Thursday, April 22, 2010

Many-Storied Wolf's Lair

A 1927 mansion erected by L. Milton Wolf, one of the real estate developers who built up "Hollywoodland" in the Roaring Twenties, was just sold to Moby for $3.925  million. 

Here's some trivia: Architect John Lautner designed the gate house, "in teak and redwood with a green granite fireplace," according to a 1982 Times story. (That story implies that Wolf's ghost haunts the place.)

Even HowStuffWorks has written up the Wolf's Lair! That website claims that Mr. Wolf had a secret passageway to a hidden apartment behind the guesthouse, where he could ensconse pretty starlets and enjoy them at leisure. Well, let's hope the enjoyment was mutual.

HowStuffWorks says further that the castle's turret was designed as a home for Wolf's pet gibbon. I guess pretty starlets get tedious at times, and monkeys liven things up. L. Milton Wolf died in the house, btw--at the dining room table, pitching forward into a bowl of minestrone.

Read more about the place in the Los Angeles Times "Hot Property" column of April 17, 2010. Since a Famous SInger bought the Wolf's Lair, it's in all the papers. Also follow along on LACurbed, because they've got pictures from the new owner. Speaking of pictures, follow this link to a set of eleven black and white images of the Lair in 1958. (The undated picture above, however, is from the Los Angeles Public Library's online photo collection.)

1 comment:

jonny said...

Really interesting, great post
Many thanks
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