Tucked into a leafy, little known residential pocket of Burbank, Calif., where it’s surrounded by NBCUniversal, Warner Bros. Studios and The Walt Disney Studios, the longtime home of late and pioneering Disney artist and Imagineer Claude Coats has come to market at $1.279 million. Coats, who helped define the character of early animated films and, later, immersive installations for Disneyland, designed the house, per listing descriptions, “as an ode to [California architect] Cliff May” and had it built in 1940 by the Meyer & Holler construction concern, builders of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. Listed with Alisa Cunningham of Douglas Elliman Real Estate, the U-shaped ranch house is invisible from the street behind a verdant wall of foliage and trees on a lushly planted quarter-acre parcel with three bedrooms and two vintage bathrooms in 1,807 square feet.
Coats died in the early 1990s and passed the house to his son who restored and updated residence in a manner that maintains much of it’s original architectural integrity and seamlessly integrates modern conveniences that include in-wall wiring for internet, audio, sound and home theatre systems. Slightly variegated refinished hardwood floors run between the living room anchored by a massive but minimalist-minded white brick fireplace and a petite dining room that spills into a solarium-like entrance gallery. Unquestionably compact by today’s standards, the kitchen has original cabinetry painted minty green, up-to-date stainless steel appliances, a built-in dining banquette and a separate laundry room with original storage cabinets. Both guest bedrooms open to a secluded backyard and share a hall bathroom while the master bedroom has it’s own bathroom dressed up in funky peach and avocado colored tile work.
Surrounded by thick tropical landscaping and mature fruit trees laden with oranges, grapefruits and avocados, a huge patio of the front of the house takes advantage of a through-the-treetops view of the backside of the Hollywood Hills and includes a classic kidney-shaped swimming pool.
Listing photos: Douglas Elliman Real Estate
