Elly Mae's Not Home

 Okay, one more Hillbillies post then I'll move on...I found out one more interesting feature of this property. Apparently the new owner, Mr. Perrenchio, didn't like all the tourists and tour buses stopping outside his front gate, snapping pictures. Why do I think that? Look closely at the first picture in this post...the driveway has been removed and replaced with trees and shrubs! Tourists can no longer stop in front of the Clampetts and snap a photo.

 The natural question that arises is, where is the new entrance? Well spinning the helicopter around several times, I think I see it. Looking at the first pic, notice the light brown road that goes straight up, off the top of the picture (apparently on the roof of the garage)? I think that is the new entrance road

Spinning the helo in the second pic, you can now see the entrance is up the road and around the corner! That's quite a bit of distance to move an entrance! Those tour buses must be very loud and obnoxious! The entry road follows the curve in Bel Air Rd and eventually winds up back in the Clampett courtyard.

Finally, let's flip this helo around one more time...it appears to me that they guest entrance is too narrow for delivery trucks, etc. That's probably why this third photo shows that there are actually two entrances - the yellow guest/resident entrance and the red service entrance.

Mystery solved! But wait, what is that round structure (see green arrow)?? Let me know what you think, I'm really curious.

And now, I'll move on to another neighborhood. I promise. Unless I find another interesting tidbit about the Clampett abode.

The Beagle Wins!

Yes, sports fans, for the first time in the history of Westminster Kennel Club's Dog Show, a beagle won the Hound Division. Not only that, but Uno the beagle went on to win Best of Show!

We are huge beagle fans and couldn't be happier - and judging from the crowd's reaction we are not alone.

This is the only dog show we watch each year, and unfortunately we missed seeing Uno win the Hound Division on Monday night, but we read about it. While being judged, he barked at his owner, bayed at the crowd, tried to grab his leash, and lunged at a piece of filet minon that was within sniffing distance. In other words, he was his normal beagle self.

Last night, we were glued to the TV to see if Uno would go on to take the top prize - and he did! He was in spectacular form and full of energy. As soon as he started his lap around the carpet, the audience went wild - Uno perked his ears up and looked around to see what the roar was about. It's about you, Uno! I've never seen that type of reaction from the crowd before, it was awesome.

Not only that, but when the judge singled Uno out for first place, the audience gave him a very loud standing ovation....unheard of! I couldn't believe my ears and eyes - I was thrilled to know how many other people understand the wonders of everything beagle.

We have a female beagle named Cory who is about to turn 15. She is our daughter, the princess of the family, and the undisputed lead scent detector of the house. Like Uno, she gets so excited when we head out the door for a walk that she turns her head, grabs the leash in her mouth, and tries to drag us out the door to hurry things up.

One thing that comes to most people's minds about beagles is the notion that they are very loud. While that is often true (as Uno showed), it is not true in all beagles. Cory very rarely barks and bays even less frequently. I'd say the reasons for that are three-fold: she was discouraged from barking as she grew up, she's female, and she grew up without other beagles around. Therefore, she modeled herself after the rest of her pack (us) and we don't bark. :)

Anyway, here's a photo of Cory taken quite a few years back while she was looking down the road at her 'boyfriend' Rodney (a golden retriever). Congratulations to the beagle world!

Black Gold, Texas Tea

 The post on Jan 31st where we discovered the Beverly Hillbillies home at 750 Bel Air Road in Los Angeles made me start poking around for more information and photographs of the mansion.

One of the first things I noticed was that there seemed to be a lack of parking - the 3 or 4 cars shown in the top picture appeared to be at the house staff entrance.

 But when the aerial view is turned around to look at the mansion from a different angle, it quickly becomes apparent that the garden at the bottom of the second picture is actually the roof of a parking garage! On top of that, we can begin to see a second massive garage built into the hillside at the top end of the second picture. Apparently, there is parking a-plenty.

 Turning 180 degrees once again and zooming in on this hillside parking garage, we can also see that there is a small building - staff residence? - on the edge of the parking facility.

Just how much has this residence changed when it was remodeled in the 1990s?

.

Here are two tourist photos I found that were taken before the home was remodeled.

 When you compare that to the video frame taken from the actual show (see the Chrysler Imperial going in the gate?), they all match - except that the video frame shows a see-through wrought iron gate

 But the TV show did take liberties, as this second frame shows - that is not the gateway to 750 Bel Air Road, nor is that the Hillbillies mansion in the background (see the windows in the roof?).

It appears that the remodel did get rid of a guard shack that was by the entrance, though. That shack can be see in a video at http://www.imperialclub.com/Movies/Beverly/index.htm to the left of the entrance gate, or looking at it from the other direction, it can be seen to the right of the entrance in the second of the two tourist photos above. Comparing it to the Zillow aerial photo at the end of this post, it is obvious that the guard building no longer exists.

One other thing: My Jan 31st post said that the mansion was built for Arnold Kirkeby. That is not true - the mansion was built by Lynn Atkinson for his wife. When he showed his wife the completed mansion, she didn't like it and refused to move in. Mr. Atkinson then sold it to Arnold Kirkeby for a fraction of what it cost to build.

Personally, Mrs. Atkinson, I have never liked the house either. The front always looked like cinderblock on the TV show (though I know it's not), and I find the shape rather boring.

So Pitted

Batten Down the Hatches

According to the weather report, we are due to have heavy rains and 25 to 35 MPH winds beginning tonight. This may not sound over the top to the rest of the world, but here in San Diego there usually is no weather to speak of - it is either sunny & warm, or warm & sunny.

We have had a good amount of rain this winter, but we have also had a few pretty decent wind storms which is highly unusual. If we hit 35 MPH tonight, we're likely to see quite a bit of damage since the area is not used to it.

On top of that, I stepped out on my front porch to get the newspaper on Thursday morning just in time to see the beautiful sight show in the photo to the right. I'm glad the camera was handy!

Fleur de Lys: 350 N Carolwood Drive

Walking straight across the street from Disney's old property is the Fleur de Lys mansion at 350 N. Carolwood Drive in Los Angeles (Holmby Hills). It is owned by David and Suzanne Saperstein. They bought three parcels in 1996 and 1997 and combined them to build this 35,046 square foot home with 12 bedrooms and 15 baths, which they promptly named "Fleur de Lys". It is modelled after Versailles and is currently on the market for $125 million.

David Saperstein made his billions in car dealerships and, later, as the largest stockholder of the Westwood One radio network. Why is the home for sale? Well here is the story according to the internet.

In 2006, the Texas business magnate and Republican Party donor David Saperstein fell for the family's young nanny, Hillevi Svensson. During a cross-country flight on board the family's private Gulfstream IV jet in 2006, David served his wife of 24 years with divorce papers during a stopover in Houston, apparently due to Texas divorce laws that favor him. She then filed her own papers in California, which is more alimony-friendly.

Suzanne has been awarded Fleur de Lys as a part of the settlement, and has placed it up for sale. Anybody have an eighth of a billion jingling in their pocket?

Next, we'll visit the homes of rich people whose names you actually know. By the way, that's the house on Walt's old property at the upper left of the bottom picture. The road that runs between the two mansions is Carolwood Drive.

Rocket 88

To follow up on a subject that I had previously posted about, Ike Turner's cause of death was announced yesterday: cocaine. It came as a shock to me, but I'm not sure why once I thought about it.

It is interesting to note that both he and Walt Disney, another subject of my recent blogs, both died of their vices. Walt died of lung cancer at the age of 65. Walt was a chain smoker who avoided smoking on camera so as not to influence children, but his smoker's cough gave early warning to his employees when he was coming down the hall.

I have looked into the birth of Rock music a little more since my last Ike post, and there is actually quite a bit of dispute about what song was the actual birth of Rock. Since music morphs a wee bit with each song written, it is very hard to pinpoint the time when any genre begins. The Menziesera site gives a good rundown of how R&B slowly morphed into Rock and even includes a short sound snippet from each song so you can decide.

But many people consider the song Rocket 88 to be the birth. It was first recorded in 1951 by Ike Turner and Jackie Brenston and credited to the band "Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats". The song praised the Oldsmobile Rocket 88 automobile introduced in 1949.

This is a very interesting discovery to me, as Oldsmobiles have been a big part of my family's automotive history. In fact, my second car was a 1970 Oldsmobile with a Rocket 350.

The car was a joy to own and, though it was based on the other GM 350 engines, the Olds version was very distinct. I can tell when I hear one approaching, just from the sound though I rarely hear one anymore.

And, unbeknownst to me, that is my tie back to the birth of Rock music.