Whitley Heights 101

2124 Fairfield Avenue

2124 Fairfield Avenue was built in 1924 by architect William McCallum for his friend and associate, furniture designer Marshall Laird. The three story Tutor style house was one of the larger homes that was built in Whitley Heights with ten rooms. Scottish born McCallum attended Glasgow School of Art and Haldane Academy and was a pupil of Albert Degert of Bordeaux, France. Both McCallum and Degert were known for their miniature models of the the buildings they created.

2124 Fairfield Avenue used to be across the street from 2133 Fairfield Avenue (still exists), and was either demolished or relocated during the 1950s as there is no record of a permit. Laird was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1886 and arrived in Los Angeles in 1915. He designed wooden Spanish Revival and Spanish Colonial furniture and owned his own store located at 2815 West 7th Street in downtown Los Angeles (see below).

His building was built in 1915 and the commercial structure continues to be in use today as the Korea Campus Crusade for Christ, although its exterior has been altered considerably.

Laird became very wealthy from the sale of his furniture and often appeared in Architectural Digest during the 1920s. His furniture continues to be sold through auctions as well as his original architectural drawings as last seen on Live Auctioneers and were sold for thousands of dollars.

Laird and his wife, Alice Groom, married in Los Angeles circa 1915 and had three children. They lived in Whitley Heights until they divorced in 1940. Laird completed some minor alterations on this house while living here. Almost a year after the house was built, in 1926, he added a flight of stairs from the second floor porch to the third floor as a fire escape. In 1927, he changed 2 closets into another bathroom. A year later, he added a sleeping porch to the east side of the house. In 1929, he put the house on the market but the house did not sell. Below is a view Fairfield Avenue and Odin Street in Whitley Heights near Highland Avenue and Cahuenga Blvd where a portion of the 2124 Fairfield Avenue house is seen.

In 1930, Marshall Laird was involved in a serious motor vehicle accident and was charged with manslaughter for the death of the passenger in the other car. The accident occurred at the intersection of Wilshire Blvd. and Hudson Avenue in the wee hours of January 6. Both cars were traveling at a high rate of speed when they hit each other head on. While Laird suffered a cracked skull, the other driver’s chest had been crushed resulting in his immediate death. Mrs. Laird was traveling in northern California with her mother at the time of the accident and immediately returned home because her husband was in a coma and was not expected to live. However, after seven weeks, Laird woke up, but had suffered brain damage. On April 15, 1930, Laird was ordered to stand trial for the death of 32 year old Henry Davis. Laird, however, was acquitted of the manslaughter charge on August 6, 1930 by a jury and apparently was still suffering the effects of his skull fracture as he appeared dazed and needed further explanation after the verdict was read. Laird was not able to work for six months after the accident, but eventually returned to his store.

Soon after the accident, both Marshall and Dorothy became US citizens and decided to rent out 2124 Fairfield Avenue and moved to South Arden Street in 1934. During the 1940s, the house was used as a boarding house and between 1944 and 1946, German classical composer, Werner Heymann and his wife lived in the home. Born in 1912, Werner wrote songs for a cabaret and then served as a musical director. Forced to flee from Nazi persecution because of his Jewish background, Heymann made his way to Hollywood after working for Warner Brothers in both Paris and London. His first American film was for MGM Studios in 1939, “Miracles for Sale” starring Robert Young.

Heymann was the composer for several films while he lived in Hollywood including; The Phantom Submarine (1940) starring Anita Louise, The Devil Commands (1941), starring Boris Karloff, They Dare Not Love (1941) starring George Brent, Whistling in the Dark (1941) starring Red Skelton, Rio Rita (1942) with Abbott & Costello, Boston Blackie Goes Hollywood (1942) starring Chester Morris, and Son of Dracula (1943) starring Lon Chaney. Heymann also composed the “Blondie” movies starring Penny Singleton. He returned to Germany in the early 1960s where he composed one more film before his death in 1962.

An ex-medical student, James King Patton, Jr., resided in the boarding house in 1949. On July 22, 1949, Patton shot and killed a husband and wife grocery store owners during a robbery in North Hollywood. The 22 year old indicated he needed money in order to pay for college. He killed Jay, 36, and Dorothy, 35, Green in their store on Burbank Blvd. King admitted to robbing 30 stores and the Gardena poker tables. 21 year old Richard Hamilton was also booked for murder. Patton indicated that he killed the woman because he thought she was reaching under the counter for a gun, claiming it was self-defense.

James Patton King was born in 1927 and died in 2014. His father was Jack King (1895-1958) famed Walt Disney director and animator, best known for his work on the ‘Buddy’ cartoons for Warner Brothers and Donald Duck animations for Disney. He began his career at Bray Studios in 1920 and retired in 1948. King worked at Disney from 1929 to 1933 and from 1936 to 1946. He directed the early Donald Duck cartoons before Jack Hannah took over. He was a sequence director on such features as Pinocchio, Saludos Amigos, Dumbo, The Three Caballeros, Make Mine Music, Melody Time, and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. It was fortunate for the retired director that the media was not aware that he was the father of the confessed murderer.

As for the house located at 2124 Fairfield Avenue, it was advertised on May 14, 1950 by the California State Division of Highways for a public auction to be moved. As there is no record of a permit to either move or demolish the home, its fate is not known.