1. You may remember when Ben & Erin Napier shared their Craftsman cottage with us.
It was a hugely popular post (still is). Then last year they shot a pilot for HGTV called “Home Town” and gave us the behind-the-scenes scoop about what it’s really like to be in front of the cameras (and to hang out with Chip & Joanna!).
It was successful enough to be picked up for a full season, which premieres tonight in the prime time slot after “Fixer Upper.” Check it out! I’ll be cheering them on. 🙂
2. “Grace & Frankie” return for a third season on Netflix.
I love their fabulous beach house. When the first season premiered, I spent hours trying to track that beach house down to no avail. Then one day I stumbled across an old post I’d written in 2011 about a house designed by architect Steve Giannetti in Broad Beach, California, and realized it was the same as Grace and Frankie’s. So I had the house on my own blog all along, LOL. You can see it and compare it to the house on the show here. One of my faves. 🙂
3. Bette Davis’s Butternut Farm and Joan Crawford’s Mansion in “Mommie Dearest”
Are you watching the series “Feud” on FX about Joan Crawford & Bette Davis? I love stories about old Hollywood, so I’m eating it up!
You can see Davis’s Sugar Hill farm house here. The mansion where “Mommie Dearest” was filmed went on the market last year for $35 million and it looks a lot like the one they designed for Crawford in “Feud,” sweeping staircase and all.
Also, as a classic-movie fan, I would be remiss if I didn’t also direct you to my post about “Mildred Pierce,” the movie Crawford won an Academy Award for in 1945. Some great sets in that one!
4. Beach House Alert: “Big Little Lies” has some amazing ones.
They filmed the HBO series on location in real beach houses, mostly in Malibu. Celeste’s is the only one that’s actually in the Monterey area. Do you have a favorite?
Location manager Gregory Alpert explained how the houses were chosen:
“Very early on [director] Jean-Marc [Vallée] had an idea of how the houses would play out based on the characters’ socioeconomic levels. So Renata is at the pinnacle and physically at the top, looking down upon everything. Celeste’s house is sort of the next step down. And then right below that is Madeline, who’s right on the beach.”
Also: Renata’s beach house is the same one Nolan Ross lived in on “Revenge”!
What do you think of the series? I loved the book and preferred it, but it’s still fun to see stars like Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman embodying those characters. Reese’s Madeline is so uptight and on edge, I get stressed just watching her, ha.
Wow, fun post today! Love the new HBO show, “big, little lies”. Didn’t recognize Renata’s home as Nolan’s , but that’s why your loyal followers have you. Need to watch the episodes again to find more clues, also. It’s very twisted! Feud is well done, too. Oh, to have even half the money it takes to live like all these tv characters…but I’ll keep my happy life rather than their misery.
I know, right? It’s hard to believe how miserable some of those characters are, considering the fabulous houses they get to live in. 😉
What an ending! Shhhh…no spoilers! Didn’t see that coming at all.
I too loved the book but I am enjoying the show. I love Monterrey and OMG those houses…<3
To be honest, sometimes the houses distract me from the storylines! Ha. 🙂
My best friend in junior high on Broad Beach ©1967-8….so beautiful and quiet then. Their house was old and nooky crooky. All of that gone now. It’s a gated community full of mcmansions…the maids spend more time in those houses than the owners.
I’ve been watching Big Little Lies and it’s entertaining, but the characters are all pretty unlikeable. I much prefer Grace and Frankie, and have been waiting for this season to start – hooray! I much prefer these characters, as well as their beach house. Lovely!
I’m definitely not enjoying the tv series of Big Little Lies as much as I did the book. The book was fabulous and the show is good but not great. But I guess that always happens when books turn into movies or shows. The houses are stunning and really reflect the characters that live in them I think. I’m Australian so may be biased about the book being better lol
Home Town is cute and I like the changes they make to the houses they work on, but the format is soooo similar to Fixer-Upper. I wish they’d change it up a bit.
I agree with you totally! I said the same thing to myself as I was watching the show…which was quite boring. I also noticed that they “buy” better houses than some of the disasters on Fixer Upper. I don’t think they have the construction/engineering skills to do major renos like knocking out a lot of walls, etc. It seemed to be mostly cosmetic changes and very minor work. Still, it’s a good enough to show watch. I’m sick to death of all the House Hunter type shows out there.
It seems that Erin puts more color into the rooms on Home Town than Joanna does on Fixer Upper. Me.. I love color but I love both shows! I think Home Town is going to be a big success! 🙂
I am enjoying Big Little Lies (and really enjoyed the book) and I’m so glad you pointed out that Renata’s house was in Revenge. I never would have figured it out on my own lol.
Renata’s/Nolan Ross house was also Jen’s house in 90210!!
I didn’t know that — thanks!