Whitley Heights 101

6633 Emmet Terrace

6633 Emmet Terrace, a residence which was built in 1920 (finished in 1921) by architect Arthur S. Barnes and owner, William Hoerber, an optometrist. His wife, Celeste, was a soprano singer and danced with the Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts. The school was founded in 1915 by Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn in Los Angeles, California, helped many perfect their dancing talents and became the first dance academy in the United States to produce a professional dance company. Some notable students turned actresses included; Ruth Chatterton, Myrna Loy, Louise Brooks, Mabel Normand, Florence Vidor, Colleen Moore, Ina Claire, and Lenore Ulric.

This now Mediterranean style 2,354 square foot home was originally built with one floor and in 1936 Hoerber added a second floor with two bedrooms and another bathroom. To date, the house has a total of 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a basement, and a fireplace which was added to a bedroom in 1989. The house contains a Mission tile roof, leaded French windows and doors, and Venetian columns which support the porch and roof. Venetian columns are also between the windows.

In 1987 the house was for sale claiming that it was “celebrity owned”. Only actor Kelly Zapp was found residing at the address in 1985. Zapp may have been living with another celebrity because he only did two minor roles: a waiter in the tv series Hunter in 1991 and a policeman in the movie Wavelength in 1987. Location manager Kayla Thames, pictured below, resided here in the mid-1990s. Thames worked as a location manager on the following movies and television shows: The Doors (1991), Bugsby (1991), Melrose Place (1992), Toys (1992), X-Files (1993), Nixon (1995) and The Thing That You Do! (1996). In the 1990s, she worked for the California Film Commission.

Dennis Gassner and Amy Ness purchased the residence also in the mid-1990s. Dennis Gassner is a production designer who has worked on the following films: Field of Dreams (1989), The Grifters (1990), Bugsy (1991), Waterworld (1995), The Truman Show (1998), and Miller’s Crossing (1990). Gassner won an academy award for Best Production Design in 1991 for Bugsy. He has also been nominated six other times. Gassner is pictured below with his wife, Amy Ness, at the 2020 Academy Awards.

Amy Ness is a location manager and has worked on the following films: Forrest Gump (1994), Bugsby (1991), Barton Fink (1991), and Miller’s Crossing (1990). She has also worked in the capacity as a production manager for Fast and the Furious (2001), Men in Black (1997), and Get Shorty (1995).

What makes this house unique is that Gassner has collected artifacts from movies he has been involved with to decorate the home. The twin art deco sofas in his living room are from Paul Newman’s office in the movie, Hudsucker Proxy. His black lacquer bar was in the movie, Miller’s Crossing. He has a Moroccan rug and a faux Modigliani from the James Bond movie, Spectre. In the dining room is the Art deco table, matching chairs, and engraved-wood sideboard from the movie Bugsy. Gassner stated, “My house is like a movie set and I get to live in it!”