Wonderfully Witchy: The Full Story of the Spadena House in Beverly Hills
Wonderfully Witchy: The Full Story of the Spadena House in Beverly Hills
Abstract
Located on the corner of Walden Drive and Carmelita Avenue, the storybook house was built in the early 1900s for a Hollywood silent film, then went on to become one of L.A.'s most recognizable private homes. The history of the Spadena House Originally built in 1921, the Spadena House was created as the offices and dressing rooms for Irvin Willat's film studio in Culver City, Calif. Willat was an American film director of the silent film era who directed 39 films between 1917 and 1937. The Spadena House is a perfect example of storybook architecture Creating a bewitching effect in Los Angeles, storybook architecture offered an exaggerated medieval style with many of the buildings designed with crooked walls and swayback roofs. Described as the quintessential Hansel and Gretel house, the Spadena House was designed by Hollywood art director Harry Oliver who worked on more than 30 films between 1919 and 1938. How much is the Beverly Hills witch house worth? Realtor Michael Libow took the Spadena House off the market back in 1998 and has been living inside the whimsical property ever since. Public records show that Libow paid $1,267,510 back in 1998 for the storybook home, but the witch's house is now worth well over $6,000,000. Movies featuring the Spadena House In 1921, shortly after it was completed, the Witch's House made its first on-screen appearance in the silent film The Face of the World.