Garbutt House
Encyclopedia
Garbutt House is a 20-room mansion in the Silver Lake
section of Los Angeles
built from 1926 to 1928 as the residence of Frank A. Garbutt. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places
in 1987.
's aircraft business (later to become Martin Marietta
). He also owned interests in a boat-building business and a business operating ferries from San Pedro
to Terminal Island
. He also played a role in the founding of Famous Players-Lasky
(later Paramount Studios), Union Oil Company and the Automobile Club of Southern California
.
, the Santa Monica
and Verdugo Mountains
and the downtown skyline. Garbutt and his family built three houses on the site, which came to be known as the Garbutt-Hathaway Estate. Garbutt himself lived in the 20-room mansion built between 1926 and 1928 that came to be known as Garbutt House. The house has nearly 15000 square feet (1,393.5 m²) of space, rises 228 feet (69.5 m) to its crest and was built like a citadel out of concrete to survive earthquakes, floods and fires. His daughter Melodile later recalled that the entire first floor was poured in one pouring that took two days and one night of steady pouring with three shifts of workers. Due to an intense fear of fire, Garbutt even had the roof and walls built of concrete, installed steel-reinforced doors and allowed no fireplaces in the home. A subsequent owner noted that the concrete construction was "comparable to any of the finest bunkers." The house also had bronze window frames, hand carved teak and marble floors. The first floor was entirely travertine
, and Garbutt hired an artist who spent several months painting the beams in the living room.
Garbutt worked at his inventions at the Silver Lake mansion, building race cars, inventing a soapless detergent, and trying to invent a superior chewing gum.
The houses sat dormant for several years as owners battled with the city and preservationists over plans to raze the three houses and build condominiums or a large housing development on the site. In 1975, Los Angeles Times
architecture critic, John Pastier, noted that the estate's "arcadian acreage" was 99% undeveloped and "looks like a park." Pastier wrote a lengthy column criticizing a plan to cover the estate with 530 condominium units requiring removal of 60% of the property's trees. He argued for a scaled-back development that would preserve the three houses as a "tesimony to the area's history and to a vanished way of life." In 1978, two of the houses were torn down to make room for a 100-home development, but the Garbutt House was spared. In 1982, nearly 100 homes were built on the property and were compared to "a village at the foot of the castle." Garbutt House was listed in the National Register of Historic Places
in 1987.
horror film called "Superstition" (about a haunted house on the site where a woman was put to death as a witch 300 years earlier) was shot at Garbutt House. The shooting of "Superstition" was reportedly subject to incidents of alleged "haunting", including one in which a security guard who was required to spend the night in the house quit after reporting he had seen a "ghost", another security guard who saw the helmet on a Knight's armor display float off the shoulders of the armor and disappear into the kitchen area and another in which the film's director was locked in a room when the doorknob fell off and had to be pried free with crowbars.
Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California
Silver Lake is a hilly neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California east of Hollywood and northwest of Downtown Los Angeles. Silver Lake is inhabited by a wide variety of ethnic and socioeconomic groups, but it is best known as an eclectic gathering of hipsters and the creative class.The...
section of Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
built from 1926 to 1928 as the residence of Frank A. Garbutt. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1987.
Frank A. Garbutt
Frank A. Garbutt, an inventor, industrialist and movie pioneer, was one of the most prominent citizens of Los Angeles in the late 19th and early 20th Century. He invented and secured patents on certain oil drilling tools in the late 1880s that were the initial source of his wealth. Garbutt also became involved in other businesses. He owned oil wells and was one of the original investors in aviation pioneer Glenn MartinGlenn Luther Martin
Glenn Luther Martin was an American aviation pioneer.-Early years:Glenn L. Martin was born in Macksburg, Iowa, on January 17, 1886. At the age of two, Martin's family moved to Salina, Kansas, so that his father could run a wheat farm.By age six, he became interested in kites, but at first his...
's aircraft business (later to become Martin Marietta
Martin Marietta
Martin Marietta Corporation was an American company founded in 1961 through the merger of The Martin Company and American-Marietta Corporation. The combined company became a leader in chemicals, aerospace, and electronics. In 1995, it merged with Lockheed Corporation to form Lockheed Martin. The...
). He also owned interests in a boat-building business and a business operating ferries from San Pedro
San Pedro, Los Angeles, California
San Pedro is a port district of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. It was annexed in 1909 and is a major seaport of the area...
to Terminal Island
Terminal Island
Terminal Island is an island located in Los Angeles County, California between Los Angeles Harbor and Long Beach Harbor. Originally a mudflat known to the Spanish as Isla Raza de Buena Gente, and later called Rattlesnake Island, it has officially been Terminal Island since 1918...
. He also played a role in the founding of Famous Players-Lasky
Famous Players-Lasky
Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company created on July 19, 1916 from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company -- originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays -- and Jesse L...
(later Paramount Studios), Union Oil Company and the Automobile Club of Southern California
Automobile Club of Southern California
The Automobile Club of Southern California is the Southern California affiliate of the American Automobile Association federation of motor clubs...
.
Garbutt House and the Garbutt-Hathaway Estate
In 1923, Garbutt acquired a 37 acres (149,733.8 m²) hilltop site overlooking the Silver Lake reservoir with views of the Pacific OceanPacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
, the Santa Monica
Santa Monica Mountains
The Santa Monica Mountains are a Transverse Range in Southern California, along the coast of the Pacific Ocean in the United States.-Geography:...
and Verdugo Mountains
Verdugo Mountains
The Verdugo Mountains are a small, rugged mountain range of the Transverse Ranges system, located just south of the western San Gabriel Mountains in Los Angeles County, Southern California...
and the downtown skyline. Garbutt and his family built three houses on the site, which came to be known as the Garbutt-Hathaway Estate. Garbutt himself lived in the 20-room mansion built between 1926 and 1928 that came to be known as Garbutt House. The house has nearly 15000 square feet (1,393.5 m²) of space, rises 228 feet (69.5 m) to its crest and was built like a citadel out of concrete to survive earthquakes, floods and fires. His daughter Melodile later recalled that the entire first floor was poured in one pouring that took two days and one night of steady pouring with three shifts of workers. Due to an intense fear of fire, Garbutt even had the roof and walls built of concrete, installed steel-reinforced doors and allowed no fireplaces in the home. A subsequent owner noted that the concrete construction was "comparable to any of the finest bunkers." The house also had bronze window frames, hand carved teak and marble floors. The first floor was entirely travertine
Travertine
Travertine is a form of limestone deposited by mineral springs, especially hot springs. Travertine often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, and cream-colored varieties. It is formed by a process of rapid precipitation of calcium carbonate, often at the mouth of a hot...
, and Garbutt hired an artist who spent several months painting the beams in the living room.
Garbutt worked at his inventions at the Silver Lake mansion, building race cars, inventing a soapless detergent, and trying to invent a superior chewing gum.
Preservation battles and residential development
Garbutt died in 1947, but his son and two daughters continued to live at the estate after his death. One of his daughters never married and lived at Garbutt House until 1960, when the estate was sold. Daughter Melodile recalled that they sold the estate after her brother and husband had died, and her sister did not want to live by herself in the big house.The houses sat dormant for several years as owners battled with the city and preservationists over plans to raze the three houses and build condominiums or a large housing development on the site. In 1975, Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
architecture critic, John Pastier, noted that the estate's "arcadian acreage" was 99% undeveloped and "looks like a park." Pastier wrote a lengthy column criticizing a plan to cover the estate with 530 condominium units requiring removal of 60% of the property's trees. He argued for a scaled-back development that would preserve the three houses as a "tesimony to the area's history and to a vanished way of life." In 1978, two of the houses were torn down to make room for a 100-home development, but the Garbutt House was spared. In 1982, nearly 100 homes were built on the property and were compared to "a village at the foot of the castle." Garbutt House was listed in the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1987.
Shooting location
The Garbutt-Hathaway Estate has long been a popular shooting location, dating back to the silent film era. In 1981, a low-budget CarolcoCarolco Pictures
Carolco Pictures, Inc., Carolco International N.V., or Anabasis Investments was an American independent film production company that, within a decade, went from producing such blockbuster successes as Terminator 2: Judgment Day and the first three movies of the Rambo series to being bankrupted by...
horror film called "Superstition" (about a haunted house on the site where a woman was put to death as a witch 300 years earlier) was shot at Garbutt House. The shooting of "Superstition" was reportedly subject to incidents of alleged "haunting", including one in which a security guard who was required to spend the night in the house quit after reporting he had seen a "ghost", another security guard who saw the helmet on a Knight's armor display float off the shoulders of the armor and disappear into the kitchen area and another in which the film's director was locked in a room when the doorknob fell off and had to be pried free with crowbars.