When John and Michelle Moses bought a stunning multi-million-dollar home on the Long Beach Peninsula six years ago, they knew they would get a near-360-degree view of the Pacific Ocean. They didn’t expect that it would also come with a booking agent.
That’s how celebrities like Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Pratt and Kaitlin Olson have ended up in their living room for TV shows including “The Terminal List” and “High Potential.”
Apple TV’s new miniseries “Lucky,” starring Taylor-Joy, filmed heavily in the Moses’ home over a two-week stretch last year.
The show also filmed at nearly a dozen locations throughout the city, but a majority of the dialogue during episode four took place in the Moses’ living room.
Showrunners found their home’s view of the Pacific Ocean a fitting backdrop for a heated exchange between Lucky and her husband, played by Drew Starkey, who ran off to a “La Jolla” beachfront home with $10 million the couple stole together in Las Vegas.
When Lucky first enters the home, she tears up several couch cushions and bed sheets looking for the money.
During a tense confrontation in the episode, FBI agents break down the front door of the home and Taylor-Joy bursts through the side wall of the Moses’ garage to escape capture.
Despite the dramatic entry and exit scenes, production crews left the home unharmed, Michelle said. The only evidence that a full production had been inside was two pillows, various coffee pods and some snacks.
John and Michelle Moses said they’ve been watching the show closely since it debuted in mid-July. During episode four, Michelle was surprised to see some of her home decorations used in the background. (John’s collection of dozens of Viking Glass vases didn’t make the final cut.)
According to Michelle, it was John’s decision to buy the home after spotting a for-sale sign out front. The couple met decades ago in Belmont Shore and bought a house near El Dorado Park before swapping for the all-wooden beachfront property.
A one-of-a-kind backstory
The house itself also has a rich history.
Built in 1939 for oilman Ronald Wayland Heath, the house remained in the family for 82 years before hitting the market for the first time in 2019.
It was originally built on a pier — basically wooden stilts — that allowed waves to break under the house. That’s one of the main reasons it survived the Lash of St. Francis — the only tropical storm to make landfall in California in the 20th century.
Several other nearby homes were washed into the water that day when nearly 5.5 inches of rain fell on the city combined with 65 mph wind gusts.
That left the original owner with virtually no neighbors. When the city brought in sand to broaden the beach, the Heath family traded the land rights to the city in exchange for a vow from the city to never build anything in front of the house.
That’s why the bike path ends right before the home’s property line.
The closest home is more than 200 feet to the right.
If those neighbors are out of town, their closest neighbors are the stingrays that like to stay on a “shelf” of sand a short walk into the water, Michelle said.
The Moseses have warned many guests of those painful little sea creatures. While filming a scene for “Lucky” where Starkey’s stunt double takes a quick dip in the ocean, the stunt double got stung, Michelle said.
If you’re standing on the back patio, you can see the Port of Long Beach, the downtown Long Beach skyline and ships entering and exiting the port.
During the pandemic, horns from some impatient ship captains woke the family up on some early mornings, Michelle said.
In the summer, there’s a consistent hum of excavators moving countless pounds of sand to construct berms around other homes on the Peninsula.
Other than that, life is pretty peaceful at “The Brown Home” as it’s known in the neighborhood for its all-wooden exterior.
The back patio also offers a clear view of Island Chaffee, one of four oil-drilling islands known as the THUMS islands.
With the oil supply dwindling from those islands, researchers have kicked around what to do with them when the oil wells run dry.
Michelle also has an idea to throw in the ring: turn them into floating casinos.