10452 Bellagio

[Andrew G. Doe]

The current Holy Grails of BB researchers:

1 - the "Good Vibrations" vocal multi-track...

2 - the publicity photos of the 1961 Beach Boys mentioned by Alan's mom...

3 - a single photo of the sandbox.

Thing is, 1 & 2 are known to have existed... 

[mikeddonn]

Maybe the home movie footage Brian shot would shed some light on the sandbox if they ever surfaced.

It seems a stretch that there would be no photographic evidence of it.  That means off course some participants have not be totally truthful over the years about it's existence.

I always felt it strange that a reason given for the sandbox was so that Brian could feel the sand between his toes when he composed to remind him of the beach.  One of the things Brian didn't like about the beach was the sand in his shoes.  Maybe he didn't mind it in the house when he got out of the sandbox etc. Having sand in the living room would have been a bit messy!

Andrew, have you ever asked Mike about about it?

[Andrew G. Doe]

Oh, the sandbox existed sure enough... unless Van Dyke, Marilyn and Billy have all been in cahoots and telling porkies down the years.  

And... that's a damn fine idea. I'll ask next time we do lunch.

[JakeH]

I've been on a tour that stopped at the Laurel Way house. Ron Swallow met our bus there and told us about building the legendary sandbox. The owner stepped out of the house, wondering what all these people were doing there. Billy Hinsche, one of our guides, explained what was going on and the owner was cool about it.

I don't think it's the same house used in the movie, tho. The view of L.A. in the distance is right, but when you look at the configuration of the swimming pool on Google, it's not the same as in the movie. Different house, located nearby.

My hunch is that unless CGI was employed, the house used for the panoramic canyon view is not Laurel/Beverly Hills, but a similarly oriented hillside home in up in Bel Air. The reservoir in the movie looked a lot like Stone Canyon Reservoir. If that's the case, then current map technology should give you a pretty good idea of where that house is located in real life. Whether it was an actual location or CGI trickery, the effect worked well in the movie. (If you ever want to see the actual Laurel Way - the street itself, not Brian's old house -  in a movie (and whose life would be complete without that experience), it was used for a scene in a film called Wonderland)

[J.G. Dev]

I've been on a tour that stopped at the Laurel Way house. Ron Swallow met our bus there and told us about building the legendary sandbox. The owner stepped out of the house, wondering what all these people were doing there. Billy Hinsche, one of our guides, explained what was going on and the owner was cool about it.

I don't think it's the same house used in the movie, tho. The view of L.A. in the distance is right, but when you look at the configuration of the swimming pool on Google, it's not the same as in the movie. Different house, located nearby.

My hunch is that unless CGI was employed, the house used for the panoramic canyon view is not Laurel/Beverly Hills, but a similarly oriented hillside home in up in Bel Air. The reservoir in the movie looked a lot like Stone Canyon Reservoir. If that's the case, then current map technology should give you a pretty good idea of where that house is located in real life. Whether it was an actual location or CGI trickery, the effect worked well in the movie. (If you ever want to see the actual Laurel Way - the street itself, not Brian's old house -  in a movie (and whose life would be complete without that experience), it was used for a scene in a film called Wonderland)

Coincidently I just purchased Wonderland on iTunes to watch. I'll have to keep an eye out for that scene.  I drove up to the Laurel Way house a few years ago. You really felt like you were on top of the world up there. Spectacular views. I can only imagine what a young man in his early 20's, at the peak of his career must have felt like living there.

[Emdeeh]

The Laurel Way house would have a view of the Franklin Canyon reservoir.

[mikeddonn]

I've been on a tour that stopped at the Laurel Way house. Ron Swallow met our bus there and told us about building the legendary sandbox. The owner stepped out of the house, wondering what all these people were doing there. Billy Hinsche, one of our guides, explained what was going on and the owner was cool about it.

I don't think it's the same house used in the movie, tho. The view of L.A. in the distance is right, but when you look at the configuration of the swimming pool on Google, it's not the same as in the movie. Different house, located nearby.

My hunch is that unless CGI was employed, the house used for the panoramic canyon view is not Laurel/Beverly Hills, but a similarly oriented hillside home in up in Bel Air. The reservoir in the movie looked a lot like Stone Canyon Reservoir. If that's the case, then current map technology should give you a pretty good idea of where that house is located in real life. Whether it was an actual location or CGI trickery, the effect worked well in the movie. (If you ever want to see the actual Laurel Way - the street itself, not Brian's old house -  in a movie (and whose life would be complete without that experience), it was used for a scene in a film called Wonderland)

Looking at GOOGLE Earth Stone Canyon Reservoir still has water in it as per the film so that is a possibility.  I wish I had asked Bill Pohlad at the QandA in Edinburgh last week!

[JakeH]

Looking at GOOGLE Earth Stone Canyon Reservoir still has water in it as per the film so that is a possibility.  I wish I had asked Bill Pohlad at the QandA in Edinburgh last week!

My educated guess is the house they used for the movie is at 2014 Stradella Rd. in Bel Air. With the aid of privacy-busting satellite technology, you can see that the layout and style of the house matches that of the house in the film in various ways. You can see the deck, and the outdoor stairs that feature in that oft-used still photo of Paul Dano looking mopey. Still, it's just a guess.