Whitley Heights 101

2022 Holly Hill Drive

2022 Holly Hill Drive was built in 1925 by famed architect and art director Carl Jules Weyl (The Adventures of Robin Hood, Casablanca) who also built one of the Brown Derbys and several other homes in Whitley Heights. Above is a photograph of 2022 Holly Hill Terrace prior to re-landscaping the front of the home and removing the exterior front steps. As seen below, there is minimal front landscaping and the house is partially out of view by trees.

2022 Holly Hill Terrace is a single family residence, with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms totaling 2,198 square feet. The house sits on a downslope on the southeast corner of Holly Hill Terrace and Cerritos Place. The view on the right side of the property that is seen from Cerritos Place show a balcony leading to a curved sundeck.

There is a detached one-car garage that is near the rear of the property on Cerritos Place and a covered sunporch also in the back that must display a spectacular view of Los Angeles. On the main floor there is a living room, dining room, breakfast area, and possibly the main bedroom. The other bedrooms would be on the lower floor. There is also a large patio over the garage. The property sits on a rectangular plot of land so the house spans down on Cerritos Place from Holly Hill Terrace to Bella Vista Way.

Retiree William L. Milne and his wife, Luna, bought the property circa 1928 and owned it until they sold it to the De Ravenne family in 1940. A tenant included composer Teddy Krise in 1936. It does not appear that the Milne’s ever had any children. William was born in Canada and Luna was born in Illinois.

Charlene de Ravenne was born in Nice, France and married at the age of 15. Four children were born in Nice to the de Ravenne’s: Raymond, Francois, Nina, and Charles. After her husband died, the once Monacan opera singer moved her family to Hollywood circa 1922. The de Ravenne’s were a “tight-knit” family so much that they would remain together in Los Angeles until each of their deaths. Only Francois married twice, each resulting in divorce; no other sibling married nor no offspring were produced to continue the de Ravenne family name. The family moved around renting homes in the Los Angeles area before purchasing the Holly Hill Terrace home circa 1940. This house would remain in the de Ravenne family until Nina’s death in 1997. All of the siblings became involved with the movie industry and essentially became movie extras.

The eldest, Raymond de Ravenne (1901-1950), was credited for 21 films between 1934 to 1950. He was on his way to filming “The Great Caruso” when he died of a heart attack at the age of 49. Ray worked in films starring: Spencer Tracy, Robert Young, Claudette Colbert, Gary Cooper, Laurel & Hardy, Jack Benny, Joan Bennett, Clark Gable, Lana Turner, Joan Crawford, Fred MacMurray, Peter Lorre, Lon Chaney Jr., Judy Garland, Constance Bennett, Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney, Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift, Bob Hope, Betty Hutton, and Fred Astaire. Ray was cast as waiters, bartenders, shoppers and clerks.

The second oldest was Francois Arthur de Ravenne (1903-1962), who changed his stage name to Arthur Dulac (pictured below). Dulac was the only sibling who married; unfortunately both of his marriages ended in divorce. In 1926, he married aspiring actress and beauty queen Faye Parrish, also known as the “little whirlwind of Texas”. Above, Faye Parrish is seen with Dulac’s sister, Nina, in 1926. Dulac and Parrish divorced by 1930. In 1937, he married Manon Laurent and they divorced by 1940. After each divorce, Arthur returned home to live with his family. A child actor in France, Dulac was credited for 25 films after moving to Hollywood between 1934 until his death in 1962. His most recognizable films include: The Hunchback of Note Dame (1939), Casablanca (1942), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), and Around the World in 80 Days (1956). Dulac died at the age of 49 on September 17, 1962. Their mother died just a few months earlier in May of 1962.

Nina de Ravenne (1909-1997) was the only female sibling in the family and changed her stage name to Nina Borget. Borget was credited for 59 character roles between 1933 to 1963. Borget worked in films starring; Spencer Tracy, Cary Grant, Joan Crawford, Fred MacMurray, Greer Garson, Constance Bennett, Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Bob Hope, Clark Gable, Lana Turner, Errol Flynn, Doris Day, Joan Collins, Gregory Peck, Lauren Bacall, and Rosaland Russell. Her most notable films included: Little Women (1933), Love Letters (1945), To Catch a Thief (1955), Fanny Face (1957), and The Haunted Palace (1963). In 1948, Borget was hired by Paramount Studios as a French teacher and one of her students was actor Bob Hope. Nina died in 1997 with the following obituary:

The obituary was in error indicating the family moved to the United States in the 1930s where they have addresses in Los Angeles since the 1920s. In addition, the family purchased 2022 Holly Hill Terrace from William and Luna Milne not Judy Garland’s family (although it would have been exciting to call 2022 Holly Hill Terrace one of Judy Garland’s homes). Judy Garland’s mother was born Ethel Milne and married Frances Gumm. A search of ancestry records did not match any relatives to the William Milne that lived in Whitley Heights or to any of Ethel Milne’s relatives. In addition, a search of Judy Garland books and websites, including The Movieland Directory, did not have any records showing Judy Garland or any family member living at this address.

William and Luna Milne lived at this property from 1928 to 1940. Judy Garland and her family left Grand Rapid, Minnesota and moved to Lancaster in October of 1926 setting up home at 44659 Cedar Avenue then shortly after, moving into the house next door. Judy and her mother rented a small 2 bedroom home on Glenmanor Place until April of 1927. Between 1933 to 1934, Judy, her mother and sisters moved to a house on Ivanhoe Drive then moving to Lake View Terrace in 1934. They then moved to McFadden Place from 1935 to 1939 and then the Stone Canyon Drive home from 1939 to 1941. Thank you “Judy Garland Lived Here” website for helping me with this timeline. https://takinguproom.com/2017/06/10/judy-lived-here/. Based on Judy’s timeline, it is very doubtful that she resided in the Holly Hill Terrace home or in Whitley Heights.

The young child, Charles de Ravenne (1911-1977) was perhaps the most notable of the children. Charles had a gift for painting and taught himself how to paint. At the age of 13, he started a famous painting called “Hollywood Comes to Napoleons Aid” depicting several celebrities dressed as soldiers helping Napoleon’s fight. Those celebrities included; Erick von Stroheim, Douglas Fairbanks, Adolphe Menjou, Sid Grauman, Marion Davies, William Powell, and Charlie Chaplin. Charles finished the painting by the age of 15 and it hung for a period time at the Roosevelt Hotel; art critics estimated the painting’s worth at $25,000. As a result, Paramount signed him for a character role in Evelyn Brent’s “Slightly Scarlet”. Charles was credited for 20 minor roles with the most notable in “Gentleman Prefer Blondes” and “Madame Bovery”.

Interestingly, the siblings were able to obtain character roles in the same film in 1943: “Above Suspicion” starring Joan Crawford and Fred MacMurray. They were all cast as patrons in the “Frisky Rabbit” except for Charles who was cast as a “chasseur”-a French army soldier.

After Charles death in 1977, Nina remained at 2022 Holly Hill Terrace on her own, being the sole de Ravenne left in Los Angeles. In 1989, there was a minor fire on the property so the roof was repaired. In 1992, Nina resurfaced the deck in the rear of the property before her death in 1997. In January 1998, 2022 Holly Hill Terrace, the home of the de Ravenne family for almost sixty years, was put on the market and listed as a “fixer upper” for $175,000.