Whitley Heights 101

6851 Iris Circle

In November of 1922, contractor E. Fossler took out a permit to build 6851 Iris Circle for owner, Watson D. Otis of 1616 Cahuenga Avenue shortly after marrying Miss Helen Somers, whose father, Louis G. Somers, was one of the first settlers of Hollywood.. Otis, who was only 34 years old, was quickly moving up in the banking industry and now had a father-in-law who was widely known in the commerce industry in Los Angeles. In 1909, Somers purchased six acres lying on the slope of Cahuenga Avenue overlooking Los Angeles and the entire Cahuenga Valley which was built by William Curry located at present-day 2255 Cahuenga Blvd. The Somers were previously residing in a 10 room home located at 702 W. Prospect Avenue (later named Hollywood Blvd.) which was located one block from the Hollywood Hotel. Below, 6851 Iris Circle is indicated by the red arrow-the residence at 2255 Cahuenga can be seen to the right of the arrow with the dome roof.

Below, the red dot indicates the current location of 2255 Cahuenga Blvd., which is now an apartment complex. 6851 Iris Circle is indicted by its number just to the right of the red dot. After Otis married Helen Somers, they lived with her parents and had 6851 Iris Circle built and moved in there. After her father died in 1926, they moved back into 2255 Cahuenga Blvd. and rented out Iris Circle. Helen’s brother, Leslie, died in 1919 due to complications of the flu, who had fought in WW1; Leslie was the twin brother of Raymond.

Tragedy struck the family a year later on June 28, 1927 when Otis, now 39 years old, died suddenly following an operation of appendicitis. A few days earlier, he had an appendicitis attack while at work and was hospitalized. Helen’s mother, also continued to reside on Cahuenga until her death in 1941. 2255 Cahuenga was then rented out as single rooms and eventually torn down to build a new complex in 1959. After her mother died, Helen remarried to Forest E. Jones and moved back to 6851 Iris Circle. Jones died in the home in 1944 and Helen stayed on Iris Circle until at least the early 1960s.

Helen S. Somers (pictured below) was born in 1890 in Ohio and moved to Hollywood with her parents in 1906 and remained with them until she married Otis in 1922. Since her parents were wealthy, Helen never had to work. Helen was the first graduating class to attend Hollywood High School the four years in 1909. In 1926, their first son, Watson Otis, Jr. was born, followed by their second son, Leslie, two years later. Leslie was not even a year old their his father died.

Between 1930-31, one of the renters at 6851 Iris Circle was actress Helen Twelvetrees. Twelvetrees was born Helen Jurgens in 1907 in Brooklyn and began acting on the stage. While living in New York, Helen married actor Clark Twelvetrees in March of 1927 at the age of 19. Helen had not been dating Clark for very long and he was engaged to dancer Phyllis Heron in February of 1926 and there was trouble. Phyllis went to a party at an apartment in New York and found an orgy was going on so she left. At 4 a.m., Clark showed up at the party to get her, but she had already left. Clark got into a fight with the man who was living at the apartment. Both were arrested and Clark got six months of probation. After Helen and Clark were married, they lived with her parents in New York City. In August of 1927, they attended a party at the Royalton Hotel and Clark jumped out of the window and fell five stories onto the hood of a car. Helen stated that during the dinner, Clark was very quiet. He went to the bathroom and when he came out, the suddenly jumped out of the window. He was able to get up and started walking and then collapsed in Helen’s arms. Clark was institutionalized at Bellevue Hospital and his failing acting career was to blame for his suicide attempt. The fall injured Clark’s spinal cord and he was hemorrhaging but survived the fall.

In January of 1928, Clark had argued with a police officer and was arrested for disorderly conduct. Clark was reluctantly paying for a telephone charge at a hotel and got out of hand so the police were called. A few days later, Helen filed for divorce claiming Clark was drinking too much and was mentally and physically abusive towards her. When he drank, she would leave the house and when she returned, he would beat her. While the divorce was pending, Helen moved to Hollywood and rented 6851 Iris Circle. In February of 1930, while she was filming Swing High, Helen began to get threatening phone calls at the home. Her maid, Enid Toppins had answered the phone and the voice said, “I am a blackhand and you will died within the hour”. Helen immediately called the police and a detective was assigned to the home. Two other threatening calls were made while the detective was there and Helen thought they may have come from Clark. Her divorce became final in April of 1930 and Helen kept the surname. The day after her divorce, Helen married real estate broker, Frank Woody in Reno. Clark Twelvetrees died in August 1938 of a skull fracture after striking his head on a curb when a man, who witnessed him hitting a woman with whom he was arguing, attempted to intervene.

Once Helen married, she moved out of the house on Iris Circle and moved to Beverly Hills. In 1933, Helen gave birth to a son, Jack Woody. In March of 1936, she and Woody separated claiming that he only married her for her money. She married for a third and final time to farmer and Air Force captain Conrad Payne in 1947. She spent her remaining years traveling around the world with her husband, who was stationed in the U.S. and Europe. On February 13, 1958, Twelvetrees was found unconscious on the floor of her living room at her home in Middletown, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. She was taken to Olmstead Air Force Base Hospital in Middletown, where she died. According to the county coroner, Twelvetrees had been suffering from a kidney ailment for some time and took an overdose of sedatives. Her death was ruled a suicide. Helen starred in 32 films between 1929-1939 including State Attorney (1932) with John Barrymore and A Woman of Experience (1931) with Zasu Pitts. She also starred in Swing High (1930) with George Fawcett and Young Bride (1932) with Eric Linden, both former Whitley Heights residents.

This 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom 2,963 square foot home last sold in 2017 for 1.3 million. In 2008, the basement was remodeled and used as the fourth bedroom. The other three bedrooms are on the second floor.