I’ve now been trudging around in West Hollywood for two months.
And by far, the 1300 block of Harper Avenue is my favorite 986 feet to walk.
Its curbs are lined with trees, and its sidewalks with stunning 1920s and 1930s apartment houses smartly built around courtyards. They’re classy, welcoming, a treat to the eyes, and very California. Not one parcel is ill-fitting or aesthetically corrupted.
This block of Harper is also quiet and cooling. Which is remarkable given that wild, loud, neon, and hyped-up Sunset Boulevard is at its north end, and flooded-with-speeding-traffic Fountain Avenue is at its South End.
From Sunset, from Fountain, and out toward the Hollywood hills
The block looks great when looking down from Sunset, or up from Fountain. Even the view from Harper of the Hollywood Hills is stunning (or at least it is, for this old Western Pennsylvania kid). Oh, and I still can’t get over how deep a blue sky I enjoy every damn day here.
There are two ways to consider this stretch of Harper. One, with all due respect. And two, per weird old Jess. Let’s see what happens.
Villa Primavera, 1300 Harper Avenue, with all due respect
This Spanish style courtyard apartment building is considered an aesthetic triumph. The courtyard features a stone fountain, a large outdoor fireplace, and dense landscaping.
Villa Primavera, 1300 Harper Avenue, per weird old Jess
James “Slow Down!” Dean, Katherine Hepburn, and other stars of yesteryear lived here.
It was used as location for the 1950 classic noir film, “In a Lonely Place,” with Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame starring as neighbors. Great film, I can’t recommend it enough. Check out the trailer and a couple of photos of Bogart and Grahame hanging out behind my back.
Then I turned around and looked across the street.
Romanesque Villa, 1301 – 1309 Harper Avenue, with all due respect
This remarkable one-of-a-kind apartment building is on the corner of Fountain. Built in 1928, its design combines Spanish Colonial Revival and Churrigueresque (named after the 18th century Spanish architect, Jose Churriquera, who used lavish ornamentation in his designs).
Romanesque Villa, 1301 – 1309 Harper Avenue, per weird old Jess
Hot place! See that green arrow over my right shoulder? That was Marilyn Monroe’s apartment for six months. And Zsa Zsa Gabor lived in another. But best of all, the great film director, Josef von Sternberg, lived here with his wife, Riza Royce. Then the director’s favorite actress and lover, Marlene Dietrich, took a break from swimming naked over at the Garden of Allah Hotel (see post), moved in here, and the Romanesque Villa really heated up. Which pissed off Riza. Josef eventually filed for divorce from Riza and she, in turn, slapped Dietrich with two lawsuits, one for alienation of her husband’s affections and the other for libel.
Harper House, 1334 – 1336 Harper Avenue, with all due respect
Unlike other buildings on this block inspired by Spanish Colonial Revival design, here the Churriqueresque influence is restrained, evoking a distinctive luxury and glamour. Design highlights include low-pitched, red-clay tile roofs, arched entrances and windows, extended eaves with exposed rafters, and ornamental details.
Harper House, 1334 – 1336 Harper Avenue, per weird old Jess
Many Hollywood sorts lived here, including Norma Talmadge.
Norma Place – where Dorothy Parker wrote, drank, and lost her husband (see post) – is named after Talmadge.
Poor Norma. It must have been so noisy.
Because Joe E. “The Mouth” Brown also lived here.
My favorite Joe E. Brown film (and my in-laws’ all-time favorite movie) is “Some Like It Hot,” (check out its trailer) starring Tony Curtis, Jack Lennon, and from down the street at 1301 Harper, neighbor Marilyn Monroe.
Joe E. Brown and Jack Lennon, “Some Like It Hot”
In the movie, “Cop,” (1988) Harper House is where Lloyd Hopkins (James Woods) investigates a murder at the very beginning of the movie.
“Cop”
In 1989’s “The Big Picture,” the interior and the exterior of the Harper House are where up-and-coming film director Nick Chapman (Kevin Bacon) moves after breaking up with longtime girlfriend, Susan Rawlings (Emily Longstreth).
“Big Picture”
In 1991’s “The Last Boy Scout,” Harper House is where murdered stripper Cory (Halle Berry) lived and where Joe Hallenbeck (Bruce Willis) and Jimmy Dix (Damon Wayans) go to investigate her killing.
“The Last Boy Scout”
But then my favorite street got scary!
Because Harper House shows up twice in “Scream 3.” First, at the film’s very beginning when Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber) and his girlfriend, Christine Hamilton (Kelly Rutherford) are murdered.
Then it pops up again in the scene in which Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) watches the news about Cotton’s murder on TV.
So weird old Jess got out of there, walked home before the sun set, locked the door, and wrote this.