Calling all horror fans! Be sure to check out my latest post over at Dirt. It’s about the Victorian that played the childhood home of Michael Myers (Don Shanks) in the 1989 slasher flick “Halloween 5.”
Olivia, Markie and Penelope’s House from “Truth or Dare”
If Ghostface from the Scream franchise ever called me to inquire “What’s your favorite scary movie?”, things might get a little confusing because the only answer I’d be able to give would be Scream. It’s honestly the sole flick in the genre that I truly love. I did recently watch Truth or Dare, though, and found it to be pretty enjoyable – as well as downright terrifying. I was on the edge of my seat throughout! And yes, it is a bit on the dumb side, but it made for a fun watch – up until the end that is, which was sorely disappointing. Regardless, I thought it would only be appropriate to stalk and blog about a couple of its locales this month in honor of my Haunted Hollywood theme. First up is the Craftsman-style home where doomed college student Olivia Barron (Lucy Hale) lives with her similarly-doomed roommates, Markie Cameron (Violett Beane) and Penelope Amari (Sophia Ali), in the 2018 film. Thankfully, the pad was an easy find.
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In an early scene in which Olivia, Markie, Penelope and their friends leave home to head to Mexico for Spring Break, not only was it apparent that their residence was located on a corner and that the backyard was situated on the side of the property and not the rear (two incredibly helpful identifying markers) . . .
. . . but the signage of an adjacent street, Gramercy Place, was visible.
I ventured right on over to Google to search aerial views for a corner home with a large side yard abutting Gramercy. I decided to start my hunt at the 10 Freeway and first work my way north. If I had no luck in that direction, I’d switch gears and head south. As soon as the aerial imagery came into focus, though, I just about fell out of my chair because there was the Truth or Dare house staring me right in the face, literally one block north of the 10 at 2233 West 21st Street.
The handsome dwelling pops up numerous times in Truth or Dare, though it is never quite explained how three college kids can afford such spacious, fancy digs.
For whatever reason, we are not given a full view of the house in the movie.
Instead, the property is only ever shown in tight, abbreviated shots.
The best glimpse we get of the place is via the rather harrowing scene in which Penelope is dared to walk along the edge of the second-story roofline until she finishes drinking an entire bottle of vodka.
The speared side gate that figures so prominently in the segment isn’t actually there in real life, but was a set piece brought in for the filming.
In actuality, a wooden fence stands in that spot. I could not get a great shot of it due to the car parked in the driveway, but you can just make it out to the right of the pad in the images below.
In another rather fortuitous bit of luck, when I headed over to Image Locations’ filming library to see if I could dig up some photos of the inside of the Truth or Dare house, I was thrilled to discover that the place was actually the very first listing under the Craftsman category! One look at the pictures posted told me that the interior was definitely utilized in the flick. As you can see, the screen shot of the girls’ living room below is a perfect match to this image of the home’s real life living room.
As is this shot of Olivia’s bedroom to this photo of the property’s master suite.
The pad’s actual dining room parallels what was shown onscreen, as well . . .
. . . as does the built-in buffet.
In real life, the 1905 abode boasts 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, 3,126 square feet of living space, and a 0.18-acre lot.
Though a gorgeous example of Craftsman architecture, it is not surprising that the dwelling wound up in a horror film. The place just has a very looming quality about it.
For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 
Stalk It: Olivia, Markie and Penelope’s house from Truth or Dare is located at 2233 West 21st Street in Los Angeles’ Harvard Heights neighborhood.
“Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare” Giveaway!
Truth or Dare, the latest horror flick from Blumhouse Productions, was released this past Friday and I, for one, could not be more excited! Not only does the film star Pretty Little Liars’ Lucy Hale, but it was filmed exclusively in Los Angeles! So be prepared for some Truth or Dare locations to be coming your way this October! I am even more excited to be hosting a special giveaway in honor of the movie’s release in which one lucky reader will win a fabulous prize package! So grab a friend and take the Truth or Dare challenge to see who survives.
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First up, test your skills on the Truth or Dare Challenge Blog App by clicking below! The game requires two players. Complete the Truth or Dare challenge before time runs out – or pass . . . if you dare! The player who completes the most challenges in the shortest amount of time wins!
Then enter to win the fabulous Truth or Dare Night Pack which includes:
1 – Limited Edition Truth or Dare Card Game: This limited edition Truth or Dare Game is only available via this promotion and has a run of 200 pieces worldwide. It has a card deck featuring dares and the creepy crawly items you need to satisfy the dares in the deck. Test your resolve… The truth will set you free!
1 – Truth or Dare Official Promo Tank – Show off the goods with this Truth or Dare Official Tank. Once you play the card game, the winner will get this tank to show off to all their friends!
The game seriously sounds so fun (I mean, the dares involve eating insects – which are included!) that I considered keeping it for myself. 
Entering is simple – just follow me on Twitter by clicking below for a chance to win. If you already follow me on Twitter, you still have to click below to enter. Send out a tweet about the contest through the link below for bonus entries! The winner will be announced on April 22nd!
Play the game . . . if you dare!
Today’s “L.A.” Mag Post – About the Kimberly Crest House from “Hell Night”
Be sure to read my latest Los Angeles magazine post – about the Kimberly Crest House from Hell Night. My posts typically get published in the late morning/early afternoon hours.
Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery from “Twin Peaks”
As I mentioned in my post last month about The Old Place restaurant, thanks to fellow stalker/David-Lynch-aficionado Brad, from the Brad D Studios website, I recently discovered that fave television series Twin Peaks was shot almost in its entirety in Southern California. Because I have long been a Twin Peaks fanatic, I was beyond eager to start stalking the many locations mentioned on Brad’s blog – the most exciting of which was Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery, the site of the funeral of Laura Palmer (aka Sheryl Lee) in the Season 1 episode titled “Rest in Pain”. Surprisingly, even though Sierra Madre is located just a few miles east of Pasadena and even though the cemetery has been featured in several spooky productions over the years, until perusing through Brad’s site in early September, I had never before even heard of it! So, because the place fit in perfectly with my Haunted Hollywood theme, I waited to drag the Grim Cheaper out there until this past weekend.
Pioneer Cemetery was originally established in 1881 by Sierra Madre’s founding father, Nathanial Coburn Carter, who, that same year, purchased a 1,103-acre plot of land from Santa-Anita-Park-racetrack-founder Elias Jackson “Lucky” Baldwin. Carter set aside 2.32 of those 1,103 acres to build a cemetery and the first burial, of one of Carter’s servants, took place just a year later in 1882. Today, Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery is the final resting place of over 1,700 souls, including Carter and his family, as well as numerous veterans of the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, both World Wars, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
I cannot tell you how absolutely amazing it was to wander the grounds of the place and see tombstones dating all the way back to the 1880s, some so old that the inscriptions had simply worn off. And while I realize that “charming” might be an odd word to describe a graveyard, that is exactly what Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery is. It is an extremely small and quiet space, with cherry blossom, sycamore, oak, and palm trees dotting the landscape, as well as several stone benches on which one can sit and reflect.
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In the “Rest in Pain” episode of Twin Peaks, Laura Palmer’s friends and family gather at Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery to lay the slain teenager to rest. This being Twin Peaks, weirdness, of course, ensues – one of the mourners has a Tourette’s moment and starts screaming out “Amen”, Laura’s father, Leland Palmer (aka Ray Wise), jumps on her coffin as it is being lowered into the ground, and a fist-fight even breaks out. Yes, at a funeral!
Laura Palmer’s funeral was held in the northwest section of Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery, in the area denoted with a pink “X” above.
Her funeral location is pictured above.
The crooked tombstone that was visible in the background of the scene is, I am fairly certain, the same tombstone that is circled in the above photograph. In real life, it reads “Fannie J. Garey”.
The tree in front of which James Hurley (aka James Marshall) stood during the funeral is located just east of Laura’s burial site.
In real life, James’ tree is located behind a large gravestone that reads “Gibson P. Kelly” and next to a gravestone that reads “Zola M. Croman”.
A view of tree from the funeral site is pictured above.
And I, of course, just had to pose like James while there. That’s my brooding face above. 
Amazingly, Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery also appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s final film, 1976’s Family Plot, in the scene in which George Lumley (aka Bruce Dern) heads to the supposed “Barlow Creek Cemetery” to look for a missing person whom he has been hired to find. According to a fabulous Sierra Madre Patch article, before filming began, production designer Henry Bumstead, who was a San Marino resident and often used nearby locations in his movies, had the Pioneer caretakers cease weeding the property so that it would appear to be unkempt and dilapidated. The shoot also happened to take place on two particularly gloomy L.A. days, which only added to the macabre atmosphere. And cinematographer Leonard South lit the set without using any artificial lighting to further add to the dismal effect.
The caretaker’s shack which appeared in the scene has since been replaced with a more modern-looking structure.
Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery also shows up once again towards the end of Family Plot, in the scene in which Joseph P. Maloney (aka Ed Lauter) is buried.
For that scene, Hitch brought in a thirty-foot scaffold so that he could shoot the chase sequence between George and Mrs. Maloney (aka Katherine Helmond) from above.
And Mike, from MovieShotsLA, let me know that Pioneer Cemetery was also used in the 1978 horror flick Halloween, in the scene in which Michael Meyer’s psychiatrist, Sam Loomis (aka Donald Pleasence), discovers that Judith Meyer’s headstone, which is supposed to be located in Row 18, Plot 20, is missing. As I mentioned in yesterday’s post about the Strode residence, Halloween director John Carpenter is a huge Alfred Hitchcock fan, so I do not believe it was a coincidence that he chose to film a scene at the very same cemetery where the Master of Suspense once filmed.
In the Halloween scene, Dr. Loomis enters the graveyard and parks his car near what is actually Pioneer Cemetery’s exit, on the southeastern side of the property. Amazingly enough, that area still looks almost exactly the same today as it did back in 1978 when the movie was filmed, minus a large tree, which as you can see above, has since been removed.
But the three tombstones that Dr. Loomis parked next to still look exactly the same as they did three decades ago.
The area where Judith Meyers’ headstone was located is directly behind James’ tree from Twin Peaks and in front of a large tombstone which reads “Sinclair”.
Ironically enough, the back of the Sinclair tombstone can be seen behind James during Laura Palmer’s funeral scene.
On a Twin Peaks side note – I had the amazing good fortune to run into Special Agent Dale Cooper himself, Kyle MacLachlan, at the Emmy Awards last month. Kyle could NOT have been nicer and not only agreed to pose for a picture, but also chatted briefly with me about Twin Peaks and how much he loved being a part of it. For this stalker, who had answered “Special Agent Dale Cooper” when asked “What do you want to be when you grow up?” as an Eighth Grade yearbook quote, this was a particularly special moment.
Big THANK YOU to Brad, from Brad D Studios, for telling me about this location! 
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery, from the “Rest in Pain” episode of Twin Peaks, is located at 553 East Sierra Madre Boulevard in Sierra Madre. Laura Palmer’s funeral was held in the area marked with a pink “X” in the above aerial view. James Hurley’s tree is located behind a large gravestone which reads “Gibson P. Kelly” and directly next to a gravestone which reads “Zola M. Croman”. In Halloween, Dr. Loomis and the caretaker enter the cemetery in the area marked with a blue arrow above. The spot where Dr. Loomis parks his car is denoted with a blue oval and Judith Meyer’s gravesite is located just west of a large headstone that is marked “Sinclair”.
The “Doppelganger” Mansion
Another location from the 1993 thriller Doppelganger that I dragged the Grim Cheaper out to stalk this past weekend was the mansion where Holly Gooding (aka Drew Barrymore) grew up in the flick. I found this locale, once again, thanks to Tony, my friend and fellow stalker who has the amazing Flickr photostream which I mentioned yesterday. Incredibly enough, Tony has somehow managed to track down almost every single location featured in Doppelganger and he was kind enough to share them all with me so that I could blog about them during my Haunted Hollywood month – well, every location that is except for the supposed-Arcadia-area Our Lady of Mercy Psychiatric Institute which I have now become just a wee bit obsessed with finding. But I digress. Anyway, last weekend, after stopping by the apartment building featured in the movie, the GC and I headed a short two miles north to Los Feliz to do some stalking of the mansion.
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The Doppelganger mansion is featured twice in the flick. It first pops up in the scene in which Holly and her new roommate, struggling mystery writer Patrick Highsmith (aka George Newbern), meet with Holly’s family lawyer, Mike Wallace (aka George Maharis), in order to get the keys to her former home which has been locked up and sealed since her father’s murder four years prior. While there, Patrick says that the abode is “right out of a Bette Davis movie” – a line which I, of course, loved. 
The large, English-country-style abode later pops up in the movie’s climactic, rather odd, and definitely spooky final scene in which Holly returns to her childhood home in the middle of the night to confront her evil doppelganger and finally end the nightmare in which she has been living.
Patrick, of course, follows Holly and, carrying a baseball bat, climbs up the side of the house and through a second story window in the hopes that he can save her.
I believe that the interior of the mansion that was shown in the movie was just a set and not the home’s real life interior.
According to fave website Zillow, the Doppelganger mansion, which was originally built in 1923, boasts 5 bedrooms, 2 baths, and 3,500 square feet of living space, although I would have guessed it to be much, much larger. And amazingly, the property still looks almost exactly the same today as it did 18 years ago when Doppelganger was filmed. Even the three large circular trees which flank the home’s front door and front window still look exactly the same. Love it!
Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Tony for finding this location! You can check out Tony’s FANTASTIC Flickr photostream, which features countless filming locations, here.
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 
Stalk It: The Doppelganger mansion is located at 2421 Glendower Avenue in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles. Donna Martin’s house from the B.Y.O.B. episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 is located just two doors south of the Doppelganger mansion at 2405 Glendower Avenue. And the so-called “Los Feliz Murder House”, which I blogged about back in January, is located just around the corner at 2475 Glendower Place.
The Stimson House from “House II: The Second Story”
After stalking Mills View, the Monrovia-area residence that appeared in the 1986 movie House, I started doing some online research on the flick’s 1987 sequel, House II: The Second Story, and came across information about the Stimson House, an incredibly unique, castle-like property located in Los Angeles’ West Adams District. I was immediately intrigued by the home and, because it has been featured in several spooky productions over the years, figured it would fit right in with my Haunted Hollywood theme and dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out to stalk the place a short time later. Incredibly though, thanks to the abode’s unusual beauty and prominent history, this was one location that he actually did not mind being dragged to!
The 3 1/2-story Stimson House was originally built in 1891 as a retirement home for Chicago lumberman/financier Thomas Douglas Stimson. The 12,800-square-foot, 30-room property was designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style by architect Carroll H. Brown and featured an Arizona red sandstone façade, a 4-story octagonal corner tower, stained glass windows, gabled Gothic arches, Palladian windows, and brick chimneys. The interior, which was dubbed “a shrine to lumber” by Jake Doherty in a January 1994 Los Angeles Times article, consisted of oak flooring, hand-carved wood-paneled walls, beamed ceilings, custom-built china cabinets, and made use of over 8 different kinds of wood, including ash, sycamore, walnut, gumwood, birch, mahogany, oak, and monkeypod. Construction on the residence was completed in 1893 and cost approximately $130,000, making it, at the time, the most expensive home in all of Los Angeles. After Stimson passed away in February 1898, his widow, Achsah, continued to live at the residence until her death in 1904. The property was then sold and underwent several ownership changes until 1940, at which time it was purchased by the USC chapter of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity for $20,000. For the next 8 years, the Stimson House became the site of boisterous parties, elaborate pranks, and late-night frolicking.
At the time, Carrie Estelle Doheny, the widow of oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny, lived in the mansion located directly behind the Stimson House and was not at all happy with her rowdy neighbors. After filing countless complaints with the USC president, she decided to take matters into her own hands and offered the Pi Kappa Alphas $70,000 for the residence. They agreed, moved out, and Carrie promptly deeded the home to a much quieter set of neighbors, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. The Sisters transformed the abode into a convent where they lived until 1969, at which point they allowed the neighboring Mount St. Mary’s College to use the property as student housing. In 1993, the Sisters returned to the house and set about an extensive $1 million restoration of the property. They continue to live there to this day and often rent the place out for filming in order to offset the mansion’s expensive upkeep and to finance their retirement fund. The Stimson House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 30, 1978 and became Los Angeles’ 212th Historic-Cultural Monument on May 16, 1979.
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In House II: The Second Story, the Stimson house was the haunted residence inherited by Jesse (aka Arye Gross) and his girlfriend, Kate (aka Lar Park-Lincoln).
The Aztec-inspired interior appears to have been a set, though, as it does not match up with these interior photographs of the actual home.
In the Season 2 episode of The Bionic Woman titled “Black Magic”, the Stimson mansion was used as the island home of wealthy inventor Cyrus Carstairs (aka Vincent Price). Both the exterior . . .
. . . and the interior of the property were featured in the episode. And, according to the aforementioned Los Angeles Times article, Vincent Price became so enamored of the house’s echo-y acoustics during filming that he returned there later to tape a few productions of his own.
In the 1989 horror movie After Midnight, the Stimson house appeared in the segment titled “The Old Dark House” as the spot where Joan (aka Nadine Van der Velde) and Kevin (aka Marc McClure) sought help after getting two flat tires while driving late at night. Ironically enough, though, only the front porch and the interior of the Stimson house appeared in the flick.
As you can see above, for the wide angle shots of the mansion’s exterior another location altogether was used.
In the Season 1 episode of Pushing Daisies titled “The Fun in Funeral”, the Stimson House stood in for the Schatz Brothers Funeral Home in Couer d’Couers, where grave-robbing twins Lawrence and Louis Schatz (who were both played by Brad Grunberg) worked and also died.
The home’s real life interior was also used in the episode.
Two television mini-series, 1976’s Captains and the Kings, and 1977’s Testimony of Two Men, were also filmed at the mansion, but unfortunately I could not find copies of either of them to make screen captures for this post.
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 
Stalk It: The Stimson house, from House II, is located at 2421 South Figueroa Street in the West Adams District of Los Angeles.
The “My So-Called Life” House
Since I blogged about the house which stood in for the Chase residence in the pilot episode of My So-Called Life yesterday, I thought I would write today about the house which was used in the remaining 18 episodes of the series. I have actually blogged about this location once before, over three years ago when I first started this site (and I absolutely CANNOT believe that it has already been THREE years!), but because it has been so long I figured the property was worthy of a more in-depth re-post. So, here goes! I became obsessed with finding the Chase residence back in 2007, but unfortunately, at that time the location was not posted anywhere online and the only information I had to go on was an address number of “1110” that was visible in the background of a few episodes. I had a hunch, though, that the dwelling was most likely located in South Pasadena, as the producers of My So-Called Life had filmed another one of their series, thirtysomething, primarily in that area. So, one weekend the Grim Cheaper and I ventured up and down all of the 1100 blocks located in South Pasadena until we found the house. And, amazingly enough, it didn’t take us long at all.
As it turns out, the property is located just a few blocks south of Mission Street at 1110 Glendon Way. And I am very happy to report that even though over one and a half decades have passed since filming took place, the Chase house still looks very much the same today as it did onscreen.
The only real differences I noticed were that the exterior has since been painted a dark green color, while it was light blue on the series, and the French doors located just to the left of the front door have since been replaced by a large picture window. Otherwise though, the property is completely recognizable from the show.
The house is actually owned by the City of South Pasadena and is currently vacant, so I was able to snap some pics of the interior of the property through the front windows. As you can see, it doesn’t bear much of a resemblance to the interior of the Chase house that was shown on the series, which was, of course, a set that was modeled after the residence used in the pilot episode.
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The Chase house was also used as the childhood home of Michael Myers (aka Daeq Faerch) in Rob Zombie’s 2007 remake of the horror film Halloween.
According to this website, the home’s real life living room and foyer appeared in Halloween, but the basement, bathroom, hallway, and bedroom scenes were filmed inside of a residence located at 2218 South Harvard Boulevard in Los Angeles.
The house where Brian Krakow (aka Devon Gummersall) lived on My So-Called Life is located just across the street and two properties south of the Chase home.
Amazingly enough, it still looks very much the same today as it did when filming took place over 16 years ago.
In the episode titled “Dancing in the Dark”, Angela and Jordan Catalano’s (aka Jared Leto’s) very unromantic first kiss took place in Jordan’s car which was parked just outside of Brian’s home.
And I am fairly certain that the real life interior of Brian’s house was also used in the filming of that episode.
The home located just across the street from Angela’s, which was pictured in the background of quite a few episodes, still looks pretty much exactly the same today, as well.
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 
Stalk It: The Chase house from all of the episodes of My So-Called Life excluding the pilot is located at 1110 Glendon Way in South Pasadena. Brian Krakow’s home is located across the street and two houses south of the Chase residence at 1115 Glendon Way.
The “Hand That Rocks The Cradle” House
Another location that I stalked while visiting the Pacific Northwest this past May was the gorgeous Victorian-style residence where the Bartel family – Claire (aka Annabella Sciorra), Michael (aka Matt McCoy), Emma (aka an absolutely adorable pre-Californication Madeline Zima), and baby Joey (aka Eric, Jennifer, and Ashley Melander) – and their nanny, Peyton Flanders (aka Rebecca De Mornay), lived in the 1992 thriller The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. Even though I had actually only seen the movie once – almost two decades ago when it was first released in theatres – the Bartel home made such an impression on me that an image of it has been imprinted on my mind ever since. It is absolutely amazing to me how iconic the dwelling still is all these years later. Even more amazing to me is the fact that the home pictured above wasn’t actually the producer’s first choice for the filming of The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. They originally approached the owners of a different Tacoma-area Victorian residence – one that was chosen seven years later to stand in for the Stratford family home in the 1999 teen comedy 10 Things I Hate About You. But because The Hand filmmakers wanted to paint over some interior woodwork, cut holes in several walls, and temporarily remove all of the real life furnishings and decor, the 10 Things homeowners turned down the offer and a different property located just over a mile to the west was chosen instead. And the rest, as they say, is history. There’s a quote from the now-defunct Movieline Magazine that I’ve had pinned up on my bulletin board for over twenty years now which reads, “It is always fascinating to learn how an actress came to play a role in which she is so perfect for the part that you can’t imagine anyone else ever having been considered.” Well, the same can be said for houses, and it especially holds true for The Hand That Rocks the Cradle house – I honestly can’t imagine any other residence ever having been considered for the Bartel home.
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I am very happy to report that The Hand That Rocks the Cradle house looks remarkably the same today as it did eighteen years ago when it appeared in the movie. The residence has been painted a different color since that time and there is a quite a bit more foliage surrounding the property now, but otherwise it is still completely recognizable.
Even the light post/address marker located near the front porch is still there in real life, although the top of it is shaped a bit differently now.
The backside of the house and the garage area also appeared in the flick . . .
. . . although both have been remodeled quite a bit since filming took place.
The real life interior of the home was also used extensively in the filming.
Amazingly enough, the owners of the house decided to leave the famous Hand That Rocks the Cradle greenhouse, which played a pivotal role in the movie and which was built solely for the filming, intact after the flick had wrapped, which I think is just about the coolest thing ever! Even cooler still is the fact that there is a scene in the movie in which Michael calls 911 and says to the police, “We live at 808 Yakima”, which is the home’s actual address. I love it when real life details like that are included in a script!
In real life, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle house, which was originally built in 1891, boasts 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and a whopping 6,105 square feet of living space. And while the residence is absolutely beautiful in person, I prefer the white color it was painted in the movie, as opposed to the yellow color it is currently painted today.
On a celebrity-sighting side-note – While doing some grocery shopping this past Sunday afternoon, I happened to run into actress Kimmy Robertson, who played Cathy in fave movie Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead. I just about died when I realized who she was and, despite the Grim Cheaper’s objections, followed her outside to ask if she wouldn’t mind taking a photograph with me. Kimmy was SUPER, SUPER nice and even chatted with us about Don’t Tell Mom for a bit. I think she found me a bit odd when I told her how upset I was that the All American Burger on Sunset Boulevard – which stood in for Clown Dog restaurant in the movie – had recently been torn down, but she and her dog Cleo happily posed for a pic with me nonetheless. So incredibly cool!
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂
Stalk It: The Hand That Rocks the Cradle house is located at 808 North Yakima Avenue in Tacoma, Washington.
Viola’s Mansion from “Monster-in-Law”
The second Monster-in-Law location that I set my sights on tracking down this past weekend was the gargantuan mansion owned by Viola Fields (aka Jane Fonda) in the flick. Once again, fellow stalker Nick had done most of the legwork on this one by discerning that the house was located in Pasadena and had been built in 1927 by famed Los Angeles-area architect Wallace Neff, the very same man who was responsible for designing King Gillette Ranch (aka the Biggest Loser Ranch) and the dwelling where Brad and Jen lived during most of their five year marriage. But even though Nick had provided me with that wealth of information, for some reason, I had a very difficult time finding this particular residence. As fate would have it, not only did Wallace Neff design quite a few homes in the Pasadena area, but the vast majority of them were Mediterranean in style and extremely similar in appearance to the Monster-in-Law mansion. So, I once again headed over to fave bookstore Vroman’s with the hope that it could provide me with some Wallace Neff insight. And, sure enough, it did! As was the case with Kevin’s house from Monster-in-Law, which I blogged about yesterday, Viola’s mansion was chronicled in the very first book in which I looked – Wallace Neff: Architect of California’s Golden Age.
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In real life, the Monster-in-Law mansion is known as the “George O. Noble House” and, as I mentioned above, it was designed by Wallace Neff in 1927. The Spanish Revival-style abode boasts six bedrooms, five bathrooms, and a whopping 8,971 square feet of living space. And, while it once sat on over three acres of land, much of the parcel was subdivided in later years and the property currently encompasses “only” 1.2 acres. Sadly, though, not much of the residence is visible from the street.
But, as I’ve said before, that’s why God created aerial maps! 😉 As you can see in the above image, the George O. Noble House is not only stunning, but absolutely ginormous!
The mansion was featured quite a few times in Monster-in-Law . . .
. . . most notably in the scene in which Charlie Cantilini (aka Jennifer Lopez) and Kevin Fields (aka Michael Vartan) get married.
And, thanks to a photograph provided in the book Architectural Realism, you can see that the mansion’s real life interior was also used in the flick.
The George O. Noble House also appeared in the 2009 horror flick Drag Me to Hell as the residence belonging to Clay Dalton’s (aka Justin Long’s) parents. And, as was the case with Monster-in-Law, the real life interior of the residence was also used in the movie.
A few other Monster-in-Law locations can also be found in the Pasadena area, including the Ross House, which I blogged about yesterday, and the Bundy House, aka the Governor’s mansion from Benson, which was used as the home of one of Charlie’s dog walking employers (pictured above). And, yes, I did also find Charlie’s apartment building from Monster-in-Law. Tune in tomorrow for that location. 🙂
Big THANK YOU to Nick for helping me find this location! 🙂
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂
Stalk It: The George O. Noble house, aka Viola’s mansion from Monster-in-Law, is located at 675 Burleigh Drive in Pasadena. The Governor’s Mansion from Benson is located at 1365 South Oakland Avenue in Pasadena.