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!
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.
When real estate broker and author Stanley L. McMichael purchased the seven-room residence in 1925, he did extensive renovations that nearly doubled its size.
Fortunately, there was plenty of room to expand: To the west of 6785 Whitley Terrace was an empty lot that doubled as a neighborhood park. (On the other side was 6787 Whitley Terrace, known as the Heartbreak House)
In the new living room facing the Cahuenga Pass, he installed a massive art glass window honoring Junipero Serra, the Spanish Roman Catholic priest who led several missions through the same area in the 18th century.
On another wall in the 43x22 room, Mrs. McMichael recreated Bridal Veil Falls in Yosemite National Park—complete with a miniature waterfall. Her replica, done entirely by hand, included petrified rock from Arizona and Alaska.
Not only was Stanley president of the Whitley Heights Civic Association from 1931 to 1938, he was the neighborhood’s go-to real estate agent and sold several properties, such as Rudolph Valentino’s on Wedgewood Place.
Although both the Valentino and McMichael homes have been gone for 70 years, one remnant of the Whitley Terrace-Wedgewood Place fork remains: the streetlight.
