Desilu Studios? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

crazyredhead · 08-16-2003, 09:24 AM

Whatever happened to it? I know Lucille sold it to some company..but is it still standing? Can you go look at it?

And how about their ranch in Chatsworth and home in Palm Springs..what happened to them?

Lodee · 08-16-2003, 11:53 AM

It's still standing, at least one of them. They showed it I think on the Travel Channel special. I can't remember what it's called now though.

dawsongirl · 08-16-2003, 06:14 PM

Isn't it Paramount now?

Joicetti · 08-17-2003, 01:26 AM

First, about the studios:

Desilu had a total of three homes over the course of I Love Lucy beginning with what was then called General Service Studios (now known as Hollywood Center Studios) located in Hollywood. The show was filmed here for the first two years (51-53) on Stage 2. If you go in and visit (I don't believe there are public tours but you can get on the lot by going to a taping) you will notice that there's a cafe next to the old Lucy soundstage called the "Babalu Cafe." Visit the studio website at http://www.hollywoodcenter.com/ and click on "Stages" and then select "2" to view the layout and description of the old ILL stage.

ILL had its own entrance on one of the streets (not the main studio street (Las Palmas), it starts with an "R" but I can't remember it right now!) but the actual door where audiences would start to line up no longer exists. I believe you can still see the old address stamped on the curb as well as the faded traces of a doorway that's been sealed up, but there's really no other sign that that's where the filming used to be, and it takes a real fan like you or me who knows where to look to really pinpoint the location. I have pictures somewhere around here and I'll scan them if anyone is interested. The studio nowadays is really deserted and located in a quiet if not seedy area of the town. Barely any activity around, and lots of cracked sidewalks and weeds growing and sprouting out of the cement. (Of course despite the glitz and glamour, most of Hollywood is like this, although it is getting cleaned up over the last few years...)

After two years ILL moved north of this location to what's known now as Ren-Mar Studios. I'm not as familiar with this particular studio and have never visited it myself, but I believe that ILL was taped here for about five years until Desi acquired the property next to Paramount Studios, which in those days (1957) was known as RKO. This last studio used to be accessible by public tour (the Paramount tour, that is, since the RKO/Desilu lot was eventually bought out by the Paramount studio next door) and you were taken around to where Lucy's dressing room was (outside only, of course) and shown a small garden that's been planted in the show's honor, called "Lucy Park." After 9/11, however, the tours stopped and I don't believe have resumed still to this day.

Now, about the houses:

I don't believe the Chatsworth house is standing. I do think the Palm Springs house is, and happens to be the location where Gary Morton's second wife (whom he married after Lucy died) is still living with Lucy's poodle - the young dog she had when she died. The property around it is a huge golfing community and I think I heard a couple of years ago that they were building a hotel there and really turning it into a resort-type getaway. The Palm Springs house was Lucy's summer-type house with Gary Morton during their years together (I'm not sure if she owned it when she was married to Desi).

Of course her main property with both husbands was the 1000 N. Roxbury Drive home in Beverly Hills. The original walls of that house still stand, but it was completely redone by its new owners after being sold in the '90s after Lucy's death. The facade is still basically the same, only now it's stucco and cement versus the original white shingles. It was on the market for a while and sold at well below the asking price, due to some interior damage and a lagging real estate market in Beverly Hills at the time. Lucy bought the house in the '50s for $80,000 and you can see the original exterior on ILL in the episode where Lucy and Ethel take the bus tour through LA and get off the bus to visit Richard Widmark's residence - the house they walk towards was her real home.

Lucy lived in a couple of other places during her many years in LA, first in a house on Ogden Drive with her family and then moving into an apartment with Desi after getting married before they bought the first home in Chatsworth. I have found memories of scoping out the Lucy/Desi apartment, since I ran into Kevin Kline - one of my favorite actors - walking his dog as I was snapping pictures!

Hope some of that is informative - and accurate, since I haven't thought about some of these things in years so my memory may be a little foggy. Perhaps others can update us if there's anything I left out or am mistaken about. Let me know if you want to know anything else and I will try to help if I can!

SPLAIN · 08-18-2003, 11:11 AM

You did very well, thanks for that. Some people say the Chatsworth house is still there. The one in Palm Springs Desi won the property in a card game, two lots on a golf course and built a beautiful house on it, some pictures available on the net, famous architect built it. Gary's widow lives there with the pup of Lucy's old dog, Tinker. Or so i was told, as the original dog would be what 15 or more? The house in Beverly Hills was on sale for 7 and a half million but only netted half that, Gary lived in it for almost two years after Lucy died, they practically had to push him out.

Lodee · 08-18-2003, 02:48 PM

I've heard that too, that the Chatsworth house is still there, but I've never even seen a picture. Even in the Home Movie documentary they only show the back don't they?

SPLAIN · 08-18-2003, 03:08 PM

Well, it was very small, and even with the additions, that property has been subdivided over and over so that now the house is surrounded by buildings everywhere, no wonder it's hard to find. When i saw pictures of the earthquake they had there a few years after Lucy died, i kept wondering if her old property was affected. Remember that parking garage that just collapsed and crushed the cars? Lucy once was at the pool in Palm Springs when an earthquake hit and she later showed the hole she almost fell in to visitors.

Lodee · 08-18-2003, 07:49 PM

As much as they both loved that house, I wonder why they didn't just keep it and buy the one in Beverly Hills too. They had enough other houses, what's one more.

SPLAIN · 08-19-2003, 10:54 AM

Why would they want a house out in the bush, that took forever to get to? It was isolated, and they left it when they got kidnap threaths about the kids, so they moved to SAFE Beverly Hills. They sold the house to actress Jane Withers, and then it just got chopped up, sorta like the disastrous change in te Beverly Hills mansion. It looks very nice now, but i much prefer the OLD look! With all those HUGE trees and that beautiful landscaping that made a big house look absolutely HUGE!

Lodee · 08-19-2003, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by SPLAIN
Why would they want a house out in the bush, that took forever to get to?

Because it meant ALOT to them!! They loved the house and were VERY upset to leave it. It held alot of good memories for them. That's why.

SPLAIN · 08-20-2003, 01:28 PM

Ok, chill! They could have kept it and just rented it out, or used it as a house for the kids to visit, no, they had the guest house for that, i'll stick with renting it out and keeping it for sentimental reasons then, happy now?

Ricardos4ever · 08-20-2003, 02:18 PM

At least we know that there is a tree still standing on their old Chatsworth ranch property that has carved into it: "Desi + Lucy 4-41" with a heart around it. It's kind of cool that the heart symbol is being used again in connection with Lucy and Desi. A heart pin was the first gift Desi ever gave Lucy, it was carved into their tree, it was the logo for their show.

I would love to see that tree in person! I really hope vandals don't come along and destroy it (knock on wood!); it's been there for 62 years and probably makes the property value go up significantly!

*ShortCake* · 08-20-2003, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ricardos4ever
At least we know that there is a tree still standing on their old Chatsworth ranch property that has carved into it: "Desi + Lucy 4-41" with a heart around it. It's kind of cool that the heart symbol is being used again in connection with Lucy and Desi. A heart pin was the first gift Desi ever gave Lucy, it was carved into their tree, it was the logo for their show.

I would love to see that tree in person! I really hope vandals don't come along and destroy it (knock on wood!); it's been there for 62 years and probably makes the property value go up significantly!

I will hurt someone very badly if they even think about messing up that tree!

SPLAIN · 08-20-2003, 02:22 PM

Have you guys seen the pictures of it on E Bay? Awesome!

*ShortCake* · 08-20-2003, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by SPLAIN
Have you guys seen the pictures of it on E Bay? Awesome!

no i havent!! I cant look at ebay while im at work

but i will when i get home!!

08-16-2003, 09:24 AM	#1
crazyredhead Seniorita Forum Regular Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: DIZZY LAND Posts: 715	Desilu Studios? Whatever happened to it? I know Lucille sold it to some company..but is it still standing? Can you go look at it? And how about their ranch in Chatsworth and home in Palm Springs..what happened to them?
	__________________ *BEKAH* But uf coss I cahn spik purfuctly good Amurecun. Ethel: "Ring the bell." Fred: "What for?" Ethel: "They don't know we're comin up and people would like a little privacy." Fred: "These aren't people, they're Ricky & Lucy."

08-17-2003, 01:26 AM	#4
Joicetti Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Dec 02, 2001 Location: San Diego, CA, USA Posts: 46	First, about the studios: Desilu had a total of three homes over the course of I Love Lucy beginning with what was then called General Service Studios (now known as Hollywood Center Studios) located in Hollywood. The show was filmed here for the first two years (51-53) on Stage 2. If you go in and visit (I don't believe there are public tours but you can get on the lot by going to a taping) you will notice that there's a cafe next to the old Lucy soundstage called the "Babalu Cafe." Visit the studio website at http://www.hollywoodcenter.com/ and click on "Stages" and then select "2" to view the layout and description of the old ILL stage. ILL had its own entrance on one of the streets (not the main studio street (Las Palmas), it starts with an "R" but I can't remember it right now!) but the actual door where audiences would start to line up no longer exists. I believe you can still see the old address stamped on the curb as well as the faded traces of a doorway that's been sealed up, but there's really no other sign that that's where the filming used to be, and it takes a real fan like you or me who knows where to look to really pinpoint the location. I have pictures somewhere around here and I'll scan them if anyone is interested. The studio nowadays is really deserted and located in a quiet if not seedy area of the town. Barely any activity around, and lots of cracked sidewalks and weeds growing and sprouting out of the cement. (Of course despite the glitz and glamour, most of Hollywood is like this, although it is getting cleaned up over the last few years...) After two years ILL moved north of this location to what's known now as Ren-Mar Studios. I'm not as familiar with this particular studio and have never visited it myself, but I believe that ILL was taped here for about five years until Desi acquired the property next to Paramount Studios, which in those days (1957) was known as RKO. This last studio used to be accessible by public tour (the Paramount tour, that is, since the RKO/Desilu lot was eventually bought out by the Paramount studio next door) and you were taken around to where Lucy's dressing room was (outside only, of course) and shown a small garden that's been planted in the show's honor, called "Lucy Park." After 9/11, however, the tours stopped and I don't believe have resumed still to this day. Now, about the houses: I don't believe the Chatsworth house is standing. I do think the Palm Springs house is, and happens to be the location where Gary Morton's second wife (whom he married after Lucy died) is still living with Lucy's poodle - the young dog she had when she died. The property around it is a huge golfing community and I think I heard a couple of years ago that they were building a hotel there and really turning it into a resort-type getaway. The Palm Springs house was Lucy's summer-type house with Gary Morton during their years together (I'm not sure if she owned it when she was married to Desi). Of course her main property with both husbands was the 1000 N. Roxbury Drive home in Beverly Hills. The original walls of that house still stand, but it was completely redone by its new owners after being sold in the '90s after Lucy's death. The facade is still basically the same, only now it's stucco and cement versus the original white shingles. It was on the market for a while and sold at well below the asking price, due to some interior damage and a lagging real estate market in Beverly Hills at the time. Lucy bought the house in the '50s for $80,000 and you can see the original exterior on ILL in the episode where Lucy and Ethel take the bus tour through LA and get off the bus to visit Richard Widmark's residence - the house they walk towards was her real home. Lucy lived in a couple of other places during her many years in LA, first in a house on Ogden Drive with her family and then moving into an apartment with Desi after getting married before they bought the first home in Chatsworth. I have found memories of scoping out the Lucy/Desi apartment, since I ran into Kevin Kline - one of my favorite actors - walking his dog as I was snapping pictures! Hope some of that is informative - and accurate, since I haven't thought about some of these things in years so my memory may be a little foggy. Perhaps others can update us if there's anything I left out or am mistaken about. Let me know if you want to know anything else and I will try to help if I can!
	__________________ Joy

08-20-2003, 02:18 PM	#12
Ricardos4ever Henna-rinsess Frequent Poster Join Date: Jan 28, 2002 Location: Somewhere in the middle of the world's longest Conga line Posts: 473	At least we know that there is a tree still standing on their old Chatsworth ranch property that has carved into it: "Desi + Lucy 4-41" with a heart around it. It's kind of cool that the heart symbol is being used again in connection with Lucy and Desi. A heart pin was the first gift Desi ever gave Lucy, it was carved into their tree, it was the logo for their show. I would love to see that tree in person! I really hope vandals don't come along and destroy it (knock on wood!); it's been there for 62 years and probably makes the property value go up significantly!
	__________________ ELVIS LIVES ***** "They had one of those historical marriages, like Napoleon and Josephine, Richard and Liz--destined to be trouble but destined for them to never find anyone as passionate or as fabulous." -- Lucie Arnaz on her parents, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz

08-16-2003, 11:53 AM	#2
Lodee Member Senior Member Join Date: Jun 12, 2003 Posts: 1,562	It's still standing, at least one of them. They showed it I think on the Travel Channel special. I can't remember what it's called now though.

08-16-2003, 06:14 PM	#3
dawsongirl Member Forum Icon Join Date: Jan 04, 2001 Posts: 53,128	Isn't it Paramount now?

08-18-2003, 11:11 AM	#5
SPLAIN I Love Lucy Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Mar 04, 2002 Location: MONTREAL, CANADA Posts: 4,563	You did very well, thanks for that. Some people say the Chatsworth house is still there. The one in Palm Springs Desi won the property in a card game, two lots on a golf course and built a beautiful house on it, some pictures available on the net, famous architect built it. Gary's widow lives there with the pup of Lucy's old dog, Tinker. Or so i was told, as the original dog would be what 15 or more? The house in Beverly Hills was on sale for 7 and a half million but only netted half that, Gary lived in it for almost two years after Lucy died, they practically had to push him out.

08-18-2003, 02:48 PM	#6
Lodee Member Senior Member Join Date: Jun 12, 2003 Posts: 1,562	I've heard that too, that the Chatsworth house is still there, but I've never even seen a picture. Even in the Home Movie documentary they only show the back don't they?

08-18-2003, 03:08 PM	#7
SPLAIN I Love Lucy Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Mar 04, 2002 Location: MONTREAL, CANADA Posts: 4,563	Well, it was very small, and even with the additions, that property has been subdivided over and over so that now the house is surrounded by buildings everywhere, no wonder it's hard to find. When i saw pictures of the earthquake they had there a few years after Lucy died, i kept wondering if her old property was affected. Remember that parking garage that just collapsed and crushed the cars? Lucy once was at the pool in Palm Springs when an earthquake hit and she later showed the hole she almost fell in to visitors.

08-18-2003, 07:49 PM	#8
Lodee Member Senior Member Join Date: Jun 12, 2003 Posts: 1,562	As much as they both loved that house, I wonder why they didn't just keep it and buy the one in Beverly Hills too. They had enough other houses, what's one more.

08-19-2003, 10:54 AM	#9
SPLAIN I Love Lucy Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Mar 04, 2002 Location: MONTREAL, CANADA Posts: 4,563	Why would they want a house out in the bush, that took forever to get to? It was isolated, and they left it when they got kidnap threaths about the kids, so they moved to SAFE Beverly Hills. They sold the house to actress Jane Withers, and then it just got chopped up, sorta like the disastrous change in te Beverly Hills mansion. It looks very nice now, but i much prefer the OLD look! With all those HUGE trees and that beautiful landscaping that made a big house look absolutely HUGE!

08-20-2003, 01:28 PM	#11
SPLAIN I Love Lucy Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Mar 04, 2002 Location: MONTREAL, CANADA Posts: 4,563	Ok, chill! They could have kept it and just rented it out, or used it as a house for the kids to visit, no, they had the guest house for that, i'll stick with renting it out and keeping it for sentimental reasons then, happy now?

08-20-2003, 02:22 PM	#14
SPLAIN I Love Lucy Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Mar 04, 2002 Location: MONTREAL, CANADA Posts: 4,563	Have you guys seen the pictures of it on E Bay? Awesome!