Eva Longoria's Daily Reminder of Old Life  1/9/06

Eva Longoria's favorite thing about her new luxury Hollywood home is the view of the "disgusting" old apartment she lived in before hitting the big time.

The Desperate Housewives star, who shot to fame as Gabrielle Solis in the hit US show, bought her first home in the Hollywood Hills last year (05), but was determined to have a reminder of where she came from.

She tells Empire magazine, "What I love about the view is that I can see the apartment building where I lived when I moved to Hollywood eight years ago.

"I rented a studio that was just disgusting and paid about $300 a month, which was expensive for me. But I wanted my address to say Hollywood, California, when I wrote home.

"People don't realize that the flat areas of Hollywood are not the nicest place to live. But I was determined to live in Hollywood no matter what."