This Egyptian Revival Residence at 2700 Glendower Avenue in Los Feliz is my former residence. Granted, I lived in the mother-in-law apartment behind the house, but it made my first few years in LA pretty special. My view was of the golf course on the north side of the hill, with the ability to hear concerts at the Greek Theater… like Ms. Tina Turner.
Michele, who owned the house, was one of LA’s few female stunt car/precision drivers. Remember those Mercedes Benz commercials with Cybil Shepard in the 90’s? That was Michele’s handy work. I was living in an 8 week sublet when I met Michele at the salon and heard about her ‘room for rent’. I couldn’t move in fast enough. She also had 3 beautiful dogs that roamed the gated compound, so there was never any need to lock the doors. I’m going to do my best to dig up some photos from my archives of my time there. In the meantime, I’m using current and past MLS photos for this post, plus the ones I took from the street recently.
When I was taking photos at the Egyptian Theater this week, the trapezoid shapes triggered my memory of Michele’s home. So I decided it was time for a drive by to see how the house was looking. I was surprised to see that the home was for sale, and even more stunned to read it described as a Contemporary Brick & Glass Masterpiece. That’s not how I remembered it, so I looked it up on the MLS when I got home. Usually I’m all for renovating and updating, however, in this case, I think it was a huge mistake. Some homes are meant to have old world charm, and this is one of those homes. Michele had spent years working with a British Blue Blood Designer making the home into a rustic southwestern styled retreat. I realize that by now, that look was probably dated as well. However, the new images I’ve posted below from the current MLS listing show a remarkable change. The white kitchen looks like it belongs in a cape cod styled home. And the 60’s mod/hollywood regency great room looks ridiculous. It appears the fireplace as been removed, which makes me wonder about structural support. I was living in this home during the NorthRidge earthquake, and we came through it fairly unscathed. In fact, we had a large feast at the dinner table that night with about half a dozen of us, celebrating our good fortune.
My favorite room in this entire residence was the upstairs living room with the panoramic views. Sadly, the recessed soffits that echoed the exterior shape of the curved stucco trim, are completely gone. The room had previously been styled with vintage and rustic furniture that included an oval shaped wrought iron coffee table, previously used for a child’s casket. I know, sounds grim, but it was pretty damn cool. Her downstairs office was also lined with cowhide, there were rough hewn wide planks floors through out the home, with an overall casual elegance to it.
The home was built in 1924, and was completed about 6 months before Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ennis Brown Home down the street. I can only imagine what the ridge must have looked like in the 20’s & 30’s with only those Egyptian and Mayan structures. Michele had told me that the home was built by a Saudi Prince for his Mistress, however, research shows that it was built by contractor Arthur Holiday as his personal residence, and is sometimes referred to at the Arthur Holiday Residence… I think I like Michele’s story better. Also Michele had mentioned that she could have bought the lot across the street for about $15,000 in the early 70’s to ensure her view. She thought why bother, who could possibly build in the middle of that ravine. But this is LA, she should have known better. Once the home across the street was finally built, it took years to sell… lets chalk it up to bad feng shui.
The home was listed on 5/15/2012 by Carol Dotson at 310.927.4107, and was recently reduced by $200,000 to $2,395,000. I guess I’m not the only one who isn’t in love with the cape-cod/mid-century makeover. Hopefully it’ll sell to someone who has the vision to restore some of what’s been lost… this is after all, one of LA’s only Egyptian Revival homes.
