Just a few blocks away from my apartment is a bit of television history. In its day the Mary Tyler Moore house was the world's 'most famous bachelorette pad'. On t.v. Mary Richards lived at 119 North Weatherly Avenue, Apartment D. In the 3-D world you can find the house they used for the exterior shots at 2104 Kenwood Parkway. I've professed my love for M.T.M. before, but I never thought I would be so close to where it all began. It's kind of fun to imagine her shopping at Kowalski's (before it became a posh supermarket), running around the greenways, and popping down to Burch pharmacy (before it closed down).
If you've seen the show you might, however, remember it looking more like this:
*
'Apt D' was just behind the famous windows with the balcony, though in reality the show was not filmed here and M.T.M. came to town only to film the opening sequences. While white for M.T.M. in 1970 the house has since been painted brown. The trees have also grown and the chain-link fence has been removed.*
Once the word was out about the house people of course wanted to see Mary! The owner at the time, a university professor, grew tired of the traffic and attention, so he tried to end his relationship with the show. M.T.M. was not anxious to change the story. To encourage the show to move on, the professor put up "Impeach Nixon" signs at the home in 1973. As a result, Mary Richards moved to an apartment in 1975 - the Corbusian-style Riverside Plaza, which is also on my list to visit.
If you want to learn more about the house and even take a peek inside present-day, there is lots to see. Built in 1891 for $15,000 the house with its expansion features eight bedrooms and seven bathrooms in 9,839 square feet. Estimated value $2.4 million!
0 comments:
Post a Comment