the house in the movie
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jetliner-theduke — 16 years ago(June 22, 2009 10:50 PM)
I have been facinated by this house as well.the one that Arthur Bishop lives in in the film. It appears in another film from the same era called "Truck Turner" starring Issac Hayes and actually shows alot more of the exterior of the property.
The house is not located on Mulholland Drive as stated in "The Mechanic". You can see this in the scene where Charles Bronson finds Jan Michael Vincent asleep in his car in the driveway as Bronson finds him there in the morning when he goes outside to get his newspaper. As the two men talk and the camera roves around, you can see in the background the backside of the Sierra Tower Condominiums which is located off of Sunset Blvd. just past Doheny Dr. in Beverly Hills CA.
I've tried driving around in the many narrow and winding streets in the hills behind the Sierra Tower Condominium. So many of these homes are behind much brush and winding driveways, which have made my search fruitless. Believe me if I knew where it was I'd tell you!! One thing that does occur to me is the home after so many years may have been remodled and would of course appear very different. Why someone would even want to change one thing about this home is beyond me and I can only imagine what they probably turned it into.
The only other thing I know about the house from a blog i read in 2006 called "Hollywood Diaries" (where it came up in a google search "House in the Film "The Mechanic" / Charles Bronson) was that the home was owned by Robert DuPont and had been previouly owned by Diana Ross.
The locations for the other homes in "The Mechanic" are also impressive, the production company obviously had a great location scout. The other homes in the film are beautiful as well: the one that Harry McKenna (Keenan Wynn) lives in, Jill Ireland's apartment, Louise's beachfront house (probably nowhere near a beachLOL!!) and of course the Mansion occupied by "The Man" in charge of the organization that Bronson works for, which was supposed to be on Catalina Island.
Well I hope this has been of some help or at least of some interest to you. Please let me know if you find any additional information about the home. -
batemanskip — 16 years ago(June 24, 2009 01:09 AM)
This is great information! I will have to rent the other film to get a better
idea of the exterior. Architectually, Ive never seen a house like and I want to find out who the actual custom builder was in the 70s. Once I get the address, public records will tell. I'm sure they didnt remodel too much over the years, hopefully not due to its uniqueness. I pulled up the Sierra Towers Condos on Google Earth to see the surrrouding homes from aerial view. Looks like some large properties around that but it could be anywhere.
Sounds like you mustve been looking for this place awhile ! I will let you know if I can find out more. -
jetliner-theduke — 16 years ago(June 24, 2009 07:08 AM)
Glad the informations was helpful!! The film "Truck Turner" is availble for rental from NetFlixI rented it specifically to see the house when I learned it was in this film as well. Coincidentally, there is a location in downtown Los Angeles CA that is also in "The Mechanic". And "Truck Turner" isn't all that bad a film if you're in the right frame of mind and have had a couple of drinks!
As far as architecture goes, I have never seen a home as unique as this one. I remember being impressed by it even as a 10 year old when I first saw this film. I agree it looks like a custom built home what with the very open floor plan and the atrium like entry that houses the swimming pool. I too hope whoever has owned the property over the years has maintained its integrity and not done a re-model.
I've looked on the Google Earth as well and as you see there are many properties on winding roads with a lot of brush. This makes the properties hard to see and the winding roads make the angles in the camera work hard to interpret.
I've been up that way a few times lookingthought I came close once but I think I was still off. Please stay in touch about thisI would like to finally get to the bottom of this mystery.
Glad to see I'm not the only one who is curious about this property.
Have a great day. -
batemanskip — 16 years ago(June 30, 2009 01:02 AM)
Thanks for your info. I was in LA this past weekend and drove around the streets to see if I could find it, based on the views I saw in the film and in Truck TurnerWatched it on Youtube lol.Towards the end scene, one of the bad guys tells them to go to the house on Sienna (near the final fight scene)(which there is a street named that but the area wasnt really on a hill like the house seems to be). I did go to the top of N. Whetherly ..Couldnt tell if it was it or not but I saw a driveway to a wooded lot on a steep drive- 1362 N. Whetherly. I didn't go up the driveway but was wondering if could check it out sometime?
I hope the house looks the same from the exterior, otherwise it would tough to find. Now I'm more intrigued than ever to find it ! I've watched this movie ever since I was kid too and always thought it was the coolest house ever.
In the Mechanic, where you pointed out the Sierra Towers- It seems that the house isnt that far the large condo tower but its hard to know which direction or what side of Sunset Blvd its on. In Truck Turner, the final scene where it shows a skyline view of LA buildings (from one of gangsters POV), the house seems much more elevated on a hill than in the Mechanic scene.
I can find out the owner info if I just had an address..
Let me know if you learn more -
jetliner-theduke — 16 years ago(June 30, 2009 08:31 PM)
Hope you had a good time in Los Angelss while you were here. I've driven around the area myself using the same idea of trying to find the house based on the views and angles in both "The Mechanic" and in "Truck Turner" I forgot to mention the dialog that mentions Sierra and I did find that although there is a Sierra street in that area it is unlike the area the house would be in. Its been a while since I've looked for the house and I dont remember all the streets I looked on however I'll keep in mind your impression of the property you saw on N. Whetherly. I'll try to make a special trip up there soon and I'll go up the driveway and see what the house at that adress looks like.
I've seen both films and as long as they haven't changed or remodeled the house to much, I'm pretty sure I'd recognize it. I certainly have a renewed curiousity about the house since our recent correspondences here on IMDB. It seems everyone I've talked to about "The Mechanic" saw it as a kid and likely watched it (as I did) with their fathers. And as I said before I was even impressed with the house at the time.
I'm positive the house is on the north side of Sunset Blvd and behind the Sierra Towers Condominium. I also noticed that the house seems much more elevated in "Truck Turner" when the LA skyline is in the background. This could be for a number of reasonsincluding the possibilty that that scene was a "pick-up" scene and perhaps was filmed at another home in the areaI've been to parties at several homes in the area and the views of the LA skylilne are positively spectacular. Or it could be just a clever camera man finding a great angle.
Hopefully, we can find this place somehow and learn about the houses history and of course who designed it. Also, I forget where I read this (probably in the "Hollywood Diaries" I spoke of earlier) but in addition to Diana Ross being a previous owner, Zsa Zsa Gabor owned it at one time as well. The Robert DuPont that is mentioned as the current owner in th "Hollywood Diaries" (which documents a groupies experience in '70's Hollywood) I imagine would probably be part of the DuPont empire.
Well, lets stay in touch on this..we'll find it!!! -
jetliner-theduke — 16 years ago(July 27, 2009 09:39 PM)
Hey there
I've just been super busy latelyI'm going to go, however I want to have a driver as its hard to drive and scope out the houses up there. There are alot of blind and sharp turns and its good to have a dedicated driver. And besides I feel I would know what to look out for. I'm hoping to find it this time outeven though I've come up empty handed before.
Believe me you'll be the 1st to know. I'll send you a private message!!!
Take Care!! -
batemanskip — 16 years ago(September 11, 2009 12:50 AM)
no I havent found the address.Im pretty sure its in the hills off of Sunset and Dohenghy in Hollywood.
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jetliner-theduke — 16 years ago(October 19, 2009 12:42 PM)
As far as Google street view goesit would be helpful if the house were exposed at the street level. From the looks of it in the film the house is elevated above the street level at the top of a winding curved driveway.
This is one very illusive home. I just met someone who knows someone who lives in that areaso maybe (depending on how long they've lived there) they will know something. I know that is rather flimsy but at this pointI try anything!!
Keep in touch if you find anything out about the location of this property! -
rexcrammer — 16 years ago(October 20, 2009 07:35 PM)
Perhaps with the remake coming out it will bring more wide-spread attention to the original and someone will know the house.
Take a look at the following location from Google Earth. The location and winding drive look close although the spanish tile roof is different.
Mechanic's house lat=34.0922828024, lon=-118.39322194 -
mubirshu — 16 years ago(November 16, 2009 08:58 AM)
Have you tried the maps/aerial/birdseye view option on bing.com? The images have more of an angle to them, so you can see the sides of the houses better. Still doesn't remove the tree problem entirely, but it might help.
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jetliner-theduke — 16 years ago(November 16, 2009 12:38 PM)
Thanks for the tip about Bing.com. I visited the sight and looked in the area I believe the house to be in. The aerial / birdseye view option was very helpful However at this time I believe the house is either a.) Completlely obscurred by trees and foliage b.) had a massive re-model or c.) been demolished and replaced by a new property.
Looking around the area I can see alot of newer architectural stylings and even some lots that had homes being built on them. I certainly hope that this house is still in existence..I can't imagine anyone wanting to demolish it as it is such a unique property.
Hopefully we'll find this illusive dwelling someday -
pacwarbuff — 16 years ago(December 17, 2009 01:03 PM)
In the film, Bishop's address is listed as "1874 Mulholland Drive." I hope someone finds the true location and posts pictures.
In the meantime, I'll just have to be content with another viewing of The Mechanic.
Consilio et prudentia -
batemanskip — 16 years ago(December 20, 2009 01:24 AM)
I hope we do find this house someday my friend ! Ive looked all over Google earth, cant seem to find anything that has the same steel contemporary framing on the exterior like the house in the movie had. I cant imagine why anyone would want to remodel that home ! You'd have to be a fool to do so.
Maybe someone could inquire of the Production Studio to see if they kept a production record of filming locations. They would have the address if a request was made possibly? Just a thought ! -
jetliner-theduke — 16 years ago(February 16, 2010 04:04 PM)
Some possible newsI met up with a friend who works in the film biz. She had been out of town for nearly a year. The subject of this film came up.and of course, the "House". She hadn't seen the film however when I described the house and the area where it is locatedshe swears up and down that she'd been there at a party. The party was back in 1995 when she first moved to Hollywood
So, soon as both of our schedules permit, we are going to go up there and see if she can find the house with me. If we find itwe'll be prepared to take some photos and document our visit.
In an interesting note, she say that during the 60's the Beatles were often there for parties that were given at the house.
Let's keep our fingers crossed that we finally find this joint !!