Whitley Heights 101

Arbol Drive

In 1912, a 40 year old rancher named Herman Baake and his wife, Anna, decided to buy a piece of land overlooking Los Angeles in Hollywood Park, situated on Highland Avenue near the Cahuenga Pass for $100.00. After building his 2 story bungalow home, Baake built the “Hollywood Avocado Nursery” which specialized in avocado pears. Seeing the value of his land, Herman and Anna subdivided the land into 12 lots and built a street called Arbol Drive in 1924.  “Arbol ” means tree in Spanish and it is safe to say, Baake named the street to represent his nursery business. Baake and his son, Chester, decided to move the business to the Sawtelle area in Santa Monica after they divided up the land and they remained in their house which was located on the first two lots on Highland Avenue.

Herman died in 1929 and his son continued the business for many years. Anna remained in the house which was demolished in 1929 and Anna temporarily moved into the first home on Arbol Drive before moving to La Brea Avenue. Below are images Baake’s bungalow house and his avocado nursery prior to incorporating Arbol Drive with the 8000 block of Odin Street to the right of his nursery.

Below, the Hollywood Bowl can be seen in the upper right side of the picture.

Lots 1 and 2 faced North Highland Avenue, Lots 3 through 8 were on the west side of Arbol Drive and finally, lots 9-12 were on the east side and were used only by the Hollywood Bowl. Lots 3-4 and 6-8 all had homes built between 1924 to 1928. Lot 5 had a relocated duplex moved over from Odin Street in Whitley Heights in 1949, only to be torn down by the Hollywood Bowl in 1954 to make way for another parking lot, along with the west side of Odin Street (Majestic Heights Tract).

The first two homes to be built were on lots 7 and 8 by famed architect G. Albert Landsburgh who was well known for his work around the United States building theaters. Landsburgh built the Orpheum Theaters in Kansas City, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, and Los Angeles, the Warner Bros new theater in Hollywood, and the interior of the Shrine Auditorium. In 1924, screenwriter Madeline Brandeis, who wrote “The Children of All Lands” children’s’ book series, hired Landsburgh to build her a two-story, 15 room house on the last lot, lot 8, of Arbol Drive. Brandeis had recently divorced millionaire department store owner, E. John Brandeis. 24 year old Madeline was able to get a $400,000 settlement and sole custody of their daughter, Marie Madeline Brandeis, leaving her husband in his million dollar home in Beverly Hills. Below lot 8 is the larger house on the left and lot 7 is the smaller house on the right.

After her divorce in 1921, Madeline purchased the recently built house located at 6845 Odin Street in the Majestic Heights Tract where she remained until her 15 room mansion was completed on Arbol Street. After Madeline moved into her house on Arbol Drive, a retired merchant named Louis Neustader moved into the Odin Street house and hired Landsburgh to build a 4 room bungalow next to Brandeis’ home on lot 7 at 6832 Arbol Drive. Above, 6845 Odin Street is the house just below with its roof partially inside of the circle. Below is the residence of Madeline Brandeis at 6836 Arbol Drive.

When Brandeis moved to Hollywood, she produced and financed “Not One to Spare” (1924), and shortly thereafter formed her own production company, Madeline Brandeis Productions, under which she produced “The Shining Adventure” (1925). Both films were about children. In 1927, Brandeis produced an unusual short fiction film, “Young Hollywood”, which featured the children of screen stars- Erich von Stroheim, Jack Holt, Tim McCoy, William Desmond, Wallace and Dorothy Davenport Reid, Hobart Bosworth, Reginald Denny, and Pat O’Malley. She even got her daughter, Marie, involved with writing as she wrote and illustrated her own children’s book at the age of 7 in 1926.

Madeline continued writing her children’s book series and even found love again. In 1933, Brandeis married Dr. Joseph Sampson in Yuma, Arizona and moved into her home on Arbol Drive. Dr. Sampson was the Chief of Pediatrics for the past six years at Sacramento Hospital and would be establishing an office down in Los Angeles. In 1936, Madeline decided to auction off her house and some of her belongings on Arbol Drive. According to the auction advertisement, 6836 Arbol Drive was approximately a 10 room house with the 3 bedrooms arranged in suites, each with their own bathroom. The house also included servants’ quarters and baths, a den, library, office, spacious secluded garden with a patio and a fish pond. The advertisement stated that she was living on the east coast at the time. Her husband had his practice in downtown Los Angeles and she was commuting back and forth to New York for work.

On June 16, 1937, while she and her daughter, now 16 years old, were driving cross country to Los Angeles from New York, they were involved in a roll over accident in Gallup, New Mexico. Both Madeline and Marie sustained injuries and were hospitalized. However, Madeline’s was more serious as she suffered a concussion and was unconscious. Unable to regain consciousness, Madeline died in the hospital on June 28, 1937.

Brandeis continued to reside in the house until her death as the house could not be auctioned off. Dr. Joseph & Mrs. Josephine Hilton purchased the property after her death. Dr. Hilton worked at the Hollywood Hospital and treated celebrities such as actresses Dorothy Lee and Irene Rich and later became the Hotel doctor for his cousin, Conrad, at the Hotel Hilton (Beverly Hilton). Yes, he was Paris Hilton’s second uncle. Hilton was present at the hotel on January 13, 1958, when producer Jesse Lasky collapsed of a heart attack and died while waiting for his car. The Hiltons remained at this residence until the home was demolished in 1954.

Meanwhile, Louis and Elsa Neustadler had built the 4 room bungalow home next door at 6832 Arbol Drive on lot 7. The Neustadlers must have had a connection with Brandeis, purchasing 6845 Odin Street, building this home next door to her new home and even residing in her house between 1932 and 1934. After this house was built, they moved Elsa’s parents into the bungalow. After Elsa died in 1944, Louis moved to Montecito and both his house on Odin Street and this home. This house had several owners before it was moved to Belle Porte Avenue in Harbor City before being demolished in the 1990s.

The next house to be built was the first lot on the right, lot 3, at 6813 Arbol Drive. In 1925, a widow named Alezan George, hired Carl Jules Weyl to build a 6 room, 2 story bungalow. Weyl, not only designed the Brown Derby #2, he also joined Cecil DeMille Productions and then Warner Brother’s during the Depression as an art director. Weyl was the 1939 Oscar winner for Best Art Direction in “The Adventures of Robin Hood”. After his win, he worked on several Bette Davis films including; “The Letter”, “The Great Lie”, and “The Corn is Green” and worked on “Casablanca” in 1942 and “The Big Sleep” starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Weyl had also designed several of the homes in Whitley Heights.

Alezan George moved into the bungalow with her children after the house was built in 1925. Her daughter, Wilda George, a.k.a. Foxie Hall (below) (1899-1966), became an actress and starred in minor roles in “The Animal Kingdom” in 1932, “Our Relations” in 1936, “Swiss Miss” in 1938, “Casanova Brown” in 1944, and “Sister Kenny’ in 1946. In 1935, Wilda married actor Charlie Hall (1899-1959) in Yuma, AZ. The two never had any children and were both in the acting circuit until their deaths. Hall started out as a member of the Fred Karno vaudeville troupe in Europe which Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel both started out in. Hall is best remembered as the short and stocky, black haired and bed tempered nemesis to Laurel and Hardy in their films. During the 1950s, Hall’s health began to suffer and in 1959, he passed away in his North Hollywood home with Wilda by his side.

In 1930, the George family rented one of the rooms to actor Art Rowlands. Rowlands (1897-1944) credited for 95 minor roles between 1921 and 1944 including; The Pride of the Yankees with Gary Cooper, Harold Lloyds’ A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob with Lucille Ball, Men with Rings wit Fred MacMurray, and True Confession with Carole Lombard.

The house was eventually sold to Gladys Pearl Baker in 1932; she was Marilyn Monroe’s mother. Baker’s life was often unstable, and her daughter, Norman Jean Baker, was often left to live with other people who could take care of her and even spent some time at an orphanage in Los Angeles. During this point of time, Baker was motivated to get Norma Jean back and worked two jobs to save up and buy this home for $6,000.

Baker purchased a white grand baby piano in which Norma Jean would take lessons on, often hearing the music from the Hollywood Bowl just over the hill. This house had six rooms, including 4 bedrooms, a large living room with a fireplace, and a back porch. Baker bought all of the furniture at an auction including a white baby grand piano that had been owned by actor Frederic March. Below are Gladys and Norma Jean Baker (Marilyn Monroe) in front of the house on Arbol Drive circa 1933-34.

Baker struggled to afford the mortgage on the house from her film cutter’s salary and was forced to lease out part of the house to Mr. and Mrs. George Atkinson, English actors trying to get bit parts in the movies. George had worked in “Saratoga”, “Charlie Chan’s Murder Cruise”, “How Green was My Valley”, “The Boston Strangler” and “I Remember Mama”. The Chinese and Egyptian theaters were walking distance so Norma Jean would often go and “lose herself” in the movies. Baker suffered from a nervous breakdown and had to be hospitalized so the Atkinsons briefly cared for Norma Jean until a foster family could be found and the house was sold in 1935. After a series of homeowners, the house was razed in 1954 for the Hollywood Bowl parking lot.

House number four was 6826 Arbol Drive, which was built on lot 6 in 1927 for producer Benjamin Brodsky who built a 2 story, 7 room house. Brodsky (1877-1960) founded China’s first film company, the Asia Film Company, in 1909 after relocating to China from San Francisco after an earthquake. When he returned to San Francisco in 1915, he reportedly had close to a hundred thousand feet of film he had shot while in China. He edited it down to a long travelogue and a couple of years later into a series of ten short films. Brodsky moved to Venice Beach in 1922 and then built this house in 1927 and only resided in the home for several months before he auctioned off the house and all of its contents because he was sailing for the Orient on December 1st. Brodsky had planned to retire in this home, but business called him back to China.

The house had 8 rooms including a living room, dining room, kitchen with a butler’s pantry, breakfast room and a 3 car garage. On the second floor were the bedrooms, including the master bedroom and 3 tiled bathrooms. There was also a basement and the grounds were landscaped with avocado, orange, and cherry trees, flowers, and an underground sprinkler system. Brodsky called his home a “baby castle”.

In 1932, art director John Holden (1883-1967) rented the home. Between 1915 to 1935, Holden had 17 art directing credits. Holden started his career on two Mary Pickford films: “Little Pal and Rags” and “The Foundling” both in 1915 with the Famous Players Film Co. He also worked on “Husband and Lovers” in 1924 starring Lewis Stone and Florence Vidor with Louis B. Mayer Producers. During the 1930s, Holden worked on two Ann Dvorak films. Unfortunately this little castle was demolished in 1954 for the Hollywood Bowl parking lot.

The last house to be built was in 1928 on lot 4, 6816 Arbol Drive. The two story home had 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Between 1932 and 1934 actresses Kay English and Maureen O’Sullivan rented the house as roommates.

Maureen O’Sullivan (1911-1998) left her Garden of Allah bungalow and rented this house with Kay English. Born in Ireland, American film director Frank Borzage was in Dublin in 1929, filming Song o’ My Heart (1930), when the 18 year old met him. He suggested a screen test, which she took. The results were more than favorable and she won the substantial role of Eileen O’Brien and went to Hollywood to complete filming. O’Sullivan had 102 credits between 1930 and 1994 including; “Tarzan the Ape Man” (1932), “David Copperfield” (1935), “Anna Karenina” (1935), “Hannah and her Sisters” (1986), and “Peggy Sue Got Married”. O’Sullivan married screenwriter John Farrow and they had 7 children; 6 of which tried their hand at acting. Patrick was one The Loretta Young Show. John guest starred on NYPD in 1968. Tisa had 15 credits during the 1970s, most notably in the film Manhattan with Woody Allen and Diane Keaton. Prudence worked behind the scenes and was a production assistant in “The Muppets Take Manhattan”. Prudence was in “The Purple Rose of Cairo”. The youngest, Mia Farrow became the well known star with 63 credits, most notably, “Rosemary’s Baby”, the tv series “Peyton Place”, “The Great Gatsby”, “Hannah and her Sisters”, and “Crimes and Misdemeanors”. O’Sullivan and Farrow remained married until his death in 1963.

Kay English had 31 credits between 1928 and 1958 and started as a cabernet girl in “The Noose” starring Richard Barthelmess. Most of her roles were as uncredited dancers in movies such as “42nd Street”, “Ziegfeld Girl”, and “The Harvey Girls” which starred Judy Garland. In 1946, English married actor Norman Kerry who starred opposite Mary Pickford in “A Little Princess” in 1917 and Constance Talmadge in “Good Night, Paul” in 1918. Kerry is perhaps best known for his role in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” in 1923 and “The Phantom of the Opera” in 1925. They remained married until Kerry’s death in 1956 after complications from surgery at the age of 60.

After O’Sullivan and English moved out, Cyril Hume, writer for RKO studios, and his wife, actress Helen Chandler rented the home briefly in 1934 until they separated. The two were married on February 3, 1930, when Hume was working at MGM, where he wrote the screenplay for “Trader Horn” in 1931. For a time, the two kept their marriage a secret, eventually settling into a home on Kings Road in the Hollywood Hills with Hume’s 5 year old daughter, Barbara, by a previous marriage. Helen turned out to be somewhat unreliable and unstable, developing a drinking problem and having trouble remembering to pay her bills. During their 4 year relationship, the two move around: Santa Monica, Hollywood Hills, this house and one across the street in the French Village. In 1950, Helen was in an apartment fire after falling asleep with a lit cigarette on Whitley Avenue which caused severe burns on her face and finished her acting career. Chandler died in 1965 after complications due to surgery. Hume, who had married twice after Chandler, died in 1966 in his home in Palos Verdes at the age of 66. Below is Chandler on Arbol Drive watering the flowers in front of the home.

Barker Brothers designer Robert Harrell and his wife, Wilhelmine, purchased this property in 1935 and remained here until 1941. Their first October of moving in, they had a children’s Halloween party and invited several celebrity children, including those of Karen DeWolf.

DeWolf (1904–1989), sometimes known as Gypsy Wells, was an American screenwriter and novelist credited on over 50 films during her 20+ years in Hollywood. She’s best known for her work on Columbia’s Blondie films, in addition to movies like Nine Girls and Johnny Allegro. She also wrote a book, Take the Laughter, in 1940. She had dreams of becoming an actress, and caused quite a stir at 17 by posing in a swimsuit for a photo that ended up on the cover of National Police Gazette. (After being suspended, DeWolf would tell her principal she had never agreed for those photos—which were taken with the intent of furthering her ambition to be an actress—to be used in that manner. She briefly gave up her Hollywood dreams, however, when she married her first husband, real estate developer John Warfield Wells, at age 19. At this time, she assumed the stage name Gypsy Wells and performed in the San Francisco Bay Area as a dancer. The marriage would soon end in divorce. After moving to Hollywood, DeWolf married cinematographer Abraham Fried, aka Conrad Wells, in 1926, but the pair separated in the late 1920s, shortly before Wells died in a freak plane accident in 1930 on the set of Such Men Are Dangerous. Soon after, she married Eric DeWolf, president of the California Etchers Association. Below: Mary Jane Clary, Bobby Harrell, Guy De Wolf and Grete De Wolf.

When DeWolf first arrived in Hollywood, she hoped to be an actress, but she eventually discovered a love for screenwriting.She slipped a script to director Lowell Sherman on set one day, and he brought her on as an editor and dialogue director. From there, she worked her way into writing rooms, gaining work on a number of franchises, including the Charlie Chan films, the Jones Family films, and the Blondie films. Her career came to a halt in the 1950s when she was blacklisted during the McCarthy era for alleged Communist ties. They were living at 6662 Odin Street in Whitley Heights during this time period. 

6816 Arbol Drive was relocated to 8340 Melrose Avenue in 1954 and sits behind Gina Holz Designs near Kings Road. The building is currently being used as a medical supply store. (See below).

It appears lot 5 remained vacant until 1949 when Orville Figgs and Dave Weinstock bought a duplex located at 6638 Odin Street in Whitley Heights and saved it from being demolished for construction of the 101 Freeway and then put the duplex up for sale as income property. However, the new owners did not get much rental usage as the duplex was torn down in 1954.

The advertisement in 1949 for the duplex to be sold and relocated:

Like the 8000 block of Odin Street, Arbol Drive is no longer. The Hollywood Bowl took over tract 7742 and razed the street to be used as part of a parking lot on Highland Avenue. Below is where Arbol Drive would be located if the Hollywood Bowl did not demolished it for the parking lot.