Celebrity Homes – Page 2

August 25, 2017August 24, 2017

The Cunningham House from “Happy Days”

I consider myself a seasoned stalker. I think most would agree. Somehow though, until last month, I had never stalked one of the most iconic homes in television history. I am talking about the Cunningham residence from Happy Days. I did not even realize my colossal blunder until I was contacted by The Meredith Vieira Show about using some of my photographs in a segment they were running called “Name That Hollywood Home” last spring. Producers were interested in utilizing a pic featured in my 2009 post about The Golden Girls pad, but also inquired if I had any images of the Cunningham dwelling. I was ashamed to admit that I didn’t and had never actually seen the place in person. I finally amended that situation last month while in L.A. for the weekend with the Grim Cheaper.

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On Happy Days, the Cunningham family – Marion (Marion Ross), Howard (Tom Bosley), Richie (Ron Howard), and Joanie (Erin Moran) – along with their friend/tenant Arthur ‘Fonzie’ Fonzarelli (Henry Winkler) were said to reside at 565 North Clinton Drive in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Their traditional two-story home can actually be found at 565 North Cahuenga Boulevard in Hancock Park, less than a mile from Paramount Pictures, where the series, which ran from 1974 to 1984, was lensed. (I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that there was actually a third Cunningham child named Chuck, portrayed by Irish actor Gavan O’Herlihy, who was unceremoniously written off the show after its inaugural season, never to be seen again.)

In reality, the Cahuenga Boulevard home, which was built in 1923, boasts 6 bedrooms, 2 baths, 3,904 square feet of living space, a 0.29-acre lot, and a swimming pool (which, per Bing’s Bird’s Eye view, appears to be dry). According to Zillow, the Colonial-style pad is currently worth a whopping $3 million! It last sold in February 1995 for $422,000, so the owners have made quite a profit on the place.

The property did not show up on Happy Days until the series’ third episode, titled “Richie’s Cup Runneth Over,” in the scene in which dancer Verna LaVerne (Louisa Moritz) drove a very drunk Richie home from a bachelor party (pictured below).

The house then went on to be featured regularly in establishing shots throughout the show’s ten-year, eleven-season run.

It is amazing to me how little the residence has changed since Happy Days first premiered more than 43 years ago. Aside from the addition of a railing on the exterior steps and the removal of the planter boxes lining the porch as well as the perimeter of the front yard, the place appears frozen in time from the days when the Cunninghams called it home.

Only the exterior of the Cahuenga pad was utilized on Happy Days. The interior of the Cunninghams’ house was a set built inside of Stage 19 at Paramount Pictures. Eagle-eyed viewers undoubtedly noticed that the set looked a bit different during Seasons 1 and 2 (pictured below) than it did during the rest of the series’ run.

Filming of Happy Days shifted from a single-camera setup with no audience to a three-camera setup with a live studio audience during Season 3 and the set had to be altered to accommodate that change. The altered Cunningham home interior featured during Seasons 3-11 is pictured below.

Though the Cahuenga Boulevard residence does boast a detached garage situated at the rear of the property, the scenes taking place in that area of the Cunningham pad were not shot on location at the actual house, but on a set re-creation built on Stage 19.

According to my buddy E.J.’s book Hollywood Death and Scandal Sites, actress Lupe Velez called the Cunningham residence home in the late ‘20s/early ‘30s while she was dating Gary Cooper, whose parents lived just five houses down at 529 North Cahuenga Boulevard. Supposedly, Cooper’s parents were wildly opposed to his love affair with the “Mexican Spitfire” and would walk by her dwelling on a nightly basis, peering in the windows to see what the two were up to. It wasn’t long before Lupe relocated to a more secluded spot at 1826 Laurel Canyon Boulevard in Hollywood Hills West.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Cunningham home from Happy Days is located at 565 North Cahuenga Boulevard in Hancock Park.

June 30, 2017June 29, 2017

The Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway Tour

My knowledge of Elvis Presley is basically limited to the fact that he was a singer (duh!), his 1957 drafting into the army served as the inspiration for the play and movie Bye Bye Birdie, he called a spectacular Tennessee mansion named Graceland home (the manse is the setting of one of my favorite plays ever, Ellen Byron’s aptly titled Graceland), and he learned his famous hip-thrusting moves from a young Forrest Gump. (Ha, just kidding about that last one.) So yeah, virtually everything I know about The King was gleaned from some sort of movie or stage production. (Truth be told, most of my knowledge comes from movie, stage, or TV productions.) I’m always interested in learning more about anyone or anything Hollywood-related, though. So when my good friend Steffi (who surprised me with a visit recently for my 40th birthday) mentioned that she wanted to take a tour of the Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway in Palm Springs, I jumped at the chance.

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I have stalked the exterior of the Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway a couple of times over the years and covered its history pretty extensively in this July 2012 post. So as not to repeat myself, today’s write-up will focus mainly on the tour and only include a brief recap of the property’s background.

The Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway was originally built in 1960 for real estate developer Robert Alexander. Designed by the mid-century-modern master William Krisel, the layout of the sprawling pad consists of four perfect circles situated on three levels.

Elvis leased the residence, which Look magazine dubbed “The House of Tomorrow,” for a year beginning in September 1966 and used it as a vacation home. He quickly fell in love with Palm Springs during his visits to the dwelling – so much so that he decided to marry his longtime girlfriend, Priscilla Beaulieu, in the property’s backyard next to the swimming pool. As the story goes, gossip columnist Rona Barrett, who lived nearby, caught wind of the impending nuptials and announced it on her nightly TV show. A media firestorm quickly erupted and journalists descended upon the home. The frenzy caused Elvis and Priscilla to rethink their decision and in the early morning hours of May 1st, 1967, the two headed to Las Vegas, courtesy of Frank Sinatra’s private plane, and tied the knot in a suite at the Aladdin hotel. They returned to their Palm Springs pad later that afternoon, where Elvis carried Priscilla up the front steps, across the threshold and upstairs into the bedroom, forever cementing the home’s status as the “Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway.” Two days later, the newly betrothed couple headed back to Graceland, though they visited the Hideaway several times throughout the year it was leased. Elvis eventually purchased a house of his own nearby, which he owned until he passed away in 1977. (You can read about that residence, located at 845 West Chino Canyon Road in Little Tuscany, here.)

The Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway Tour begins at the threshold Elvis carried Priscilla over.

The tour is actually led by a longtime reader/fellow stalker named Michael (that’s him below), who I’ve been friends with on Facebook for years. Michael is a veritable expert on all things Elvis. There was literally no question about the singer that he couldn’t answer. Listening to his stories about Presley and anecdotes about the house was fascinating. I couldn’t have imagined anyone better to walk in the footsteps of The King with.

Setting foot inside the Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway is like stepping back in time to 1967. The pad is virtually frozen in time from the days when The King called the place home.

Just beyond the threshold is a large sunken living room . . .

. . . where circle motifs can be found in abundance.

Not only is the room rounded . . .

. . . but the space boasts an amazing circular fireplace and hood . . .

. . . as well as a circular ottoman and a 64-foot curved banquette couch –

– the very same couch that was installed at the house during Elvis and Priscilla’s tenure.

Yep, that’s a photo of them sitting on said couch pictured below.

Amazingly, guests are not only allowed, but encouraged to sit on the couch to pose for photos.

From there, visitors are led into the circular kitchen . . .

. . . which features a rounded stove –

– a close-up of which you can see below;

a massive fridge and two ovens;

and an indoor BBQ (for those hot Palm Springs days when it is much too warm to do any outdoor grilling).

There it is open.

Visitors also get to check out the guest bathroom . . .

. . . which boasts a dressing-room-style mirror;

and a shower.

Obligatory Elvis bathroom selfie!

After passing through the jungle-themed sitting area . . .

. . . visitors are led up the very stairs that Elvis carried Priscilla up the night of their wedding . . .

. . . and into the master bedroom, which is fabulous.

Because of the home’s circular shape, regular photos just don’t do it justice.

It is much better showcased via panorama pics.

None of the furniture or furnishings in the residence are off-limits to guests. As was the case with the couch, visitors are invited to pose on Elvis and Priscilla’s bed, which Steffi and I gladly did!

We also got to catch a glimpse of the master bath . . .

. . . which boasts a massive sunken tub . . .

. . . as well as a built-in magazine rack and a bidet.

I honestly cannot recommend the Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway Tour more! It’s the perfect experience for fans of The King, those who want to catch a glimpse of the interior of a celebrity home, and architecture buffs alike.

Sadly, the property is currently for sale, so I am not sure how long tours will be offered.

For those in the market for a new pad, the 4-bedroom, 5-bath, 4,695-square-foot property, which features a pool, a tennis court, gardens, a fruit orchard, and three parcels of land, can be yours for a cool $7 million.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway is located at 1350 Ladera Circle in the Vista Las Palmas neighborhood of Palm Springs. Tours are offered daily at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. and cost $35 for adults and $15 for children under 12. You can find out more information about the tour, as well as purchase tickets, here.

March 31, 2015March 31, 2015

Hacienda Palomino – Michael Jackson’s Former Las Vegas House

I am not really that into stalking celebrity homes (though I have quite a few of them on my site), the main reason being that typically little else besides a gate can be seen from the road. There are some exceptions, though. If there is a star I really like, or if I read about a residence in a book, or if a significant event happened there, or if the look of a place piques my interest, I am most definitely going to want to stalk it. The latter was the case with an estate that pop star Michael Jackson rented for a brief period time in Las Vegas. Now everyone knows that I absolutely love me some MJ, but even so, I normally would not be interested in visiting a residence where he only lived for a short stint. When I saw photographs of Hacienda Palomino a couple of years ago, though, I practically started foaming at the mouth and immediately added the site to my Las Vegas To-Stalk list. In person, it did not disappoint!

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Shortly before Christmas 2006, Michael and his children left Ireland and returned to the U.S. The pop star had been living abroad since 2005 in an effort to escape the constant media attention that surrounded him following his child molestation trial. Jackson was in need of money, though, and when an opportunity arose to headline a Las Vegas show thanks to his friend, local businessman Jack Wishna, he flew back to America to start the endeavor. The show ultimately fell through due to MJ’s erratic behavior, but the singer wound up living in Sin City through 2008. He leased two houses during his stay. The first was at 2785 South Monte Cristo Way in the Spring Valley neighborhood and the second was at 2710 Palomino Lane in the Pinto Palomino area. According to this Las Vegas Review-Journal article, Jackson leased the Palomino house from 2007 until his death in 2009, though he had moved to L.A. by late 2008.

The sprawling 24,276-square-foot Hacienda Palomino compound is situated on 1.7 acres and boasts 7 bedrooms, 12 baths, an art gallery, a 7,394-square-foot chapel with seating for 74 guests, a grand salon, a cigar bar, an enclosed courtyard large enough to accommodate 300 people, a recording studio, parking for up to 50 cars, elevators, 3 kitchens, a conference room with seating for 60, and a 3,900-square-foot guest house with an underground tunnel leading to main residence. During his tenure at the property, Jackson and his three children lived in the guest house. MJ also housed his vast art collection, which was insured for $600 million, in the estate’s subterranean vault. You can see some photographs of the uh-ma-zing property here.

Hacienda Palomino was originally constructed in 1952 and, at the time, consisted of a small Spanish-style residence. The property was then redesigned and expanded into the massive compound that it is today by an eccentric theatre developer named Horst Schmidt in the ‘90s. When Schmidt passed away in 2004, Aner Iglesias, the honorary consular of El Salvador, purchased it. It was Iglesias who leased the residence to Jackson. After the King of Pop passed away, the house sat vacant until 2011 at which time Iglesias began renovating the site. He still owns the manse today, though it has gone on the market four times since Jackson’s death. It is currently used as Aner’s second home and as a special events venue. You can read a more in-depth history of the unique dwelling here.

Strange events seemed to follow Michael Jackson around throughout his life and a few happened during his time at Hacienda Palomino. One occurred on the evening of Elizabeth Taylor’s 75th birthday party. While Jackson was getting ready for the soiree, his brother Randy crashed his Mercedes through the front gate of the home and was almost shot by security. Randy then demanded to see the singer, claiming that the King of Pop owed him money. Michael refused, but was so distraught over the event that he bailed on Taylor’s birthday party and proceeded to hole up inside of the house for the next three days.

The most bizarre occurrence happened on the two-year anniversary of Jackson’s death, though, when Iglesias opened Hacienda Palomino to the public for a special tour. Apparently, while fans were waiting in line that morning, a random man arrived, opened up the doors to the estate and began leading groups through the residence. As it turns out, though, he had no authority to do so, nor did he have any sort of affiliation with the home, though he seemed to know quite a bit about it. He even offered attendees water! The police were soon called by the property’s caretaker and it was learned that the wannabe tour guide had a warrant out for his arrest. When cops arrived on the scene, he fled, though, and there was an ensuing chase throughout the neighborhood. It seems that even in death the King of Pop cannot escape the obscure events that surrounded him in life.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Hacienda Palomino, Michael Jackson’s former Las Vegas house, is located at 2710 Palomino Lane in Las Vegas. You can visit the property’s official website here.

December 17, 2014December 16, 2014

Nat King Cole’s Former House

My good friend Lavonna is all about Christmas. So when she came out to SoCal for a visit, along with Kim, Melissa and Maria, last month, she had a few suggestions of holiday-themed locations for me to stalk. One of the locales was the former Hancock Park home of Nat King Cole, the African American crooner who was the very first artist to record Bob Wells and Mel Tormé’s immensely popular carol “The Christmas Song” in 1946. So we ran right over to stalk the place on the ladies’ last day in L.A.

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Cole and his wife, Maria, purchased the sprawling 6,831-square-foot home in 1948. Reports vary as to what the couple paid for the property – some say $65,000, others say $75,000, and still others claim $85,000. Whatever the case, the Coles’ new neighbors were not happy about the sale. The Hancock Park Property Owners Association even stepped in, at one point offering Nat $25,000 plus the purchase price of the residence to walk away from the deal. Nat declined, causing one homeowner to approach the singer and inform him that he didn’t want “undesirables” living in the area. Cole responded, “Neither do I. If I see any, I’ll let you know.” Despite the opposition, Maria and Nat and their adopted daughter, Carole, moved into the Tudor-style residence on August 13th.

The massive 1924 property, which sits on a 0.7-acre corner plot of land, boasts five bedrooms, five baths, maids’ quarters, a library with a fireplace, a master suite with a fireplace, a tennis court, a guest house, a pool house, a pool and two patios.

In a May 2014 interview with The Wall Street Journal, Nat and Maria’s second oldest daughter, singer Natalie Cole, recounts growing up in the home as an idyllic experience. The holidays were an especially magical time. She says, “Christmas was a big holiday in our house. My dad was always home for the holiday and would have the fireplace going and music playing. We had a huge tree on the front lawn that must have been 40 feet tall. We’d decorate it and the lawn with lights and a Santa Claus that waved, and reindeer that rocked back and forth to simulate running.” You can see a photo of the Coles in front of the dwelling during the time that they lived there here. Today, much more foliage surrounds the property.

In 1951, federal agents seized the home from Nat for non-payment of $146,000 in back income taxes. He quickly paid the amount owed and reclaimed the property. The singer passed away in 1965, and Maria continued to live at the residence until 1972, at which time she sold it to a family friend and moved to the east coast. Of the home’s sale, Natalie says, “My sister and I were so upset. It was all we had left of our childhood and our dad. From time to time, I drive past the house today, but I’ve never stopped to surprise the owners with, ‘Hi, sorry to bother you. I used to live here.’ Seeing it is so bittersweet. From what I can tell, it’s still a beautiful home. Only black families have lived there since we left, and all have taken wonderful care of it. I would love to buy it someday. I’m curious to know what it’s even worth at this point.” Well, Natalie, here you go – according to Zillow, the pad is currently valued at a whopping $5,228,372!

You can watch a video of Nat King Cole singing “The Christmas Song” by clicking below. An interesting bit of holiday trivia for you – apparently Bob Wells and Mel Tormé had not set out to write a classic carol when penning “The Christmas Song.” Instead, during one particularly hot day in the summer of 1944, the two were simply trying to keep cool by jotting down terms having to do with cold weather. Forty-five minutes later and one of the most popular Christmas songs in history was born, boasting those classic lyrics we all know and love like “Jack Frost nipping at your nose.”

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.

Big THANK YOU to my good friend Lavonna for telling me about this location and suggesting that I blog it! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Nat King Cole’s former house is located at 401 South Muirfield Road in Hancock Park.

December 6, 2013December 15, 2013

Marilyn Monroe’s Childhood Home

One location that had been on my To-Stalk list for what seemed like ages was the Hawthorne-area home where my girl Miss Marilyn Monroe spent the first eight-and-a-half years of her life. Fellow stalker Lavonna had texted me the address years ago, but because I so rarely find myself in that neck of the woods, I was never able to make it out there. Until a couple of weeks ago, that is, when I realized that the residence was not too far from a hotel near LAX where the Grim Cheaper and I happened to be staying. So I dragged him right on over to stalk it (and to a Four Christmases locale that I will be writing about in late December).

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Gladys Mortensen was single, living in Hollywood and working as a film cutter at Consolidated Film Industries when she became pregnant with Marilyn in 1925. In December of that year, shortly before she was to give birth, she headed to Hawthorne in the hopes that she could move in with her mother, Della, for a brief time before and after the delivery. Della had other plans, though – she was about to sail to Borneo to make amends with her estranged husband, Charles Grainger, who was working in the oil fields there. Arrangements were instead made for Gladys to stay across the street at the home of Wayne and Ida Bolender, a deeply religious couple who served as foster parents to several children.

The Bolenders had moved into the 3-bedroom, 1-bath, 1,376-square-foot clapboard residence pictured below in 1919. At the time, the home, which was built in 1913, boasted 4 four acres of land (it now sits on a 0.20-acre parcel), where the family raised chickens and goats and grew vegetables. The property’s original address was 459 East Rhode Island Street, but during the re-districting of the area in the ‘30s and ‘40s it was changed to 4201 West 134th Street. You can see a photograph of the house from the time that the Bolenders owned it here. It is absolutely REMARKABLE how little of it has changed over the past ninety-plus years! You can also check out a picture of a newborn Marilyn in front of the dwelling here, in which a “459” address placard is visible in the background. So incredibly cool!

Gladys gave birth on June 1st, 1926 in the charity ward of Los Angeles General Hospital. She named her new daughter Norma Jeane Mortensen. After twelve days, the two returned to the Bolender’s. Gladys spent about three weeks at the Hawthorne house with Marilyn before heading back to Hollywood and her job at Consolidated in July. She left her baby behind, paying Wayne and Ida $5 a week to care for her. Contrary to what has been reported, Gladys did not abandon Marilyn entirely, but came to visit her on a weekly basis, often spending the night.

When Gladys’ son from her first marriage, Jackie, from whom she was estranged, died at the age of 14 in August 1933, she became compelled to regain custody of Norma Jeane. She took on a second job and by October 1934, had saved enough money to purchase a six-thousand-dollar house (at 6812 Arbol Drive in Hollywood – sadly, it’s no longer standing). That same month, eight-year-old Marilyn left the Bolenders and moved in with her mother. She didn’t stay long, though. Gladys had a nervous breakdown in late December and was committed to an asylum, at which point Norma Jeane was sent to live with one of her mother’s good friends, Grace McKee. She didn’t stay there long, though, either. By 1935, Gladys could no longer afford to care for Marilyn and sent her to the Los Angeles Orphan’s Home (now Hollygrove Home for Children, which I blogged about here). The girl who would become the world’s most famous blonde spent the remaining years of her childhood being bounced around from foster parents to family members. Then, at the tender age of 16, she married her first husband, James Dougherty, and moved into a guest house in Sherman Oaks, which also, unfortunately, no longer stands. You can read my blog post on that location here.

For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Los Angeles magazine online. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Lavonna for telling me about this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Marilyn Monroe’s childhood home is located at 4201 West 134th Street in Hawthorne.

November 21, 2013November 20, 2013

Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle’s Former West Adams Houses

I just finished reading a fabulous book about one of Hollywood’s first and biggest controversies titled Room 1219: The Life of Fatty Arbuckle, the Mysterious Death of Virginia Rappe, and the Scandal That Changed Hollywood by Greg Merritt. Prior to reading the tome, I knew little about actor/comedian Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, but had always been fascinated by his rape and murder trial, which rocked Tinseltown to its core. I had actually previously stalked two of Fatty’s former West Adams homes after finding their addresses thanks to fellow stalker E.J., of The Movieland Directory, and his book Hollywood Death and Scandal Sites. My original intent was to blog about them during the month of October, but once I discovered that the pads aren’t reported to be haunted and that the Roscoe scandal did not actually take place on either premises I decided to hold off until November. So here goes!

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The tale of Fatty is a sad one. The robust comedian became Hollywood’s golden boy and one of its highest paid stars in the 1910s, after toiling penniless for years on the Vaudeville circuit. Cut to Labor Day weekend 1921, when Roscoe made the fateful decision to go to San Francisco with two friends. He stayed in Room 1219 of the Saint Francis Hotel (a location that I hope to stalk in the near future) and threw a raucous party. A young actress name Virginia Rappe was in attendance. She drank quite a bit at the soiree and, at some point, ruptured her bladder, dying four days later from peritonitis in a nearby sanitarium. One of Rappe’s friends falsely accused Arbuckle of raping Virginia and causing her death. Despite the fact that doctors found no evidence of a rape, Fatty was arrested for murder. The media had a field day denouncing the comedian and his films were soon banned in most states. His first two trials resulted in hung juries and he was finally acquitted – and given a written apology from the jury – at the third in April 1922. His career never recovered, though, and he was forced to work mostly behind the scenes under a pseudonym for the remainder of his life, which was not long. Roscoe passed away from a heart attack in 1933 at the age of 46.

According to E.J., Roscoe rented the Vienna Secessionist-style mansion pictured below in the late 1910s (although I’ve also heard reports that he lived there after his trials ended). The residence had been commissioned by businessman/real estate developer Lycurgus Lindsay (love the name!) in 1908 and was constructed of hollow hard-burned terra cotta from Western Art Tile Works, a company Lindsay owned. The property was designed by Charles Frederick Whittlesey, who also devised the original Wentworth Hotel in Pasadena, which was later re-built as the Huntington Hotel. In 1908, the home’s grounds measured over four acres, stretched from West Adams Street all the way to West 27th Street, and included three large terraced-pieces of land and a greenhouse. The dwelling, which was considered fire- and earthquake-proof, boasted three stories, a large reception hall with an art-glass window depicting a waterfall, a formal dining room, a butler’s pantry, servants’ quarters, leaded glass windows, a conservatory, and quarter-grain oak and Peruvian mahogany detailing.

According to the Los Angeles History blog, Lindsay lived at the residence, which is a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, from the time it was completed in 1910 to 1913.

At some point, the property was obtained by the Our Lady of the Bright Mount Roman Catholic Polish Church and a parish was subsequently constructed in the front yard area, almost completely obscuring the mansion from view. In fact, when the Grim Cheaper and I first went to stalk it, we drove right by the place without even realizing it was there.

It is so sad to me that such a gorgeous edifice has been so obscured. Thankfully though, one of the priests who happened to be on the premises noticed us taking photographs and invited us behind the gates for a better view.

In 1919, Roscoe leased another West Adams-area mansion located about three miles east. The property had originally been commissioned in 1905 by United States Navy Commander Randolph Huntington Miner and his wife, shipping heir Tulita Wilcox Miner. The two-story, twenty-room Tudor revival-style dwelling boasted a drawing room that could hold two hundred people, a gabled roof, a Japanese meditation garden, a koi pond, and stained glass windows. In 1917, the Miners migrated to France and leased out their home to silent film siren Theda Bara. When Theda moved out in 1919, Roscoe and his then-wife Minta Durfee moved in. A short time later, they purchased the pad from the Miners for $250,000.

According to Merritt, Arbuckle spent copious amounts to decorate the place. He writes, “He imported an intricately carved front door from Spain (cost: $12,000) and bought and bought and bought: ornate mahogany paneling, gold-leafed bathtubs, crystal chandeliers, Oriental rugs, marble counters, fine-art paintings, antique china. The red lacquer dining room table with golden-clawed feet was from China. The lanai featured a Hawaiian royal chair. There was a Japanese bridge over the pond. Forever fascinated by technical gadgetry, Arbuckle had his closets and dressers wired with lights that came on when a door or drawer was opened.” The home’s humongous detached garage had space for all six of Roscoe’s luxury cars, including his beloved custom-built Pierce-Arrow. (You can see the spire of nearby St. Vincent de Paul Church, which I blogged about here, on the right-hand side of the top photo below.)

The Virgina Rappe scandal and Roscoe’s ensuing unemployment left the actor virtually destitute. To pay for the trials (which it is rumored cost him $750,000 – and that’s 1920s money!), he deeded his mansion to Joseph Schenck. He continued to live on the premises, though, leasing the property back from the legendary producer. By June 1922, Fatty’s manager Lou Anger and his wife had rented the residence for themselves, allowing Arbuckle, whose own wife had since moved out, to stay there as well. By December of that year, the broke – and broken – comedian was living by himself in a small bungalow in Hollywood. Today, the property serves as a rectory for Congregation of the Mission and is known as the Amat House, named (I believe) in honor of the first bishop of Los Angeles, Thaddeus Amat y Brusi.

For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Big THANK YOU to E.J., of The Movieland Directory, for writing about these locations in his book Hollywood Death and Scandal Sites!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Fatty Arbuckle’s former homes are both located in the West Adams District of Los Angeles – the Lycurgus Lindsay house can be found at 3424 West Adams Boulevard and the Amat House is located at 649 West Adams Boulevard.

October 22, 2013September 29, 2017

Henry Kyle’s Former House

Many, many months back, my mom texted me to ask if I had ever stalked the Bel-Air mansion where Texas tycoon Henry Harrison Kyle was murdered on July 22nd, 1983. Because the property had also once been the residence of filmdom’s first “It Girl,” Clara Bow, my mom thought it would fit in perfectly with my Haunted Hollywood posts. That was the first that I had ever heard of the place and, of course, started chomping at the bit to stalk it, so I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out to do just that a short time later.

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According to a June 1996 The New York Times article, legend has it that the 1923 manse was originally built for the then King of Spain. Sometime during the early 1930s, the pad was purchased by film producer Louis Lewyn and his wife, Marion Mack. The couple loaned the residence to actress Clara Bow to live in shortly thereafter and the starlet remained there for the next couple of years.

For those not familiar with Old Hollywood lore, the Brooklyn-born Bow became a silver screen phenomenon thanks to a starring role in the 1927 silent film It. The flick was based upon a magazine article penned by British novelist Elinor Glyn, who explained the elusive trait as such, “’It’ is that quality possessed by some which draws all others with its magnetic force. With ‘It’ you win all men if you are a woman and all women if you are a man.” From 1927 on, Clara, who starred in over 58 films during her lifetime, would forever be known as “The It Girl.” The phrase caught on and is still used regularly in Hollywood to this day. Sadly, Bow’s heavy Brooklyn accent interfered with her career during the advance of “talkies” in the mid 1930s. The beauty retired from acting in 1935 at the age of 28 and moved to Nevada. She spent the remainder of her years hidden from the public eye and passed away from a heart attack at the age of 60 on September 27th, 1965.

Multimillionaire Henry Kyle, who amassed his fortune via extensive real estate, coal mine, bank, and oil-drilling equipment firm holdings, relocated from Dallas to Bel-Air in the Spring of 1983, along with his two sons, 20-year-old Henry Harrison Kyle II, aka “Ricky,” and 19-year-old Scott, in order to begin a new job as the head of Four Star International Inc. television production company. At the time of his arrival, he purchased Bow’s former Mediterranean-style manse. He did not live there long. In the pre-dawn hours of July 22nd, 1983, Ricky woke his father up and informed him that there was a prowler in the house. Henry grabbed a gun and walked downstairs to the dining room, where Ricky, who also had a gun, subsequently shot him in the back at point-blank range. Henry returned fire, hitting his son in the arm. It was too late, though. When police arrived later that morning, they discovered Henry’s 6’4” nude body sprawled on the dining room floor. The Texan, who was often described as a real-life J.R. Ewing, was dead at the age of 60. (Ironically enough, according to a 1983 The Pittsburg Press article, upon moving, Kyle rented out his Texas residence to none other than Larry Hagman, who was in the Lone Star State to film Dallas. Hagman subsequently vacated the property shortly after Henry was killed.)

Ricky was arrested five weeks later. Foreshadowing the eerily similar Menendez murders in 1989, Ricky originally said that an intruder had killed the senior Kyle and that he had been shot in the crossfire, but then later copped to the crime saying that his father, who had supposedly been abusing him both physically and emotionally for years, had fired at him and that Ricky had fired back strictly in self defense. Prosecutors contended that Ricky, who was a frequent drug abuser, killed his father to gain access to his vast inheritance. The first trial resulted in a hung jury. In the second trial, Ricky was convicted of involuntary manslaughter (huh?), sentenced to five years in prison, and subsequently served three. Who says our justice system doesn’t work?

Kyle’s former manse was last sold in August 2011 for $6.375 million. According to the real estate listing, the abode boasts 6 bedrooms, 7.5 baths, 8,900 square feet of living space, a chef’s kitchen, a formal dining room, a master suite with two bathrooms, an enclosed sleeping porch, a ballroom, a rooftop deck, a 0.70-acre plot of land, a pool, a sundeck, a motor court, a 3-car garage, and a newly-built detached guest house. The entire property encompasses a total of 9,450 square feet. Unfortunately, as you can see below, virtually none of it is visible from the street.

But, as I’ve said before, that’s why God created real estate listings, which is where I got the photographs pictured below.

As you can see, the interior of the residence is really quite spectacular. You can check out some more interior pics of the pad here.

For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Henry Kyle’s former house is located at 110 Stone Canyon Road in Bel-Air.

October 16, 2013September 29, 2017

The Former Site of Mulholland Farm

Another locale that fellow stalker E.J., of The Movieland Directory, mentioned in Hollywood Death and Scandal Sites was the spot where Mulholland Farm – the former home of actor Errol Flynn – once stood. And while I knew next to nothing about Flynn at the time I read the book, the blurb caught my eye due to a macabre practical joke that was allegedly played at the property involving John Barrymore (grandfather of Drew), which I thought would interest my friend Ashley, of The Drewseum website. So I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out to stalk the place way back in mid-February while the two of us were in L.A. for a weekend visit.

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The Tasmanian-born Flynn, who became an overnight sensation and Hollywood’s original bad boy after playing a swashbuckler in 1935’s Captain Blood, purchased an 11. 5-acre plot of land hidden away at the top of a ravine off of Mulholland Drive in 1941 and proceeded to build a two-story, country-style home there. He dubbed the $125,000 property, which he helped design, “Mulholland Farm.” The residence was a virtual den of iniquity, boasting a black marble pool, a tennis court, a barn, circular stables, a casino, a master bedroom with a mirrored ceiling, an obscene mural involving fish genitalia that ran behind a set of humongous fish tanks that lined the walls of his den, and a bar that covered a secret passageway leading to a hidden viewing area overlooking the women’s guest bathroom. The estate became a popular party pad (for obvious reasons) and such luminaries as Charlie Chaplin, Jack Warner, Mickey Rooney, Tyrone Power, and Flynn’s longtime friend and drinking buddy John Barrymore all hung out on the premises. There were also plenty of female visitors. Just a few of the starlets Flynn “entertained” at the home include Hedy Lamarr, Ann Sheridan, Linda Christian, Ida Lupino, Faith Domergue, and Dorothy Lamour. It should come as no surprise that the phrase “In like Flynn” came about thanks to the actor and his propensity for getting women into bed.

Flynn loved practical jokes and legend has it that, on May 29th, 1942, several of his drinking buddies pulled a whopper on him at the Farm. As the story goes, on the night that John Barrymore passed away, Flynn’s friends bribed a mortuary worker to let them “borrow” the corpse for a few hours. They drove it to Flynn’s house where they propped Barrymore up in a chair with a cocktail in his hand. When Errol returned to the Farm later that night after several hours spent drinking, he walked in to find the dead actor sitting in his living room. Of the event, Flynn wrote in his autobiography, My Wicked, Wicked Ways, “My God, the light went on and I stared into the face of Barrymore! His eyes were closed, and he looked puffed, white, bloodless. They hadn’t embalmed him yet. I let out a delirious scream.” With friends like that, who needs enemies? Flynn took the experience in stride, though, offering the pranksters a drink and cordially refusing to help them return the body to the funeral home. And while several sources claim that the Barrymore anecdote is pure fiction, it sure makes for one heck of a story!

In 1953, Flynn left Mulholland Farm and moved to Europe in order to avoid paying back taxes to the government and alimony to two ex-wives. At some point thereafter, he lost the property to his first wife, Lili Damita. She sold off some of the acreage, on which new homes were eventually built (one of which, at 7740 Mulholland Drive, is the dwelling featured in the photographs that appear in this post, but more on that later). In 1959, Errol’s former residence and the surrounding 7.5 acres of land were purchased by gospel singer Stuart Hamblen and his wife, Suzy. They lived there for the next twenty years. And while the couple reported no strange goings-on, when pop star Ricky Nelson purchased the site in 1980, his family witnessed all sorts of odd behavior, leading them to believe that the pad was haunted by Errol. I’d venture to guess, though, that it was Barrymore’s ghost who had come back to terrorize the place. Sadly, in 1988, Mulholland Farm was sold to a real estate developer who bulldozed Errol’s former residence and subdivided the remaining land. Helen Hunt purchased one of the parcels (at 3100 Torreyson Place) in 1997 and proceeded to build a mansion on it. She never lived there, though, and in 2002 sold the estate to none other than Justin Timberlake for $8.2 million.

The address of Mulholland Farm during Flynn’s tenure there was 7740 Mulholland Drive, as you can see in this 1942 newspaper article. At the time, his was the only house in the vicinity. (The 11.5 acres that comprised the Farm are roughly denoted by the orange circle below.)

Today, there are seven different residences located on those 11.5 acres. The house which now stands at 7740 Mulholland Drive, on what looks to have been some sort of horse riding arena in Flynn’s day, was built in 1967 on a parcel of land that had been sold off by Lili Damita.

You can watch a video about Mulholland Farm by clicking below. And you can click here to purchase a book written about the property titled Errol Flynn Slept Here.

For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Big THANK YOU to E.J., of The Movieland Directory, for writing about this location in his book Hollywood Death and Scandal Sites!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Mulholland Farm, Errol Flynn’s one-time home, was formerly located at 7740 Mulholland Drive in the Hollywood Hills.

October 10, 2013September 29, 2017

Ray Combs’ Former House

One Haunted Hollywood location that I learned about back in January thanks to the fabulous book Hollywood Death and Scandal Sites, which was written by fellow stalker E.J. of The Movieland Directory, was the Glendale-area home where former Family Feud host Ray Combs was taken into custody shortly before his 1996 suicide. I was an avid watcher of the Feud during my teenage years and remember being heartbroken upon learning of Ray’s death, so I was, of course, immediately intrigued. I ran right out to stalk the residence just a few days later and have been absolutely itching to blog about it ever since. So here goes.

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Ray Combs was born Raymond Neil Combs Jr. in Hamilton, Ohio on April 3rd, 1956. He met his future high school sweetheart/wife, Debra, in the first grade. During his senior year at Garfield High, Ray was class president, a Boys State representative and the lead in the school play. Talk about most likely to succeed! After graduating in 1974, he received a nomination to West Point, but turned it down to instead embark on a two-year Mormon mission in Arizona. Upon his return, he married Debra and became a furniture salesman in Indianapolis. The job didn’t float his boat, though, and in 1982 he packed up his family and moved to Hollywood with stars in his eyes. He quickly gained success, winning an L.A. stand-up competition in 1984 and then an appearance on The Tonight Show in 1986, after which he received a standing ovation. Following that performance, he was offered a job hosting The Family Feud. Ray and Debra subsequently purchased a two-story, six-bedroom, two-bath, 1,987-square-foot home located at 1318 Sonora Avenue in Glendale in 1988. The dwelling, which sits on 0.26 acres, was originally built in 1925 and boasts a swimming pool and spa.

In early 1994, due to poor ratings, producers decided to let Ray go and bring back former Feud host Richard Dawson. Click below to watch Ray’s final appearance on Family Feud, in which a contestant fails to earn a single point during the Fast Money round, causing the comedian to say, “You know, I’ve done this show for six years and this could be the first time that I had a person that actually got no points and I think it’s a damn fine way to go out. Thought I was a loser till you walked up here and you made me feel like a man.” Then when the credits start to roll, Ray bolts from the stage, leaving the winning family cheering by themselves.

This clip is also amazing, by the way.

As is this one. But now I’m really getting off topic.

1994 was not kind to Combs. Besides losing his hosting gig and almost-$1-million-a-year paycheck, the comedian was in a car accident in July that rendered him temporarily paralyzed and left him with lingering spinal pain. Sadly, 1995 was no better. His family home of over 11 years in Ohio was foreclosed upon and he and his wife also separated and filed for divorce. Ray subsequently moved into an apartment in North Hollywood, while Debra and the couple’s six children remained at the Glendale residence.

According to the Find a Death website, on the night of May 31st, 1996, Ray telephoned Debra from his apartment and informed her that he had swallowed some pills. She called 911 and Ray was taken to Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank (which I blogged about here). He contacted Debra again early the next morning informing her that he was being released and that he needed a ride home. During the drive, Ray became agitated that Debra wanted to take him to her place and wound up jumping out of the car – barefoot – and running onto the Ventura Freeway where a passerby picked him up. According to the Los Angeles Times, he was then taken to a friend’s residence and appeared to be “in a rage.” He told the friend that he was going to his family’s home “to hurt his wife and destroy the place.” His friend called the police and notified them of Ray’s plans. Detectives then made their way to Debra’s house, where they found Combs destroying furniture and bashing his head against walls. The comedian was again taken to a hospital, this time Glendale Adventist Medical Center, where he was placed on a 72-hour suicide watch. It did no good. In the early hours of June 2nd, Combs tied his bed sheets together and hung himself from a rod in the closet in his room. He was found by a hospital orderly at 4:10 a.m., dead at the age of 40.

At the time of his death, Ray had accumulated a debt of $500,000 (not including the $470,000 mortgage on the Glendale home), largely amassed from the failure of two shuttered comedy clubs he had owned in Ohio. According to an October 1996 People magazine article, the Glendale property was foreclosed upon shortly thereafter and Ray’s family subsequently moved into a two-bedroom rental. During that time, Johnny Carson, the man largely credited with giving Ray his big break, sent Debra a check for $25,000 along with a handwritten note that said, “I understand you are having some problems. I hope this will ease the burden.” Unfortunately, I could find no information on the Combs family whereabouts today.

For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Big THANK YOU to E.J., of The Movieland Directory, for writing about this location in his book Hollywood Death and Scandal Sites! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Ray Combs’ former home is located at 1318 Sonora Avenue near the Kenneth Village area of Glendale.

October 2, 2013September 29, 2017

Vincente Minnelli’s Former Abandoned Mansion

Back in February 2012, a fellow stalker named Kayleigh emailed me to ask if I knew anything about the “creepy” mansion located on the southeast corner of West Sunset Boulevard and North Crescent Drive in Beverly Hills. Her email stated, “There’s very little information on it online other than the fact that Liza Minnelli battled her former step-mother over it. It stands out because all the houses in that area are gorgeous, but this home is unkempt, looks abandoned and is just plain scary.” I did not have any intel on the property – in fact, I had never even heard about it before – but hello! Unkempt, abandoned, scary, AND a celebrity tie-in? Count me in! Winking smile I contacted fellow stalker E.J., of the Movieland Directory website, who I figured would have the lowdown on the manse’s history and I was right – he had a boatload of information to share. Somehow though, I failed to stalk the place in time for last year’s Haunted Hollywood postings. So, believe you me, it was at the very top of this year’s list and I finally dragged the Grim Cheaper out there in early June.

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I do not know what it is about abandoned properties that makes this stalker’s heart go pitter-patter, but I could NOT have been more excited as we pulled up to the mansion.

Liza’s father, famed musical director Vincente Minnelli, moved into the six-bedroom, six-bath, 5,877-square-foot Hollywood Regency-style estate – which was originally built in 1925 and was later re-designed by architect John Elgin Woolf – at some point following his 1951 divorce from Liza’s mother, actress Judy Garland. Liza split her time evenly between both parents, spending six month of each year at Vincente’s house, which boasted a motor court, a pool and a 0.98-acre plot of land. According to Richard Alleman’s book Hollywood: The Movie Lover’s Guide, the director commissioned artist Tony Duquette – whose whimsical Dawnridge residence I blogged about in August – to build a large playhouse for Liza in the backyard. Alleman also states that the young girl’s closet was filled with tyke-sized reproductions of costumes from The King and I, Gone with the Wind and An American in Paris. In her 1984 autobiography Knock Wood, actress Candice Bergen said, “I remember always asking to go to Liza’s to play dress-up because in her closet hung little girls’ dreams.” The state of the house today, though, is the stuff nightmares are made of!

The estate’s first brush with darkness came in 1986. On July 25th of that year, Vincente, who was suffering from emphysema, took his usual after-dinner nap. Sensing something was wrong due to his pallor, Minnelli’s wife, Lee, whom the director had married in 1980, called 911. Paramedics rushed to the scene and Vincente was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival. He was 83. And while the mansion was willed to Liza, it was stipulated that Lee would be permitted to reside there – or at a comparable place – at Liza’s expense for the rest of her life.

In 2000, Liza decided to put the property on the market – unbeknownst to Lee. It sold for $2.75 million two years later and Liza subsequently purchased a $450,000 condo for her step-mother to live in. Lee wasn’t going anywhere, though. A battle ensued in which Liza ended up firing the mansion staff and shutting off the estate’s electricity, at which point Lee sued her. The lawsuit, referring to Liza’s recent wedding to David Gest, stated, “While defendant is honeymooning all over the world, having fed 850 of her closest friends a 12-foot cake, plaintiff is alone in a cold, dark house, at age 94.” You can see some photos taken of Lee at the dwelling, which was starting to dilapidate, during that time period here. Liza eventually had the power restored and the sale finally went through in 2006 –after a four-year escrow. A mediator ruled that Lee would be allowed to stay on the premises until her death, with Liza paying rent to the new owners, who would not be permitted to move in until Lee passed away.

When Lee did pass away three years later, on November 11th, 2009 at the age of 100, the new owners apparently set about making arrangements to tear the mansion down and build a Mediterranean-style estate in its place. The project was scrapped, though, in 2010 due to difficulties with the Beverly Hills Planning Division. Supposedly a restoration of the property was then scheduled to begin, but, as you can see below, that never occurred, either.

And while it seems that some sort of work was done on the property in recent years, as evidenced by the dumpsters and utility truck visible on Bing aerial views, for whatever reason it was stopped and the residence has been left untouched ever since. (How eerily awesome is that pool, by the way? LOVE IT!)

For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Kayleigh for telling me about this location and to fellow stalker E.J., of The Movieland Directory website, for informing me of its history! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Vincente Minnelli’s former abandoned mansion is located at 812 North Crescent Drive in Beverly Hills.