Whitley Heights 101

2307 N. Cahuenga Boulevard

2307 Cahuenga Blvd. was built in 1917 by silent screen actor J. Warren Kerrigan who hired architect Andrew G. Paul to build his first home that he and his mother would be living in. In the photograph above, Valentino’s house on Wedgewood Place can be seen in the upper right corner.

Kerrigan was living in a rented bungalow located at 1765 Gower Street-even the furniture was rented and Kerrigan wanted to be able to pick out his own furniture. Below, Kerrigan and his mother are sitting on the porch of the Gower Street bungalow that was relocated to North Hollywood in 1950, but demolished in 2005.

Born George Jack Warren Kerrigan in 1879 in Louisville, Kentucky, Kerrigan was often called J. Warren or Jack Warren and had a twin brother, William Wallace Kerrigan, who was the general manager of Universal Studios and also managed his brother’s career. Kerrigan was one of eight brothers who also had one sister, actress Kathleen Kerrigan, who was the eldest sibling. Kerrigan was especially close to his mother, Sarah MacLean Kerrigan, who lived with him until her death in 1922. Below is J. Warren Kerrigan in 1918, about the same time he moved to Whitley Heights.

Kerrigan built 2307 Cahuenga Blvd. for his mother as described in Photoplay Magazine in 1918:

Besides his mother residing with him, his sister, Kathleen, lived in the home in 1920 as Kathleen Clement (she married Clay Clement in 1906, who died in 1910). In 1917 and 1918, a brother named Robert Emmett Kerrigan lived at the Cahuenga house and was described as having a “weak mind”. Below is Kerrigan and his mother standing in front of the home.

Here is another picture of Kerrigan and his mother sitting on the front porch.

Another photograph of the front porch with his twin brother, William, sister Kathleen, mother Sarah, and J. Warren on the right.

This house was located on the corner of Cahuenga Blvd. and Whitley Terrace. Below is Whitley Terrace just before the intersection of Cahuenga Blvd. The duplex just beyond the vehicle still exists today (6605 Lash Lane). The next property after the tree is 2307 Cahuenga Blvd. The Hollywood Cross can be seen in the distance. The white house above 6605 Lash Lane, is another property that remains today: 6614 Cahuenga Terrace.

Below is a historical photograph showing the location of the three properties:

Below is the area as it exists today:

J. Warren Kerrigan started his acting career in his teens in vaudeville and traveled in stock productions before taking a break to study at the University of Illinois. He then starred in short films in 1910 and has been credited for acting in 384 films. His first full feature film was “Man’s Man” in 1917. Kerrigan finished another dozen films until making a remark about not wanting to enlist in the military during World War I. The remark hurt his acting career as he did not get any roles for the next two years.

In 1922, Kerrigan was offered a role in The Covered Wagon, probably one of his best known performances. While filming The Covered Wagon with actress Lois Wilson on location in Utah, he received news that his ailing mother took a turn for the worse and Kerrigan returned to the Hollywood home to be by her side. Unfortunately, Sarah MacLean Kerrigan died of a stroke before her prized son arrived home. Funeral Services were held at the Cahuenga home on Friday, November 11, 1922. Composer Carrie Jacobs Bond sang at the funeral before the burial at Forest Lawn Cemetery. Below, 2307 Cahuenga Blvd.- Valentino’s house on Wedgewood Place can be seen in the distance.

As for J. Warren Kerrigan’s love life, the movie magazines were constantly reminding readers that he was not married. They even announced that he was engaged to his co-star, actress Lois Wilson.

The truth of the matter was that Kerrigan was gay during a time that Hollywood shunned their actors and actresses if they were not getting married the traditional way. Kerrigan had been living his his partner, James C. Vincent. In 1922, Vincent moved to Hollywood to be an actor and met Kerrigan and moved into 2307 Cahuenga Blvd. where they began a 25 year relationship until Kerrigan’s death in June of 1948. Vincent, who was 16 years younger than Kerrigan, was grief-stricken and married Mitty Turner on October 24, 1948. One year later, Vincent committed suicide by gas inhalation. Below is the living room area of the house.

Kerrigan also let Mansel V. Boyle live with them between 1936-1939. Boyle, known as “Vardeman: The Female Impersonator” on the vaudeville circuit, played solo acts at the Grand Opera House where he had previously performed “The Gondoliers”, as well as gave local private entertainments for friends. Boyle toured across the country as “Vardeman: The Gay Deceiver” with a famous burlesque show called the Champagne Belles. He was the only female impersonator in the act which primarily included comics and female dancers. However, by 1920, Vardeman was 43 and could no longer pull off his imitations as records show his last theatrical contract was in 1925. In the 1930s, records show that Vardeman was working as a cook.

After filming The Covered Wagon, Kerrigan only filmed 6 more films ending with Captain Blood in 1924. It was rumored that Kerrigan lost roles due to his lifestyle and living with his partner. Kerrigan liked to spend most of his time at home reading and gardening. Even after he retired from acting, many fans would continue to drive by the home and see him out front reading or gardening.

A 1930 Photoplay Magazine article about Whitley Heights titled, “A Haunted Hill”, mentions J. Warren Kerrigan:

Another tragedy struck the family on December 27, 1924. Kerrigan’s niece, Virginia Richdale Kerrigan, was the daughter of Nina Richdale and William Wallace Kerrigan, the twin brother of Kerrigan. Virginia was born on November 15, 1915 on the Universal Studios lot — the first of three children to be born there shortly after the studio opened. Virginia appeared in two movies: Good and Evil (1916) and Her Soul’s Song (1916).

Over the years, William Kerrigan directed the careers of such stars as William S. Hart, Douglas Fairbanks and Rudolph Valentino. Valentino first met Kerrigan while working on the set of Delicious Little Devil (1919) with Mae Murray. At the time, Kerrigan was managing his brother’s career and soon did the same for Valentino. Over the coming months, Rudy became attached to little Virginia, spending many hours at her Ivar Avenue home (2050 Ivar Avenue pictured below). Later, even after his success, Valentino continued to visit Virginia, taking her for rides in his car through the streets of the Hollywood Hills.

On the day after Christmas 1924, Virginia and her family were attending a party at a neighbors house at 2006 Ivar Avenue. On that day, it was chilly so the neighbors put out an open gas heater for the guests. Virginia was twirling around the room showing off her new party dress when the bottom of her dress fell over the heater and caught on fire. The flames spread rapidly to the upper part of her clothing and to her hair. Before anyone could extinguish the flames, Virginia was badly burned about the arms, body, and head. Virginia was rushed to Stanfield Hospital on Sunset Boulevard where she was treated before being transferred to the Hollywood Community Hospital at 1300 Vermont Avenue. Virginia fought to stay alive for 36 hours before her body gave up, dying at 10:30 p.m., Saturday night, December 27, 1924. Once again, the funeral was held at 2307 Cahuenga Blvd., before Virginia was buried across from her grandmother.

In 1940, Kerrigan sold the house and purchased another home located at 8660 Apperson Street in Sunland with Vincent, his sister, and his brother Robert. A few years later, Kerrigan moved to Balboa Island in Orange County where he died in 1947. After Kerrigan moved out, 2307 N. Cahuenga turned into a boarding house until it was put up for sale in 1947. The house had difficulty selling and finally sold in 1949 to William Francis who built a sunroom, removed 3 partitions to create one large bedroom with beams and posts, and added another bathroom.

A newspaper article written by John Glenn, where he interviewed Mr. and Mrs. William Francis about the house. Mrs. Francis indicated she felt there was some presence in the home. There used to be a long hallway that was used for the bedrooms which is now gone as they made one large bedroom. Mrs. Francis says at night while they are in the bedroom, she hears a “swishing” noise and they have made a joke that it is Kerrigan’s ghost. She further explained the noise is “soft, like the rustling of leaves” that starts in the other room and seems to go through their bedroom wall and always stops at the wall that they boarded up. “Perhaps it’s only an echo from the freeway”.

In 1974, there was a fire in the home which caused 5% damage:

In 1988, developers Roland Faucher and Bob Simon tore the house down to build these “eye sore” condos:

Another Whitley Heights historic home lost. I hope Kerrigan’s ghost is still around haunting the property!