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Friday, May 31, 2013

The Silver Scenes Hollywood Home Tour - Off and Away!



Did you know that it costs $45 per person to take a bus ride in Hollywood to get a glimpse of the stars homes? Ee gads, how prices have soared! What's worse, most of the grand mansions belonging to the stars of the golden age have since been demolished; so you are probably going to see Omarosa's new zillion-dollar manor or some soap opera star's overpriced Bel Air bungalow instead. 

Well, don't worry about missing out on the grand homes of the classic movie actors anymore...we're going to take you on a tour of all of the great Hollywood actors homes - AND you won't have to pay one single penny to see them! ( How lucky can you get! )

That's right, Silver Scenes is going to host their own imagination-fueled Hollywood bus tour and take you on an extra long drive past all of the now-extinct million-dollar mansions that once surrounded the fair tinsel town. How are we going to accomplish this? On a time-travelling bus. We couldn't afford a new bus so we purchased an old rusty 1956 Greyhound Viewliner and lo and behold, can you imagine our surprise when we found out that while driving in that bus you get a view of 1956 Hollywood! Super neato!

So now you'll get to see how the stars' homes looked in the good ol' days....before the 1970s slump took over LA. We'd print up a map for you to follow along with, but we aren't planning on driving around the streets in any particular order. In fact, we love a leisurely ride so much, we're only going to drive by one or two houses per month. Better make sure you use the bathroom before you leave home, this tour is going to take several years ( or however long Silver Scenes stays afloat ) to complete. Don't forget to lock the house too.



Here's Al, the bus driver now, he can tell you more about this grand tour.  Al's a great guy. He's been in this business for more years than you can count. He'll stop the bus in front of the houses if you want to take a snapshot, or even let you pick grapefruits from Richard Widmark's fruit trees. ( Mr. Widmark is used to having his grapefruits snitched by fans )


"Welcome to the Silver Scenes Hollywood Home Tour. My name is Al Starr, and I'll be your guide on this Starr-studded tour. You can pick up your free souvenir tickets at the information booth and I'll stamp them for you, otherwise just pile into the bus. It's hot outside and this baby of mine's got a brand new ice box installed!" 

( Editor's Note: Silver Scenes hired a mechanic to completely restore the bus for Al. He loves it. ) 

"Take a seat anywhere you like folks. We'll be seeing lots of great homes so make sure you got your camera. If you need any extra film during the ride just let me know...I got some spare Kodak rolls up here with me. Is everybody settled in? Well, let's begin the tour!
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" First off, let me give you all an overview of what you will be seeing on this tour. We'll start off in downtown Los Angeles, pass into Hollywood and drive by Forest Lawn Memorial Park. There, remains to be seen can be seen. Then we'll take a spin down Wilshire Blvd., head right through the heart of Beverly Hills, Sunset Boulevard and onto Bel-Air and beyond. You'll see the homes of Don Ameche, Alice Faye, Tyrone Power, Loretta Young, Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Doris Day, Will Rogers, Red Skeleton, Jane Withers, Ann Sothern, Sessue Hayakawa, Charlton Heston, Pal Newman, William Powell, and many many more. If you want a see a house that isn't on our route...holler out! I love to go off the beaten path. And feel free to ask questions."



"Fasten the kiddies in and grab yourself a sandwich - they're in the cooler in the back of the bus, we got chicken or liverwurst...made fresh by the Metzinger sisters. Now let's get this baby on the road!" 
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"The first home we see coming up here on your right is that of comedian Eddie Anderson, best known as Jack Benny's quipping sidekick and valet, "Rochester". Jack Benny isn't as stingy as we believe him to be! Rochester's weekly paycheck must be a heck of lot for him to afford this white palatial mansion. He must need a staff of at least six servants himself just to take care of it. And to top it all off : while other stars live on streets with general names like Palomino Drive or Carmelita Avenue, Eddie Anderson lives on Rochester Circle! Doesn't he have beautiful landscaping? "

1932 Rochester Circle, Los Angeles, California
Up-to-date Note: This once beautiful manor still stands at 1932 Rochester Circle and is now a hostel known as the Mansion Hostel. It doesn't look like the neighborhood is now what it once was. So sad....

5 comments:

  1. What a great idea! Hope to read more from your tour.

    Vienna's Classic Hollywood

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  2. Thanks Vienna ( I love your name! ). We're in the process of reading up on all the great movie star homes of the 1920s-60s, so we felt like sharing this knowledge. Glad to have you join the bus tour!

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  3. What a WONDERFUL vacation tour! And I didn't even have to leave my chair. You Metzinger sisters really DO make dreams come true! What a happy experience and I hope you'll take us on another very soon.

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  4. Post Script....was that a "Ghost and Mr. Chicken" sandwich in the ice cooler? I was delicious, although I noticed I had ketchup on the KEYS in my pocket after eating it.

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    1. Oh dear, we hope we didn't put too much ketchup on your liverwurst ( or was that the chicken you grabbed? ), we ran out of mayo so we thought ketchup would do just as well. Next time we'll serve peanut butter and turkey sandwiches instead - sauce free.

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