The Fascinating History Of The Beverly Hills Witch House

Table Of Content

• Wonderfully Witchy: The Full Story of the Spadena House in Beverly Hills
• The Spadena House, also known as The Witch's House, is a storybook house in Beverly Hills, California
• Spadena House
• The Sandcastle House, architect Harry Gesner’s unique personal home in Malibu sells for $13.5 Million
• This $899k Cape Cod ‘Bow House’ set in a New Jersey township will steal your heart

People were struck by its extraordinary and appealing exterior, even after the studios shut down. The Witch House was built in the 1920s and served as a set and office for Willat Studios. The home was used for several silent films such as Hansel and Gretel. To prevent this, Libow ended up purchasing the $1.3M home for himself and has since worked with Hollywood art director Nelson Coates to restore the property. Renovations have included incorporating more Gaudi-esque elements to further the “cottage” feel of the building.

Wonderfully Witchy: The Full Story of the Spadena House in Beverly Hills

Today, the Witch’s House is owned by the real estate agent Michael Libow, who has had it lovingly restored. Oliver’s other storybook style masterpiece is also still an LA landmark. This is the famous Tam O’Shanter, originally called Montgomery’s County Inn, which was the brainchild of Lawrence Frank, one of the co-founders of Van de Kamp’s Dutch Bakers (Oliver would also design its iconic windmills). Frank hired Oliver in 1922 to design a building that would garner as much public attention as the Witch’s House, and Oliver delivered. The Beverly Hills storybook abode at the corner of Carmelita Avenue and Walden Drive looks more like a movie set than a house. And, in fact, that's what it was before it moved to this location.

The Spadena House, also known as The Witch's House, is a storybook house in Beverly Hills, California

Unfortunately, the home is not open to the public for tours, but don’t let that stop you from a quick (and respectful!) look-see on a walk through the neighborhood. Many tour buses drive by the property, so you can catch a glimpse of the magic that way, too. At the corner of Walden Drive and Carmelita Avenue, the Spadena House, more affectionately known as the Witch House, is unlike anything else in Beverly Hills. The home is within walking distance of Beverly Hills staples such as the Waldorf Astoria, Neiman Marcus, Starbucks, and Los Angeles Country Club, but the exterior appears to be straight off the pages of a storybook. Thanks to the pointy, lopsided roof, tiny windows and stucco with a distressed paint technique, the storybook home has been described as the quintessential Hansel and Gretel house. Since its move to the affluent suburb, the house has been the subject of many urban legends.

Spadena House

It should come as no surprise that he was instrumental in the rise of storybook architecture. Having worked as a member of the art department for over 30 films from 1919 to 1938, he brought a unique design perspective that challenged standard conventions of domestic architecture. The storybook design began with Harry Oliver, an art director for a film studio.

But there were no wands for Libow to wave, no wishes to be granted. The home had been delivered to him on the nimbleness of the wind, stoking the fires of passion in him, and ultimately tapping his liquid resources. Ultimately, the only element left at the magic man’s disposal was pure, hard earth. Little did the fair folk of Beverly Hills know he was not only returning the Spadena house to its former glory, but getting it closer to its fabled inspiration than it had ever been.

The Sandcastle House, architect Harry Gesner’s unique personal home in Malibu sells for $13.5 Million

It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact year that the storybook home made its sojourn from Culver City to its current spot in Beverly Hills. However, the earliest records on file show building permits from 1924. This coincided with the addition of a 2-car garage at the rear of the Beverly Hills witch house. Willat Productions closed its doors in just a couple of brief years. The brothers planned to have the studio razed, but producer Ward Lascelle stepped in. He wanted to have it moved to Beverly Hills where it would stand as his personal residence.

This $899k Cape Cod ‘Bow House’ set in a New Jersey township will steal your heart

He built the Witch's House in 1921, partly inspired by the illustrations in old books and magazines, and by what moviegoers at the time were clamoring to see. It’s had its fair share of cameos (you may recognize it from the silent film Hansel and Gretel (1923) and Clueless) since it was originally designed as a multi-purpose set by Harry Oliver, an art director at Willat studios. Oliver went on to play a significant role in the architectural Storybook style. Oliver, an Oscar-nominated art director, originally built the structure in Culver City as part of the Willat silent film studio. In either 1926 or 1934 (accounts vary) the Witch’s House was relocated to Beverly Hills. There it has remained a private residence, although it almost returned to Culver City to serve as a historic museum.

How much is the Beverly Hills witch house worth?

Please use the following steps to determine whether you need to fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room to view the original item(s). In some cases, a surrogate (substitute image) is available, often in the form of a digital image, a copy print, or microfilm. But Fort Oliver was not Oliver’s first attempt at historically elaborated architectural design. Around 1920, Oliver designed the most iconic storybook structure in Los Angeles, now known as the Spadena House—or the Witch’s House, if you’re spooky.

Who lives in the Witch’s House of Beverly Hills? - CNN

Who lives in the Witch’s House of Beverly Hills?.

Posted: Wed, 24 Jan 2018 16:27:17 GMT [source]

In 1921, Einar C. Petersen, a Swiss-trained Danish artist, designed and built the still-standing Petersen Studio Court on Beverly Boulevard, considered the forerunner of the storybook style. The cottage community was based on Petersen’s hometown, the port of Ebeltoft, Denmark, a fishing village known for its ancient half-timbered houses and cobblestone streets. In what is now Koreatown, Studio Court’s eccentric caretaker would live on-site until his death at the age of 101, constantly adding on to his own little sliver of Denmark in LA. “Hollywood, as always giving the public what they wanted, began cranking out exotic stuff,” Gellner says. Films like The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Robin Hood, set in historic time periods and featuring recreated foreign locations, were smash hits. “The backdrops constructed for these films were works of art in themselves, and many of the same techniques were eventually applied to storybook style buildings,” he says.

Every aspect appears antique including the features created since Libow’s acquisition of the Spadena house. He estimates that around 98% of what you see inside the home is relatively new despite looking like it was salvaged from a medieval cottage in Germany’s Black Forest. As you wander its arched corridors, three bedrooms, four bathrooms, and comprehensive kitchen, you may recognize a distinct lack of right angles if you’re particularly observant. This was an intentional choice for Libow, who incorporated Feng Shui into much of his interior design. Beneath the exaggerated wooden shingles of the swayback roof, you’re now greeted by an interior that matches the home’s festive fairytale exterior. The real estate agent found particular inspiration in the works of Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi whose curving contours, kaleidoscopic tiles, and art nouveau aesthetic breathe life into the streets of Barcelona.

Also known as the Spadena House, this storybook home that was once situated on a movie studio lot and now serves as a private residence—it's unusual to say the least. Its sharply sloped rooftop evokes images of a witch's pointed hat; a moat filled with koi fish circles the front of the property; and the warped wooden shingles and lopsided shutters give off the illusion that this is a dilapidated home ripe for collapse. Even the outdoor landscaping is filled with thorny bushes, twisted plants and black dahlias. Before it was the Spadena house or the Beverly Hills witch house, this storybook structure served as the professional offices for Irvin Willat’s Culver City film studio. You’ll find another of Oliver’s still-standing creations in Atwater Village. The Tam O’Shanter restaurant, a Scottish steakhouse, wouldn’t seem out of place at the heart of Disneyland.

The protected landmark was built 100 years ago in Culver City for Willat Studios. Its exterior originally served as a set while the interior held offices. The Witch’s House was designed by Hollywood art director Harry Oliver. Harry played a big role in Storybook homes in the 1920’s and 30’s.