The Cecil B. DeMille Estate

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This past April, the Grim Cheaper’s best friend came to town for a visit and, while he was here, he invited us over for dinner at his parents’ house.  Well, believe you me, because his parents live in the gated Los Feliz celebrity enclave known as Laughlin Park, there was very little arm-twisting involved in getting us there.  In fact, we jumped at the chance.  Well, I did.  Per usual, the GC could have cared less about our famous environs.  Winking smile

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Just a few of the luminaries who have called Laughlin Park home at one time or another include W.C. Fields, Charlie Chaplin, Dermot Mulroney, Catherine Keener, Natalie Portman, Portia de Rossi, Jenna Elfman, The Dave Matthews Band’s LeRoi Moore, Carole Lombard, Lily Pons, The Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am, Casey Affleck, director David Fincher, Lauren Graham, Ellen Pompeo, and musician Chick Corea.  The most well-known former resident, though, has to be legendary director Cecil B. DeMille.  Heck, Laughlin Park’s main street, De Mille Drive, was even named after him and his one-time house, a massive Italianate Revival-style manse, is arguably one of the most famous in all of L.A.  So I, of course, ran right out to stalk the place while we were there.

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Laughlin Park, or “The Park” as residents have dubbed it, was originally founded in the late 1890s by real estate developers Homer Laughlin and Wilbur Cummings.  And while the site was originally intended to boast forty separate “villas”, some plots of land have since been subdivided and the community is now comprised of sixty dwellings, each with its own architectural significance.  The 7,472-square-foot, 15-room “DeMille estate”, as it has come to be known, was constructed in 1914 on the largest and highest of The Park’s lots.  The home originally belonged to Laughlin himself, but DeMille purchased it in 1916, two years after it was built, for $27,893.  DeMille continued to live on the premises for the next four decades, until his death in 1959.  His estate then held onto the residence through 1988.

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Cecil B Demille estate (10 of 13)

Legend has it that DeMille filmed The King of Kings’ Garden of Gethsemane scene, in which Jesus, the Christ (H.B. Warner) prayed with his disciples after The Last Supper, on the grounds of his estate in 1927, although that would be extremely difficult to verify.

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In 2008, the DeMille estate was put on the market for a cool $26.25 million, but it does not appear that the property was ever sold.  You can view some fabulous photographs of the place from its real estate listing on fave website The Real Estalker here.

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Sadly, as you can see below, not much of the DeMille estate is visible from the street.  Even though it is located inside of a gated community, the house itself is also gated.  Boo!

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But, as I have said before, that is why God created aerial images.  As you can see below, not only is the DeMille estate gargantuan, but it is also pretty darn spectacular.  What I wouldn’t give to tour the inside of that thing!

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On a side-note – the GC’s best friend’s parents both work in the “biz” and have won countless awards, including a whopping NINE Emmys, which I always tend to freak out over when I am there.  And this time I just had to snap a picture with one.  (Notice all of the other awards displayed on the shelves in the background behind me.  So incredibly cool!)  Emmys are apparently not the most sturdy of awards, though – as you can see, the rings of the atom in the one I am holding below have all fallen off.  LOL  Now, that’s what I call a high-class problem.  Winking smile

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You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER.  And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The former Cecil B. DeMille estate is located at 2000 De Mille Drive in the Laughlin Park neighborhood of Los Feliz.  The property is, unfortunately, located inside of a gated community and is not accessible to the public, so you can only stalk this one vicariously.

8 Replies to “The Cecil B. DeMille Estate”

  1. I lived on de Mille from 1978 -1989. There is a lot of history and people you left out or are not aware of. I lived there and was the main person to get the gates up and moved before they were installed. Tell you more later. You heed to be informed of more history.

    1. I was visiting a friend who lived on de Mille Drive, net door to the W. C. Fields (Lilly Tomlin) Estate back in 1980. I got lost and happened upon Chick Corea’s house. Al di Meola answered the door. Because so many years have past, I cannot remember my friend’s last name, but his first name was Randy. He lived there with his mother. His father was a famous inventor and they were close with many old time Hollywood stars. It is a great memory for me.

      1. The Allen’s @5226 Linwood dr. Mr Allen invented the spout we used to use to pour oil out of the can when oil came in the can & the CO2 fire extinguisher. When I lived there Corea’s house was lived in by judge Kirlan.

  2. Wow…I remember when I used to go to De Mille’s house to see my friend back in 90’s.
    My friend used to own that house and Chaplin’s both and we thought we lived in heaven!
    I have many good memories of those house and still have many stuff from that house.
    Thank you for posting !

  3. Came across your website by searching Google images for Cecil B. Demille + Los Feliz… you came up #1. I couldn’t find any images of the estate.. so your photos were interesting.. thanks! 🙂

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