Originally designed and built way back in the late 1920s for a prominent Los Angeles family — and reportedly the site of a high-society wedding chronicled in detail within the pages of The New York Times — this stately Mediterranean Revival gem in the sought-after Hancock Park neighborhood was last sold in the ’70s and has remained in the same hands ever since; now the virtually unchanged time capsule has popped up for sale almost a half century later, asking the recently reduced sum of $6.5 million.
Described in the listing held by John Duerler of Hancock Homes Realty as “a stunning representation of early California architecture, blending Italian Renaissance design with touches of Palladian/Venetian and Spanish Colonial Revival,” the eight-bedroom, four-bath home features almost 7,000 square feet of mostly original living space on two levels — all of it adorned throughout with a mix of parquet and terracotta floors, high ceilings, wood-paneled walls, intricate crown molding, and arched doorways and casement windows.
Nestled on a corner parcel spanning almost a half-acre, the stucco and terracotta-roof structure is fronted by a brick walkway that empties out at an eye-catching entryway boasting Roman Tuscan columns and a covered porch. An ornate wood-carved front door opens into the expansive double-height foyer, which displays a bifurcated staircase with its original wrought-iron railing, as well as authentic tile floors and stained-glass windows, a Juliet balcony and decorative chandelier dangling from the hand-painted coffered ceiling.
From there, a sun-drenched living room sporting a floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace flows to a wood-paneled library with a fireplace and built-in bookshelves. An adjoining sunroom holds a WWII-era wet bar imported from Germany and French doors leading to a formal wood-paneled dining room spotlighted by floor-to-ceiling windows; and an adjacent butler’s pantry connects to a “traditional” kitchen, which is outfitted with hand-painted tile walls, a center island, dumbwaiter, walk-in pantry and separate breakfast room resting beneath a hand-painted coved ceiling. This particular level also hosts two bedrooms.
Upstairs, a two-room master retreat has a fireplace, plus dual walk-in closets and baths. Four additional bedrooms and balconies overlooking the grounds also can be found on the second level; and outdoors, the grassy and hedged backyard is showcased by a European-style courtyard centered around a fountain. A gated driveway tucked off to the side of the house passes through a porte-cochere, and ends at a motorcourt flanked by a detached two-car garage with a couple of rear bonus rooms ideal for use as storage or an office space.
