Whitley Heights 101

6636 Iris Drive

Originally listed as 2122 Iris Drive, this 2,093 square root home was built by architect A.S. Barnes in 1922. In 1922, Whitley Heights Park was a new subdivision of Whitley Heights purchased by H.J. Whitley from Emma L. Hambleton for $55,000. The property, known as The Araby, was enclosed at that time by Cahuenga Avenue, Curlew Street and Whitley Terrace. Below is an early map where the land was located at one time called the Hollywood Grand View Tract showing one house built in the area on lot 22.

Whitley originally owned this plot of land but sold it in 1903 for less than $2,000. Hambleton owned the property for several years before Whitley bought it back from her. Hambleton created a private park around her home with tropical and semi-tropical shrubs, fruit trees, and flowers. (Emma would be living at 6650 Whitley Terrace by 1923). By May of 1921, Whitley created the winding street and put lighting around it. Originally, Whitley would subdivide the land for housing, but then decided that the land would be used for a hotel as he wanted to retain all the landscaping Hambleton created. The hotel would be in Italian/Mediterranean architecture and be surrounded by 20 villas. The land was put up for sale with the intention of a buyer constructing a hotel there, but never materialized so individual lots were put up for sale.

Below is 6636 Iris Drive as it looks today painted in pink. Iris Drive used to run through to the right of the house prior to the 101 Freeway construction. Today, Iris Drive ends and turns left into Iris Circle.

6636 Iris Drive was eventually purchased by Felix and Flora De Vere and was kept in the family until the mid-1960’s. The Spanish style property consists of two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a bonus room on the basement floor which is accessible through a back entry.

The bonus room has a separate kitchen and bathroom and has been used as a rental unit throughout its history. In 1940, radio singer Jon Conley resided in the apartment and in 1952, voice teacher Neyleen Farrell rented 6636 1/2 Iris Drive. Below is the lower floor of the residence that was often used as 6636 1/2 Iris Drive looking in from the sliding doors seen in the picture above.

The red dot below shows the location of the residence in the 1920’s when Iris Drive ran into Whitley Terrace. Whitley Avenue is behind the residence and curves around through Whitley Heights.

Since the house has had primarily one owner from the time is was built up until the 1960’s. Felix, a real estate broker, led what appeared to be a quiet life with his wife, Flora and two children, John and Mary. Other than discovering two dead bodies at a nearby residence in 1936, Felix has lived peacefully until his death in 1949. Below, is a tiled staircase from the first to second floor. A sunken room can be seen in the next room.

Flora De Vere continued to reside in the home until her death in 1963. Her daughter, Mary, and her husband, Raymond Traynor, replaced the windows, re-plastered the master bedroom and den, put in a new wet bar in the den, new kitchen cabinets and remodeled the stairwell in 1966. They put the house on the market shortly after. Below is the inside of the patio from the front gate.

Below is a Lincoln Model L vehicle parked in from of 6636 Iris Drive. I wonder if that was the De Vere’s car.