FOR SALE: ESTATE OF JAMES WHALE

Villa Collina, a Mediterranean Revival masterpiece nestled in the hills of Los Feliz in the shadow of Griffith Observatory, has a historic Hollywood pedigree stretching back almost a century. Designed by architect Henry Harwood Hewitt in 1927, the four-bedroom, four-bath estate was built for Olympian Clement E. Smoot, who was part of the 1904 gold medal-winning golfing team. A later resident was Artur Rodzinski, famed Polish conductor of the LA Philharmonic.

But Villa Collina became famous as the home of legendary English director James Whale in the 1930s.

One of the most prolific directors of the decade, Whale — portrayed by Ian McKellen in the 1998 feature Gods and Monsters — directed horror classics including Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, Bride of Frankenstein and appropriately, The Old Dark House. He also directed classics including Showboat and The Man in the Iron Mask. “A director must be pretty bad if he can’t get a thrill out of war, murder, robbery,” he once said.

The extensively refurbished home features handmade tiles, a chef’s kitchen with glass Sub Zero refrigerator, a half-acre of gardens with a Roman pool and gazebo, a private tower room and a newly redesigned hotel-style guest apartment that doubles as a spa with a marble steam shower.

Previously sold in 2021 for $5.62 million, the house has been co-listed by Nourmand & Associates agent Konstantine Valissarakos and Richard Yohon at Sotheby’s. For $7.24 million, a buyer can become the owner of a true Hollywood classic. But knowing Villa Collina’s history, they might have to share it with a ghost or two...

SOURCE

THIS WEEK IN FILM HISTORY

Here are some more interesting events that happened in movie history during this week:

July 28, 1928: Encouraged by the response to the few minutes of sound in The Jazz Singer, Warner Bros. releases Lights of New York, the first all-talking picture.

July 28, 1948: Lon Chaney, Jr. and Bela Lugosi play the Wolf Man and Dracula, respectively, for the last time onscreen in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.

July 27, 1950: George Pal's Destination Moon, one of the first films to offer a serious look at space exploration, opens.

July 25, 1952: High Noon, the western that would garner Gary Cooper an Oscar for his performance as the retired sheriff faced with a fateful showdown, opens.

July 28, 1954: Seen by many as an answer to critics of his 1952 HUAC testimony, director Elia Kazan's "informer" drama On the Waterfront opens.

July 29, 1957: James Whale, director of the horror staples Frankenstein and The Invisible Man, is found drowned in his swimming pool at age 67.

July 26, 1960: Art director Cedric Gibbons, who took home the Oscar statuette (which he designed) 11 times, dies at the age of 67.

July 30, 1966: With all of the "BIFF! POW! SOCK!" of the campy TV show, Batman, starring Adam West, makes his first film appearance since 1943.

July 28, 1978: National Lampoon's Animal House, starring John Belushi, opens and quickly finds a huge youth audience.

July 27, 1983: Tom Cruise teaches audiences the fine art of dancing in one's underwear in the hit comedy Risky Business.

July 28, 1991: Paul Reubens, aka Pee-wee Herman, is arrested in Sarasota, Fla., for indecent behavior in an adult movie theater.

July 28, 1995: Star Kevin Costner's aquatic sci-fi tale Waterworld, reportedly the first $200 million film, opens to less than a flood of ticketbuyers.

July 24, 1998: Director Steven Spielberg and star Tom Hanks acquaint a new generation with the drama and sacrifice of World War II in Saving Private Ryan.