Whitley Heights 101

6726 Milner Road

6726 Milner Road was built in 1928 by owner Herbert Bennett (of Barker Brothers) and his wife, Constance. Bennett hired architect Will W. Evans to complete the 8 room Mediterranean style residence. The Bennetts would also purchase 2041 Grace Avenue, also in Whitley Heights, in 1924 and lived in that residence until 1938. This may have been used as a rental property and then sold it a few years later. In 1930, Bennett had Evans build the lower floor-a billiard room with a fireplace and a bathroom off of that room. Below are photos of stairs leading down to the billiard room.

In 1931, widowed Effie Massie moved in with her daughter, Margel Gluck, famed violinist. Her son, Sinclair Gluck, was a crime novelist. Effie Dunreath Tyler married James Gluck, who became a prominent lawyer on the east coast. Sinclair and Margel were twins, born in Buffalo in 1897. Gluck’s mother married again, to London literary agent James Hughes Massie, of Curtis Brown and Massie and later Hughes Massie and Company. After Effie died in this house in 1938, Margel remained in the house until her death in 1961. Margel was a violinist who studied at the Prague Conservatory with famed teacher Otakar Sevcik and later in St. Petersburg with Leopold Auer. She made a number of acclaimed American and European performance tours, including one where she was accompanist to the great operatic soprano Luisa Tetrazzini. Margel also co-wrote a book which was made into a movie for 1935 “Rescue Squad”. In 1952, she was the technical supervisor for “Stars and Stripes Forever”, a film biography of the composer John Philip Sousa from his early days in the Marine Corps Band through the Spanish-American War in 1898.

Margel was active in the Whitley Heights community and was on the board of the Whitley Heights Civic Association in 1955. In the photo below, Margaret is with other members of the WHCA, including actor Vesey O’Davoren and actress Janet Milne. Mrs. John Farrar Anderson resided at 6680 Whitley Terrace. Mrs. Richard Green lived at 6711 Whitley Terrace. Janet Milne resided at 6734 Wedgewood Place, John Hendricks at 2032 Las Palmas Avenue and Vesey O’Davoren across the street at 2049 Las Palmas Avenue. Quite a group!

Although Sinclair’s name was associated with this property, he was married to Nancy Lee, the daughter of Duncan Campbell Lee, a Cornell oratory professor, crusading newspaper owner and lawyer who later moved to London, where Nancy grew up. Sinclair and Nancy, had two children and lived at 1975 N. Alexandria Avenue between 1930 to 1956. Below, is a photograph of the modest home in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles.

Born Jasper Sinclair Gluck, he published 18 thriller and crime books between 1922 to 1941. Several of Gluck’s novels were written into screenplays including, Mary Pickford’s “The Foundling” in 1915. During the early 1900s, Gluck wrote under the pen name of “Melrod Danning”. By 1922, Gluck wrote under “Sinclair Gluck” when he wrote The House of the Missing. His novel, “The Last Trap” (1928) was made into the movie, “The Dark Hour” in 1936. The Dark Hour starred Berton Churchill (lived at 2221 Fairfield Ave.) and Irene Ware. His father, James Gluck had a great interest in books and collected a huge collection of original literary manuscripts, including Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, which he donated to the Buffalo Library. The matter of the Huckleberry Finn manuscript made national news in the early 1990s, when the first half of it, long thought lost, was discovered by one of Sinclair Gluck’s daughters in an attic trunk in his Alexandria home. It was thought that James Gluck borrowed the first half of the manuscript and forgot to return it.

In 1939, Margel’s housekeeper, 25 year old Anita Thompson, was kidnapped by 25 year old Kenneth Cooper, who dragged her to the vicinity of Mulholland Highway and Outpost Drive. Her screams could be heard throughout the Hollywood Hills and several calls were made to police. Police arrested the cleaning establishment man after he attacked her; she was treated at a local hospital.

The 2,259 square foot house, three level home, has 4 bedrooms (including the billiard room) and 3 bathrooms.

On August 9, 2019, a fire broke out at the residence. The blaze and resulting smoke caused extensive damage to interior spaces and the roof’s structural supports. The exterior façade appeared to be in good condition despite the interior damage.

According to real estate agent, Brittany Walter, the home appeared on HGTV’s “House Hunter Renovation” and was for sale in 2016 by songwriter and producer Kenneth Edmonds (aka Babyface). The 12 time Grammy winner worked with Whitney Houston and Toni Braxton, and Boys 2 Men, Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Janet Jackson. He had been married and divorced three times. A search of Edmonds public records found addresses Nevada, Woodland Hills, and Bel Air-not saying he did not live here, but real estate agents have been known to embellish to get a sale! A search of all the House Hunter Renovation episodes was done and the house could not be found on any of the shows. Hmm…

In 1961, the kitchen cabinets were replaced. In 1999, new doors and windows were put in and the bathroom fixtures were replaced. A new roof was put on in 2010 and the chimney repaired in 2011. A permit was pulled in 2020 to remodel after the fire. The house last sold in 2016 for 1.8 million.