So, I lied. I didn’t just take this trip to visit Doris; I also took it to visit filming locations from one of my all-time favorite flicks, A Summer Place (dir. Delmer Davies, 1959). Although this soapy melodrama is most often associated with its iconic theme song, I know it as the showcase for my dream movie home. The Clinton Walker House is the only beach house ever designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and its exterior is only accessible to the public through a steep footpath likely carved by some other Troy Donahue fangirl. If you’re brave enough, you can stumble down the treacherous hill and onto the beach where Troy ran around in short-shorts and a cardigan, then made out with Sandra Dee. Modern film fans might also recognize the property as the house where a kidnapped George Clooney hung out with the communist writers in Hail, Caesar! (dir. Ethan and Joel Coen, 2016), making me wonder who really controlled the means of production if they could afford this stunner.
Next, I stopped at Mission Ranch, which doubled as the Pine Island staff cottages from A Summer Place. The cottages are still there, and I half expected a drunken Arthur Kennedy to burst out of one and call me a succulent little wench. God, I love this movie, and not just because someone gets slapped into a Christmas tree.
Stop 5: Pacific Grove/Pebble Beach/17-Mile Drive
A Summer Place takes place in Maine, however the production didn’t want to travel that far. So they used the rocky beaches of the Monterey peninsula instead. After paying my $12.50 to drive along the cliffs of Pebble Beach, I got to stand atop those jutting promontories and scream, “Johnny, there are rocks ahead!” just like Sandra in the movie. It was thrilling! Also on the drive, I recognized sites from 1961’s The Parent Trap, namely the golf course where Brian Keith has an awkward birds-and-bees talk with Hayley Mills. Having now been to this area in person, I can definitively say that Sharon got the short end of the divorce stick in Boston.
Stop 6: Nepenthe, Big Sur
After leaving the quaint village of Carmel-by-the-Sea, it was time to head back down Highway 1 to my next destination, San Simeon. Along the way, I made a stop at Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth’s former Big Sur property, now known as Nepenthe. Supposedly, they bought the stunning parcel of land while on a road trip with Joseph Cotten (imagine being in that car), paying about $160 for it in 1944. Unfortunately, the tumultuous couple split three years later, and neither wanted to hang onto the property. They sold it to a family who turned it into a restaurant, and it’s still owned by their descendants today. The restaurant and café offer incredible ocean views, along with some of the best bacon, eggs, and coffee I’ve ever encountered. It also has a fun connection to one of my other favorite classic film stars, Elizabeth Taylor, having served as a location in the 1965 Taylor/Burton melodrama, The Sandpiper.
Stop 7: Hearst Castle
Credit: Source link