Open House Report, LA Edition: Visit Some Legends in the Hollywood Hills
Author:Philip FerratoHal Levitt’s own house from the 60s, the home of a major figure in LA’s old live music scene from the 80s, and from the late-40s, a house that looks the part.
7039 Senalda Drive, Sunset Strip/Hollywood Hills, $1.995M
Architect Hal Levitt, designer of some of LA’s iconic— and most luxurious— housing for celebrities, designed and built this place for himself in 1964. Respectfully renovated, the 4-bed, 3.5-bath house in the Outpost Estates neighborhood is a modest take on the ideas he played out on a grander scale for others, and it’s worth a visit for that reason alone.
We’re like the layered timbering in the living room that repeated itself in a glazed version in the solarium dining area, but what’s not to love about that huge terrazzo shelf hanging out over the pool? Open Sunday, July 1 from 2 to 5 p.m.
8424 Grand View Drive, Sunset Strip/Hollywood Hills, $1.795M
“A trophy tour de force of modern life with a great landmark history,” is the realtor’s description of this 1981 house by the LA architect Johannes Van Tilburg for last-century nightclub impresario Elmer Valentine, and clearly the site of any number of very early-morning parties. Worth a visit to see how your grandparents might have swung if they were in LA in the 80s.
On and off the market since Valentine died in 2008, the 2-bed, 2.5-bath house is loaded with low flights of steps, angled walls and random windows— and along with spectacular views, currently unfashionable enough to be torn down before the ’80s ever come back. But you could probably lobby for a plaque saying Jim Morrison Slept Here. Open Sunday, July 1 from 2 to 5 p.m.
1145 Sunset Vale, Sunset Strip/Hollywood Hills, $2.975M
No pedigree here (that we know of) and frankly we’re only here for the pool and the way the rest of the house opens to it. What was once a conservative c.1948, 3-bed, 4-bath house was remodeled at some point in its life with an Art Deco film-star vibe, something that could be resolved with a little paint to tone down the visually-overwhelming millwork everywhere— and some serious drapery removal. See the realtor’s dedicated site for more images. The construction looks impeccable, the kitchen’s great, plus we love the pool, and that the master suite has the entire top floor. In other words, great bones. Open Sunday, July 1 from 2 to 5 p.m.
