Whitley Heights 101

1959 Whitley Avenue

1959 Whitley Avenue was built in 1932 by contractor Chester M. Williams who rebuilt the Hollywood Cemetery entrance in the early 1930s. This two bedroom, two bathroom Spanish style home has 1,226 square feet and was built by Nellie Allport for her son, Harold. Nellie and her husband, John, a well-known medical doctor moved to Hollywood from the midwest in 1922 with two sons, John and Harold. Dr. Allport was responsible for building the Hollywood Hospital before his death. Harold started practicing law in 1922 and decided to build a 30 room hotel in 1923, the Mission Hotel, located at 1747 Caheunga Blvd. between Yucca Street and Hollywood Blvd.

Harold and his wife, Clarabel, resided at the hotel, while he practiced law and Clarabel managed the hotel. The Mission Hotel was home to several movie industry people during their ownership including; director William Holland of the Christie Film Company in 1930, Swedish character actor Sven Hugo Borg (Captain Blood) who had 85 credits between 1928 and 1963, and actor Eddie Clayton (King Kong) in 1928. The hotel has since been demolished and replaced by a CVS pharmacy. Borg is pictured below in Cecil DeMille’s, “The Crusades” in 1935.

The Allports sold the hotel and moved into 1959 Whitley Avenue after it was completed in 1932 with their two sons who attended Hollywood High School. Both sons followed in their father’s footsteps and both attended law school. His mother, Nellie, moved down the street to a home located at 1815 Las Palmas Avenue, near Franklin Avenue where she died in 1942. Not to mention, Harold had two successful brothers. Gordon was a well known psychiatrist who published “Inventing Personality: Gordon Allport and the science of selfhood” in 2003 and Fayette Allport, was an international film agent various motion picture associations. Below is Harold Allport in 1935 in Los Angeles.

Harold ran a successful law firm with his sons. In 1950, Allport represented silent screen star, Kathlyn Williams, pictured below, whose extensive film career ended in 1935. The 55 year old former actress had lost her leg in a car accident and was suing the estate of a woman who drove the other car and lost her life in the wreck. Williams claimed the dead woman was responsible for the accident even though her vehicle had been driven by a chauffeur, but knowingly knew the car’s breaks were faulty. Their firm also represented the estate of retired industrialist Edward Johnston, in which he left $65,000 to his mistress and the wife was contesting.

The main floor of 1959 Whitley Avenue consists of a large living room, kitchen, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a deck on the left side of the house. Below the deck, there are stairs which lead to the ground floor which has the garage, a bonus room, and storage/laundry room. The front door opens up to the living room which spans the entire area of the front of the house.

In the middle of the living room, there is a hallway which leads to the kitchen and one bathroom on the left, the second bedroom on the right, and the main bedroom in the back of the house.

There are sliding doors in the main bedroom which lead to the backyard.

The yard circles around to the right side of the house which is also accessed via doors from both bedrooms. The lower floor is on the left side of the house with the garage in the front, followed by the bonus room and storage/laundry room.

In August of 1944, the Allports decided to take a vacation. The daily newspapers continued to be delivered and piled up on front of the house. This alerted a young married couple who decided to break into the home, stole everything that they wanted to and then decided to feast on pig’s feet, salmon, peas and corn. Before they left, they noticed the lawn was turning yellow and decided to water the lawn and plants before they left. They were so thoughtful.

In October, police arrested 20 year old Robert Barnett, and his bride, 19 year old Colinda, at their honeymoon room, located at 366 Kilkea Street in the Miracle Mile area of Los Angeles. Apparently, the young couple relocated to Los Angeles from Dallas so Robert could attend USC. He had been medically discharged from the Navy when he was in the South Pacific after he injured his left knee during enemy gunfire. The couple ran out of money and resorting stealing rather than look for jobs. The couple pled guilty to the charges and were both placed on five years probation with the condition that they return all items to four homeowners and pay restitution. The robberies totaled $5,000 in value and the Barnett’s were able to return $1,600 in property. The couple, who left the courtroom, hand in hand, indicated stealing had been so easy, that they could not stop.

However the wannabe “Bonnie and Clyde” decided that stealing was not for them so they returned to Texas, attended the University of Texas Austin, had four children, and Robert worked with his father in construction.

The Allports resided at 1959 Whitley Avenue until the beginning of the 1950s when they bought a home located at 28126 Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu before Harold’s death in 1961. The Malibu house, which was located close to the Paradise Cove Pier, was once used to film a Matt Houston episode, but has since been torn down. 1959 Whitley Avenue was bought by a widow named Elizabeth Godfrey who would lived there for two decades.