Saturday, July 6, 2013

Hollywood Home Tour - Buster Keaton

"We're going to be heading a bit off course for today's featured home...we got a special request to drive by Buster Keaton's Los Angeles mansion so that's where we'll be going right now" 



"It's a good thing the Silver Scenes bus can not only take us back in time but knows where she's heading to as well, for I sure don't know where to go this time! I lost our L.A map back in front of Rochester's home. I'll have to ask the Metzinger gals if they can get me another copy. 

"Here we are folks...I'll park a little in front so you can get a better view. This grand manor was one of thirteen homes that Buster Keaton owned while living out here in California. This may have been one of the houses he lived in during his marriage to Natalie Talmadge.  


"That was a rather unhappy marriage. They hopped around from house to house and finally settled on building a elaborate estate to rival that of her sisters Constance and Norma. It was a huge 10,000 square ft residence over in Beverly Hills that Buster called the "Italian villa". We'll visit it a little later in the tour. Right now I'd welcome any information about this house. Just holler out if you got something to share!


"Our tour would be cut short if we stopped here, so since we are in the neighborhood let's swing on over to the prostegious Hancock Park so everyone can get a look at his other home...

"This beautiful Tuscany estate was designed by Smale & Blaize architects in 1923. It spans nearly 6,000 square feet, with six bedrooms and six bathrooms, a grand foyer entrance and a beautiful water fountain in the back. The house was featured in Architectural Digest a few years later but by 1926 Norma Talmadge was tired of the place and plans were underway to have the Italian villa built. 

"Yes, it's no wonder Buster has a sad face....such opulence and yet such discontentment."

543 South Murfield Rd, Los Angeles

Up-to-Date Note : The South Murfield house looks as glamorous as ever and recently sold for $3,895,000. 

This post is apart of the Silver Scenes Hollywood Home Tour, hosted by Al the bus driver.

3 comments:

  1. 10,000 square feet !! Now how unhappy could any couple be in a 'villa' that size? Why, you'd never even have to see the other person in a spread that big. Imagine playing 'hide and seek' in a place like that....you could just slip out the back door and have dinner out and your spouse would never know.

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    1. Or with that spread, you can have a restaurant built in!

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