Jack’s House from “Wicked City”

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Some locations are so arresting they almost become a character in a production.  Such was the case with the spectacular mid-century modern pad where LAPD detective Jack Roth (Jeremy Sisto) lived with his wife, Allison (Jaime Ray Newman), and daughter, Vicki (Anne Winters), on the 2015 ABC series Wicked City.  Though its exterior was only featured once on the short-lived show, the interior seriously made an impression!  I found myself looking forward to its appearance week after week, even more so than I did any of the actors.  So I was thoroughly bummed to discover said interior was just a set that only ever existed on a soundstage and was dismantled after filming wrapped.  Regardless, I figured the residence used in the lone exterior shot of Jack’s home was still worthy of a stalk.  Thankfully, I didn’t have to look far for it.

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The sole exterior shot of the house popped up in Wicked City’s seventh episode, “Destroyer,” in the scene in which Jack moves out after disclosing to Allison that he has been having an affair.  Its mid-century architecture and large, flat front yard led me to believe the property was likely located deep in the San Fernando Valley.  After initially searching Granada Hills, I remembered coming across a smattering of unique MCM homes near Shoup Park in Woodland Hills years prior while stalking the neighboring residences where Ryden Malby (Alexis Bledel) and David Santiago (Rodrigo Santoro) lived in the 2009 romcom Post Grad.  So I headed over to the area via Google Maps and, wouldn’t you know it, right next door to Ryden’s house at 22210 Tiara Street was Jack’s pad!

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It truly is a shame the exterior wasn’t featured more prominently on Wicked City because it.is.fabulous.

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The mid-century stunner was designed by architect Charles DuBois in 1960.

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In real life, it boasts 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2,084 square feet, a double fireplace, a vaulted ceiling, a 0.37-acre lot, a large pool, a spa, and a fire pit.

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It also features incredible mid-century detailing including a low gabled roofline;

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a tiered front walkway;

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large bright double doors;

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and a stone and wood façade.

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The property last sold in 2009 and, per the MLS images featured on Realtor.com, looked extremely different at the time.  Kudos to the new owners and their superb exterior renovation!

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Sadly, the MLS photos did not include any inside shots aside from the rather murky one below.

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The interior as it was imagined by production designer Craig Stearns for Wicked City, though, was spectacular!  I fell in love with the clean lines, beamed ceiling, and 1960s feel.  That screened entry, amirite?  You can check out some more images of it here.

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Interestingly, the ceiling of the set, which slopes toward the front and back of the house, doesn’t match the roofline of the Tiara Street residence, which peaks above the front door and slopes to the sides.  The discrepancy, coupled with the fact that an exterior is not shown until the series’ seventh episode, leads me to believe that Wicked City producers never intended to feature the outside of Jack’s home.  Then when a scene unexpectedly came up requiring an exterior shot, location scouts had to scramble to find a dwelling that matched the set, eventually settling on 22210 Tiara Street even though it didn’t entirely line up with Stearns’ design.  That is just a hunch, though.

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While the pad’s exterior didn’t get much love on Wicked City, it did pop up fairly regularly as the residence of Sabrina (Shannon Woodward) and Jimmy Chance (Lucas Neff) on the Fox sitcom Raising Hope.

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The interior of Sabrina and Jimmy’s place was also just a set, but a gorgeous one at that!

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For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine, and Discover Los Angeles.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Jack Roth’s house from Wicked City is located at 22210 Tiara Street in Woodland Hills.

Villa Restaurant from “Must Love Dogs”

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Some filming location finds turn out to be a disappointment in person while others wind up to be better than I ever could have imagined.  Today’s stalk – of Villa restaurant from the 2005 romantic comedy Must Love Dogs – was a little bit of both.

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For several months, I had been on a fruitless search for the outdoor eatery that appeared in the beginning of Must Love Dogs, in the scene in which Sarah Nolan (Diane Lane) showed up for a date with someone she met online only to discover that her date was actually her father, Bill (Christopher Plummer).  The bistro was absolutely adorable and reminded me quite a bit of Aroma Café in Studio City, one of my favorite spots in all of L.A.  Try as I might, though, I just could not seem to locate it.  I finally enlisted the help of fellow stalker Owen, from the When Write Is Wrong blog, and he found the place in record time.  A Google search of the terms  “restaurant, patio, fountain, San Fernando Valley,” led him to the website for Villa in Woodland Hills.  Images posted there proved it was the right spot.  Sadly though, the images also showed that the eatery had been remodeled in recent years and, in the process, seemed to have lost much of its charm.  I was heartbroken to learn of the renovation, but decided to stalk the place nonetheless.  As it turns out, despite the facelift, Villa is still quite spectacular.

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The space that currently houses Villa was originally the site of Eckberg’s Steakhouse, which was founded in the 1960s.  At the time, the property was a private home owned by Russ and Eleanor Eckberg.  Russ worked in the meat industry and, upon retiring, decided to convert the living room of his house into a small ten-table restaurant with an adjacent open kitchen.  And yes, Russ and Eleanor still lived on the premises.   When they fully retired in the late 1970s, the space was taken over by restaurateur John Makhani.  He remodeled and expanded the residence (keeping much of the original framing intact) and re-opened it in 1981.

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The restaurant has gone through several incarnations under Makhani’s tutelage.  At one point, it was a French eatery named Lautrec and then later it became an Italian spot named Villa Piacere.  It was during its time as Piacere that Must Love Dogs was filmed on the premises.  Makhani decided to revamp the space again in 2012 and, with the help of designer Thomas Schoos, transformed both the interior and the exterior.

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When it was re-opened, the “Piacere” was dropped from the name and the restaurant became known simply as “Villa.”

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The filming of Must Love Dogs took place on Villa Piacere’s back patio.

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As you can see below, that area, while still somewhat recognizable, looks significantly different today.

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Gone are the flowered tablecloths, country-style furniture and tiered water fountain.

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While I was originally disappointed to learn of the changes, I was pleasantly surprised when I stepped onto Villa’s patio.  In the photographs Owen had found online, the space looked sleek and cold, but in person, it turned out to be quaint, adorable and absolutely charming.  I fell in love with it on site!  So did Mike, from MovieShotsLA, who had joined me on the stalk, and we both promptly made plans to return there for dinner with our significant others in the near future.

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The super-nice server whom we spoke with while we were there informed us that Villa had appeared onscreen numerous times over the years.  The interior of the eatery popped up in the 2013 biopic Jobs as the spot where Steve Jobs (Ashton Kutcher) made the decision not to give Daniel Kottke (Lukas Haas) any Apple stock options.

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A different exterior was used for the establishing shot of the restaurant in the scene.

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In the Season 4 episode of Parks and Recreation titled “Operation Ann,” the exterior of  Villa masked as the Bluebell Cafe.  Interiors were filmed at the Hamburger Hamlet in Sherman Oaks, though.  (Interiors from Season 2’s “Galentine’s Day” were also filmed at the Hamburger Hamlet.)

In the Season 1 episode of LeAnn & Eddie (and let’s hope that there only winds up to be one season of that train wreck of a show) titled “Babes and a Baby,” LeAnn Rimes dined at Villa with some of her childhood friends.

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Villa’s tree-canopied parking lot appeared in Buick’s recent “Hmm” commercial.

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The parking lot is absolutely gorgeous in person!  I can only imagine what it looks like at night all lit up.

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You can watch the Buick “Hmm” commercial by clicking below.

For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.  And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Owen, from the When Write Is Wrong blog, for finding this location!  Smile

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Villa restaurant, from Must Love Dogs, is located at 22160 Ventura Boulevard in Woodland Hills.  You can visit the eatery’s official website here.

David Santiago’s House from “Post Grad”

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Unfortunately, this stalker is currently suffering from a bad cold (which, for some reason, always seems to happen to me right before the holidays) and thanks to the fact that I cannot breath out of my nose and have taken copious amounts of NyQuil, I am feeling just a wee bit out of it today.  So I have to apologize if this particular post is somewhat off, but, regrettably, my head is somewhere in the clouds right now, instead of sitting on top of my shoulders in front of the computer screen where it should be.  I will do my best to be coherent, though, so here goes.  Located directly across the street from the house where Ryden Malby (aka Alexis Bledel) lived in Post Grad, which I blogged about yesterday, is the residence that belonged to her mysterious neighbor – zany, Brazilian infomercial director David Santiago (aka Love Actually’s/Lost’s Rodrigo Santoro).  So I, of course, dropped by to stalk it while in the neighborhood last weekend.

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David’s one-story, stone-and-wood, ranch-style abode shows up numerous times throughout Post Grad. And oddly enough, while I actually think the exterior is quite similar in appearance to the Malby house, according to the Post Grad production notes David’s pad was supposed to represent a more “cosmopolitan” lifestyle, the very type of lifestyle that Ryden was seeking.  In the notes, production designer Mark Hutman states, “The house we found for the Malbys is a single story, ranch-style house, which is very common in the Valley.  It’s not new, but it’s not old either, it’s just somewhat non-descript.  For David’s environment, we went very stylish and masculine. His house is more modern, with dark leather couches and a minimalist color palette.  And he has a pool.”

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As luck would have it, the real life owners of David’s house walked outside just as we showed up to stalk the place and they literally could not have been nicer!  They spoke with us for quite a while and answered all of my silly little questions about the filming.  Just a few of the tidbits they shared with us were that the shoot lasted just over three weeks and that a lot of filming did take place inside of their actual home.

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As well as in their backyard and pool.

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They also informed us that the production team replaced their entire back and side fence for the filming.  And they mentioned that the experience was the most fun they had ever had in their entire lives.  Um, you’re telling me!  I think I would just about die if a movie set up shop in my apartment for over three weeks!

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In real life, David’s house, which was built in 1960, measures 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, and 2,767 square feet.  And I am very happy to report that it looks exactly the same in person as it did onscreen.

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I was actually struck by how much it resembles the party house from fave movie Clueless, a location that has been the bane of my existence for years now as I just cannot seem to find it anywhere!!!!  UGH!  But I digress!

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On a random side-note – while getting my hair blown out the other day, I was lucky enough to run into Summer Bishil, who plays Navid Shirazi’s (aka Michael Steger’s) sister Leila Shirazi on fave show 90210!  Summer could NOT have been nicer and readily agreed to pose for a pic with me even though she had no make-up on and her hair had yet to be done.  Love it!  And when I told her that Matt Lanter was the love of my life, she said, “I think he’s pretty much the love of everyone’s life!”  Love it even more!

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On another side-note – I would like to wish my wonderful father a VERY happy 65th birthday today!!  I love you so much, Dad!

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Chas, from the It’sFilmedThere website, for finding this location!  Smile You can check out Chas’ extensive Post Grad filming locations page here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: David Santiago’s house from Post Grad is located at 5901 Farralone Avenue in Woodland Hills.  Ryden’s house from Post Grad is located directly across the street at at 22200 Tiara Street, also in Woodland Hills.

Ryden’s House from “Post Grad”

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Another location that I dragged the Grim Cheaper out to stalk while in the San Fernando Valley area this past weekend was the ranch-style house where Ryden Malby (aka Alexis Bledel) and her extremely odd, but extremely loveable family – dad Walter (aka Michael Keaton), mom Carmella (aka Jane Lynch), brother Hunter (aka Bobby Coleman), and crazy Grandma Maureen (aka the always fabulous Carol Burnett) – lived in Post Grad.  I saw the 2009 romantic comedy back when it first came out on DVD early last year and absolutely fell in love with it.  So I, of course, immediately started attempting to track down all of its featured locations, especially the Malby residence, but I am sad to say that I was a complete and total failure at the endeavor.  In my defense, though, it was not entirely my fault as the movie did somewhat lead me astray.

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As you can see above, in one of Post Grad’s early scenes, Ryden is shown being dropped off by a taxi, on the door of which is written “North Hollywood Cab Co.”, so I made the incorrect assumption that the Malby residence was located in that area.  And while I really should have known better, being that movies “cheat” that sort of thing all the time, the home just looked like a North-Hollywood-type residence to me.  So I spent more than a few fruitless hours searching NoHo (as Angelinos are now referring to it) before calling off the hunt.  Enter fellow stalker Chas, of the It’sFilmedThere website, who is pretty much the biggest Gilmore Girls/Alexis Bledel/Lauren Graham fan on the planet and who a few months later had begun his own trek to find the home.  And find it, he did, thanks to a very helpful crew member.  Once Chas told me of the location, I immediately added it to my “To-Stalk” list, but because I rarely get out to Woodland Hills, it took me quite a long time to actually visit the place.

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In Post Grad, after losing out on her book-publishing dream job, recent college graduate Ryden Malby is forced to return home to live with her parents in their quirky-looking abode.

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I am very happy to report that the Post Grad house, which in real life measures 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, and 2,500 square feet, and was originally built in 1960, looks exactly the same in person as it did onscreen.

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I was especially excited to see that the wooden wishing well that was situated in the home’s front yard in the movie was actually there in real life, as well.  Love it!

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Sadly, the little white fence that flanked the property’s front steps was not there, though.

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I am fairly certain that the real life interior of the residence was also used in the filming, but I, unfortunately, could not find any photographs of the interior online with which to verify that hunch.

Big THANK YOU to Chas, from the It’sFilmedThere website, for finding this location.  You can check out Chas’ extensive Post Grad filming locations page here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Ryden’s house from Post Grad is located at 22200 Tiara Street in Woodland Hills.

Pickwick’s Pub from “The Office”

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This past weekend, I dragged my husband (that is SO weird to say!) out to stalk Pickwick’s Pub – the Woodland Hills watering hole that stands in for the Dunder Mifflin gang’s favorite local hangout, Poor Richard’s Pub, on fave show The Office.  And while there is actually a real life Poor Richard’s Pub located in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where the series is based, thankfully, both the interiors and exteriors which appear on the show can be found right here in Los Angeles, just about ten miles away from Chandler Valley Studios where the series is taped.  I am ashamed to admit that I spent more than a few hours online trying to track down this locale and came up completely empty-handed.  Thankfully though, fellow stalker Lavonna was also in on the hunt and managed to find this Poor Richard’s page on the Dunderpedia website, which led us to the right place.  And while Poor Richard’s Pub is referred to almost weekly on The Office, Pickwick’s has actually only been used for filming twice. 

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Pickwick’s Pub has been a San Fernando Valley staple for over three and a half decades, ever since it first opened way back in 1974.  The watering hole suffered a brief set-back in 2004 when it burned to the ground after a disgruntled customer set fire to the place.  The rebuilding project took a full year to complete, but in 2005 the bar reopened and has been going strong ever since.  And, let me tell you, the place is not your ordinary, everyday pub.  The menu is quite extensive and features everything from traditional British fare such as bangers & mash and Irish beef stew to Indian delicacies like chicken curry and pork korma to such American favorites as chicken pot pie and homemade mac and cheese.  There is also an extensive breakfast menu, which is available all day.  And, let me tell you, the food was excellent!  Our waitress was also extremely nice and answered all of my silly little questions about the filming of The Office.  Unfortunately, she didn’t work at Pickwick’s at the time either of the episodes was filmed, so she didn’t have much insider information to share with me.  🙁  Pickwick’s is a super cute and cozy little place and seems to be mostly inhabited by regulars.  It definitely has a hometown feel to it and is exactly the kind of place I picture Pam and Jim grabbing a drink after work.  🙂  Pickwick’s also features a trivia night every Wednesday starting at 8 p.m. and an 80’s acoustic band which plays live every Saturday night – both of which sound like an absolute blast!  🙂

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As I mentioned above, Pickwick’s Pub has appeared twice on The Office – first in the Season 3 episode titled “Cocktails”, in which Pam Beesly (aka Jenna Fischer), Roy Anderson (aka David Denman), Kelly Kapoor (aka Mindy Kaling), and the rest of the Dunder Mifflin crew cut out of work early in order to grab drinks together at their favorite local hangout.  It is at Pickwick’s that Pam admits to Roy that she and Jim once kissed.

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The mirror which Roy subsequently breaks in a fit of anger is, of course, not there in real life.

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Neither is the Toy Chest game machine where Toby Flenderson (aka Paul Lieberstein) spends the evening trying to win Pam a duck.

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The bar showed up again in the Season 4 episode titled “Local Ad”, in which the Dunder Mifflin gang gathers together to watch the airing of their recently-filmed local television commercial.

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A picture of Steve Carell during the filming of that episode is even on display on the official Pickwick Pub website.  So darn cool!

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The exterior that is shown on The Office is actually Pickwick’s back entrance, which looks EXACTLY the same in person as it does on the show, except for the Poor Richard’s signage, of course.  Love it!

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Fellow stalker and Office aficionado Owen, who I am EXTREMELY jealous of!, recently made a stalking pilgrimage to Scranton, Pennsylvania where he got to visit the real life Poor Richard’s Pub, which in reality is located inside of a bowling alley.  As Owen wrote when he emailed me the above pictures, “Does that carpet not scream bowling alley?!?!”  LOL 

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Sadly, the bar was closed when Owen showed up to stalk it, but as you can see in the above photograph, which I got off of the Poor Richard’s website, the place does bear a striking resemblance to Pickwick’s.  Both bars have a very British/Tudor-style look to them and both also appear to display Christmas lights year-round.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Lavonna for finding this location and to fellow stalker Owen for loaning me his photographs of the real Poor Richard’s Pub to display in this post!  🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: Pickwick’s Pub from The Office is located at 21010 Ventura Boulevard in Woodland Hills.  You can visit the bar’s official website here.  The real Poor Richard’s Pub is located in Scranton, Pennsylvania at 125 Beech Street, inside of South Side Bowl.  You can visit the official Poor Richard’s website here.