They say age is nothing but a number and that certainly seems to be the case with this locale which is brought to you courtesy of two stalwarts who are still trailblazing their respective industries despite being in their 90s. Known as the “Kimball House,” as well as the “Triangle House,” the sharply angled abode that stands at 4946 Vanalden Ave. in Tarzana is the creation of modernist master Harry Gesner, the now 96-year-old architect who gifted Los Angeles with such landmarks as the Wave House from the film “Yesterday,” the Hollywood Hills boat houses from “The Kominsky Method” and the Malibu mansion where Britney Spears lensed “Sometimes.”
The Kimball House is a star in its own right, having served as the main location in “Breezy,” a 1973 drama helmed by fellow nonagenarian Clint Eastwood, who turned 91 this past May. Not one of the esteemed director’s most famous works, the film chronicles the unlikely May-December romance between 19-year-old bohemian nomad Edith Alice Breezerman (Kay Lenz), aka “Breezy,” and Frank Harmon (William Holden), the wealthy curmudgeonly realtor some 35 years her senior whom she befriends and eventually falls in love with. It is a slightly disquieting story when viewed through a 2021 lens, though, truth be told, it wasn’t exactly well-received upon its release, either.
In his 2002 book “Clint: The Life and Legend,” biographer Patrick McGilligan states, “In Clint’s career, nothing would rival it as a flop. Released in November 1973, ‘Breezy’ barely cracked Variety’s list of current Top Fifty films, before disappearing from the weekly rankings. It was not widely booked then or thereafter, and was not made available in video until 1998. Twenty years would go by before Clint dared to direct – or star in – another love story.” And Richard Schickel asserts in his 2010 bio “Clint: A Retrospective,” that the movie “confounded expectations and alienated many of Eastwood’s fans.” Ouch.
“Breezy” was only the third film to be helmed by the now-prolific director and his first to be lensed entirely in the Los Angeles area. And while not beloved overall, one thing audiences did take to was Frank’s fabulous midcentury home, where most of the movie takes place. I have been asked about its location several times over the years by fellow film location fanatics, one of whom finally managed to ID it as the legendary Kimball House last month.
