Whitley Heights 101

2014 Whitley Avenue

2014 Whitley Avenue was built in 1923 by builder Edgar T. Wehn for Mina Buehler. Originally built as a 7 room home with a basement, the house is now considered a “non-contributor” to the Whitley Heights Historic District due to extensive alterations completed in the late 1930s. Below photographer Branson DeCou took a picture of the view of Los Angeles from his rooftop when he lived across the street at 2015 Whitley Avenue between 1935 to 1943. The photograph was taken before the renovations, including converting the garage into a carport.

Mina Buehler, who called herself a widow, was actually divorced. Buehler was born in Germany as Wilhelmina Schoettler and married John W. Buehler in Chicago in 1877. John Buehler was a banker and later turned to manufacturing. They had one daughter, Mathilda Louise, born a year later. A son, Wilhelm Alex, was born on June 3, 1880 but died on July 24, 1880. In May of 1904, Mina filed for divorce, citing cruelty and desertion and that her husband beat, struck, and choked her. At the same time, a woman named Hattie Burdette sued Mr. Buehler for a “breach of promise” indicating he had promised to marry her at Mackinac Island the summer before. The divorce was granted in May of 1904 and Mina got an alimony payday from two properties that John owned.

Burdette, age 28, sued Buehler for $25,000 when she found out that he was married. Burdette indicated that she was staying at a summer cottage at Mackinac Island for a month when she met the 48 year old man who owned a cottage down the street. The affair did not end there as the two corresponded with letters and Burdette eventually found out that he was not only married, but very wealthy. It is not known if John had to pay his ex-lover or not. Interestingly, he married a 39 year old Canadian named Ida Walker the next month. The two moved to Oregon where John died at the age of 69 in 1915. Meanwhile, Mina Buehler moved to Los Angeles by 1912 and built a cottage located at 1633 Manhattan Avenue in Hermosa Beach. Surprisingly, the cottage, pictured below, stands today.

Her daughter, Tillie Hessert, also moved to Los Angeles, after divorcing a doctor. She moved in with her mother at 1814 Canyon Drive (demolished) with her daughter, Carola. Mina would spend time in her little cottage, entertaining her daughter and her friends. In December of 1912, it was reported that she has “closed her cottage on the ocean front and has gone inland for the winter”. In June of 1919, Carola graduated from Hollywood High School and a celebration ensued at 1814 Canyon Drive with several of Carole’s classmates. In 1922, Carola married her high school sweetheart Charles Laverty, in the Canyon Drive home. Before Mina moved into this house in Whitley Heights, she was sued by C.E. West, who worked for Harold Lloyd Productions. West claimed that in October, he was thrown into his crane of his truck after getting hit by a car in which Buehler was driving on Canyon Drive. Mina and Tillie moved into 2014 Whitley Avenue after it was completed in 1924.

In February of 1930, Carola (pictured above) filed for divorce after 10 years on grounds of cruelty. Her husband told the judge that his wife’s relatives are responsible for the separation, “but that if he had a chance, he thought he could regain his wife’s love”. So Judge Guerin proposed that Charles live in a room of their house on Nella Vista Avenue for $40 per week. The judge stated, “Remember you must do as your wife says. You can have only two meals a day, no man is entitled to have his wife prepare three. You must behave yourself. Remember, you are a boarder, not a husband”. Apparently the arrangement did not go too well, as Carola divorced Charles and moved into 2014 Whitley Avenue by 1932 with her sons, Richard, 6, and William, 3.

Mina Buehler died on April 6, 1935 at the age of 80; she was buried at Mountain View Cemetery and Mausoleum in Altadena.

Several months later, Constantino V. Riccardi (pictured below), a former Los Angeles lawyer, was arrested in connection from stealing over $9,000 from Mina, Tillie, and Carole on a fraudulent mining deal. He was charged with 6 counts of grand theft and one count of violation of the corporate securities act with his promotion of non-existent Arizona gold mines. In July 1935, Carola testified as to the methods Riccardi used to get Buehler to mortgage her property and invest in his mining companies. E. Stanley Rey, who was Carole’s fiance at the time, testified that he was a former business associate of Riccardi and was responsible for them meeting. By December, Riccardi reimbursed Carola and Tillie the money he took from them to avoid being prosecuted and the charges were dropped.

This was not Riccardi’s first brush with the law. In 1914, Riccardi was wanted on similar charges but evaded extradition to Los Angeles as he fled to Monte Carlo. He, however, returned to pay his debt but ended up being slapped with a divorce suit and then was sued by several women whom he reportedly had affairs with. Riccardi was the lawyer who represented Norma Talmadge in her divorce against Joseph Schenck in the 1934. In 1947, Ricardi was indicted by a New York jury on more grand larceny charges on a similar ponzi scheme of swindling over $200,000 on non-existent copper stock. He was eventually found guilty and sent to federal prison. Riccardi died in 1960 at the age of 71 after spending time at San Quentin and Sing Sing.

Tillie, Carole and her two sons continued to reside at 2014 Whitley Avenue until 1939 when they sold the home to a realtor named Charles Solov and his wife, Bertha. The couple decided to covert the garage into a carport and turned the single family residence into a triplex with each unit per floor and the main residence on the top floor (street level).

Unit #2 is below the main floor consists of 750 square feet with one bedroom and one bathroom. This unit also has access to a private patio in the back for grilling. Renting at $3,300 per month, the apartment “offers not only historical allure being part of a 1923 triplex and once the dance studio of legendary choreographer Michael Peters where Thriller and Tina Turner’s signature dances were created”.

Choreographer Michael Peters rented unit #2 from 1975 until his death in 1994. Not only did Peters choreograph music videos such as “Love to Love You Baby” for Donna Summer, “Love is a Battlefield” for Pat Benetar, “Beat It” for Michael Jackson, and “Dancing in the Ceiling” for Lionel Richie, he directed several episodes of “A Different World” and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”. Peters won several awards; Tony Award for Best Choreography for “Dreamgirls” in 1982, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography for “Liberty Weekend” in 1987, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography for “The Jacksons: An American Dream” in 1993, and American Choreography Award for Outstanding Achievement in a Feature Film for “What’s Love Got to Do With it” in 1994.

Unit #3 is on the bottom floor and consists of 750 square feet with one bedroom and one bathroom. It also has a private patio in the rear of the yard. This unit also rents for $3,300 per month and is “known for its South-of-France inspiration, the apartment offers historical allure being part of a 1923 triplex. Elizabeth Taylors chef cooked her meals on the OKeefe & Merritt stove!”

Indeed, chef Neil Zevnek resided in unit #3 from 1991 to 2002. Not only was Zevneck Elizabeth Taylor’s chef, he cooked for Pierce Brosnan, Jennifer Garner & Ben Affleck, Charlize Theron, Robert Iger & Willow Bay, Novak Djokovic, Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg, and Reese Witherspoon. Zevnek also has a costume jewelry line.

Screenwriter Leo Solomon lived at 2014 Whitley Avenue from 1942 to 1944. Solomon wrote several episodes of “The Danny Thomas Show”, “The Dick Van Dyke Show”, “The Andy Griffith Show”, and “The Donna Reed Show”. “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad” producer Christina Wayne also rented one of the units in 2004.