Whitley Heights 101

6662 Whitley Terrace

6662 Whitley Terrace has just went on the market again (September 2024) for $2,475,000. The three story house sits on a downslope on one of the prime areas of Whitley Heights. Built in 1922 by Arthur S. Barnes, the house has three bedrooms, three bathrooms and a separate guest house in the backyard.

The front entrance of the house opens up to the living room that is one floor below and boasts a 25 foot window that has a spectacular view of the city. To the left is one of the bedrooms.

To the right are stairs which lead down to the living room. To the right of the living room is the dining room and kitchen.

In the living room to the right of the fireplace is a family room. Below the main entry in the back of the living room are stairs that lead down the the bottom floor which contains another bedroom.

It is fitting that the living room has the movie poster of “Corsair” as the house was originally built for director Roland West. That was his last movie that he wrote, directed and produced starring Chester Morris and Thelma Todd in 1931. Morris was a close friend and actually bought the house from West that same year.

Below, the guest house can be seen on the left; it is now called a “secluded bonus room”.

Director Roland West and his wife, actress Jewel Carmen, moved into the house after it was finished. In 1924, West pulled a building permit: “work consists of making present garage longer an improving appearance of same”. At the moment he was directing his ninth film, “The Monster” which starred Lon Chaney. West married Carmen in 1918 when he was 33 years old; she was only 21.

Jewel Carmen began her film career when she was only 15 years old under the name, Florence La Vinci. Carmen’s birth name was Florence Quick. By 1913, she worked under the name of Evelyn Quick and was involved in Hollywood’s first sex scandal. A grand jury indicted a 35 year old automobile dealer on charges of statutory rape as he had been investigated for being involved with a white slavery ring and his relationship with Carmen, who was only 15, had been uncovered. Although he denied the relationship, Carmen testified against him in court. However, the charges ended up being dropped as she could not produce a birth certificate with her age on it.

After all the negative publicity, she changed her stage name to Jewel Carmen and resumed acting in 1916 and appeared in D.W. Griffith’s “Daphne and the Pirate” which starred Lillian Gish. She also co-starred opposite Douglas Fairbanks in “Flirting with Fate” and “American Aristocracy” and then got another part in D.W. Griffith’s “Intolerance”. The following year, Carmen co-starred opposite William Farnum in Charles Dicken’s “A Tale of Two Cities” and Victor Hugo’s “Les Miserables”. Then Carmen was cast as the lead in “The Kingdom of Love” with Fox Film Corporation. In 1918, she was now getting the leads and worked with director Sidney Franklin. However, after she married West, he did not resume her acting career until 1921, appearing in two of his films and then her last, was his film “The Bat” in 1926. Below, Carmen in “The Bat” with actor Jack Pickford.

In 1927, West decided to built a bigger home in Pacific Palisades. He purchased a lot located at 17520 Revello Drive and hired architect Nathan Coleman to construct a 3,400 square foot home overlooking the ocean.

West also built a garage with an apartment over it on the road below located at 17531 Posetano Road (below). After the house and garage were completed, Roland and Jewel moved to Pacific Palisades, putting 6662 Whitley Terrace on the market in 1928.

Meanwhile, West wrote and directed “The Dove” starring Norma Talmadge and was produced by Talmadge which premiered in 1927. In 1929, he directed “Alibi” which starred Chester Morris. The Whitley Heights house sat on the market for over 10 months, before West’s friend, actor Chester Morris purchased it in 1931. Morris moved into the home with his wife, Suzanne, who was pregnant with their second child.

The Morris’ lived in the Whitley Heights home for two years. They were in the middle of building a bigger home located at 917 North Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills. Morris would star in the last two films that West directed: “The Bat Whispers” in 1930 and “Corsair” in 1931.

Apparently, West met actress Thelma Todd after meeting on a yachting excursion to Catalina Island in 1930. West put her in Corsair and they started in affair. Meanwhile, Morris updated 6662 Whitley Terrace by adding a bathroom and then put the house on the market after his Beverly Hills house was finished, capitalizing on his fame:

Thelma wanted to open a restaurant; West was only happy to invest in it with his wife. In 1934, they bought the building just below his Pacific Palisades home and opened “Thelma Todd’s Sidewalk Cafe”.

Thelma stayed in the apartment above the garage on Positano Road while Carmen, now West’s estranged wife, lived above her in the Revello Drive house. There were also apartments in the building above the cafe that she and West stayed in. This entire must have been very uncomfortable for Carmen as West and Todd carried on literally under Carmen’s nose. The red arrow below was where the restaurant was located and the blue arrow was where Carmen lived and the garage/apartment where Thelma parked her car.

In 1955, Todd was found in her car in the garage where the autopsy ruled that she died from carbon monoxide poisoning. However, there are theories that she may have been murdered. West was known to be possessive and have a temper. Todd’s ex-husband, Pat DiCiccio, had mob connections and had started coming around again. Mobster Lucky Luciano wanted Todd to expand the restaurant into a casino and she was refusing. Lastly, Carmen was loosing her husband of 20 years. West had a nervous breakdown sold the cafe after 1937 and never directed again.

West began a relationship with actress Lola Lane (above); they eventually married in Melbourne, Florida on March 4, 1952. Soon after they married, West returned to Los Angeles for a visit and died on March 31st from a heart attack. The two were only married for 27 days! It was rumored that Chester Morris visited Roland who was on his deathbed, where he was the one who murdered Thelma Todd in 1935!