Anne Pickard-Vaandering and Julian Vaandering proudly show off their Gower Street home, which was used as a filming location for Hudson & Rex. (Zach Goudie/CBC)
Recently, a TV show about a dog detective managed to fool a neighborhood in San Juan, and even a city inspector.
The city said Friday it received a complaint from a resident on Gower Street downtown on Aug. 10 about what appeared to be an illegal hair salon, called Curl Up & Dye, according to the sign in the front window , based on a neighboring house.
After an inspector investigated, the city sent a letter to the owners telling them they had to apply for proper certification from the city or face fines and legal action.
But Curl Up & Dye doesn’t actually exist: the painted “storefront” is actually part of a set for the CityTV television show Hudson & Rex, which films in St. John’s and surrounding areas.
Owners Anne Pickard-Vaandering and Julian Vaandering find the whole situation very amusing.
“We were just laughing. It was clearly an oversight, an honest mistake,” Julian Vaandering said Friday.
On Monday, the couple was surprised to find a letter from the city that said an inspector “revealed that Curl Up & Dye Beauty Salon appears to be operating a portion of the building without permits and a certificate of occupancy.”
The letter told the couple to fill out a business application, complete with a floor plan of the space occupied. Failure to comply, the city wrote, meant possible fines, legal action and a potential lien on the property
Pickard-Vaandering said the couple immediately responded to the city to clear up the misunderstanding.
The fake Curl Up & Dye beauty salon
The Curl Up & Dye Beauty Salon is a fictitious business used during the filming of Hudson & Rex in St. John’s. The “window dressing” was so convincing that it fooled a neighbor and a city inspector.
The couple love the Curl Up & Dye painted poster and even posted a poll on Facebook asking people if they should keep it up for a while after the shoot was over.
“People overwhelmingly said, ‘Yes, keep it, that’s fun, it adds to the neighborhood.’ That in itself was enough to make so many people laugh. We thought it was a hoot,” Pickard-Vaandering said.
The house was actually a beauty salon years ago, called Elegant Beauty Salon. Pickard-Vaandering said other salons filled the space before that, dating back to the 1940s, but since the couple took ownership, it has simply been their home.
“Seemed legit”
The City of San Juan declined to be interviewed, but said in a statement that the inspector assigned to the complaint visited the property and “through his assessment determined that it was likely that a business would operate without authorizations”.
The city said inspection staff use a “variety of tools” when investigating complaints before taking action.
“In this situation, it seemed like a legitimate and justified action. The window sign looks real and there is an Open/Closed sign on the door window and there was nothing in the place that [stated] this business was a filming facility,” the city said.
“Also, the name ‘Curl Up and Dye’ is a legitimate business in other provinces.”
Curl Up & Dye isn’t a real business, but it did get a real notice from the City of St. John’s. (Zach Goudie/CBC)
The city has withdrawn the complaint, but said if the Vaanderings want to keep their sign, it will have to be reviewed by the city to make sure it meets the city’s heritage guidelines.
The Vaanderings said the city has been a good sport throughout the ordeal and hope the council and the inspector can laugh as much as they do.
“We’re really, really happy that so many people had such a good laugh,” Pickard-Vaandering said.
“There were some comments that were negative towards the city, but we’re taking everything with a grain of salt because the laughter from all of this has far outweighed any negativity the strange person might have had on the city . the credit of the city, they answered us.”
Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador