The House That Jack McDermott Built (1923-1962)
Jul 24, 2025
3 min read
Updated: Jul 2
It was “The House That Jack Built,” cobbled together with discarded movie sets and prop pieces from some of Hollywood’s most famous pictures.
In 1921, writer-director John “Jack” McDermott purchased a lot in the Hollywood Hills overlooking the Cahuenga Pass—and for two years, the eccentric filmmaker lived there inside a piano box.
While at Schenck Productions one day in 1923, he spotted several rooms used in Norma Talmadge’s recently completed The Song of Love, a drama set in Algeria. McDermott purchased them and everything inside, and hauled it all to his hillside property, where he built a foundation from rocks he found in the area.
