Sometimes the truth can be far stranger than fiction. Case in point? The 2016 film “The Late Bloomer” (now streaming on Netflix), which tells the tale of Peter Newmans (Johnny Simmons), a 30-year-old sex therapist who discovers he has a tumor on his pituitary gland that has blocked the production of testosterone throughout his life, thereby preventing puberty. The tumor is quickly removed and Peter finally begins to experience the mercurial hormonal developments most do in their early teen years, but as an adult and at a highly accelerated rate.
Sounds like an outlandish premise, right? But “The Late Bloomer” was inspired by an actual life story – of a well-known public figure at that! Hollywood correspondent Ken Baker did not experience puberty until having a tumor removed from his pituitary gland in 1998 at the ripe old age of 27. Baker chronicled the biological anomaly and its traumatic before and after effects in his 2001 book, “Man Made: A Memoir of My Body,” which The Buffalo News describes as “a detailed and often harrowing journey through his childhood and 20s.”
“The Late Bloomer” turns Ken’s story a bit on its head by looking at his experiences through a comedic lens, walking a grown Peter through acne, voice changes and all of the other hormonal trials and tribulations puberty entails. According to Baker, despite the comedic slant, the movie still rings true. After viewing it, he told his son “a third was pure fiction, a third was partially true, and a third was straight out of his life,” according to The Buffalo News.
A year after “The Late Bloomer” was released, Baker was accused of sexual harassment by several former employees, thereby severely tainting the film and its coverage of his sexual awakening. He gave up Hollywood soon after (he says for reasons that have nothing to do with the allegations) and moved to Chicago, where he established a digital marketing company. Today, he lives very much outside of the public eye.
But in 2016, Baker put his life on full big-screen display via “The Late Bloomer” (not to be confused with the similarly titled “Late Bloomer” TV movie from the same year). Though the flick, which marked actor Kevin Pollack’s feature directorial debut, started out strong, winning Best Comedy at the San Diego Film Festival, it mainly scored jeers from critics and the general public alike. On Rotten Tomatoes, it currently ranks in the low 20s in both the Tomatometer and Audience Score categories.
While I can’t say I disagree with the naysayers, I find the movie highly memorable, nonetheless, as well as the main house featured in it – a gorgeous Craftsman located at 1841 S. Wilton Pl. in Los Angeles’ Arlington Heights neighborhood. Back in August 2015, I was invited for a brief set visit at the property during the filming of “The Late Bloomer” thanks to a friend who was part of the crew. The few hours I spent there, basking in the glow of a movie shoot taking place virtually right at my fingertips, will forever be embedded in my mind.
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Image Credit: Charmaine David And now “The Late Bloomer” house has come up for sale! Designed by architect Frank Milton Tyler, who built myriad residences in the area, the 1908 Craftsman recently hit the market for the first time since 1998! Offered at a cool $1.499 million, the listing is held by Monique and Joe Carrabba of Compass.
Known as the Ives House, in honor of longtime owners Clyde and Hattie Ives, the property features four bedrooms and one and a half baths in 2,700 square feet. The couple purchased the dwelling in 1914 (when Wilton Pl. was nothing more than a dirt road!) and held onto it until 1955. The Ives’ five children went on to have 11 grandchildren and today “there are close to a hundred living descendants,” according to a West Adams Heritage Association newsletter.
In 2005, the current owners invited about 20 of those descendants for a reunion of sorts at the home. Relatives came from as far as Milwaukee to pose on the front porch and re-create a family photograph that had been taken 50 years prior! After the event, Claude and Hattie’s grandson Carl Bennett wrote to the owners saying, “We had a father-daughter and a sister-brother relationship there that had not spoken in years, and all seemed to be laid aside for this happy occasion. We also saw relatives we had not seen in decades, as well as some we had never seen.” The dwelling is still the place the Ives family considers home, all these years later.
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Image Credit: Charmaine David One look at the residence and it is not very hard to see why. The listing calls the Ives House a “trophy property” and it truly is. The Arts & Crafts gem features countless original Craftsman hallmarks including a hulking front door made of Tiger Oak that stands sentry at the edge of the 232-square-foot porch flanked by arroyo stone columns.
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Image Credit: Charmaine David The interior is a monument to fine woodwork, all meticulously preserved, from the box beam ceilings to the bow windows to the grand staircase. And that’s just in the front entry!
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Image Credit: Charmaine David The rest of the home boasts exquisite wainscotting, built-in shelving, and picture and plate rails throughout.
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Image Credit: Charmaine David The kitchen has been modernized with the addition of stainless steel appliances and a Wolf range, but still retains some retro charm. A walk-in pantry, a laundry room, a formal dining room and an office can also be found on the first floor.
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Image Credit: Charmaine David Upstairs are four spacious bedrooms (one with a balcony) and a tiled bath featuring a clawfoot tub.
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Image Credit: Charmaine David Outside on the 0.15-acre lot, there’s a patch of grass, an exterior bar set-up complete with a TV and a detached 560-square-foot recording studio designed by Peter Grueneisen of Studio Bau:ton. With an unfinished attic and walk-in basement, there’s plenty of room for expansion, as well.
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Image Credit: Charmaine David According to the MLS listing, the Ives House is a prodigious film star, having “been on camera so much it should have its own IMDB page.” Over the years, the pad has appeared in an incredible 100 productions ranging from music videos to commercials to docuseries to feature films. Its best-known cameo, though, is in “The Late Bloomer,” in which it plays the home of Peter’s parents, James (J.K. Simmons) and Brenda Newmans (Maria Bello).
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Image Credit: Charmaine David Both the interior and exterior of the property appear throughout the film.
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Image Credit: Charmaine David It is at the home that Peter recovers from his brain tumor surgery and where he regularly goes to seek parental advice.
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Image Credit: Warner Bros. Television Studios A few of the property’s other cameos include the season five episode of “Southland” titled “Bleed Out,” in which it appears as the spot where officers John Cooper (Michael Cudlitz) and Hank Lucero (Anthony Ruivivar) respond to a call of “unknown trouble.”
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Image Credit: Lionsgate Films It portrays the London home of Gordon (Malcolm McDowell) in the 2015 comedy “Some Kind of Beautiful,” though only the interior appears in the film. Exteriors were filmed elsewhere.
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Image Credit: Capitol Records/Schoolboy The pad serves as the backdrop of Tori Kelly’s 2019 “Sorry Would Go a Long Way” music video.
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Image Credit: 20th Digital Studio It was given a healthy dusting of snow for “Come In,” one of the “Bite Size Holiday” short films sponsored by Mars and 20th Digital Studio this past December. Fun fact: Sanders, the homeowners’ dog, scored a cameo in the production.
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Image Credit: Netflix Most recently, the property’s living room served as the backdrop for Naya Tuiasosopo’s interviews in the Netflix documentary “Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist.”
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂
Stalk It: The Ives House from “The Late Bloomer” is located at 1841 S. Wilton Pl. in Arlington Heights. Please remember this is a private home. Do not trespass or bother the residents or the property in any way.