Whitley Heights 101

6785, 6786, 6787, and 6788 Whitley Terrace Demolished

When Whitley Heights was developed, Whitley Terrace was built just off Whitley Avenue and curved around past Milner Road and Wedgewood Place, to where the residences of 6785, 6786, 6787, and 6788 Whitley Terrace could be found. The even numbers homes, 6786 and 6788, were located after passing Wedgewood Place and before Whitley Terrace crossed Iris Drive and then Fairfield Avenue before ending at Cahuenga Blvd. 6785 and 6787 were directly across the street with 6787 nestled between Whitley Terrace, Iris Drive and Lloyd Lane. Today, there are a few residences left on the upper part of Whitley Terrace towards Cahuenga Blvd before the freeway divides Whitley Heights. The other properties mentioned above, were not able to be relocated and would be torn down.

6785 Whitley Terrace (pictured above below the red mark) was a one-story, seven room residence built in 1922 by architect Eugene Weston and owner S.C. Woolley of 1428 Dix Street. Its one car detached garage was on the street just to the right of the property. 6787 Whitley Terrace was located to the immediate left of this residence just below the green mark. 6786 and 6788 Whitley Terrace were across the street from the other two homes. (The roofs of these residences are seen between 6785 and 6787 and were downslope residences. Below, 6785 Whitley Terrace (green dot), 6787 Whitley Terrace (blue dot), 6786 Whitley Terrace (orange dot), 6788 Whitley Terrace (purple dot), and 6779 Wedgewood Place, the former Valentino home (yellow dot), were all homes that have all been torn down for the freeway.

6785 Whitley Terrace was home to primarily one owner, real estate man Stanley L. McMichael and his wife, Bess, who resided at the property from 1929 to 1948 and then retired to Santa Barbara (after learning that his scenic home would be torn down), where he died in 1950. Not only did McMichael own his own real estate and appraising company, he successfully negotiated the sales of Rudolph Valentino’s former home located at 6677 Wedgewood Place and H.J. Whitley’s former home located at 2073 Grace Avenue in 1937.

McMichael also published several real estate books including; City Growth and Values (1923), How to Operate a Real Estate Business (1926), and Real Estate Subdivisions (1949). He also produced McMichael’s Appraising Manual, which has had several editions. Many of his books are still in publication today. McMichael also formed the Whitley Heights Civic Association in which he became the first president. Although the house was for sale to be relocated in 1949 and 1950, there were no buyers and the house was demolished. Below is the view from the McMichael’s window depicting Fray Juniper Sierra in stained glass circa 1930. The window is located on the north side of the house which looks out over the Cahuenga Pass, where the mission padres used to travel to and from San Fernando Mission.

Below is the area of where 6785 Whitley Terrace and the other above-mentioned residences would have been located today and where the 101 Freeway now exists. The homes were located between the upper and middle 101 signs.

6787 Whitley Terrace was built in 1922 by architect Arthur S. Barnes and owner, Edwin and Ruth Anderson, with both Barnes and Anderson’s address listed as 2178 Fairfield Avenue, a 5-room studio house which was demolished in May of 1956. According to the Los Angeles Times, the house was described as “a big white palace on a hill, where the road curves at the foot of the hills, is a white stucco palace with twin drives on either side of the sloping green lawns”. It was built in 1922 by a “wealthy easterner” with its rococo effects, having a mosque-like dome that was imported from Italy and a sunken inside pool. The article also incorrectly mentions that actress, Barbara La Marr lived in the home, but in fact, she lived down the street at 6672 Whitley Terrace.

In 1932, the owner was listed as Ruth C. Anderson, who completed upgrades on the house including; a new pitch roof over the living room and cover with galvanized iron roofing tile, increased the size of the room that contained an indoor swimming pool, which was also enlarged, and enlarge one of the bedrooms and add closets. Below 6787 Whitley Terrace is shown in the upper right-hand corner, newly built, as two homes on Whitley Terrace are erected the right and three homes below on Fairfield Avenue.

The Anderson’s continued to reside in the home over thirty years; Ruth was very active in trying to stop the construction of the 101 Freeway through Whitley Heights. The home was sold in an August 1950 public auction to S. Roger Janis. Two weeks later, he sold the property to widow Esther Harney. Harney had a 12 year old son and bought some land to move 6787 Whitley Terrace because she was told it could be easily moved. However, Harney had been trying to relocate the property for a year and was turned down by the city because they did not think the property was structurally sound to be moved. Harney gave up and in 1951, she moved to an apartment in San Pedro. 6787 Whitley Terrace was the last structure that was torn down for the freeway construction.

Edwin Anderson was born in in Ohio in 1880, and a 1930 census lists he and his wife in this home, with him an insurance salesman. Ruth, who was born in Minnesota, was 7 years younger than him and the census listed her as a housewife. The Anderson’s had relocated to Los Angeles from the Chicago area. They were able to have a live-in housekeeper. The newspaper indicated that “wealthy easterners” built the house; there is some speculation as to how Edwin Anderson, an insurance salesman, could afford to have the dome imported from Italy and make improvements to the home. Ruth had an original pipe organ, built by the Robert Morgan Organ Co. from Van Nuys and was located in the living room of the home in 1921. The console is from the Jim Lewis collection. Below, is the organ on display in the living room of the Whitley Terrace home.

Below is another view of the organ in the living room. The window was located in the center of the house just above the garage. The Andersons and their next door neighbors, the McMichael’s, both had organs and would have concerts in their homes using the organ pipes. Madalyn Ackers, a piano teacher and organist, would often play for them. In 1934, Ackers was alone in the McMichael residence practicing when she smelled smoke, but could not find the source. A friend had come by to pick her up for an outing and Ackers hesitated to leave and called the fire department. They discovered an electric heater had set a chair on fire and when Ackers opened the organ, a collection of smoke escaped from it so they put an electric fan to blow the smoke out of the room as she played, “The Last Roundup” on the organ. The McMichael’s living room was 43 x 22 feet and Mrs. McMichael recreated a replica of the “Bridal Veil Falls” of Yosemite National Park. She made the wall out of petrified rock from Arizona and Alaska which included a tiny waterfall and provided “tinkly sound” in the room.

Below is the sideview of the property located on intersection of Iris Drive and Lloyd Lane. The backside of the property would be visual on Lloyd Lane that ran from Iris Drive to Whitley Avenue.

6788 Whitley Terrace was built in 1923 by industrial engineer Ernest McCready. The 5 room, 2-story house, was on the downslope of Whitley Terrace and directly across the street from 6787 Whitley Terrace. Below, a partial view of the front entrance and garage can be seen with three children playing in the front of the house. The roof of 6786 Whitley Terrace can be seen after the parked car. The road to the left is Whitley Terrace and the road turning down to the right is Wedgewood Place. Since no residence in Whitley Heights has the same address number, these home were sometimes identified as being on Wedgewood Place.

In 1932, actor Donald Cook (pictured below) and his wife, Frances resided at 6788 Whitley Terrace. They were married only six months. During his 1930 performance at Elitch Theater in Denver, he met actress, Francis Beranger, who talked him moving to Hollywood so they were married as soon as her Denver engagement ended. Although the married ended abruptly, Cook’s performance at the Elitch helped him to get a contract with Warner Brothers. Donald is credited for playing in 68 films and television shows including, Babyface (1933) and Show Boat (1936).

Screenwriter, Kay Van Riper (pictured below), lived at this home in 1935-1936. Van Riper, was only credited for writing 13 films from 1937 to 1946, including, A Family Affair (1937), Babes in Arms (1939), and Lady Be Good (1941). Van Riper moved into this home after moving back to LA from New York and went back to work as a program director and publicist for radio station KFWB. A few years later, she become employed at MGM where she started to write screenplays. One interesting fact is that Van Riper is mentioned in a 1938 edition of a Ohio newspaper stating that she was renting Valentino’s house, which was false as she was renting this property (per the 1935 and 1936 Los Angeles City Directories) , but only two houses away from the Valentino house. The article stated that when Van Riper moved into the house, she heard rumors that Valentino’s former house was haunted. Van Riper relates that while hanging pictures in the den, she heard the front door buzzer. She answered the front door and no one was there. She returned to her task and the door bell rang for the second time. Again, she went to answer the door and no one was there. Her maid reported having the same experience the next day in the home. The ghost ringing the door bell was a false alarm, because Van Riper discovered a button hidden under the carpet near the fireplace. When stepped on, the button rings to the servants quarters. Van Riper moved out after she married producer, Russell Lewis. In 1948, after two failed divorces, Van Riper was found dead in her Glendale home from an apparent suicide after overdosing on sleeping pills.

After Van Riper moved out, writer Walter Mitchell bought the property and enlarged the basement room, replaced the garage doors and remodeled the cement stairs with tile. Another writer, Paul Schofield, moved in with him. In 1940, child actor, Wesley Barry and his wife, Julia, bought 6788 Whitley Terrace. At the time, Wesley worked as a real estate agent at Beacon Realty; the following year, Wesley was hired as an assistant director at RKO Pictures and directed over 56 movies and tv shows in that capacity including, Lassie and the Mod Squad. After a two year stint in the Navy, Wesley returned to 6788 Whitley Terrace, to his wife Julia who are both pictured below. Wesley would also be publicly outspoken against the construction of the freeway running though Whitley Heights. In September of 1950, this residence went to public auction and could not be sold. It’s fate was that of the others: demolished. Wesley and his wife would move to another residence on 6692 Whitley Terrace (that residence was relocated from a few feet down the road at 6696 Whitley Terrace.

6786 Whitley Terrace was built by the owner of next door, 6788 Whitley Terrace, Ernest McCready and built in 1925. The residence pictured below, sat on Whitley Terrace with 6788 to its right and Valentino’s residence to the left on Wedgewood Place.

John and Elizabeth Turton, owned the property in the 1930s. The Turton’s also had a summer home in Montreal, Canada, where John’s mother was residing as the Turton’s migrated to Canada from England. Their daughter, Isabelle attended USC and was a member of the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority. In 1929, Isabelle (pictured below) married Paul Ramsey, who was in the Navy and had the reception at the Ambassador Hotel. The married couple would move to Coronado after Ramsey finished his aviation studies at Pensacola, FL. Isabelle would stay at the residence while her husband was away on Naval duty. John died at the home in 1938.

Below is Valentino’s property on Wedgewood Place on the far left and 6786 Whitley Terrace to the far right, separated by vacant land in between. The Cahuenga Pass can be seen in the distance going into the foothills to the San Fernando Valley.

Below, the road splits into Whitley Terrace and Wedgewood Place just before the Valentino property as seen in the photograph.

In 1944, make-up artists, Sam and Claire Kaufman purchased the home. Sam worked on both movies and tv shows from 1913 to 1960. Perhaps their “claim to fame” is that their home on Whitley Terrace was auctioned for $885 and then immediately demolished by the new homeowner. During that time, many homeowners whose homes were in the path of the new freeway were being pressured to sell their home or face court proceedings. The buyers, who had an interest with working for the state (compensation?), could have the property immediately torn down. Many buyers who were promised that the auctioned home could be relocated, did not get approval later on. Others, including Wesley Barry, felt that during the housing shortage, the house could be rented for a while and torn down at a later date since it would have then another two years before freeway would be built in that section. This house was destroyed in 1948. Below is a photograph in the newspaper showing the condemned property.

Below is the rear of 6786 Whitley Terrace in the process of being demolished by the city in April 1948. The six room house lived to be just 24 years old. An alternate route of the freeway and a petition of 3,900 signatures were proposed to the city, but was unsuccessful in changing the original plans due to financial reasons and was considered the most “feasible automobile route”. One alternate route would run the freeway along Selma Avenue from Wilton to Las Palmas and then north to Caheunga Pass. There were actually a total of six alternate routes that would avoid Whitley Heights. At the end of the day, the city of Los Angeles and other investors had already started putting in million of dollars into the project and did not want to lose the time and money they had already spent. The City Counsel voted 9 to 3 in favor of the freeway plan going through Whitley Heights.

One last look: 6786 Whitley Terrace is in the green box; just to the left of the property is Iris Drive which crosses Lloyd Lane and is in the back of the property. To the right (yellow dot), is 6785 Whitley Terrace. Across the street is 6788 Whitley Terrace (red dot) and 6786 Whitley Terrace (blue dot). Valentino’s home would be just below (red box) on Wedgewood Place. The freeway sits close to the other homes on Wedgewood Place (to the right of the red box), which did not endure the same fate as these 4 former historic residences. Below, pictured is Valentino’s home on Wedgewood Place. 6687 Whitley Terrace can be seen to the right behind the home.