Whitley Heights 101

History of Whitley Heights

2062 Watsonia Terrace

2062 Watsonia Terrace was the third home designed by Kem Weber and the West Brothers in 1926. This home was designed for artist Jacob Asanger as the home includes a art studio. Weber and Asanger knew each other in San Francisco when they both worked for Foster & Kleiser and California School of Arts and Crafts. The 2,312 square foot home has three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

Jacob Asanger was born in Bavaria, Germany in 1887 and migrated to New York in 1912, he was listed as renting an apartment in Manhattan in New York City as an artist. In 1921, Asanger became a US citizen while he was still living in New York.

A year later, he married Franziska, who also moved to the United States from Germany. They relocated from New York City and moved into this home in 1929, when Franziska became a US citizen. Asanger first worked at the International Art Service after a few months, and founded the Crafts and Art Studio with two fellow immigrants, Winold Reiss and Alfred Besel. studied at the Los Angeles School of Art and Design and became a landscape painter, poster artist, etcher, craftsman and art teacher. Below are two of his paintings circa 1927.

Jacob passed away in 1941 and his estate, including this house, studio and paintings, were auctioned off to the public. Another artist, Rex Dolmith, purchased the home and studio. Dolmith was born January 1, 1896, in East Canton, Ohio. He studied at the Art School of Chicago. He specialized in portraits, architectural drawings, and industrial design. Under the WPA Federal Arts Project, he created nine watercolors for the Index of American Design and one oil still life that was allocated to the Undercliff Sanatorium. Dolmith and his wife, resided in Whitley Heights until 1952 when they relocated to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Richard and Karen Hale Wookey bought the home and were able to built the fireplace and put in French doors in the living room in the late 1960s. Richard, a casting director, and Karen, a script supervisor, remained in the home for over a decade. Karen was the daughter of actors Alan Hale and Gretchen Hartman. Her brother was Alan Hale, Jr. of Gilligan’s Island. Karen was credited as a script supervisor of over 46 productions starting with the television show, Get Smart in 1967. She has also worked on: Paper Moon (1973), All the President’s Men (1976), Lifeguard (1976), Heaven Can Wait (1978), Urban Cowboy (1980), Romancing the Stone (1984), Patriot Games (1997), and The Devil’s Own (1997). Karen died of heart failure in 1998. Below is the front of 2062 Watsonia looking towards the back of the Kem Weber home on Milner Drive.