In 1964, Walt Disney imagined an enchanting 26-acre Hollywood campus for CalArts in the hills near the Hollywood Bowl.

“The prettiest spot in Hollywood” was at the corner of Franklin and Whitley avenues: Pearl Park. In 1916, Stephen Willis built the bungalow court named after his new bride, Hollywood socialite Pearl Herndon, who grew up a block south at 1738 Whitley Avenue. The newlyweds settled in at 1838 Whitley, the largest of six duplexes in the Northern Italian-inspired residence park, designed by a local landscape engineer who experimented as architect. Along Whitley Avenue, the formal

Among the dozens of Whitley Heights homes lost to the Hollywood Freeway was 6785 Whitley Terrace, which has remained a mystery — until the discovery of this photograph! 6785 Whitley Terrace in 1924 (Bison Archives) Built in 1922, it was located at the fork in the road that led either down to Wedgewood Place (pictured above, foreground) or continuing along the Whitley Terrace loop.

Next-door neighbors are inescapable, especially when you’re both retired. The homes of Eugene O’Brien and Robert Vignola were in such close proximity, the former film star could literally drop in — jumping from his balcony onto the director’s patio. Whitley Terrace in the early 1920s: The home of Robert Vignola is on the far right, with Eugene O'Brien to its left. In 1929, writer Basil Woon visited Vignola on Whitley Terrace for the article “You Can’t Get Away With It in Holl

Doctor to the stars Hans Schiff built a shining example of International Style in Whitley Heights — by architect and interior designer Paul Laszlo. 6624 Whitley Terrace was photographed by Julius Shulman for the February 1940 edition of The Architectural Forum (J. Paul Getty Trust) In 1939, a decade after the neighborhood’s Mediterranean restriction ended, German-born Schiff hired the Hungarian émigré to design his family’s modern home at 6624 Whitley Terrace, characterized b

This L-shaped stunner was the longtime residence of silent film star J. Warren Kerrigan, best remembered for Sampson (1914) and The Covered Wagon (1922). In 1918, he designed the Swiss Chalet bungalow for himself and his mother Sarah at 2307 Cahuenga Boulevard, “right where the hills bob and dip and form pockets for fields of beautiful flowers to nestle in,” described Motion Picture Magazine in 1918.

Not every Whitley Heights home in the freeway’s path was destroyed. A select few were relocated, both near (within the neighborhood) and far — 40 miles away in Huntington Beach, as was the case for 6793 Whitley Terrace. 6793 Whitley Terrace (LAPL) After 28 years at the corner of Iris Drive (where its front door was located; see below), in 1950 the three-bedroom Spanish Colonial Revival was severed in half vertically and transported from the Hollywood Hills to Orange County.

Before Adriana Caselotti voiced Snow White, she had her own fairytale cottage on Cahuenga Boulevard. Adriana Caselotti In 1935, her father, singing teacher Maestro Guido Caselotti, was operating a studio out of a “handsome English type home” — pitched roof, Juliet balconies, and battlement—when he received a call from a Disney casting agent asking if he recommended any of his students who could play a princess.

Although Jean Harlow didn’t live in Whitley Heights (despite rampant rumors to the contrary), her acting/voice coach Samuel Kayzer did, at 6617 Whitley Terrace — and the majestic home is still there . Jean Harlow in front of 6617 Whitley Terrace Here is an incredible video of Jean leaving Kayzer’s home after a lesson and taking off in her Cadillac, in candid footage shot by "Father of the Travelogue" Burton Holmes, who lived around the corner on Grace Avenue, in 1931.

As planning began for the Hollywood Freeway, many of the homes that stood in the way of progress were acquired by the state and then auctioned off at a fraction of their worth. If the new owners were unable to relocate the structure immediately, it was bulldozed. One of the first victims of this controversial tactic was 6786 Whitley Terrace, which sold for $855 in 1948. (Dick Whittington Studio / USC)

Such a dramatic house may not be the most inconspicuous hiding spot for your mistress — but then again William Randolph Hearst was not a subtle man. 6697 Whitley Terrace, with Robert Vignola at left In 1923, the media tycoon built this Mediterranean villa on Whitley Terrace to stash actress Marion Davies, who he allowed to live here with her favorite director, Robert G. Vignola. The trio had collaborated several times on films for Hearst’s Cosmopolitan Productions, including

One of the few homes rescued from the freeway’s path is a sprawling mansion with a mysterious connection to Harold Lloyd. 2053 Lloyd Lane (left) / UCSC Branson DeCou Archive The silent film star didn’t exactly live in Whitley Heights, although rumor has long had it otherwise. During the neighborhood’s land boom, he snapped up several lots in an area dubbed Lloyd Lane in 1924.

The home, now on Pilgrimage Terrace (Kathleen Perricone) This adorable doll house in the Hollywood Dell looks like it’s always been here — but until 1950, it was located just across Cahuenga Boulevard. Built by Bride of Frankenstein screenwriter William Hurlbut in 1933, the two-bedroom charmer had a pretty uneventful life at at 2225 Fairfield Avenue in Whitley Heights.

Below the Mediterranean mecca of Whitley Heights sat another European-inspired beauty: the French Village. French Village In 1919, brothers Walter and Pierpont Davis built up a cluster of unique cottages, located at the convergence of Highland Avenue and Cahuenga Boulevard, modeled after the Normandy countryside — “far removed from the conventional, commercial type,” described the 1921 Building Review.

The last home to be torn down for the freeway was amongst the first to go up in Whitley Heights: 6787 Whitley Terrace, otherwise known as the Heartbreak House. 6787 Whitley Terrace The owners, Edwin “Ted” and Ruth Anderson, were wealthy Chicagoans “tired of the flatness” of the Windy City when they built upon “the highest hill we could find” in 1922. Protective of their architectural wonder, the couple shunned all requests for photoshoots. They could do little about lookie-lo

The most famous resident of Whitley Heights, Rudolph Valentino lived at 6776 Wedgewood Place with second wife Natacha Rambova and an imported pack of dogs featuring German Shepards, Italian mastiffs, and Spanish greyhounds. Rudolph Valentino's home The Sheik actor supposedly fell in love with the neighborhood while driving by one day — its Mediterranean architecture reminded Valentino of his native Italy. In 1922, he purchased four plots of land for his marital estate with Ra

The “happiest bride in Hollywood,” Carole Lombard made her honeymoon home with William Powell in Whitley Heights. Following their June 1931 wedding, the Paramount stars moved into a romantic four-bedroom Spanish Villa on Iris Circle with panoramic views, vaulted ceilings, tiled courtyards, and a two-car garage tunneling beneath the living room.