Was The Hills Ever Really In The Hills?

During a segment of the season finale of The Hills, the producers showed us a shot of a pool from high above, then zoomed in to Heidi and Audrina by the side of the pool, with the label "Hillside Villas, West Hollywood, CA". Why is this a big deal? Well, for all of our genius we never thought of using the satellite photos of the apartments in question and look at the actual pictures to the talking. Thanks to the beauty of Google Earth, we were able to take these pictures with no trouble at all.

First, let's take a look at the picture that the producers call "Hillside Villas". Notice the shape of the pool.

Now, let's take a look at the shape of the actual Hillside Villas ( 34° 5'35.09"N, 118°22'53.39"W if you want to use Google Earth or check for yourself on another map).

Clearly, the pool at the Hillside Villas and the pool Audrina and Heidi are lounging by are not the same, because there is no curve. And the rooftops? I don't call that a match.

So, where are Audrina and Heidi sunning themselves? Let's take a look at the wide overhead shot the producers used right before showing the two girls at the "Hillside Villas". OK, clearly that pool looks to be the same, but there is no way that pool can be the actual Hillside Villas from above.

OK, now let's take a look at what we have said is Lauren's real apartment, the Palazzo ( 34° 3'55.62"N, 118°20'55.43"W for those of you scoring at home):

Jackpot! The rooftops are the same, pool is the same, and you can even see the lounge chairs and the cabana tents in this picture. That, my friends, is the Palazzo, at the corner of Sixth and Burnside in Los Angeles. Obviously, it's not a big deal that these kids don't live where they say they live, because it doesn't take away from the enjoyment of the show, and let's face it, calling a television show "Beverly Hills Adjacent" does not have the same kind of appeal. However, if they want to call their program "The Hills", the producers should at least get the girls a place actually in The Hollywood Hills. TVgasm can help them pick out a place and we'll even waive the commission!

Credit: J-Unit for TvGasm

When I did some reasearch of my own however, I found that she lived at The Villas at Park La Brea. The Palazzo has two different locations, Palazzo East and Palazzo West, neither of which have a curvy pool like the one shown on The Hills as you can see on their websites. The address of 5555 West 6th Street aka "the corner of Sixth and Burnside" is home to The Villas, not the Palazzo.

So as far as the pictures go, the ones marked with Hillside Villas are actually The Palazzo, and the one marked with The Palazzo is actually The Villas at Park La Brea. I do believe that there are no "Hillside Villas." If you know otherwise, feel free to correct me!