Whitley Heights 101

2101 Fairfield Avenue (Relocated)

2101 Fairfield Avenue was built in 1921 by architect Arthur S. Barnes and owner Paul J. Hoyt as a six room bungalow. Before most of Fairfield Avenue was destroyed for the 101 Freeway in the 1950s, the street started off at Cahuenga Blvd., curved after Odin Street and dead ended between Wedgewood Place and Whitley Terrace. 2101 Fairfield Avenue was located at the dead end, just below Rudolph Valentino’s house on Wedgewood Place. On the tract map 3737 below, the red arrow indicates where the property was located; Valentino’s home was lot 18.

In 1922, photographer Leland J. Burrud resided at the property with his wife, Jane. Burrud relocated to Los Angeles from New York in 1910 and worked for Eastman Kodak Company before moving to El Paso, Texas for several years. He met Jane in El Paso and they were married in 1913.

They returned to Los Angeles in 1919 and wanted to create films to show how beautiful the scenery was of western United States. He traveled over 20,000 miles to produce “Legends of the Wilderness” partnering with Sunset Magazine and starting a company called Sunset-Burrud Pictorial Company. He had the idea to take previous articles from Sunset Magazine and recreate them on film with Bull’s Eye Productions negotiating the rights of the film and the states the scenes were shot in. Burrud would take photographs of the scenery which would appear in Sunset Magazine. Burrud traveled and reported on several sites including; Yosemite, Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, The Painted Desert, the Grand Canyon, the Pacific Northwest, God Country.

In 1923, Burrud became the publicity director of Lake Arrowhead Resort and then Hollywoodland. Burrud was instrumental in photographing unique photos depicting the new neighborhood of Hollywoodland in order to help sell real estate. The Hollywoodland sign had been erected and Burrud would capture images with the sign in the background and think up unique publicity stunts to allure real estate buyers. One notable event was that he arranged for a Oakland touring car to be driven up a hill just underneath the sign.

In 1939, Burrud was named the vice-president of Hearst Corporation’s Sunical Land and Packing Company, which focused on real estate, where he worked for almost 20 years. Burrud retired with Jane in Sunset Beach. They had one son, William, who started acting in his childhood. “Bill” became a television producer who focused on different animal shows. Bill had a son, John, who also went into acting. Below is 2101 Fairfield Avenue still under construction in 1921. 2102 Fairfield Avenue is the house under construction to the left. Atop are the residences 6797, 6793 and 6787 Whitley Terrace, which was also bulldozed for the freeway.

Between 1926-1927 cinematographer Wilfred M. Cline, Jr., (1909-1976) resided at 2101 Fairfield Avenue with his parents. His father, Wilfred Senior, was a train conductor for Pacific SS Line. Cline was credited for over 118 films and television shows including; The Garden of Allah (1936), Gone with the Wind (1939) as a technicolor associate, and 48 episodes of Big Valley between 1967-69. Cline’s last job was filming the first episode of Barney Miller in 1974. He was nominated for Best Cinematographer Color in 1941 for Aloma for the South Seas, but lost to Blood and Sand. Below Cline is on the set of Lucky Me with Doris Day in 1954.

In 1930, artist Ross Shattuck, lived in the home on Fairfield Avenue when he first moved to Los Angeles. William Ross Shattuck was born in North Dakota in 1895 and relocated to Laguna Beach from New York in 1929. He studied art at the Chicago Academy of Fine Art and PAFA. Below a partial view of 2101 Fairfield Avenue is seen below 6786 Whitley Terrace which was demolished. To the left is Rudolph Valentino’s house at 6776 Wedgewood Place and was also destroyed.

During the 1930s, Shattuck was an art director for MGM studios and also an instructor at Chouinard Art School. In 1929, his wife Cynthia filed for divorce in New York citing a rich widowed woman in Los Angeles was to blame. In 1933, Shattuck remarried to publicist Margaret Ettinger, Louella Parsons cousin. Ettinger turned out to be the widow as Shattuck and she were mentioned together in many social events leading up to the marriage. Below is their wedding in 1933.

One last notable tennant was pianist and vocal coach Arthur Rosenstein from 1939 through the 1940s. Rosenstein was a vocal coach for MGM studios and was credited as such in Gaslight (1944) and Glory Alley (1952). Rosenstein added a porch and sunroom to the property in 1942. Below Rosenstein (left) is seen with actors Charles Igor Gorin and Richard Barthelmess on a Christmas Caroling tour set up by actress Jeanette MacDonald.

In September of 1950, the house was advertised to be auctioned off by the state of California. In November of 1950, the house was bought by William Breakle and relocated to 18844 Roscoe Boulevard in Northridge. A carport was added in 1951, another bedroom and bathroom was added in 1954 and a patio was covered in 2005. It appears that the residence may have had a basement that was not moved.

Below is the living room inside the home now located at 18844 Roscoe Blvd. circa 2006.