“Hacks” came out of the gate with a bang last year, debuting its inaugural season to much fanfare and rave reviews, racking up a slew of awards in the process, including the Golden Globe for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy, as well as Emmy, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and Critics’ Choice statuettes for leading lady Jean Smart. And now the second season of the smash comedy has hit HBO Max, proving just as delectable as the first!
This time around, Las Vegas-based comedian Deborah Vance (Smart) is taking her act on the road to test out fresh material via an ambitious series of 35 cross-country sets in the hopes of securing a new residency after unceremoniously losing her longtime Sin City gig the previous season. Accompanying her on the journey in a luxe but tightly-quartered tour bus is her madcap team, writer Ava (Hannah Einbinder), assistant Damien (Mark Indelicato) and CEO Marcus (Carl Clemons-Hopkins). Laurie Metcalf even joins the show for a brief but memorable stint as hilariously gruff tour manager Alice, aka “Weed.”
Set across the U.S., “Hacks’” sophomore season showcases some fabulous scenery! Incredibly though, outside of a couple of brief scenes captured in Arizona (in Sedona and at the Grand Canyon, specifically), the cast and crew essentially never had to set foot outside Southern California to complete the filming! Instead, as Einbinder explained to Cultured, the production team secured locations “two hours in every direction from Los Angeles” to seamlessly stand-in for such far-flung spots as Springfield, Ill., Saint Louis, Mo. and Memphis, Tenn.
Burbank’s oft-filmed Safari Inn pops up as a Sedona-area lodging. Charlie Brown Farms, situated just south of Palmdale in Littlerock, plays the roadside stop in an unnamed town where Deborah teaches Ava the art of buying the correct sunglasses for a particular face shape. And Long Beach’s Cowboy Country Saloon masquerades as the Memphis bar where Ava takes her visiting mom for a girls’ night out.
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Image Credit: HBO Max Season two’s most memorable site, though, is Deborah’s second home, or “side mansion,” a grand estate said to be in Los Angeles that Ava dubs “the castle from ‘Beauty and the Beast.’” It is there that the comedian sets up shop with her entourage while attempting to pitch her newly-perfected material to the networks in episode seven, “On the Market.”
As is the case with most of the places featured in season two, the production team cheated with this spot, as well. Purported to be situated overlooking the downtown L.A. skyline, the mansion can actually be found in the foothills of the San Gabriel Valley at 1366 E. Palm St. in Altadena. While the neighborhood is undeniably picturesque, featuring wide tree-lined streets dotted with handsome dwelling after handsome dwelling, there are no downtown views to be had from any of them. (Please remember this is a private house. Do not trespass or bother the residents or the property in any way.)
Regardless, it is not hard to see why the pad was chosen to portray the home of “Hack’s” uber-wealthy heroine. Set behind a gorgeous Spanish Colonial Revival façade boasting glorious Churrigueresque terra cotta detailing, the residence is certainly a trophy property, not to mention immense, with five bedrooms and six baths spread throughout 7,176 square feet.
Outside of the fact that it was built in 1915, shockingly little information about the place’s history is available online. And since it last sold well over two decades ago (in October 2000 for $1.5 million), MLS images are non-existent. But thankfully, “Hacks” grants audiences a fabulous virtual tour of its interior and grounds, which appear extensively throughout “On the Market.”
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Image Credit: HBO Max In a notice of a foreclosure that ran in the Los Angeles Times in 1984, the mansion was said to be in need of work, but that is obviously not the case anymore! Stunningly maintained, the residence is gorgeous from top to bottom, with a plethora of original detailing throughout.
Situated just beyond the front door is the crown jewel of the premises, a stunning two-level formal entry featuring a barrel-vaulted ceiling, arched openings, a fountain, a grand staircase, checkered flooring and a second-story mezzanine that looks down upon it all.
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Image Credit: HBO Max The handsome common areas include a library, a formal dining room and the sprawling living room, a rich, wood-paneled space outfitted with built-in bookcases, a fireplace and a ceiling lined with decorative wainscotting.
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Image Credit: HBO Max The chef’s kitchen comes complete with butcher block countertops, a professional nine-burner-plus-flat-top range, an oversized fridge, a center island (again with a butcher block top) and both a pastry and a butler’s pantry.
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Image Credit: HBO Max It is the sunroom, though, that is the bane of Deborah’s existence – or rather the expansive views of downtown L.A. that can no longer be had from the space’s French doors. With her usual flourish, Deborah explains to Ava, “I’d love to sell! It’s been on the market for over a decade, but my asshole neighbors have tanked my property value. They built a god-damn tree house that blocked the gorgeous view, which was the whole appeal! I ask them every year and they won’t budge. I mean, their kids are in their 20s now. Grow up!”
Never one to be deterred, Deborah finally decides to take matters into her own hands, chopping down the treehouse – and the tree holding it up – herself. As the structure crashes to the ground, a glorious view of Los Angeles is revealed, much to the comedian’s delight. In reality, the only vistas to be had from the sunroom are of the backyard, as evidenced here. View or not, though, the house is truly breathtaking!
Additional luxe amenities include dual powder rooms, a wine cellar, a rear staircase, an elevator and a dumbwaiter. No word on if the pad boasts a professional sound system with which to blast Anita Baker’s “Sweet Love,” however.
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Image Credit: HBO Max Outside, the home’s gorgeous rear edifice towers over a brick patio, terraced gardens and a large pool and spa. Today, the surrounding grounds measure a not-too-shabby 0.58 acres, but, per historic aerial views, the manse initially stood on a massive plot that stretched almost the entire block. The majority of the acreage was sold off in the 1950s and a smattering of houses have since popped up around the estate, though it still feels quite private and secluded.
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Image Credit: Robertson-Cole Distributing Corporation The once extensive grounds were prominently showcased in the 1921 silent film “Seven Years Bad Luck,” as stars Max Linder and Alta Allen frolicked their way through the opulent gardens in a fanciful dream sequence.
“Hacks” and “Seven Years Bad Luck” are hardly the only productions to feature the property, though. In fact, the site has a long and prolific cinematic history.
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Image Credit: Warner Bros. Television Back in 1982, it portrayed the haunted house where Ginger Ward (Kim Lankford) and her Seaview Circle neighbors were forced to spend the night in the iconic season three episode of “Knots Landing” titled “The Three Sisters.” In 2005, more than 20 years after the episode was shot, Lankford sat down with KnotsLanding.net for an interview and spoke specifically about “The Three Sisters,” recalling fond memories and “odd happenings” while filming in the house.
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Image Credit: 20th Television Walter Sherman (Geoff Stults) tries to help crime lord Zavier Obispo (Nestor Serrano) rid himself of some bad mojo at the residence in the season one episode of “The Finder” titled “Voodoo Undo.” (The estate also masks as a day spa in the same episode.)
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Image Credit: 20th Television It’s the supposed Buenos Aires villa where Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) heads to investigate a murder in the season nine episode of “Bones” titled “The Nazi on the Honeymoon.”
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Image Credit: Sony Pictures Television Meredith Davis (Ari Graynor) moves to the estate with her ex-husband, Ray (Steven Weber), in the season one episode of “Bad Teacher” titled “What’s Old Is New.”
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Image Credit: Hulu The property regularly pops up as the residence of Karolina Dean (Virginia Gardner) on the Marvel series “Runaways.”
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Image Credit: Netflix And it recently appeared as the childhood home of a young Mildred Ratched (Isabelle JoLynn Murphy), where the infamous villain moved after being adopted on the Netflix series “Ratched.”
It’s quite the impressive resume for quite an impressive house!