eyewitness travel guides: Listing of the Week: Showbiz history in the Hollywood Hills

Friday, November 18, 2011

Listing of the Week: Showbiz history in the Hollywood Hills

Zillow

The Samuel-Novarro house has Mayan design influences.

By Zillow

While Frank Lloyd Wright dominated the Midwest with his groundbreaking design, his son, Frank Lloyd Wright Jr ? or simply Lloyd Wright ? made his mark on architecture in Southern California.

While Lloyd Wright's homes are architecturally significant, many of them are culturally significant as well and housed some of the biggest up-and-coming stars from the early days on the silver screen. One of his most significant properties is Lloyd Wright's Samuel-Novarro house currently listed on the Hollywood Hills real estate market for $4.195 million. Not only is it the former home of silent film star Ramon Novarro, but a few current day stars as well.

Like Lloyd Wright's Sowden house, the Samuel-Novarro residence is a contemporary building with blocky Mayan influences and tropical gardens.

Wright built the home in 1928 for Louis Samuel, Novarro's personal secretary and companion. However, when Novarro discovered Samuel was embezzling funds from him in 1929, he told Samuel he wouldn't press charges if Samuel "made it right." To make up for the financial losses, Samuel turned over his Lloyd Wright property to Novarro. Born in Mexico, Novarro emigrated to the U.S. as a small child and began his role in film as a dancer. After starring in a few films, he gained national fame with his role in "Ben-Hur" and then "Mata-Hari" alongside Greta Garbo.

Upon acquiring the estate, Novarro rehired Wright to renovate and enlarge the hillside home, adding a pergola, a music room, a bedroom suite.

According to the Big Orange Landmark blog, Novarro owned the home until the 1930s. In the 1940s, Leonard Bernstein, Jerome Robbins, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green rented the home while they worked on the Broadway musical "On the Town."

The property then bounced around between a few different owners, including record producer John Carter. Actress Diane Keaton picked up the home in the early 1990s and hired celebrity designer Josh Schweitzer to remodel it. Keaton sold it a decade later.

In 2005, Christina Ricci bought the property, but turned around and sold it the following year for $2,827,528.

According to the property listing, the current owner has meticulously restored the residence to its former glory. The historic 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom home has concrete floors and dramatic windows and skylights. Part of the property's allure is its exotic grounds, which include a partially covered pool, bamboo tree-lined sitting area and jasmine-covered walkway.

Hollywood Hills has long been a celebrity enclave, hosting everyone from Matthew Perry to Ryan Reynolds. Median Hollywood Hills home values are currently $976,700.

The listing is held by Marisa Zanuck of Hilton & Hyland.

According to Zillow's mortgage calculator, a monthly payment on the Lloyd Wright Samuel-Novarro house is $15,852, assuming a 20 percent down payment on a 30-year-mortgage.