Whitley Heights 101

6612-6614 Emmet Terrace

6612-6614 Emmet Terrace was built in 1925 by architect Frankie Faulkner for silent screen actor Wilbur Higby. The house originally stood as a one-story 5 room single-family residence but another floor was built in 1937 to make a duplex. Faulkner was one of the pioneer female architects in Los Angeles from the early 1920s until the 1950s. Faulkner was known for building Spanish Colonial Revival Style homes, especially in the Silver Lake area which are still intact today. Working in a predominantly male environment, Faulkner was a widow raising her daughter.

The duplex sits on Emmet Terrace near Whitley Avenue next to the Ojai Apartments (the sign of the Ojai can be seen in the photo above just above this home). This residence consists of a Georgian entrance with two, 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom units. The property was repainted in 1953 and repaired due to termite damage the following year. A new roof was put on in the 1990s along with foundation repair. The home has remained intact other than bathroom and kitchen remodeling.

Wilbur Higby lived in the single family residence until his death in 1934. Higby resided at 6614 Emmet Terrace with his second wife, Caroline, daughter Mary Jane, who was born in 1909, and Caroline’s son and daughter from a previous marriage. Wilbur Higby was born in 1867 and began his career as a member of the stock company of the Grand Opera House in Boston. He married his first wife, actress Nellie Diamond, in 1897. By 1908, he was marred the widowed Caroline Cotton Morriss and Mary Jane was a born a year later. Carolyn would manage the stock company in St. Louis under C.M. Higby while Wilbur would direct and act. Mary Jane would appear on stage as a baby. When Mary Jane was 5 years old, the Higby’s moved to Hollywood as Wilbur would work for D.W. Griffith circa 1914.

Higby was credited for over 80 roles between 1914 and 1934. Higby worked with several notable directors and actors (many who lived in Whitley Heights at one time or another) including; Francis Ford, John Ford, Douglas Fairbanks, Jewel Carmen, Lillian Gish, Constance Talmadge, Jack Mulhall, Alma Reubins, Richard Barthelmess, George Fawcett, Tom Mix, Seena Owen, Wallace Beery, Marion Davies, and Conrad Nagel. One day when Mary Jane was waiting for her father at a studio gate, director James Neill spotted her and the next day she was cast as an extra in “Where the Trail Divides” in 1914. She then appeared in “The Master Key” (1914), “As in the Days of Old” (1914), “The Reform Candidate” (1914), and “Jack and the Beanstalk” (1917).

Although Mary Jane’s aspiration was to be a concert pianist, she was approached by an agent while attending Hollywood High School to perform KCEA’s radio production on Othello in Los Angeles. From then on, Mary Jane would star in several soap opera radio shows until retirement. Higby is best known for her role in the radio production of “When a Girl Marries” in which she played Joan Davis for 18 years. Higby’s other radio roles included Cynthia in The Romance of Helen Trent and various supporting parts in Perry Mason. In the 1970s, Higby appeared in CBS Radio Mystery Theater. That same year, Higby had a minor role as Janet Fay in Martin Scorsese’s film “The Honeymooners”. Doris Roberts (Everybody Loves Raymond) and her husband, Guy Sorel, also had minor roles in the film.

After Wilbur’s death in 1937, Mary Jane, her mother and half-sister moved across the street to 6611 Emmet Terrace for several years. Mary Jane then moved to New York for work and met and married actor Guy Sorel in 1945. The Sorel’s retired in Clinton, Connecticut. Below are photographs of the upper unit at 6614 Emmet Terrace: