Whitley Heights 101

6650 Whitley Terrace

6650 Whitley Terrace was built in 1920 at the same time that H.J. Whitley was building his home located right above this property on Grace Avenue. Both residences were built by architect A.S. Barnes who was sent to the Mediterranean by Whitley so he could study the architecture and replicate it on the hill. In addition, 6650 Whitley Terrace was built for a widowed millionaire named Emma Linder Hamilton who wanted the home to resemble Whitley’s house on Grace Avenue. Below, 6650 Whitley Avenue can be seen just to the right of the Whitley Heights sign. Whitley’s home is right above this home.

6650 Whitley Avenue consists of 2,658 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. The upper floor is accessed on Whitley Terrace and sits on a downslope. There is a detached 2-car garage that is below the property on Bonair Place. The upper floor consists of all of the bedrooms while the lower floor contains the general living area.

Emma Linder Hambleton was born in October 30, 1846 in Wisconsin and when she was about to turn 18 years old, she married 39 year old Chalkley Hambleton of Chicago, Illinois. They married in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin on on October 7, 1868. Chalkley had his law degree but never practiced as he made his money in real estate and Emma kept the house, but paid attention to her husband’s business which would prove valuable to her after his death. The Hambleton’s had four children: Earl (who was born less than a year after they were married), Maud (born 1873), Clara (born 1878), and Chalkley Jr. (born 1882). The family resided in Chicago and lived through the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. Emma was quoted in several historical accounts of witnessing the fire, including a letter that she wrote to her mother indicating that the family was safe although their home on Huron Street was in ruins:

On June, 27, 1900 tragedy struck the family when their eldest son, Earl, died from falling off of a horse while he was riding near his summer home just outside of Chicago. He left a wife and three daughters. A few months later in November, Chalkley died at the age of 71 leaving Emma a widow at the age of 50. In 1903, her daughter, Maud became engaged and married in Santa Barbara in a cottage that Emma had rented. Morning Press (11/2/1913):

Emma was buying property in Southern California and decided to relocate there full time. Between 1912-1913, she was listed as living at 2020 Garden Avenue and a year later living near a cliff on Coast Highway in Montecito which she purchased in 1906 according to the Los Angeles Times (8/12/1906):

Los Angeles Times (8/25/1912):

Emma wanted to develop her coastal property in Montecito into a development called El Mirador, but in 1916, she got a good offer to sell that piece of land and made a lot of money.

Lolita Armour, daughter of Jonathan Ogden Armour, a Chicago meatpacking heir, fell in love with Emma’s piece of property in Montecito that overlooked the sea and backed the Santa Ynez Mountains. Her father eventually bought the land as her wedding present. She was married in 1922 to John J. Mitchell Jr., a Chicago aviation businessman who became a co-founder of United Airlines, and co-founder of Santa Barbara’s Rancheros Visitadores in 1930. They were once considered one of America’s wealthiest married couples with combined fortunes estimated to be at more than $120 million. The Armour’s purchased portions of the former Charles Eaton estate and by 1918 had obtained approximately 70-acres. They eventually christened the property El Mirador, meaning The Viewpoint. Armour hired architect Arthur Heun of Chicago to design several buildings, including the farmhouse. The plans for a large mansion were placed on hold during World War I. In 1918 two gate houses were built by contractor Charles M. Urton, who built the Granada in downtown Santa Barbara. He eventually joined the two gate houses and added a second story, and this became the main residence. Last year, the property hit the market for $15 million dollars and was bought by Rails founder and creative director, Jeff Abrams.

By 1917, Emma moved to 2127 Cahuenga Blvd (which relocated in 1950 to 2116 Whitley Avenue and still stands) and then in 1918, she relocated to 2209 Cahuenga Blvd., which was demolished in 1963. In 1920, Emma moved down the street to 1729 Cahuenga Blvd. and was listed as living there with her grandson, Kirk Hambleton and housekeeper, Shirley Bartholomew. During this time, Emma bought property on the summit of the hill adjoining Whitley Heights bound by Cahuenga Blvd., Curfew Street, and Whitley Terrace (Iris Circle area). Emma created a private park with tropical trees, shrubs, flowers and fruit trees and called it “Araby”. She sold the land back to H.J. Whitley for $55,000, property he sold in 1903 for less than $2,000 and again, profited from another sale. This would be Whitley’s fifth installment of Whitley Heights, called the area “Whitley Heights Park”.

Emma moved to 6650 Whitley Terrace immediately after it was finished being built with at least four servants around 1922; she was almost 75 years old and still investing her money in different property. In 1922, she purchased land in Lompoc, just outside of Santa Barbara and built a ranch in Rosamond, Antelope Valley/Mojave Desert area. As she frequently traveled to her ranch, she hired several people to maintain the property, including ranch-hand Jonathan Stines. Stines was a felon who served time in San Quentin in 1905 for an assault with a deadly weapon charge for getting into a fight in Bakersfield. He served 1 and 1/2 years.

It is not known if the ranch still exists today, but there are accounts that an “eccentric rich Hollywood lady who owned a very large house north of the Burton/Settle property. She would frequently come out and stay in her Rosamond home. when she was there, every evening she would have her chauffeur drive her around for a few blocks while she had a cup of tea”. A newspaper account in the Antelope Valley Ledger Gazette stated, “Mrs. Emma Hambleton, wealthy widow of Hollywood, has her country place in the Rosamond Hills. Mrs. Hambleton is of the opinion that the Rosamond Hills one day will be the location of many fine country homes”.

Emma’s ranch hand, Jonathan Stines, looked out for Emma, but could not stay out of trouble. In 1927, Jonathan caught his friend of 20 years, stealing food from Emma’s ranch and went after him. Emma and her servants happened to be at the ranch and witnessed the nearly 3 hour fight in which Alonzo Seaman died from exhaustion. Stines was arrested but later released as the coroner ruled it an accidental death. Then in 1932, he got into another feud with Mr. and Mrs. George Dooley and shot them. Stines fled the scene of the crime and was found 80 miles away. Below is a letter dated October 13, 1932, Emma wrote to her son about the 1932 incident and the newspaper clipping that she sent to her son.

Stines was arrested on the following charges: assault with attempt to murder, possession of firearm of convicted felon and prior felony. In the letter Emma states that is was “premeditated murder” and that he is locked up “for the good of the neighborhood”. It sounded like Emma was afraid of Stines as she said his temper made him “a dangerous man to handle” and when she tried to talk to him about his ways, she laughed jokingly because “he might of finished me then and there”. Emma wanted to look for someone else to take his place. However, Stines was one again, acquitted on all charges by a jury and released. It is unclear if he continued to work for Emma or not. Finally, on July 5, 1937, Emma died in the Whitley Terrace home at the age of 91. Her remains were sent to Chicago where she was buried.

While the property was in probate and prior to being put up for sale, publicist, Thomas MacLeod rented the property in 1938. He also rented 2008 Whitley Avenue prior to moving here. In 1934, he rented 6508 Cerritos Place in Whitley Heights. MacLeod was somewhat of a “ladies man” as he was living with and engaged to Margaret Markley while living here and they married on October 20, 1938. However, he was previously married to actress Louise Davidson on August 8, 1936. MacLeod was known as “The Gate Crasher” as he accepted an oral invitation for a preview of a Charlie Chaplin movie at Grauman’s Chinese Theater and then forcibly ejected along with his fiance, Louise Davidson. This incident caused him his job at the film studio and he ended up working at RKO Hill Street Theater.

Between 1941-1950 choreographer and dance director Paul Oscard bought 6650 Whitley Terrace with lived here with his sister, Minna Archerd and her husband, Herman and 19 year old son, Armand. Paul was born in Romania in 1888 and arrived in New York in 1915 and began dancing at the Rialto Theater in Manhattan. By the end of 1920, he also started choreographing and producing ballets and began to travel to other theaters across the U.S. and Canada. Oscard signed with Universal Studios in the early 1940s and moved to Hollywood. Between 1942-1948, he choreographed six movies including Road to Morocco (1942), starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour.

Oscard’s sister, Mina Oscard, was born in France in 1898 and moved to New York in 1915. She married Herman Archerdon May 18, 1919 in New York and they had a son named Armand in 1921 who was born in the Bronx. Herman was born the same year as Oscard and was also born in Romania. They primarily resided with Oscard in New York and Hollywood. Armand Archerd, known as Army, was an actor who had 58 credits between 1958-2000. He was best known for roles in Burke’s Law (1964-5), The Big Valley (1964-8), That Girl (1970), Columbo (1975), Valley of the Dolls (tv version 1981), The Love Boat (1987), Murphy Brown (1995), and Ellen (1997).

Cinematographer Clyde de Vinna resided in the home after Oscard and died here in 1952. Clyde De Vinna entered the film business almost at its beginnings, and became a cinematographer in 1915. He was behind the camera on dozens of films for many different studios, but did much work for independent producer Thomas H. Ince and MGM. De Vinna didn’t care for studio-shot pictures, and preferred films that were to be shot on location, where he did much of his best work. Between 1951-53, he worked on the Roy Rogers Show, Ben-Hur in 1925, and The Three Musketeers in 1916. De Vinna had a total of 112 credits until his death. He filmed the first movie at the MGM lot and in 1930 won an academy award for Best Cinematography for White Shadows in the South Seas.