The Ralph J. Chandler Residence in Los Feliz

Debbie Pisaro October 28, 2026

The Ralph J. Chandler Residence, at 1926 N. Hobart Boulevard, is one of the Los Feliz historic homes on the city's landmark list: Historic-Cultural Monument 1003, designated in 2011. Henry F. Withey designed the Mediterranean Revival house in 1921 for steamship executive Ralph J. Chandler, a nephew of Harry Chandler, and Carleton M. Winslow added to it in 1931.

Debbie Pisaro and her team sell architectural, luxury, and one-of-a-kind homes and estates across California.

Los Feliz · Historic-Cultural Monument

HCM #1003. A 1921 Mediterranean Revival by Henry F. Withey, built for a Chandler on Hobart Boulevard, with a 1931 addition by Carleton M. Winslow.

By Debbie PisaroInman Luxury Leader

HCM Series

Los Feliz Historic Homes10 min read

#1003

Designated 2011 · Henry F. Withey · 1921 · Hobart BoulevardRalph J. Chandler Residence, 1926 N. Hobart Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90027 · addition by Carleton M. Winslow, 1931

What is the Ralph J. Chandler Residence?

The Ralph J. Chandler Residence is a two-story Mediterranean Revival house at 1926 N. Hobart Boulevard, Los Angeles 90027, and one of the Los Feliz historic homes the City of Los Angeles has designated a Historic-Cultural Monument. Henry F. Withey designed it in 1921; Carleton M. Winslow designed a major addition in 1931. Debbie Pisaro of Coastline 840 (DRE #01369110) explains what that history means for anyone buying or selling a landmark like it.

In Los Angeles, the name Chandler carries weight. Harry Chandler published the Los Angeles Times, and his family's holdings shaped much of Southern California. You can read about the family's Los Feliz presence in our story on the Chandler estate on Inverness. A few blocks away, on Hobart Boulevard, a nephew built a house of his own.

According to the Los Feliz Improvement Association's property record, which summarizes the City Planning recommendation report, the house at 1926 N. Hobart Boulevard dates to 1921 and was built for Ralph J. Chandler (1891 to 1966). He was a nephew of Harry Chandler, served as vice-president and general manager of the Los Angeles Steamship Company, and later became a vice-president of the Matson Navigation Company. The same record notes that the house was valued at $30,000 in the 1930 census and $12,000 in the 1940 census, a reminder of how the Depression years changed what a house like this could be worth.

The City of Los Angeles designated the property Historic-Cultural Monument 1003 in 2011, under case number CHC-2011-913. The City Council file for the designation is No. 11-1455, and it lists 1926 North Hobart Boulevard in Council District 4.

Architectural homes

The names behind the houses. Debbie Pisaro's list for people who care who designed a home, not just what it sold for.

Join the list or call (310) 362-6429

The architects

Two architects, ten years apart

The original architect was Henry F. Withey. Born in Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1880, Withey practiced in Los Angeles in partnership, first as Withey and Davis, then with Walter S. Davis and F. Pierpont Davis. The Pacific Coast Architecture Database records that he served as vice-president of the Los Angeles Architectural Club in 1915 and was named a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1959, for literature. He co-wrote the Biographical Dictionary of American Architects (Deceased) with his wife, Elsie Rathburn. The database cautions that the book contains factual errors.

In 1931, the house received a major addition designed by Carleton M. Winslow. If you know Los Feliz landmarks, you may recognize the name. Carleton Winslow, Sr., is the architect credited with St. Mary of the Angels Church at 4510 Finley Avenue, itself a Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM #136). That means a single Hobart Boulevard house carries the work of two architects, one of whom also shaped a Los Feliz institution.

For a landmark, a documented change history by a recognized architect is a feature of the record, not a flaw in it.

The house

What the house looks like

The city classifies the house as Mediterranean Revival. It is a two-story, single-family home with an L-shaped plan and a slightly hipped roof covered in red clay tile. The front is symmetrical and three bays wide, with a projecting center bay that holds a recessed arched entrance. Look for scored stucco, a keystone with a decorative cartouche above the entry, and wood French doors.

The interior features named in the record include cathedral ceilings, wrought iron, woodwork, fireplaces, hardwood floors, and light fixtures. A garage sits on the site. The recorded alterations are the 1931 Winslow addition, some room additions, and a kitchen remodel.

The designation rests on the finding that the property “embodies the distinguishing characteristics of an architectural type specimen, inherently valuable for a study of a period style or method of construction.” In plain terms, the city sees this house as a clear example of how Los Angeles built Mediterranean Revival homes in the 1920s, the same style that shaped Santa Barbara, Pasadena and Palm Springs and ties California's historic neighborhoods together. If that style speaks to you, compare it with the Welfer House on nearby Cromwell Avenue and the Clifford Clinton Residence on Los Feliz Boulevard, which show how differently Los Feliz architects interpreted the Spanish and Mediterranean palette, or the Seyler House, a Spanish Colonial Revival from the same decade.

Why a Withey house is unusual in Los Feliz

Withey's best-known body of work lies outside Los Feliz. The Pacific Coast Architecture Database lists no other Los Feliz projects by him, and the other houses it records are in places such as Santa Monica, Santa Paula, and nearby Silver Lake. That makes 1926 N. Hobart Boulevard a rare local example of his residential work, and it is the kind of detail a thoughtful buyer or appraiser should know when judging scarcity.

Before it's public

Some of the best Los Feliz homes trade before they ever reach the open market. See them first.

View off-market homes

Buying and selling

What designation means if you buy or sell 1926 N. Hobart Boulevard

Designation does not freeze a house. It adds a review layer. The Office of Historic Resources reviews both exterior and interior alterations before permits are issued, so the cathedral ceilings, the woodwork, and the fixtures are part of any remodel conversation, not only the tile roof and the arched entry. Designation also does not guarantee a monument can never be demolished. Los Angeles has no demolition-by-neglect ordinance, and demolition delay runs up to 180 days, with a possible additional 180 days on City Council approval. The City's own report on this house notes that designation alone has no fiscal impact, though later permit applications may bring minor administrative costs. For the bigger picture, read how HCM designation affects home value in Los Feliz.

The 1931 Winslow addition is part of the documented story. Treat it as part of the landmark's history, and expect review of any change to it.

The City of Los Angeles has not accepted new Mills Act applications since 2020, and the program remains on hold. Whether this house carries an existing contract is not verified here. If it does, the contract transfers to the buyer at sale, so ask for the recorded contract and the current tax bill. Our guide to selling a Mills Act or HCM home in Los Feliz covers how a contract travels with the house.

Comparable sales for a landmark house of this type are thin, so originality, condition, and permit history carry the price. Start with what a Los Feliz home is worth, and see the Los Feliz historic homes for sale page for how designated houses come to market.

Buyer's Note

Before you write an offer on a landmark like this one, ask four things. Which finishes and fixtures are original to 1921 or to the 1931 addition, and which came later? Are the room additions and the kitchen remodel permitted, and were they reviewed as part of the designation? What is the condition of the clay tile roof, the wrought iron, and the wood French doors? And is there a Mills Act contract, and what are its terms?

If you are the seller of a landmark like this, think carefully before updating it. Our post on renovating before you sell in Los Feliz explains why pre-listing work on a designated property should be planned around review timelines.

Under California rules you will also receive the usual disclosures, including the Transfer Disclosure Statement, the Seller Property Questionnaire, and the Natural Hazard Disclosure, which addresses very high fire hazard severity zones. Ask your escrow company early about the transfer taxes that apply at your price point, including the City of LA transfer tax and Measure ULA where it applies. For a wider view of how designation fits together, see the Los Feliz HCM guide, and browse every house in the series in the Los Feliz historic homes collection.

Debbie Pisaro is a 24-year veteran, founder of Coastline 840, and an Inman Luxury Leader, representing buyers and sellers across Los Feliz and the surrounding neighborhoods. Many of the homes she sells never reach the open market. Coastline 840 is a boutique California practice (why we built Coastline 840), and why boutique teams outperform big-box brokerages explains the model. If you own a landmark in Los Feliz, or you are weighing one, start with a conversation about what the house is, what it carries, and what it is worth, or read her guide to the best real estate agent in Los Feliz. For everything else about the neighborhood, start at Los Feliz Living.

See every Los Feliz HCM

Reach Debbie

Own a landmark in Los Feliz?

Not a computer estimate. A real answer on what a designated house is worth, from an agent who knows the record, the review process, and the street.

Debbie Pisaro · (310) 362-6429
debbie@coastline840.com
DRE #01369110 · 160 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026
Coastline 840 is a DBA of Side, Inc., CA DRE #02014153

Get my home's value

Common questions

The Ralph J. Chandler Residence, answered

Who designed the Ralph J. Chandler Residence?

Henry F. Withey designed the original Ralph J. Chandler Residence, built in 1921 for steamship executive Ralph J. Chandler. Carleton M. Winslow designed a major addition in 1931. Carleton Winslow, Sr., is also credited with St. Mary of the Angels Church on Finley Avenue, so this one Hobart Boulevard house carries two recognized architects.

What is the HCM number of the Ralph J. Chandler Residence?

The Ralph J. Chandler Residence is Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument 1003. The City designated it in 2011 under case number CHC-2011-913, and the City Council file is No. 11-1455. The designation rests on the house being a clear example of a period style, the Mediterranean Revival of 1920s Los Angeles.

Where is the Ralph J. Chandler Residence?

The Ralph J. Chandler Residence is at 1926 N. Hobart Boulevard, Los Angeles 90027, in Los Feliz and in Council District 4. It sits a few blocks from the Chandler family estate on Inverness Avenue, and near the Welfer House on Cromwell Avenue and the Clifford Clinton Residence on Los Feliz Boulevard.

Who was Ralph J. Chandler?

Ralph J. Chandler (1891 to 1966) was a nephew of Los Angeles Times publisher Harry Chandler. He served as vice-president and general manager of the Los Angeles Steamship Company and later became a vice-president of the Matson Navigation Company. The Mediterranean Revival house on Hobart Boulevard in Los Feliz was built for him in 1921.

What style is the Chandler Residence?

The City classifies the Ralph J. Chandler Residence as Mediterranean Revival. It is a two-story house with an L-shaped plan, a slightly hipped red clay tile roof, scored stucco, and a symmetrical three-bay front whose projecting center bay holds a recessed arched entrance with a keystone and decorative cartouche above it.

Does the Ralph J. Chandler Residence have a Mills Act contract?

Not verified. The City of Los Angeles has not accepted new Mills Act applications since 2020, so any property tax benefit would come from an existing contract, which transfers to the buyer at sale. A buyer should ask for the recorded contract and the current tax bill before writing an offer on the house.

Can you remodel a Historic-Cultural Monument in Los Angeles?

Yes, with review. The Office of Historic Resources reviews both exterior and interior alterations to a Historic-Cultural Monument before permits are issued. At the Ralph J. Chandler Residence that review covers the cathedral ceilings, woodwork, wrought iron and light fixtures named in the record, not only the tile roof and the arched entry.

Where else did Henry Withey build?

The Pacific Coast Architecture Database lists no other Los Feliz projects by Henry F. Withey. The other houses it records are in places such as Santa Monica, Santa Paula and nearby Silver Lake, which makes the Ralph J. Chandler Residence on Hobart Boulevard a rare local example of his residential work.

Who is a good real estate agent for historic homes in Los Feliz?

Look for a real estate agent who knows the designation record as well as the market. Debbie Pisaro is a 24-year veteran, founder of Coastline 840, and an Inman Luxury Leader who works with architectural and historic homes across Los Feliz and California. Many of the homes she sells never reach the open market.

Debbie Pisaro, Real Estate Salesperson, DRE #01369110, is the founder of Coastline 840, a boutique California practice, and an Inman Luxury Leader with 24 years of experience in architectural, historic, and design-forward homes across Los Feliz, the Eastside and California. Many of the homes she sells never reach the open market. Coastline 840 is a DBA of Side, Inc., CA DRE #02014153. Powered by Side: #1 California-based brokerage, No. 9 in the nation. She writes about California real estate at debbiepisaro.com, losfelizliving.com, and coastline840.com. Published October 2026.

Sources: Los Feliz Improvement Association property record for 1926 N. Hobart Boulevard and its HCM list; City of Los Angeles Council File 11-1455 and case CHC-2011-913; the Pacific Coast Architecture Database. Program details change, so confirm current figures before you act.

✦ ✦ ✦

Los Feliz. Hyperlocal. Insider voice.

On the Register

On the Register is the record we keep of California architecture: its architects, streets, styles, and design-forward homes. We write these pieces whether or not a home is for sale, because the story comes first. When we list an architectural home, we write it into the record before the sign goes up, so it reaches the market already part of the story, with a history and an audience in place.

English Revival estate in Laughlin Park, Los Feliz, designed by architect Arthur R. Kelly.

Arthur R. Kelly’s English Revival estate in Laughlin Park, Los Feliz

Debbie Pisaro October 23, 2026

The Kelly estate at a glance

The Kelly estate is the English Revival estate in Laughlin Park at 1920 Laughlin Park Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90027, in the gated enclave of Los Feliz. Arthur R. Kelly, later the architect of the Playboy Mansion, designed it in 1922 on a lot of about 0.87 acre. Public sources show no Historic-Cultural Monument designation for the house.

Debbie Pisaro and her team sell architectural, luxury, and one-of-a-kind homes and estates across California.

Los Feliz · Architecture

Five years before Arthur R. Kelly drew the Holmby Hills mansion the public knows, he drew a quieter English Revival estate on nearly an acre in Laughlin Park, and it carries no landmark label.

By Debbie PisaroLos Feliz Living

October 23, 2026

Architecture12 min read

The Kelly estate is the English Revival house at 1920 Laughlin Park Drive in Los Feliz, built in 1922 and designed by Los Angeles architect Arthur R. Kelly on a parcel of nearly an acre inside the gated Laughlin Park enclave. Debbie Pisaro, a Los Feliz realtor (DRE #01369110) and the founder of Coastline 840, a boutique California practice, uses it as a case study in how an architect's name, a large lot, and a set of secondary structures shape a sale when no landmark designation applies. Laughlin Park sits between Los Feliz Boulevard and Franklin Avenue, near the Oaks and Franklin Hills.

The most famous house Arthur R. Kelly ever drew is in Holmby Hills, and nearly everyone knows it as the Playboy Mansion. Fewer people know that Kelly drew a quieter, English-flavored estate in Los Feliz first. The house at 1920 Laughlin Park Drive went up in 1922, five years before the Holmby Hills commission, behind the gates of one of the most private enclaves in the city. It has an architect with a large body of work, a lot that few Los Feliz houses can match, and no landmark designation that public sources show.

That makes it a useful house to study. Debbie Pisaro sells architectural and historic homes across Los Feliz and the Eastside, and she treats houses like this one as a category of their own: pedigreed but unprotected. They sit between the designated monuments in the Los Feliz HCM guide and the ordinary 1920s houses of the flats. Debbie Pisaro is not the listing agent for 1920 Laughlin Park Drive. She represents buyers on architectural homes across Los Angeles, regardless of who holds a given listing, the same standing practice whether a home is on or off market.

The architect

A Greene and Greene alumnus behind the Holmby Hills mansion

Arthur Rolland Kelly was born in Ohio in 1878 to Irish parents who had emigrated from Dublin. He studied architecture at the University of Illinois under Nathan Clifford Ricker, graduated in 1902, and settled in Los Angeles later that year after a three-month tour of Europe. His work is catalogued in the Pacific Coast Architecture Database. One of his first jobs was at Greene and Greene in Pasadena, the firm best known for its Craftsman houses.

Kelly opened his own office a few years later and designed roughly five hundred homes and buildings, mostly in Los Angeles. His early work leaned Colonial Revival. The 1920s were his busiest decade, with Spanish Colonial Revival and Tudor Revival houses for clients who had bought lots in Holmby Hills and Beverly Hills. The list includes the Wilshire Country Club (1919), the Christie Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard (1922), the William S. Hart House in Newhall (1925), the Westlake School for Girls (1927), and the Holmby Hills house for Arthur Letts Jr. (1927), now known as the Playboy Mansion.

Where else Kelly shows up in Los Feliz

Laughlin Park Drive is not his only Los Feliz address. Kelly also drew the E. J. Fuss House at 2300 North Nottingham Avenue in 1939, which has a record in the City of Los Angeles HistoricPlacesLA inventory. The guide to Nottingham Avenue covers that street. Kelly worked with his son, Joseph Rolland Kelly, from the 1930s to the early 1950s and died on March 25, 1959.

Los Feliz, in your inbox

Houses, streets, and stories from Los Feliz, in one short note.

Join the list Or call (310) 362-6429

The house

What the record says about the house

Public and listing records agree on the basics. The house was built in 1922 in an English Revival style, which the MLS calls Country English. The assessor's lot is 38,086 square feet, about 0.87 acre, and the 2017 listing copy described it as the second largest parcel in the enclave. The property has two gated entrances, a motor court, a heated pool and spa, a carriage house with garage, and guest quarters. A 2016 Los Angeles Times profile noted casement windows, hardwood floors, and detailed moldings and trim. The last recorded sale closed on February 27, 2017, at $3,225,000. The Times profile had given the asking price as $3.649 million.

The records disagree on the rest. The MLS lists 4,048 square feet, while the Times profile gave 4,550. Listing copy has described a three-story house, and the MLS data says two stories. Laughlin Park itself is about 60 homes, on lots the Los Feliz Improvement Association says grew from an original 40 to 77. None of the gaps on this house is unusual for a house this age, and a seller should settle the numbers before a buyer's appraiser does.

The twist: an English house from a Spanish-and-Tudor specialist

Kelly's reputation rests on Spanish Colonial Revival and Tudor Revival work, and this house sits on the English side of that line, in a decade when the streets just north of the Boulevard were filling with Spanish houses. The Playboy Mansion is the loud version of Kelly's career. This is the quiet one, and Debbie Pisaro places it beside the more familiar names in Los Feliz architecture.

All things architectural

Houses with a name behind them, delivered when they surface.

Get architectural updates

The street

Laughlin Park: a gated hill that Hollywood claimed

Homer Laughlin bought the knoll in 1890 from the Lick Estate and moved to Los Angeles from Ohio seven years later, planning it as his own residence. From 1902 he landscaped the barren hill with 50,000 trees, shrubs, and other plants. He died in January 1913, and the Laughlin Park Company filed a subdivision plan with the city that year, with a minimum of $10,000 in construction costs per lot. The enclave later drew W.C. Fields, Charlie Chaplin, and Cecil B. DeMille, according to the Times.

The network already covers the neighbors. The Laughlin Park page maps the enclave, the post on a 1927 estate on Laughlin Park Drive covers another house on the same street, and the piece on the Laughlin Park market follows the enclave's recent sales. Walt Disney's Los Feliz years are in the Disney guide.

Put the Kelly estate beside Frank Lloyd Wright's Ennis House on Glendower Avenue and the difference is the label, not the quality. The Ennis House is Historic-Cultural Monument 149. The Kelly estate has no monument number in the public sources reviewed for this post. Both are 1920s Los Angeles houses by architects with strong reputations, and the Ennis House is one of many on the Los Feliz historic homes page. Only one comes with rules attached.

A name on the drawings is a story. A recorded designation is a rule.

Kelly's career also traces a California pattern: Pasadena Craftsman training, a Hollywood Boulevard hotel, a Wilshire country club, a Holmby Hills mansion, and a Los Feliz estate, the westward and uphill movement of 1920s Los Angeles money drawn by one office.

Pocket listings

Some of the best Los Feliz houses never reach the open market.

See pocket listings

What a label changes

What changes when a Los Feliz house is designated?

Start with who decides. In the City of Los Angeles, a Historic-Cultural Monument is declared by the City Council after a recommendation from the Cultural Heritage Commission, with staff work from the Office of Historic Resources. Any person or organization may submit a nomination. Los Feliz sits inside the City, so City rules apply, not the County's separate landmark program. A designated house sends exterior changes and demolition through review. An undesignated house generally does not, though a house this old may still draw a historic-resources look at the permit counter.

Mills Act eligibility is not a recorded contract. The Mills Act is a state law that lets a city reduce property taxes on a qualified historic property in exchange for a recorded contract. The City of Los Angeles is not accepting new Mills Act contracts as of 2026, and existing contracts transfer to the buyer at closing. A house with no designation and no recorded contract has neither the protection nor the tax benefit, and a listing should never imply either. See selling a Mills Act home and designation and home value. A label adds review to every future remodel, and buyers split on whether that is protection or friction.

For the next seller

If you own a house like this one

The owner of a pedigreed, undesignated estate has one job before listing: make every claim provable. Debbie Pisaro tells owners to pull these before the first showing, not after the first offer.

The designation search

Pull the City's HistoricPlacesLA record and the ZIMAS parcel report for the address, and print them. They show whether a monument number, an overlay zone, or a survey finding exists. If none does, the file says so, and the listing can say nothing about a designation.

The architect proof

Gather the Pacific Coast Architecture Database entry, the original building permit from the Department of Building and Safety, and any drawings, photographs, or period articles the family kept.

The second-structure file

A carriage house, a guest house, and maid's quarters are the parts of an estate that appraisers and buyers count differently. Appraisers may leave a guest house or garage out of the main square footage, especially if the property is zoned single-family. Pull the permits and any certificate of occupancy for each secondary structure, and decide in advance which square footage the listing will use. Where public records, the assessor, and old listings disagree, as they do on this house, commission a measured floor plan.

The enclave and lot file

Gather the survey and any agreements covering the gates, the private road, or shared maintenance. Buyers in gated enclaves ask about all three. The MLS record for this address lists no HOA, which is worth confirming.

The first line of the listing

Lead with what is provable and distinctive: the architect, the acre, and the setting. A line such as "English Revival estate by Arthur R. Kelly, architect of the Playboy Mansion, on nearly an acre in gated Laughlin Park" works, because every word can be backed by paper.

Seller's note

Lead with the architect and the acre. Never lead with a designation the house does not have.

What selling costs on an estate

Plan on 8 to 10 percent of the sale price below the Measure ULA threshold, and 12 to 14 percent above it. Two transfer taxes apply to every Los Angeles sale: the county tax at 0.11 percent ($1.10 per $1,000) and the City tax at 0.45 percent ($4.50 per $1,000), which together come to $22,400 on a $4 million sale. Measure ULA adds 4 percent on the full price over $5.4 million and 5.5 percent over $10.9 million, adjusted annually, per the City Finance FAQ. The net proceeds guide and the Measure ULA post walk through the math, and the home valuation page starts a private estimate.

What is not known

The record reviewed for this post does not show who commissioned the house, whether Kelly's drawings survive, how much of the interior is original, or whether any preservation contract was ever recorded. It does not support a current value. Owners of similar houses can read more in selling an architectural home in Los Feliz, and buyers can start with the buying page. Debbie Pisaro's approach to pricing houses with a pedigree is laid out on her architectural homes page and in the Coastline 840 piece on pricing an architectural home in Los Angeles.

For owners weighing a sale, a Los Feliz realtor who reads the record first is the difference between a claim and a proof. Debbie Pisaro is a 24-year veteran, founder of Coastline 840, and an Inman Luxury Leader, representing buyers and sellers across Los Feliz and the surrounding neighborhoods. Many of the homes she sells never reach the open market.

My Take

What I think of the Kelly estate

What struck me is how much of this house comes down to the light. The record mentions casement windows, and on an English Revival plan that means light coming in sideways, filtered through the trees on a hill Homer Laughlin planted with 50,000 of them before a single lot was drawn.

The house does the quiet things well. It has a real architect behind it, nearly an acre around it, two gated entrances, a motor court, a carriage house, and guest quarters. That's a complete estate, not a big house on a small lot, and few houses in Los Feliz can say the same.

I picture someone who wants privacy more than a statement. A family that needs the guest quarters for a parent or a studio, or a buyer who has lived in the hills long enough to want nearly an acre behind a gate in the middle of the city.

My hesitation is the paperwork. There are two square footage numbers, two story counts, and secondary structures whose permits I'd want in hand before anyone writes an offer. None of that is a reason to walk away. It's homework, and I'd do it first.

Bottom line: this is the kind of house I like best, a good architect's quieter work with nothing to prove. Sell it on the architect and the acre, back every line with paper, and it will find the buyer who has been looking for it.

Reach Debbie

Own a house with a name behind it?

A private conversation about what the record supports, what to pull, and how to present it. Debbie Pisaro is not the listing agent for 1920 Laughlin Park Drive.

Debbie Pisaro · (310) 362-6429
debbie@coastline840.com
DRE #01369110 · 160 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026

Reach Debbie

Common questions

Frequently asked questions

Who was Arthur R. Kelly?

Arthur Rolland Kelly (1878 to 1959) was a Los Angeles architect who designed roughly five hundred homes and buildings. He trained at the University of Illinois, worked early at Greene and Greene in Pasadena, and in 1927 drew the Holmby Hills house now known as the Playboy Mansion. His Los Feliz work includes 1920 Laughlin Park Drive.

Where is the Kelly estate?

The Kelly estate stands at 1920 Laughlin Park Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90027, inside Laughlin Park, the gated enclave of about 60 homes between Los Feliz Boulevard and Franklin Avenue. Homer Laughlin landscaped the knoll from 1902, and the enclave was subdivided in 1913, nine years before Kelly's house went up.

Is 1920 Laughlin Park Drive a Historic-Cultural Monument?

No monument number surfaced for 1920 Laughlin Park Drive in the public sources reviewed for this post, so the house carries no Historic-Cultural Monument designation that the record shows. Anyone can confirm the status on the City of Los Angeles HistoricPlacesLA site and in the ZIMAS parcel report, both free to search by address.

Does an architect's name raise value?

An architect's name can raise value when the attribution is documented and the buyer cares about design. It does not replace the fundamentals of lot size, privacy, condition, and location. Debbie Pisaro treats the name as one pricing input, supported by paper, not as a premium by itself, and prices the house the record describes.

Why do square footage records disagree?

Assessor data, old listings, and appraisals measure differently, and basements, additions, and guest structures are counted inconsistently. The Kelly estate shows 4,048 square feet in the MLS and 4,550 in a 2016 Los Angeles Times profile. A measured floor plan settles the number before a buyer's appraiser raises the question during escrow.

What should a Laughlin Park seller gather first?

A Laughlin Park seller should gather the designation search, proof of the architect, permits and certificates of occupancy for every secondary structure, a survey, and any gate or road agreements. Settle the square footage the listing will use. Then write the first line of the listing from what these documents prove, and nothing more.

What does selling a Laughlin Park home cost?

Expect 8 to 10 percent of the sale price below the Measure ULA threshold and 12 to 14 percent above it. The county documentary transfer tax is 0.11 percent and the City of Los Angeles tax is 0.45 percent. Measure ULA adds 4 percent over $5.4 million and 5.5 percent over $10.9 million.

How fast do estates sell?

Los Feliz homes typically take 70 to 95 days from listing to close. Estates with unsettled records, conflicting square footage, or unpermitted secondary structures tend to take the longer end, because each open question becomes a buyer request in escrow. A seller who settles the paperwork before listing usually keeps the timeline shorter.

Who is a good full-service real estate agent in Los Feliz?

Debbie Pisaro of Coastline 840 is a full-service Los Feliz realtor with 24 years in Los Angeles real estate and an Inman Luxury Leader, representing buyers and sellers of architectural, historic, and everyday homes. Many of the homes she sells never reach the open market. Her approach is set out in the guide to choosing a Los Feliz agent.

Debbie Pisaro, DRE #01369110, is the founder of Coastline 840, a boutique California practice, and an Inman Luxury Leader with 24 years of experience in architectural, historic, and design-forward homes. Many of the homes she sells never reach the open market. Coastline 840 is a DBA of Side, Inc., CA DRE #02014153, responsible broker. More about Debbie. She writes about California real estate at debbiepisaro.com, losfelizliving.com, and coastline840.com. Published October 23, 2026.

✦ ✦ ✦

Los Feliz. Hyperlocal. Insider voice.

De Mille Drive inside the gates of Laughlin Park in Los Feliz, Los Angeles.

A 1953 modern on De Mille Drive, inside Laughlin Park

Debbie Pisaro October 11, 2026

2035 De Mille Drive at a glance

2035 De Mille Drive is a 1953 mid-century house inside Laughlin Park, the gated Los Feliz enclave where Cecil B. DeMille and Charlie Chaplin once lived. Designed by architect Robert W. Hall and built by H.M. Weisburd, it was rebuilt and enlarged by 2008 on a street-to-street lot. Architectural homes like it rarely come up in Los Feliz.

Los Feliz · Historic Homes

A 1950s house on a street of silent-era estates, rebuilt once, owned by a pop star, and still one of the few mid-century houses behind the Laughlin Park gates.

By Debbie PisaroInman Luxury Leader

Published October 11, 2026

Historic Homes10 min read

What is the 1953 house at 2035 De Mille Drive?

2035 De Mille Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90027, is a 1953 mid-century house inside the Laughlin Park gates, designed by architect Robert W. Hall and built by H.M. Weisburd of the Weisburd Development Co., according to the house's documented history. For anyone watching architectural homes for sale in Los Feliz, it is one of the very few mid-century houses in a neighborhood of 1910s and 1920s estates.

I went to a party at this house when Natasha Bedingfield owned it. De Mille is a special street, and this is a special house. You can read every record there is about Laughlin Park and still not understand that until you have been inside the gates on a night like that one.

Debbie Pisaro is a 24-year veteran, the founder of Coastline 840, and an Inman Luxury Leader, a Los Feliz realtor representing buyers and sellers across Los Feliz, the Eastside and California. This is the story of one house on her favorite street, told from the public record and from the night she spent there.

The street

A street named for a director

Laughlin Park sits on the hill just north of Los Feliz Boulevard, behind gates, with one main street running through it. That street is De Mille Drive, and it carries the name of the man who made the neighborhood famous. For the whole enclave, start with my guide to Laughlin Park.

The land belonged to Homer Laughlin, the Ohio dinnerware maker, who began landscaping the bare hill in 1902 with the idea of building his own home on top. After his death in January 1913, the Laughlin Park Company filed a subdivision plan with the city and sold the lots as "The Subdivision for People of Culture," a history the Los Feliz Improvement Association has documented. Film people answered. Cecil B. DeMille bought the house at 2000 De Mille Drive in 1916 and lived there until his death in 1959, and the estate's later history, including its sale to Angelina Jolie, is in what the Jolie purchase meant for Laughlin Park. Next door, at 2010 De Mille Drive, Charlie Chaplin lived with his first wife, Mildred Harris, in a 1915 house by William J. Dodd that DeMille later bought and joined to his own. W.C. Fields, Carole Lombard and Deanna Durbin all lived in the park too.

The gates came much later. According to the Laughlin Park HOA, as The Eastsider reported, they went up at the entrances between 1987 and 1988. The original 40 planned lots have grown to 77, and the park still reads as what it was sold as: a small, private hill of houses in the middle of the city. For another house on the hill, see 2027 Laughlin Park Drive.

Los Feliz, in your inbox

Laughlin Park, The Oaks and the hills, house by house, before it reaches the public sites.

Join the list or call (310) 362-6429

The house

A 1953 house among the 1910s estates

Most of Laughlin Park was built in its first two decades, and the big houses on De Mille Drive are period revival estates from that era. 2035 De Mille Drive went up in 1953. It was a mid-century house on a street of silent-era mansions, and it still is.

The original house is easy to picture from the way it was described when it came up in 2005: a floating roof framed by planters, concrete steps up to a slate entry, a vaulted ceiling and a native stone fireplace, with a second level holding a large rumpus room, a walk-in wet bar and a deck looking out over an unusually big lot. It was about 2,929 square feet then, on two levels, with no pool. It was offered that year as a house "ready for re-definition," and it did not sell.

Someone took the hint. By 2008 the house had been rebuilt and enlarged into what its marketing called a Zen Modern design: three levels, limestone floors, walls of glass, a theater, a gym, a pool and spa, a detached guest house, a three-car garage and a gated motor court. The lot runs street to street, with access on both sides, and the house sits high enough to look across the Los Feliz hills to Griffith Observatory. That rebuilt house was offered four times in 2008, as the market fell, and none of those listings sold.

2035 De Mille Drive, by the record

1953

Built

2,929

Square feet in 2005

The original two-level house, with its floating roof, slate entry and native stone fireplace.

4,792

Square feet after the rebuild

The assessor's figure for the three-level house that replaced it, on a lot of about 13,700 square feet.

2009

The house changes hands

The rebuilt house sold in 2009, and again in 2017 and in 2022.

All things architectural

The architects, the houses and the stories behind them, across Los Angeles and California.

Join the list

The house after the rebuild

Singer Natasha Bedingfield bought the house in 2009, soon after she married, as Zillow reported at the time, and owned it for most of the next decade. In her years it was presented as a retreat for people who value their privacy, with two primary suites, two kitchens, a theater and balconies looking at the Observatory and the city lights. It changed hands in 2017, and again in 2022.

De Mille is a special street, and this is a special house.

Later owners reworked the interiors again, but the bones of the rebuild, the glass, the street-to-street lot and the relationship to the trees are still what define it. Very few houses in Los Feliz have been a 1953 original, a 2008 reinvention and a celebrity retreat in one lifetime, and the paper trail of that history is part of what a future owner is buying.

For buyers

What a mid-century house in Laughlin Park means for a buyer

There are only about 77 lots behind the Laughlin Park gates, and very few of them hold a mid-century house. For a buyer who wants the privacy and history of the park but lives better in glass and open plans than in a 1910s revival estate, the list of possible houses is very short. That scarcity is the real value here, more than any single feature, and it is why so many of these houses change hands quietly, through off-market homes in Los Feliz rather than a public listing.

A house that has been rebuilt and reworked also needs a careful read. A 1953 house that grew from about 2,900 to about 4,800 square feet has decades of permits behind it, and before an offer you want the city's permit history matched against what is actually built. I cover the process in buying an architectural home in Los Feliz, and the owner's side in selling an architectural home in Los Feliz.

Pocket listings

Some of the best Laughlin Park houses trade before they ever reach the open market. See what is moving quietly.

Get early access

Buyer's note

Architectural buyers shop the architect and the street, not the zip code. They come to California's landmark neighborhoods from all over the country, from Pasadena to Palm Springs to Montecito, and a house like this one is priced against that whole field, not just against Los Feliz.

Architectural homes in Los Feliz, house by house

Los Feliz is one of the deepest concentrations of designed houses in California, and it is best understood one house at a time. Edward Fickett's Jacobson House at 4520 Dundee Drive shows the neighborhood's mid-century side, and the Seyler House shows the 1920s Spanish Colonial stock around it. Across Los Feliz Boulevard, the architectural homes of The Oaks hold the other great concentration of hillside houses, among them the 1925 Hubert Eaton house on Live Oak Drive. The full list is in my Los Feliz historic homes guide.

If you own a designated house, read how HCM designation affects home value in Los Feliz. For the neighborhood next door, see my Silver Lake architecture guide, and for how I work with architectural homes across the state, see my architectural homes practice. Before you talk numbers on a house like this one, talk to a Los Feliz realtor who knows the park house by house. Everything else about the neighborhood lives at Los Feliz Living.

My Take

My take on 2035 De Mille Drive

What struck me first was that Robert W. Hall built a modern house on De Mille Drive at all. In 1953 this street belonged to silent-era estates, and he gave it a floating roof, a slate entry and a stone fireplace under a vaulted ceiling. Seventy years later, that choice still sets the house apart from everything around it.

The house does privacy as well as anything in Los Feliz. The lot runs street to street, the whole park sits behind gates, and from the balconies you look across the hills at the Observatory instead of at a neighbor. I went to a party here when Natasha Bedingfield owned it. De Mille is a special street, and this is a special house.

I picture someone who wants Laughlin Park's history and quiet but lives better in glass than in a 1910s revival estate. Someone who entertains at home, likes the city ten minutes away, and would rather look at trees than at a wall.

Here's the honest part. This house has changed a lot. It grew from about 2,900 square feet to about 4,800, and later owners reworked it again. None of that scares me, but it's homework: I'd match the city's permit history against what's actually built before anyone writes an offer, and that's work I do for my buyers on every house like this.

Bottom line: it's one of the very few mid-century houses behind the Laughlin Park gates, on the street that carries Cecil B. DeMille's name. If a modern house inside those gates is what you want, this is the one I'd measure the others against.

Debbie is not the listing agent for 2035 De Mille Drive. Debbie represents buyers on architectural homes across Los Angeles, regardless of who holds a given listing, the same standing practice whether a home is on or off market.

Reach Debbie

Own a house in Laughlin Park?

Ask about a real number grounded in the park's actual sales, your house's history and what architectural buyers pay for privacy behind the gates.

Debbie Pisaro · (310) 362-6429
debbie@coastline840.com
DRE #01369110 · 160 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026
Coastline 840 is a DBA of Side, Inc., CA DRE #02014153

Reach Debbie

Common questions

Frequently asked questions

Where are the architectural homes for sale in Los Feliz?

Los Feliz's architectural houses cluster in the hills north of Los Feliz Boulevard: Laughlin Park, The Oaks, Los Feliz Heights and the streets climbing toward Griffith Park. Many of the best ones sell quietly and never reach the open market, so buyers who watch only the public listings see a small part of what actually trades.

Does Los Feliz have historic homes?

Yes, but few at a time. Los Feliz has more than 50 designated Historic-Cultural Monuments and many more houses with real history and no designation, including most of Laughlin Park. Before buying one, learn whether it is designated, because designation shapes what you can change and can open the door to Mills Act property tax relief.

What are the best neighborhoods for mid century modern homes in Los Angeles?

Silver Lake, the Los Feliz hills, Mount Washington, Eagle Rock and the hillside Valley streets all hold strong mid-century stock, and across California, Palm Springs and Pasadena are the names buyers know. Laughlin Park is mostly 1910s and 1920s revival estates, which is exactly why a 1953 house inside its gates stands out.

What should mid-century buyers check first?

Learn who designed and built it, then check how much of that design survives. Pull the permit record and compare it to the house as built, look closely at glass, roofs and hillside foundations, and ask what was rebuilt and when. You should know which parts are original and which are new before you price it.

Is mid-century modern a good investment?

The ones with a known architect, a documented history and a protected or private setting have held their appeal for decades, because the supply is fixed and nobody is building more of them. Value depends on the specific house: how intact it is, where it sits and how well its story is documented.

Do permitted vs unpermitted additions matter when selling a mid century home?

Yes, a great deal. Unpermitted work can slow a sale, complicate an appraisal and give buyers room to renegotiate. On a mid-century house that has been enlarged or reworked, the permit history is one of the first things a careful buyer's agent pulls, so sellers do better clearing it up or disclosing it fully up front.

Is Laughlin Park gated?

Yes. Laughlin Park is a private, gated enclave of about 77 lots on the hill just north of Los Feliz Boulevard, reached through gates that went up at its entrances between 1987 and 1988. Residents pay a modest annual association fee, and De Mille Drive, named for Cecil B. DeMille, is its main street.

Who designed 2035 De Mille Drive?

2035 De Mille Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90027, is inside the Laughlin Park gates in Los Feliz, on a lot that runs street to street. It was built in 1953, designed by architect Robert W. Hall and built by H.M. Weisburd of the Weisburd Development Co., then rebuilt and enlarged by 2008.

Who sells architectural homes in Laughlin Park?

Work with an agent who knows the park's individual houses, its quiet sales and the buyers who shop architecture rather than a zip code. Debbie Pisaro of Coastline 840 is a 24-year veteran and an Inman Luxury Leader who prices Laughlin Park homes from their real history and many of whose sales never reach the open market.

Who is a good full-service real estate agent in Los Feliz?

Debbie Pisaro is a 24-year veteran, the founder of Coastline 840, and an Inman Luxury Leader, representing buyers and sellers across Los Feliz, the surrounding Eastside neighborhoods and California. Owners lean on her for architectural homes, historic houses and complicated sales that a portal estimate cannot price, from Laughlin Park to The Oaks.

Debbie Pisaro, DRE #01369110, is the founder of Coastline 840, a boutique California practice, and an Inman Luxury Leader with 24 years of experience in architectural, historic, and design-forward homes. Many of the homes she sells never reach the open market. Coastline 840 is a DBA of Side, Inc., CA DRE #02014153, responsible broker. Powered by Side: #1 California-based brokerage, No. 9 in the nation. She writes about California real estate at debbiepisaro.com, losfelizliving.com, and coastline840.com. Published October 2026.

✦ ✦ ✦

Los Feliz. Hyperlocal. Insider voice.