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June 22, 2003
HOME OF THE WEEK
By Ruth Ryon,
Times Staff Writer
Xorin Balbes must love Old Hollywood, judging from his redo of the
Cedars, a 1926 Los Feliz villa.
The Cedars had been used for decades as a university professor's
private book repository. Occasionally, a room or two would be rented out.
The house fell into disuse and decay.
Then came Balbes, an L.A.-based designer and developer. After
completing the restoration of Lloyd Wright's 1926 Sowden House in the same
neighborhood, Balbes took on the Cedars about a year ago.
Never mind that no one can prove that Norma Talmadge, the silent-screen
star, lived there or that the villa was a copy of a duke's in Spain or
Italy. Like the legend of Talmadge, the Cedars exudes the glamour of
Hollywood's golden age, now that Balbes has put his stamp on it. No more
musty smell or dingy rooms; no downstairs ceiling seemingly ready to
collapse in a few places.
Balbes not only refurbished the house, but he turned it into a
showplace worthy of illustrious visitors, some of whom came calling when
Balbes recently opened the villa to a fund-raiser for Martin Scorsese's
Film Foundation and a pre-Oscar party to raise funds for the United
Nations Foundation and Amnesty International.
About this house: Even as it deteriorated, the walled and gated villa was
an impressive sight. With its 28-foot-tall foyer, Rococo dome fresco
ceiling, gold-leaf-decorated ballroom, adjacent solarium and walk-in
fireplaces guarded by statues resembling the MGM lion, the house recalls a
former era. Now it's as Old Hollywood might have dreamed of seeing it,
with modern conveniences, chandeliers and outside pools and fountains.
The buyer may apply for a tax deduction by listing the house on the
National Register of Historic Places, having the home appraised and
donating a conservation/facade easement to a qualifying preservation
organization such as the Los Angeles Conservancy.
Asking price: $6,999,000
Size: There are six bedrooms and 6.5 bathrooms in about 10,000 square
feet. The house is on a half-acre knoll.
Features: The villa has a detached guesthouse, a wine cellar, sweeping
city views, a rooftop terrace designed for entertaining and a motor court
behind a wrought-iron gate. There are stained-glass windows, hand-painted
ceilings, arched doorways and distressed floors. There are six fireplaces,
a media room and a maid's quarters.
Where: Los Feliz
Listing agent: Joseph Babajian, Prudential John Aaroe in Beverly Hills,
(310) 248-6400, and Francis R. Gibbons, Prudential John Aaroe in Los
Feliz, (323) 671-1202.
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