing condition. Due to the Stahl Family’s determination to keep the house true to its original form, the home is extremely expensive to maintain, which is why they started giving tours.

Another way the family generates revenue to maintain the home is by renting out the space as a filming location. Due to the house’s unique structure and striking views, Hollywood locations scouts come a-knockin’ quite frequently on the Stahl House door.

The house has been featured in countless movies including Playing By Heart (where it was used John Stewart’s house; pictured above) Why Do Fools Fall In Love, Galaxy Quest, The Final Power, Thirteenth Floor, The Marrying Man, Prescription Murder, Corina Corina, Nurse Betty, Where the Truth Lies, and Smog; the television shows Adam 12, Night Stalker, and Emergency;

the music videos for Wilson Phillips’ “Release Me”,

Scott Weiland’s “Missing Cleveland”,

and ATB’s “I Don’t Wanna Stop” ;

and dozens of commercials including one for Best Buy featuring the Black Eyed Peas.

The home was also featured in a Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen photo shoot for a 2003 issue of YM Magazine. I absolutely loved MK & A once upon a time (I even had their dolls!) and I used to collect every single magazine that featured the twins. So as soon as my my mom showed me the famous picture of the Stahl House taken by Julius Shulman, I said “Hey, that’s where Mary Kate and Ashley did their YM photo shoot.” LOL It might not be award winning photography, but the above image is one that was burned into my memory for many years. I so wanted to recreate the twins’ pose while touring the house, but, alas, venturing out on that ledge is not allowed. LOL 😉 You can see more photos from the Olsen’s YM shoot here.

My best friend and I did get to recreate Shulman’s famous photograph while at the house, though, and it has quickly become one of my favorite pictures of the two of us. I honestly cannot recommend taking a tour of the Stahl House enough! Go, go, go on this tour!! Even if you are not at all interested in architecture or filming locations, I can pretty much guarantee the house will still amaze you. Seeing it in person is an absolutely magical experience. The tour lasts about an hour and consists of a walk through of the main living area, kitchen, and the pool and spa area. The two bedrooms are currently off limits as they are undergoing a renovation. The Stahl House is fairly small, only 2,300 square feet, but I could have spent all day there! Tours can accommodate up to twenty people and are usually held on Saturdays and Sundays. Photographs for commercial use are not permitted and a photography waiver must be signed before being granted entry. The Stahl Family was kind enough to let me publish these photographs from my tour on my blog and for that I sincerely thank them.

Note: All photographs of the Stahl House are used with permission from the Stahl Trust.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Stahl House is located at 1635 Woods Drive in Los Angeles. The only way you’ll be able to catch a glimpse of it, though, is by paying for a tour as the house is located on a gated, private street. To find out specific tour information please visit the Stahl House Facebook page.

February 13, 2009February 17, 2009

“It Never Rains In Southern California . . . “

As the old Albert Hammond song says “It never rains in Southern California, but girl, don’t they warn ya, it pours man, it pours!” And pour it did almost all last week all over the normally sun drenched landscape of Los Angeles. While on my way to stalk Burbank’s Handy Grocery Store in the pouring rain this past weekend, I happened to pass right by Walt Disney Studios on Buena Vista Street and was reminded about a story I once heard that seemed quite fitting of the day’s weather.

According to The Ultimate Hollywood Tour Book, journalist Peter J. Boyer stated in a Vanity Fair article that Disney is “a place so reviled that even its architecture inspires nasty rumors, such as the apocryphal story that architect Michael Graves arranged the drainage system in the Disney headquarters building [aka the Team Disney building] in such a way that the huge sculpted Seven Dwarfs atop the edifice would seem to be peeing on Disney executives whenever it rained.” LOL So, since it just happened to be raining at the time, I pulled over to see if Boyer’s story had any merit. 🙂 After seeing the Dwarfs in person in the pouring rain, I have to admit that I think the anecdote is somewhat of an urban legend, but it still makes for a great story and hopefully a great blog post. 🙂

Walt Disney built his Burbank studio in 1940 after the enormous financial success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs – the world’s first full length animated feature film. At the time it was built the 41 acre lot was comprised of four full size soundstages (there are now six), a backlot that included a Western town, a town square, a residential street, and a small pueblo (the entire backlot has since been demolished), and recreation areas for employees which included ping pong tables and a volleyball court. Over the years many productions have been filmed on the historic Disney lot, including That Darn Cat, Something Wicked This Way Comes, The Absent Minded Professor, The Swamp Fox, The Princess Diaries, Eight Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, Boy Meets World, Home Improvement, Lizzie Maguire, Less Than Perfect, and Mary Poppins. Ironically enough, Mary Poppins was filmed solely indoors, using up all four of the Disney Studio soundstages. Even the Cherry Tree Lane set where the Banks Family lived was built inside of a soundstage. Being a huge Mary Poppins fan myself, I was highly disappointed when I found this out as I had always hoped to one day see Cherry Tree Lane in person. 🙁 On an interesting side note, even though he passed away in 1966, Walt Disney still holds the record for most Academy Awards won by a single person. In his lifetime, he won a incredible TWENTY-SIX Oscars!

Unfortunately, Disney does not currently offer tours of its studio. : ( But the good news is that the Team Disney building can be viewed from the street outside the studio gates. If you are a big Disney fan, I highly recommend stalking the exterior of the building as it is very cool to see in person. The Seven Dwarf statues are absolutely HUGE. I was shocked at their size when I saw them in person as pictures simply do not do them justice!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Disney Studios is located at 500 S. Buena Vista Street in Burbank. The Team Disney building, with its Seven Dwarfs facade, can be viewed through the main gate located just around the corner on Alameda Avenue. Unfortunately the studio does not offer tours of its property. 🙁 But for $2,169 (per person!!!!!) you can purchase a 6 day/5 night “Hollywood and the Disneyland Resort” vacation from the Adventures by Disney Vacations company. One of the days consists of a behind the scenes tour of Walt Disney Studios.

December 31, 2008November 8, 2010

The Exterior of the Bar from “13 Going On 30”

Another filming location I have been absolutely obsessed with finding for YEARS is the New York restaurant where Jenna hit on the 13 year old boy in fave romantic comedy 13 Going On 30. Ever since the movie was released four years ago I have been searching New York City streets hoping to find the restaurant featured in the movie, but having absolutely no luck. And then, just before I left on my recent New York vacation, a light bulb went off in my head and I honestly don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner! I enlisted master stalker Mike, from MovieShotsLA, to help me find the location. And sure enough he did!

Literally less than ten minutes after challenging Mike to find the restaurant’s location, he sent me an email with the above photo! And I just about fell off my chair. Here I had been searching for this location for FOUR YEARS, even resorting to walking up and down New York streets, screen captures in hand, trying to find it, and he locates it in the space of ten minutes! The man has a gift!

It turns out that the 13 Going On 30 restaurant isn’t actually a restaurant at all, but a clothing store named Phi Boutique located on a cobblestone street in SoHo’s Cast Iron Historic District. My initial thought was that maybe a restaurant occupied Phi’s space back in 2003 when the filming of 13 Going On 30 took place, but after speaking to a Phi saleswoman earlier today I learned that that wasn’t actually the case. Before Phi took over the space at 71 Greene Street in 2004, it was occupied by clothing boutique Vivienne Westwood. Since no restaurant was ever located on the premises, my best guess is that 13 Going On 30 used the vacant storefront for filming in late 2003 during the interim after Vivienne Westwood moved out and before Phi moved in, and that the restaurant’s interiors were shot somewhere else entirely (possibly even in Los Angeles). Finding the restaurant’s interior is my next mission for Mike! 🙂

The Cast Iron Historic District is an architecturally and historically significant area of New York’s SoHo neighborhood. The Cast Iron District boasts over 250 buildings erected out of cast iron, making it the largest concentration of cast iron buildings in the entire world. All of the historic buildings were constructed between the years 1869 and 1895, when cast iron was considered the cheapest and easiest-to-use building material. At the time, different architectural designs were cast in iron inside of a warehouse and later secured into place on building facades creating an architecturally beautiful and diverse area of New York. The building that Jenna’s hockey player boyfriend stands in front of while signing autographs in 13 Going On 30 is considered by some to be the most brilliant example of cast iron architecture in the city. The building is known as the “King of Greene Street” and was built in 1872 by cast iron craftsman Isaac F. Duckworth. It was originally designed as a dry goods warehouse for successful merchant Gardner Colby and now is home to an antique store and art gallery.

Even though there is no 13 Going On 30 restaurant to stalk on Greene Street, I highly recommend visiting the area anyway. With its cobblestone streets and historical buildings, it really is an adorable area of New York.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The exterior of the restaurant from 13 Going On 30 is really the storefront of Phi Boutique located at 71 Greene Street in New York’s SoHo neighborhood. Jenna meets Matt’s fiance just next door to Phi, outside of the building located at 69 Greene Street. And Jenna’s hockey player boyfriend, Alex Carlson, signs autographs across the street in front of 70 Greene Street.