re: Large mystery building in 'Lizzies of the Field' [c1924]
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hollywood Graham
Long shot but could it be Hathaway mansion on Apex?
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Interesting choice
H.G. The size is about right, but Garbutt-Hathaway mansion has gables and roof angles that the 'mystery' building lacks.
(unless the 'mystery' bldg was still under construction
Read on.)
google_earth
Timeline:
Frank Garbutt acquired the 37 acre hilltop site in 1923, about the same time
'Lizzies of the Field' was in production.
It's possible the house was under construction during filming, but I doubt it.
(most sources say the house wasn't started around 1926) -other sites say earlier.
History:
"Garbutt and his family built three houses on the site, which came to be known as the Garbutt-Hathaway Estate.
Garbutt himself lived in the 20-room mansion built between 1926 and 1928 that came to be known as Garbutt House.
The house has nearly 15,000 square feet of space, rises 228 feet to its crest and was built like a citadel out of concrete
to survive earthquakes, floods(?) and fires. His daughter Melodie later recalled that the entire first floor was poured
in one pouring that took two days and one night of steady pouring with three shifts of workers. Due to his wife's intense fear of fire,
Garbutt even had the roof and walls built of concrete, installed steel-reinforced doors and allowed no fireplaces in the home.
The house also had bronze window frames and marble floors (the first floor was entirely travertine)"
<--"
was"....is it missing?
Garbutt died in 1947, but his son and two daughters continued to live at the estate after his death.
One of his daughters never married and lived at Garbutt House until 1960.
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Development:
Los Angeles Times, November 22, 1982
In 1975, Los Angeles Times architecture critic, John Pastier, noted that the estate's "arcadian acreage" was 99% undeveloped
and "looks like a park." Pastier wrote a lengthy column criticizing a plan to cover the estate with 530 condominium units
requiring removal of 60% of the property's trees. He argued for a scaled-back development that would preserve the three houses
as a "testimony to the area's history and to a vanished way of life."
In 1978, two of the houses were torn down to make room for a 96-home development, but the Garbutt House was spared.
In 1982, nearly 100 homes were built on the property destroying the mansion's park-like setting.
Imagine the photo below without all the mediocre town-homes built in 1982. (my first year in Los Angeles)
silver_lake.org
Luckily, a slice of the hill facing northwest, toward the Silver Lake Reservoir, is less developed.
Garbutt_1809_Apex_Ave.
This aerial gives you an idea of the size of the original 1923 property.
g_earth
The google-mobile doesn't travel anywhere within the red lines. (I believe we've talked about this previously on NLA)
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More on Frank F. Garbutt
HERE. He was a
very interesting man!
Thx again for your suggestion
Hollywood Graham. It was fun researching this place.