Whitley Heights 101

2054 North Las Palmas Avenue

For sale alert: $2.1 million as of September 28, 2002. This duplex was built in 1935 by a retired and single Geologist who lived with his mother. John A. Hendricks actually lived down the street with his mother, Lota at 2032 N. Las Palmas prior to moving here. The top floor, which has used the address 6796 Milner Road, is accessible by a flight of stairs that go up to the third floor. There is a foyer upon entry that goes into a huge living room with vaulted ceilings.

On both sides of the fireplace, there are double doors which lead out to a secluded patio that has its own fireplace outside.

There dining room is accessed by an arched doorway from the living room.

From the dining room, the kitchen can be entered. There is a laundry room that is off of the kitchen.

There is another arched hallway from the living room that goes to two bedrooms. Each bedroom has its own bathroom. The main bedroom has an additional room off of it.

The top floor is where John lived with his mother after it was built up until the 1950s. John spent his life in the oil business and even traveled to South America in 1916 as a mining engineer. When he moved in this home, he was retired, but was acting with the Los Angeles Board of Education.

While trying to live the relaxing retired life, Hendricks was subjected to a burglary in his home in 1954. On Christmas night, he came home about 12:30 o’clock a.m. and went to bed. He was awakened sometime thereafter by a noise in another room of the house. He got up and observed a light under the living room door. The police were called and as they arrived, Hendricks saw that the living room light had been turned out. Later, he saw a flashlight in the kitchen and someone near the ice box. On the kitchen floor there was shattered glass from a broken window. The police searched the house and found a man named Charles C. Henderson under the bed of the second bedroom. Next to him was some meat and bread that he took out of the refrigerator.

R.P. Chamberlain, a police officer, testified that he received the call from Hendricks for police assistance at about 1:35 a.m., and that he, with Officer Twomey, proceeded to 6796 Milner Road. Officer Chamberlain discovered Charles C. Henderson, under the bed and directed him to come out, which he complied. Henderson, at first refused to disclose to the officers his address and at the time of the arrest, the officers could smell liquor on his breath and that he seemed to be in an irrational state of mind.

Henderson later disclosed in court that he had been watching the house deliberately to see if anyone went in or out of the house. He further stated that on the night of December 24, 1954, he had left work earlier than usual and had gone to the house of Hendricks “without thinking of what I was doing, or the consequences.” He stated further that he had searched for an entrance, climbed over a gate, broke the kitchen window and climbed through it. He admitted going to the ice box, prowling through the house and returning to the ice box to get something to eat. He heard voices and thereupon ran to a bedroom to hide. He claimed that he was drunk. and that, “My curiosity had overwhelmed me.” He also admitted having been convicted of a felony, robbery, in California in 1950 and further testified, “. . . from the first to the last I have never denied entering the house. I have never denied taking any food. But I have denied that my intent was to commit theft, although the theft was committed. . . . I have denied that theft was intended”. Henderson later appealed the case indicating he did not take anything other than the food and that he was not in the right state of mind due to being drunk. He lost the appeal. Henderson was actually in prison several times since the 1920s for multiple burglary charges. He had listed his occupation as a “barber”.

The lower unit sits on the second floor just above one of the double garages (there is a separate detached 2 car garage. The lower unit is also accessed by a set of stairs that go up to the second and third floors in the rear of the home.

The second unit uses the address of 2054 N. Las Palmas Avenue and upon entry via the front door, there is a hallway that either goes to the living room or a small office. Once in the living room, the kitchen can be access, which has a small sitting area. A bedroom and a bathroom are through a doorway off of the kitchen.

In 1998, musician Jason Falkner lived in this apartment. Falkner is a guitarist, songwriter, and producer who had been a member of the bands, Jellyfish, Three O’Clock and The Greys. Falkner has released 6 solo albums since 1996. He has worked with Beck, Aimee Mann, and Travis. He has also played guitar on two of Paul McCartney’s albums. In the fourteen years that he’s been performing with major-label acts, he’s worked with noted producer/engineers like Albhy Galuten (The Bee Gees, Eric Clapton, The Eagles, Dionne Warwick); Jack Joseph Puig (The Black Crowes, Sheryl Crow, Counting Crows, Belly, Clutch, Green Day, Chris Isaak, L7, No Doubt, Lisa Loeb); and Nigel Godrich (Beck, Radiohead, Ride, Travis, Pavement). Falkner has also worked on several movie soundtracks: Josie and the Pussycats (2001), Lost in Translation (2003), Along Came Polly (2004), and Wicker Park (2004).

Producer Hal Schaffel rented the apartment between 1993-1994. Schaffel started his career as a lawyer and segued into show business as the Producer of the N.Y.C. radio show “Author Meet Critics”. He went on to television to Produce “The Patti Page Show” and the famous “Howdy Doody” for NBC. He was the production manager of 34 films and television shows between 1960 and 1984. He is known for Midnight Cowboy (1969), Hawaii Five-O (1978), The Main Event (1979), Marilyn: The Untold Story (1984), and Beatlemania (1981). Schaffel finished his illustrious career as a Production Executive for The Completion Bond Company, overseeing productions such as “Silence Of The Lambs”, “Dances With Wolves”, “Code Of Silence” and many more right up to his death in 1993 of heart failure. Costume designer and wardrobe stylist Michelle Rede rented 2054 after Schaffel moved out. Rede is known for her work on the tv series “Medium” between 2009-2011.

Actress Arly Jover rented this apartment in 1995. Jover was born in Spain and at the age of 14, Arly dropped out of school, and a year later, she moved to New York. After that, she became a dancer for many years, and her acting career began in 1995-’96. She acted in international films and made her American debut in Blade. Now lives in Paris with her daughter and is married to actor Blake Worrell.