Hollywood Home Tour - Fredric March

It's been awhile since the Hollywood Home Tour bus last passed by any celebrity homes, but Al is here today to introduce you to the latest home you will see : 

1065 Ridgedale Drive, Bel-Air

"Hi folks! It's Al here, welcoming you back to the Hollywood Home Tour bus. We're heading away from Bette Davis' home to take a gander at one of the truly legendary Bel-Air structures. 

"Back in 1932, Fredric March and his wife Florence Eldridge, commissioned architect Wallace Neff to design a spacious home for the couple to reside in while in Hollywood making films. What resulted was a 12,000 square foot French Normandy estate set in beautiful Bel-Air, a rural area at the time. 

"Let me stop the bus so that you can take pictures. Here it is on your right. Construction on the home began in 1933, in the midst of the Great Depression. As one of the biggest stars of the era, March had his home built as extravagantly as one would expect of a star. There were twenty-two rooms, eleven bathrooms, an octagonal dovecote tower, a private screening room, his-and-her living rooms, a wine cellar, an enormous swimming pool and, of course, the prerequisite tennis courts. 

"Wallace Neff had also designed Pickfair - the home of Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford - as well as homes for Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, and Charlie Chaplin. He is often referred to as the Architect of Hollywood's Golden Age so it is no wonder that Fredric March chose him to design his residence.

"If you take a glance across the street you can see Frank Morgan's beautiful home. We'll get a better look at that house a little later in the tour."

Up-to-Date Info : Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston purchased the house in 2001 for $13 million, spent a tidy sum renovating it, and then sold it for $28 million five years later. Click here to see pictures of the March house when it was under construction.