Oh how worlds collide. Ok or, at least how my seemingly endless curiosity with historical details/real estate info. need- -to-know immediately, and ensuing research spiral I’d inserted myself into tends to collide into interesting things. A 6-Degrees- of-Kevin Bacon-like collision-…on to what I would uncover to be Enchanted Hill. Funny enough, I recalled the story whilst watching Columbo. A show I never wanted to watch, yet was convinced to, out of boredom-and of course, I would then become the biggest Columbo fanatic ever. I take notes while watching it- not to learn how to evade criminal activity, but their filming locations were top-tier for an architecture and design obsessive like me. Also, I loved how near every fabulous home, there was always a wet bar! So chic.
Moving on-
I’d take these long walks- hikes, really in LA speak, given the terrain. The hills were very much next level; kids do not trick-or-treat up here, ok? In and up and all around this lovely LA canyon I lived in for 13 years, I walked and walked, often alone and usually to get away from my day-to-day thoughts & general BS that needed to be set aside for some sort of daydreaming and distraction. My wandering and wondering of what the stories of these homes were motivation to keep walking. So many questions I’d ask myself. (or eventually Google) Who lived here? Who did their landscape work? Ok, those are super chic exterior lanterns. Magical landscape lighting! How is that entire linear acre of wall always so pristine white?! or Oof if only they spent a few bucks on non-vinyl window replacements! (cheap windows will aesthetically wreck a house! ) For some of these properties and their outsized price points- truly, such a shame. Maybe I could start a go-fund-me (for them) Why did they choose that nacho cheese or liquid foundation colored hue for their home and top it off with cheesy pre-cast moulding and an out of context set of Ionic columns? Should I leave my card or a note and offer to color consult for them, complimentary? Like a design superhero & savior that just wanted to fight the ugly? This house deserves better! It’s not the residents fault, really. It’s mine. My line of work is a blessing and a curse sometimes. I could go on- I’ll definitely write more about that wildness later.
I digress…This particular story would ultimately write itself and this LA woman would share it with you. One day I decided to lunge my way up to the top of this hill-it was more of a mountain ridge, but I wanted/needed to see where it ended. And good lord, it seemingly never did end, but I had to keep going until then- I needed to know, check the views, check the box and move on, because I’m thorough like that. The journey to the inevitable top did not disappoint, though my lungs had different ideas. I figured as long as I had reception on my mobile, I could chopper out on a Life Flight or something like that, if need be. I get to the top, and this cul-de-sac, peppered with Pines and Palms-typical of the landscaping identity crisis of Beverly Hills/LA area. I arrive to gates. There’s cameras. Ugh. Also typical. I mope my way downhill, knowing I’d have to walk all the way back up the other hill- to the poor section of Bel Air, as I usually referred to it-to my odd ball Mid-Century house at the time. My motivation to get to my desk, due to unresolved curiosity was brisk. Let the research spiral begin.
Enchanted Hill- Looking out to Angelo Drive, Los Angeles
So, how is it that storied architect Wallace Neff, 1920’s era actress Mary Pickford, wildly successful Oscar winning screenwriter Frances Marion, one-time man of the cloth-turned- military serviceman-turned silent film actor Fred Thomson, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Google tech titan Eric Schmidt and yours truly, come crashing together? How?
ENCHANTED HILL. That’s how. The house was a love story. Prolific screenwriter of the silent film era, Frances Marion and her dashing husband, cowboy actor Fred Thomson- who met through late actress Mary Pickford (we need to talk about Pickfair! ) and within 10 days, were planning their wedding. One could suppose this is a case of when you know, you know. It would be her 3rd marriage at that point, she was 31 years old, so she had to know, right? The lovebirds initially lived in a modest Hancock Park area home, and as their love and success grew, so did their aspirations for building quite the compound.
High up Angelo Drive, the dynamic duo commissioned a striking and unbelievably sprawling Wallace Neff designed estate, complete with mahogany floored stables, lodging for the stable hands, two riding rings, a 100 foot pool, guest cottages, an aviary and 5 acres of LAWN, perfectly laid upon what would eventually encompass 120 acres, on top of Beverly Hills. They would entertain friends and folks from all walks of life from artists to scientists, actors and explorers, to the random bon vivant and socialite. Of course it would appear in Architectural Digest. The AD publication was also born in Los Angeles, and does not exactly resemble the publication it is today, though it was quite impressive in those early years, as their archives will show.
Dreamy.
Enchanted Hill- apparently named by Greta Garbo, of course- fun, maybe fact either way. The architecture, design and grounds were incredible, lush and so romantic. The property can be entered through either Angelo Drive or Benedict Canyon. If you look at the map, you can see the terrain. As a younger lady, even after moving from Pasadena, I was a Volunteer with the Pasadena Heritage Society (I feel like it was previously called Historical Society?) and was thrilled to host a Wallace Neff home tour. The large, well-appointed Pasadena Neff home suddenly feels like a guest house compared to the scale of the Neff created, Enchanted Hill. The wonderful and enthusiastic group of Volunteers-many of which were several decades ahead of me, thought I was a bit of an odd-bird for wanting to hang out with them and do this, instead of beer pong or silliness, with people my own age! The beauty of Pasadena, California remains in my heart and on my mind- there’s an unbelievable amount of Architectural gold there. I am never, not impressed, every time I go back. I’ll get around to writing more about it one of these days…
Enchanted Hill, Angelo Drive Los Angeles/Beverly Hills
Back to the story!
Of course, all fairy tales do not have the happy ending we all want to hear. After nearly 10 years together, and just 3 years at this glorious estate, at only 38 years old, Fred Thomson stepped on a rusty nail, fell ill and passed away on Christmas Day 1928, from Tetanus. Frances would put the property up for sale within weeks. How could she possibly live there and not feel devastated at every turn? The beauty is what they built, together. So heartbreaking. It sold for $540,000 which was pretty hefty for 1929, to Oilman Legene S.Barnes, and later to Inventor Paul Kollsman in 1945, then finally sold to Paul Allen for $20,000,000 in 1997.
It keeps going…The entire property was completely and totally demolished by the late Paul Allen and has remained barren, save for a new road since. Why would he or anyone do such a thing? Heartbreak, beyond! A loving restoration, honoring this unbelievably rare property, was what should have happened, and clearly did not. It was more recently purchased in 2021 by Eric Schmidt at a discounted rate of $65million.-quite the steal as it was initially listed for $150 million…Of course, I remain deeply curious what the vision might be for the newest iteration of this spectacular property. All of this from a curious walk of mine! There is a story about a 6 degree connection to this place, but as long as certain parties remain alive and well, I’m going to have to annoy you and keep it to myself, until then!
New owner Mr. Schmidt can certainly ring Foundation Studio for a thoughtful envisioning of this property-I’d be delighted to assemble the troops and tackle this one. Maybe just like a break-up, its broken and you can’t go back. Until then, I think we can call it Disenchanted Hill… for now. A new love story is always possible!
A few others have written a bit about this property and a fantastic post by Writer Steve Vaught wrote a lovely article that is very well done. The loads of comments by very interesting people, really get into close and personal details about the property, as a real bonus. https://paradiseleased.wordpress.com/2011/09/05/lost-hollywood-the-enchanted-hill-of-fred-thomson-and-frances-marion/
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Marion
Youtube -Enchanted Hill for sale
