Rodeo Drive Walk of Style

Beverly Hills CA

Not much to explain here. This is Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills.
Louis Vuitton
Hermes
Dior
Giorgio Armani
Ralph Lauren
Cartier
Ferragamo
Prada
Versace
Gucci
Porsche Design, for all your personalized Porsche accessories!
Tiffany
Dolce & Gabbana
Saint Laurent
Tory Burch, and another Dior.
“Torso”, 2003, by Robert Graham. “Honoring Legends of Fashion and Style”.
House of Bijan. Luxurious accessories. You can buy dress shirts for only $1,650, silk ties for only $950, T-shirts for only $780, sweaters for only $3,800, and shoes for only $3,800!
The House of Bijan yellow Rolls Royce!
McLaren speeding away.
Pretty nice Jaguar.
Anderton Court Shops, the only shopping center that Frank Lloyd Wright designed.
Rodeo Drive
Rodeo Drive
The famous Beverly Wilshire Hotel.

Stahl House

West Hollywood CA

This is what you see when you walk through the gate to the Stahl House, a significant architectural landmark in Los Angeles. This house is situated on the edge of Hollywood Hills overlooking Los Angeles, and has some of the most breathtaking views you can imagine for a private residence.

Construction was completed in 1959 for the Stahl family, who still own the house today, and enjoy opening it up for private tours, like the one we had.
This house was part of The Case Study House Program, which produced some of the most iconic architectural projects of the 20th Century, but none more iconic than, or as famous as the Stahl House, also known as Case Study House #22 by Pierre Koenig.
Dining room.
Living room.
From the front of the living room. All the glass panels are sliding panels, 8 ft. by 8 ft., which is quite large for a home!
Kitchen.
Master bedroom.
View from the master bedroom.
Children’s bedroom.
This is the view from the living room – downtown Los Angeles.
Looking left, still in the living room, the San Gabriel Mountains.
Buck Stahl had envisioned a modernist glass and steel constructed house that offered panoramic views of Los Angles when he originally purchased the land for the house in 1954 for $13,500.

Stahl had originally begun to excavate and take on the duties of architect and contractor; it was not until 1957 when Stahl hired Pierre Koenig to take over the design of the family’s residence.

The two-bedroom, 2,200 square foot residence is a true testament to modernist architecture and the Case Study House Program.
Lounging in the living room! See LA in the background?
Me too!
The edge of this patio goes pretty much straight down past the small flower edging. About 15 feet down there is a fence that prevents falling all the way down the cliff!
And it was a beautiful day! That is Catalina Island in the distance on the right.
Healthy succulents!

Out and about Wednesday

Los Angeles, Hollywood and Beverly Hills CA

Warner Brothers Studio water tower.
Orange tree in a front yard, just a normal residential neighborhood!
Bel Air entrance gate.
The Spadena House, also known as The Witch’s House, is a popular stop on many tours. It is a private house, so there are no tours inside of the house.
At the Spadena House.
The Hollywood sign from Lake Hollywood Park.
Scenery around Hollywood.
That’s our car illegally parked, for a minute!
Again, Beverly Hills = Palm trees.
A normal Beverly Hills residential street.
Another residential street.
On the Sunset Strip.
This is the setting for the 1960s TV show 77 Sunset Strip. The gap between the two buildings was where “Kookie” Burns did the valet parking. Building on the left was Dino’s Restaurant (Dean Martin’s real-life lounge), and the one on the right was the location of the detectives’ offices.
Statue of Bullwinkle and Rocky.
The Viper Room, celebrity drug hot spot during the 1990s, formerly co-owned by Johnny Depp. It was the site of River Phoenix’s suicide in 1993, and many drug related incidents, including Courtney Love’s drug-induced seizure where she was revived by Depp..
Richard Pryor, David Letterman, Jay Leno, Roseanne Barr, Chris Rock, Jim Carrey and Whoopi Goldberg are just a few of the big name comics who got their start here at The Comedy Store,
The Laugh Factory opened in 1979, and since then has been (and still is) extremely popular venue for the top comedians. Legendary comedians who have performed at the club include: Tim Allen, Roseanne Barr, George Carlin, Jim Carrey, Dave Chappelle, Ellen DeGeneres, Jeff Dunham, Jeff Foxworthy, Redd Foxx, Bob Hope, Martin Lawrence, Jay Leno, Bernie Mac, Bill Maher, Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Chris Rock, Ray Romano, Adam Sandler, Jerry Seinfeld, Damon Wayans, Keenan Ivory Wayans and Robin Williams.
Sunset Strip.
Mel’s Drive-in was featured in the 1973 movie “American Graffiti”.
Homeless camp across the street from the Beverly Hills Goodwill store.
At the Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park & Mortuary, here is the grave of Farrah Fawcett.
Perhaps the most famous grave in Los Angeles is this one, Marilyn Monroe.
Don Knotts, aka Barnie Fife!
Storer House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, most significant American architect of the 1900s. This house is private, and not open for tours. In fact, on this day the house is undergoing restoration.
Houses are built right into the side of steep hills.

Bob’s Big Boy

Burbank CA

This Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank, built in 1949, is the last remaining Bob’s restaurant, which at one point was a large chain.
The Big Boy figure became well known throughout the country.
In the summer of 1965 while in Hollywood to record their HELP album, the Beatles dined in this booth. The restaurant has moved the plaque from the actual booth because people kept stealing it, so now it is displayed prominently on a wall, away from the actual booth.

Universal Studios Tour

North Hollywood CA

Universal Studios’ studio tour is within the them park.
So here we are.
Bird of prey.
Lots of palm trees. California, after all!
It seems like these photo op wings are everywhere now!
1939 Duesenberg Model J, the actual car from The Mummy, 1999.
So here we go…
The back lot, just a lot of studio buildings.
A set used in numerous shows and movies.
The facades.
Back of a facade.
We went through several “3D” adventures, using special 3D glasses, so the pictures are very clear. The first action was King Kong 360 vs. the dinosaurs.
Cars from various movies. Here, American Graffiti and Magnum P.I.
The Flinstones
Harry Potter
Scenes from Jurassic Park.
Demonstration of a flood.
Another set.
“Bones” set.
“Bones” action.
“Bones” action
“Jaws” scene.
Bates Motel from “Psycho”.
Norman Bates on his porch.
Disaster scene used by numerous shows and movies, including Steven Spielberg’s “War of the Worlds”.
“Fast and Furious Supercharged”.
Back in the theme park. Pretty large section for The Simpsons.
Despicable Me
A minion
Pets
The Harry Potter train and conductor.
Hogwarts
Chimneys.