Whitley Heights 101

2020 Grace Avenue (demolished)

2020 Grace Avenue was a large parcel of land at the top of Whitley Heights and was comprised of five lots. Built in 1914, the property’s address was originally listed as 6737 Whitley Terrace. Owner, Minnie S. Jewel, a socialite from New York, built the 20-room resort with a garage and carport and in 1915, The Cahuenga Vista Inn opened with general manager Edward Whalen running the operations. The beautiful landscape and gardens was designed by architect Arthur E. Simpson in 1915. The hotel also contained a banquet room which hosted evening dinners and rented it out for social functions including weddings and business or club meetings. Dubbed “Motorists Paradise”, groups of travelers from other parts of the state would caravan up the hill to stay at the inn and host “motoring parties”. However, the resort would not stay open past 1916 with no documented reason.

Minnie decided to rent out the place. In 1918, the house was rented out to actress Blanche Sweet until 1920. Blanche was born to a vaudeville family and was acting on stage at the age of 18 months old and dancing by the age of four. At the age of 14, she started working in New York with director D.W. Griffith. Blanche was a popular, yet independent actress who worked for many movie studios during the silent movie era. Her strong-willed independence prompted her to start her own production company in 1918.

As a busy actress and producer, Blanche often traveled to New York for her bi-coastal career. In 1920, Blanche moved out of the home after being robbed, but she was out of town at the time as the assailant injured her butler. Blanche had other issues in early 1921 being named in MGM film producer Marshall A. Neilan’s divorce proceedings by his mother-in-law. Gertrude’s mother got on the stand and indicated that Marshall deserted his wife and baby in New York while he was living down the street from Blanche in Hollywood. The scandal eventually faded and Blanche married Martin the following year. In 1929, Blanche announced that she was going to leave him and he tried to kill himself by carbon monoxide in their 601 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills garage. Blanche found him in the garage and saved his life. After the incident subsided, Blanche still filed for divorce citing Marshall physically and verbally abused her. She stated that he humiliated her in front of friends and brought “objectionable” people home at 3 a.m. and insisted she get out of bed and entertain them. Marshall threatened to break down the bedroom door if she did not comply. There was also a suggestion of numerous infidelities. The divorce was granted in December of 1929.

In 1921, Minnie added another residence and a swimming pool to the property which can be see to the left of the original bungalow above. The line of palm trees enclose the driveway which leads to Grace Avenue which is seen below the property. She then put the property up for sale:

The property was purchased by silent screen actor Francis X. Bushman, who used the address of 2020 Grace Avenue. Bushman began his acting career in 1911 and was easily able to transition from silent to sound pictures. He appeared in over 200 films and is best known for his roles in Messala in Ben-Hur (1925) and as Mr. Tyson in Sabrina (1954). In 1918, his affair with long-time star Beverly Bayne became public as he was married to Josephinne Duval, with whom they had 5 children together. Three days after his divorce became final, he married Bayne until their divorce in 1925. He secretly married Bayne as the studio kept it a secret because they believed that women who attended Bushman’s films would not do so if they knew he was “taken.” Below, Bushman is at the property in 1937 with one of is many dogs.

Bushman had another residence in Baltimore, MD known as Bush Manor on Landrake Road, in Riderwood and all property was seized from that home in 1919 to pay off alimony he owed to her. The estate was eventually turned into an assisted-living facility called “Holland Manor”. A fire set ablaze the facility in 2011.

Bayne got pregnant with a son in 1919 and this was her only child, but one more for Bushman. Bushman left for Italy in 1924 to begin filming Ben-Hur. Bushman and Payne announced their separation in early 1925 as he was still filming in Rome. She was living at 2108 N. Sycamore Avenue with their son and her mother at the time of the separation. Bayne filed for the divorce as Bushman wanted to reconcile; she claimed he deserted her. Below, is Beverly Bayne and Francis X. Bushman filming the movie Graustark in 1915.

Bushman lived in his beloved Whitley Heights home at the height of his career with the address 2020 Grace Avenue (for a few years in the 1920’s it was 2022 Grace Avenue). He loved the color purple, lavender and lilac. He drove in a pastel purple limousine and his chauffeur dressed in the same color. Much of his home was also decorated in purple. Around his home (some are still there) he planted purple flowers such as Plumbago and Passion flowers so his trademark color would be all over the home. Rudolph Valentino lived a few houses away and would park four of his many automobiles at Bushman’s house: a 1925 Isotta Fraschini, 1925 Chevrolet Roadster, 1922 Ford truck, and restored Cadillac touring car. Below is the Bushman residence in the center surrounded by palm trees; Valentino’s house is located in the top center. The sets of palm trees lead clearly down the drive way to Grace Avenue. In addition, the smaller home on the property is seen just above the main residence.

About that time, it was reported Bushman owed over $23,000 in back taxes and he began selling some of his prized dogs around the same time. In October of 1926 his bird, Messala (named after his part in Ben-Hur) went missing at 2022 Grace Avenue. In September of 1930, Bushman announced that he was “flat broke” and had been sued by his ex-wife, the government and ex-employees, and he quietly sold the estate to Mr. and Mrs. Burton Holmes as they obtained a building permit on the home in August of 1932. Bushman died on August 23, 1966, the 40 year anniversary of Rudolph Valentino’s death.

Burton Holmes had been making short films for Hollywood as early as 1915, and by the 1920’s, he decided to find a home to purchase in Hollywood due to his frequent visits. In 1931, Burton bought the hilltop bungalow, in which he christened “Topside” for the 360 degree view of the surrounding area. Above, the sign labeled, Topside, can be seen on the left brick post. Irving Wallace once described this property as a “rambling, plantation-style” and as a “dozen-roomed brown house, once a riding club for silent-day film stars, and owned for six years by Francis X. Bushman.” Burton built another garage in 1932 and remodeled the swimming pool in 1935.

Holmes actually photographed Jean Harlow and Samuel Kayzer while she was taking a voice interpretation lesson at his residence in Whitley Heights in 1931. He rented out the house as he was taking a trip around the world. It was advertised in the Los Angeles Times in November of 1931 as “Topside the beautiful home of Burton Holmes, acre of grounds, unsurpassed view, top of Whitley Heights, 4 master bedrooms, 3 baths, servants rooms & bath.” Rent would be $350 per month. The house would be rented out when Burton traveled, which was often. Burton Holmes died in this home in July of 1958. As he traveled frequently, he rent out the house to: Hermione Gingold (1930), actress Eleanor Boardman (1930s), actress Patricia Ellis (1936), director Joe May (1937-39), actor Tyrone Power (1940s), song writer Frederick Hollander (1940-42) and Erno Verebes (1940-42).

Eleanor Boardman aka “The East Kodak Girl” always wanted to be an actress and headed for New York after graduating high school to find a Broadway part. Her parts were short-lived and she was lucky that a MGM director, Robert McIntyre, hit Broadway looking for a fresh-face and discovered her among 1,000 faces in a contest. She did poorly during her first screen test, if it was not for director Paul Bern, who coached her for a second screen test. So Eleanor was Hollywood-bound and made her first film in 1922. She was credited for 32 films up until 1935 when she retired. Eleanor married director, King Vidor in 1926 at Marion Davies’ Beverly Hills home. The wedding was actually supposed to be a “double wedding” with the other couple being John Gilbert and Greta Garbo, but they failed to show up.

Actress Patricia Ellis called herself the “Queen of B Pictures at Warner Brothers” when she started acting in 1932 at the age of 16. She was named the WAMPAS (Western Association of Motion Picture Advisers) baby star and was able to transition from a child to an adult movie star. She was given staring comedy roles or sometimes a mystery along co-stars James Cagney and Mickey Rooney. However, the movies were considered “B” movies and she was not getting the exposure she deserved. At the end of the decade she called it a day, leaving Hollywood, first to appear in “Louisiana Purchase” on Broadway and then to marry George T. O’Malley, future president of Protection Securities Systems in Kansas City. Below is Patricia in front of the property at 2020 Grace Avenue.

After Burton Holmes death, his company, BHI, continued to own this property and made some money renting out the property. By 1971, the company was surviving only on unpaid labor and money from president Bob Mallet’s family savings. To keep the company, they sold Topside to a Japanese investor named Shaun Dale, who was arranging an exhibition of Holmes photographs in Japan. Dale ended up selling the property to other investors who tore the residences down circa 1979. In the 1990’s the lot was subdivided into the original five lots and building began on five houses. Another house was built on a sixth lot which retained the address of 6737 Whitley Terrace.

In order to be approved by city planning, the following conditions had to be met:

1. All architecture must be modern with red roof tiles.
2. 39 of the original 50 palm trees now standing on the crest of the hill must remain as planted by Francis X. Bushman.
3. The five lots will share an existing driveway on what is now called “Kendra Court”.
4. No other streets can be used for garage access except for Kendra Court.

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“Well, I’m five feet ten inches tall, weight 176 pounds and like all kinds of outdoor work and play, no matter where they are. In spite of my alleged man-eating habits, I spend a good bit of my time here at home, sometimes reading, sometimes studying up my parts. Oh, I read ‘most everything, with a liking, however, for the classics and philosophers. Poe, Keats and Byron, of the poets, are an inspiration for anyone.” — Francis X. Bushman in 1912.