Hollywood's early movie moguls, like today's, thought big when it came to their castles.
In 1923, Harry Warner, the eldest of the four brothers who established Warner Bros. studios, commissioned this 14-room Georgian Colonial-style house in Hancock Park, which was becoming the address for many of Los Angeles' moneyed denizens.
Warner didn't keep the place too long, however. He sold it after a few years to help finance one of the industry's first talking pictures, "The Jazz Singer" (1927), starring Al Jolson.
The stately home was designed by A. Burnside Sturges and included the bells and whistles befitting a studio chief, including a screening room in the basement. The property was bestowed a Windsor Square-Hancock Park Historical Society Landmark Award in June.
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diane.wedner@latimes.com
To submit a candidate for Home of the Week, send high-resolution color photos with caption and credit information on a CD and a detailed description of the house to Diane Wedner, Real Estate, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A., CA 90012. Questions may be sent to homeoftheweek@latimes.com.
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Flickers of a bygone era
Location: Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles
Asking price: $4.55 million
Previously sold: For $40,000 in December 1949; it was listed for sale in September 2005 for $4,595,000.
Size: There are seven bedrooms and 5 1/2 bathrooms in 5,555 square feet. The lot is 29,400 square feet.
About this home: After Gerry Kimbrough moved into the home of her husband, Arthur, in 1976 -- he bought it in 1949 -- she started a remodeling project that she says is remarkable more for what she didn't do than for what she did. Determined to maintain the integrity of the original design, she kept the home's cathedral ceilings and large windows and refurbished the hardwood floors. She augmented the decorative black marble of the living room fireplace and foyer with lighter marble, which she also installed in the grand staircase. She updated the kitchen but kept the original kitchen cabinets and turned the antique icebox in the pantry into a storage unit. The Warners' basement water heater, a permanent fixture, was painted with an "Art Deco feel." The remodeled basement, which today is a bonus room, has marble floors and remnants of Warner's movie projection booth. Kimbrough added decorative touches to the dining room but kept the chandelier her husband installed after he bought the house. She remodeled the pool and deck and added lighting and fountains to the backyard.
