LAPL
Pickfair, post-Phillips, pre-final Wallace Neff makeover.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gsjansen
... on second thought, i'm going to have to say that the googlemaps photo is of a different building that was inspired by the house built in Berkeley Square. There are quite a few details that are different between the two structures.
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While it might be another Corbett concrete design for the Robertses, I definitely don't think that the 21st St. house is the same one in the photo you posted--thank you for doing that, btw. I think the Robertses sold their
Berkeley Square house early, as I said. I've found a good deal of information on all of the families, in periodicals, club records, various "who's who" types of books, even records of my own college fraternity, and there is a lot of conflicting detail, especially when it comes to addresses. C. Wesley Roberts was apparently the Wesley Roberts of a sizable and eponymous L. A. construction firm in the "oughts"--perhaps he commissioned the house from Corbett and then his son J. Wesley moved in, before moving on to 21st St. It would require alot of research using, for example, telephone books for every year of the lifespan of
Berkeley Square to track all the occupants--this wouldn't really be that hard if one lived in L.A. and was even more obsessive than myself. But even then there would be conflicting information. One item that caught my eye in my pokings around was that attorney Lee Phillips of #4 (lots 28, 29, 30) was the original builder of Pickfair, eventually selling it to Doug and Mary. According to his great-granddaughter, it was not a hunting lodge, as is widely written. (So if Mr. Phillips lived on
Berkeley Square and this wasn't a hunting lodge...what exactly was Mr. Phillips up to in the Hills of Beverly while the Mrs. had all her parties, including her annual doll auction for Children's Hospital?) Anyway, Doug and Mary remodeled the house several times, including at least once employing the great Wallace Neff, and it took the very talented and tasteful Miss Pia Zadora to destroy it. Thank you, Pia.