tours of star homes
 

I would appreciate a recommendation for a tour of the star's homes

?

Julieleigh,

All you will see are some high walls and large gates. The commentary will be "this is the former home of Dean Martin. This was once the home of "whoever".

Save your money and your time and do something more intersting!

Actually the one is Nashville is supposed to be great, as well as th one by water in Miami. But it would help if you told us where you are talking about.

Actually the one is Nashville is supposed to be great, as well as the one by water in Miami. But it would help if you told us where you are talking about.

If you're talking Hollywood - there are no tours OF the homes. There are some bus tours that drive along the street and show you the walls and thick shrubbery around some of them. But- very little to actually see.

There is a website of driveways of the stars... I'd look at that before I spent money on a bus tour of the same thing.

And to add to the others' replies:

A large percentage of the "Golden Age's" stars' homes have been demolished and replaced with faux-Tuscan wedding cake boxes shoehorned onto the lots. The old row of beautiful stars' homes on Roxbury, for example, is down to a handful. A slew of architecturally-important homes by Paul Williams are now gone forever.

The "current" stars' homes in Beverly Hills are indeed hidden behind high walls, ugly fences and vast hedges, so you won't see squat. Besides, most of the important actors working today live in Hollywood Hills, Pacific Palisades, Malibu or-- shocking!-- outside of LA altogether.

Save your money and spend it on a nice dinner somewhere.

As an aside, my MIL used to take visitors to LA on her own "tour of star homes". She'd drive up and down the streets in Beverly Hills (Roxbury, etc.), and point out the homes. The thing is, she didn't have a clue who lived in what house (but then neither did her visitors!)

Back when I was a little girl there were kids who would stand on the street corners selling maps of the stars' homes, for 25 cents.

Cmon folks, give tourists a break!

Julieleigh, go to Graumann's Chinese Theater on Hollywood Blvd. and you can buy tickets there for several different tours. I can't remember the name of the company but they use mini-buses and the whold thing is very entertaining. The tour guide on our bus gave fun facts about Hollywood in addition to the stars' home patter--it was a fun 2 hours.

But Tess,

what did you actually SEE?

In Palm Springs, they sit on benches. You can have a picture with Lucille Ball and Sonny Bono.

Yes, they are made of copper, but on the picture your friends won't see it.

Also, if you go to any wax museum, Las Vegas, San Francisco, where else? you can take pictures with so many celebrities! you can even get lucky in bed with that grandpa... what's his name? the playboy man, is he still alive?

It is called Starline Tours, the one in front of Grauman's. And yes you do see alot of driveways and shrubs, but you do see homes too. It's true, that some of the original homes have been redone, but it's still fun.

Go and enjoy!

It's been a couple of years but I remember driving around the Hollywood Hills and seeing Halle Berry's house, blah blah blah. The fun parts were when our guide did stuff like drive by the 7-11 where Hugh Grant or Eddie Murphy (I forget) got arrested for picking up a prostitute and gave us all the 'juicy' details.

Pure trashy pleasure--I liken it to reading People magazine. You don't want to admit that you do it, but then you do it and enjoy every minute. lol

As far as the Dean Martin/Lucille Ball homes--our tour centered more on today's stars.

I've done the Starline tour of the stars homes two times. I found that you can negotiate the price with the people on the street handing out flyers. They will walk you to the ticket booth and get you the negotiated price! I found the tours very worthwhile. Yes, some of the homes are of long dead stars and some homes are difficult to see. But, we actually saw Dr. Phil and his wife walking in front of their home! These tours are in a van and you can see pretty well. They stop a couple of times along the way. Usually, we then go back on our own in a car and actually get up closer to some of the homes. On one of the side streets, you can find someone selling a pretty up to date map of stars homes. Don't buy the one in the souvenir stores. It's not at all accurate. Have fun!

dmlove, that's so funny.. and so true. What tourist knows where anyone actually lives??

Can you send me her photo so I know not to get scammed by her on the streets of Hollywood!!

Several years ago we really enjoyed the tour of the stars homes,but it depends on how star-struck you are and how entertaining and informative your driver. Some of the homes are hidden away, but many are not. Our driver had an amusing tale to tell at almost every house, he made the trip enjoyable. We saw the homes of Lucille Ball, Peter Falk and James Stewart (all neighbours and not hidden)Eddie Murphy, Tom Jones, Marilyn Monroe, Paul Newman (and his collection of cars) and many many more.I think it depends on your age as to which homes will interest you most.On my return home, I made a photo album of the homes and remembered who had lived/lived there.My friends thought I was quite sad!!! lol