{Hollywood} The Former Homes of…
Instead of hopping on a tour bus to be driven around, snapping photos and hoping to catch today’s stars in their bathrobes watering their front lawns, we were on a mission to find the homes of the past.
Let’s start with two of Clark’s wives…
Here is the house on Landale that Clark’s first wife Josephine Dillon lived in from her arrival in Hollywood until her death. Clark owned this property, paid the property taxes and let Josephine live there rent-free. He left her the house in his will.
After Clark’s widow Kay Williams sold the Encino ranch to developers in 1970’s, she moved into posh Beverly Hills to this house on the affluent Roxbury Drive with her three children.
She had some nice neighbors: Roxbury Drive was once home to stars such as Jimmy Stewart, Lucille Ball, Jack Benny, Elizabeth Montgomery, Rosemary Clooney, Warner Baxter and more.
Two of Clark’s leading ladies…
Jean Harlow’s house on N. Palm Drive. This was the last home of Jean, who left this rented house for the hospital in 1937 and never returned to it. Rita Hayworth owned it in the 1950’s as well. Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio later lived a few houses down.
Lana Turner’s house on Bedford Drive in Beverly Hills. This house is famous for being the place where Lana’s daughter Cheryl stabbed her mother’s boyfriend, mobster Johnny Stompanato, to death on April 5, 1958. Bedford Drive also had its share of famous residents, including Clara Bow, Jeanette MacDonald, Stan Laurel, Greta Garbo and Frank Sinatra.
Bela Lugosi’s house on Outpost Drive (as I mentioned before, the friend who accompanied me is a classic horror fan). When the house was built in 1935, it was known as the “All Steel” house for having a steel frame, making it “termite free.” Johnny Depp owned it at one point as well.
Charlie Chaplin’s house on Summit Drive. This home was known as the “Breakaway House” because Chaplin commissioned studio carpenters to build it on the cheap. It looks like it has been added on to, but apparently the original structure is still the backbone of the house.
On to Santa Monica…
Not too far from the Santa Monica Pier is a stretch of gorgeous beach property located on what is now the Pacific Coast Highway. This once extremely private area was referred to as “Rolls Royce Row” by columnists and was not accessible to the general public. Odd to think that now, since it currently faces a busy six lane highway! Along this road lived Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in the last years of his life (with Sylvia Ashley), Marion Davies, Norma Shearer and Irving Thalberg, and Cary Grant with roommate Randolph Scott.
The most impressive on this street was this beach house William Randolph Hearst built for his mistress Marion Davies in 1929. It had 34 bedrooms, 55 bathrooms and 3 separate guest houses, as well as a tennis court and swimming pool. Clark, alone and later with Carole, was a guest on many occasions.
After Marion sold it in 1947, it operated as a small hotel called Oceanhouse. In 1956, it became the exclusive Sand and Sea Beach Club. Unfortunately the main house was badly damaged in an earthquake in the 1990’s and it soon fell into severe disrepair. The majority of the property had to be torn down, leaving only one guest house and the original pool. In 2009,the property opened to the public as the Annenberg Community Beach House.
As it looked when Marion lived there. The remaining guest house is in the top right corner.
The guest house today. Usually, it is open to the public but a wedding was being held there the day we visited so we could not go in.
The pool today.
Just down the street is Norma Shearer’s gorgeous home. Newlyweds Norma and Irving Thalberg had this home built in the late 1920’s.
Because Irving was not a well man and often could not sleep, Norma had the entire house soundproofed so he couldn’t hear the ocean. Irving died of pneumonia in this very house in 1936. Norma moved out in 1942 but couldn’t bring herself to sell the property until 1961. Clark often visited this home to see Irving on MGM related-matters and attend Norma’s many parties.
What’s amazing to me is how far back the ocean is from the original picture and now. Now, there is quite a long stretch of beach between the house and the ocean. This picture from the 1930’s, you can see that the house’s backyard was the ocean!
7 Comments
Debbie
I love this post, especially the wonderful photos of Norma’s house! 🙂
Kendra
Great post, Meredith! Marion Davies’ house is gorgeous. Hugo Vickers did a lecture there about Cecil Beaton a couple of years ago, which I got to attend–and I used one of the 55 bathrooms, lol. You did very well on your Hollywood pilgrimage!
Lara
Aww, these houses! I remember that earthquake in the 1990’s that destroyed the Marion Davies house–I was just a spry young thing, but that earthquake destroyed enough property to become major news all across the state. And I love seeing the modern cars parked in these classic houses. I want to live there, too!!
Christopher Brown
Way back in 1969 I lived in the Louis B. Mayer beach house at 625 Ocean Front along the pacific coast highway in the same neighorhood. It had recently been vacated by Peter Lawford who was bankrupt and had to move into a more modest apartment in Los Angeles. This was called the Western White House since Lawford’s brother in law was John F. Kennedy who often visited there as president of the United States and reportedly had affairs there with Marilyn Monroe and others. I remember many older movie stars were still living in some of those beach houses like Arthur Lake (Dagwood from Blondie movies) and Mae West. Occasionally I went to seances at Mae’s house, invited by a very young Richard Zanuck who occupied his father, Daryl Zanuck’s beach house at that time. Hotelier Baron Hilton and his family were occupying Norma Shearer’s former beach house then and I met them when the fire department was summoned there because of smoke due to them cooking in her old fireplace! Frank Sinatra’s attorney, Mickey Rudin also lived in one of the beach houses there. It was a real hoot being privy to their way of life although that section of the movie star beach houses had already long since been replaced by the Malibu beach movie colony houses by that time. There was an elevator in the Louis B. Mayer house and a big motion picture screen that rose up from the floor hydrolically at one end of the enormous sunken living room! People were always asking if they could come in to photograph the property since it was one of the last places Marilyn Monroe had visited before she died. The neighbor’s said it was there that she told Lawford to say goodbye to the president and Bobby for her. Sad…….
sherry
Christopher Brown, enjoyed your comments!
Teri
Keep the stories and photos coming.. Really enjoyed them.
Russell Curl
Why are people saying that Marion Davies beach house was torn down in the 1990’s??? That is NOT true. It was torn down while she was still alive in the 50’s and it broke her heart that it was gone. I simply do not understand why this one woman’s reply indicates she experienced the 50+ bathrooms. The main mansion was long gone by the 1990″s.