The Home and Garden of Walt Disney
Here is an article from the Better Homes & Gardens magazine of January 1940. It features photos of Walt's Woking Way home in the Los Feliz/Silverlake district overlooking the Hyperion Avenue studios, where Walt and Lillian lived since they left their Lyric Avenue house in 1932, until February 1st, 1950 when they moved into their Carolwood Drive house in Holmby Hills.
The $50,000 twelve-room French-Norman style house on Woking Way was built in the summer of 1932 in a mere two and a half months, to be in time for a baby that never arrived. The happy occasion finally occurred in December 1933 with the birth of daughter Diane Marie Disney. The text in the article is very general, but I still thought this interesting enough to post here.
By the way, all three houses were built by Walt himself. The 355 North Carolwood Drive mansion was incomprehensibly destroyed quite recently by the new owners, but like the $8,000 house on 2495 Lyric Ave, Walt's 4053 Woking Way house is still there, as seen on the Google Earth grab. Don't go bothering the owners, though!
The $50,000 twelve-room French-Norman style house on Woking Way was built in the summer of 1932 in a mere two and a half months, to be in time for a baby that never arrived. The happy occasion finally occurred in December 1933 with the birth of daughter Diane Marie Disney. The text in the article is very general, but I still thought this interesting enough to post here.
By the way, all three houses were built by Walt himself. The 355 North Carolwood Drive mansion was incomprehensibly destroyed quite recently by the new owners, but like the $8,000 house on 2495 Lyric Ave, Walt's 4053 Woking Way house is still there, as seen on the Google Earth grab. Don't go bothering the owners, though!
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Hans,
ReplyDeleteAnother great find!
Thanks for sharing with us. It helps to create a deeper understanding of the man, the times and his life.
That's wonderful...I spent my high school years living nearby in Los Feliz below the Greek theater. I've never actually seen this Disney home, although I know the street. It must be quite set back. Thanks as always for posting this.
ReplyDeleteThe demolishing of perfectly wonderful older homes(sometimes seriously important ones, such as those by paul Williams or Julia Morgan) is endemic to Bel Air and its environs; it's horrible. I'm SURE it's because the new owners want something "bigger" and more "up to date"--as in 30,000 sq feet of stucco and concrete or something equally absurd. The stupidity is that there's virtually no way a typical large house could be created today that would be as well made as what was done in Walt's time..the materials and craftsmanship aren't around any longer, not on that scale, no matter what's spent.
What a waste!
In regards to demolishing Walt's home and probably putting up a concrete eyesore, as my wife often says, "People with money, don't necessarily have taste."
ReplyDeleteIndeed! The unofficial story I heard is that Lillian Disney sold her Carolwood house on the condition that the new owners would keep the house intact. Then, when it changed hands, the new owners could not get the bulldozers in fast enough. As I said, this is hear-say, I have no good official source for this...
ReplyDeleteThanks for giving us this vintage story.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this! I'm reading Neal Gabler's biography of Disney and was curious about the sites in the area associated with him (I live in Glendale). The Better Homes and Gardens article was a nice find.
ReplyDeleteHans, Diane asked me to correct the "unofficial story" about the sale of the Carolwood House you mentioned in your comments. She notes that "Mother didn't specify that whoever bought her home had to live in it. It was sold to pay her estate taxes, and was a home Dad designed for the way he liked to live. It was pretty modest by current standards for that address."
ReplyDeleteThank you, Paula and Diane! There are lots of rumors around, and it is great to get this one put in the ground from the most reliable source. Now - you can say "why then even mention it?" and you could be right. But truly, the world would not now have known the true story, for which I thank you again!
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