TWIN GABLES GONE

Jeanette and Gene Raymond’s home of twenty-five years has been demolished. The home at 783 Bel Air Road was a wedding present when the couple wed in 1937.  They lived there until 1963 when the house was sold because of Jeanette’s declining health.

Nicknamed “Twin Gables” because of its English Tudor style and twin roof peaks, the house was built in 1926, with 5,432 square feet, 4 bedrooms and 4 baths.  It featured a swimming pool with a guest house behind the pool.  During World War II, Jeanette and Gene held open houses on Sunday afternoons for soldiers.  Nelson Eddy helped plant and maintain the rose garden.

The house was purchased in 2007 by billionaire Jerry Perenchino who owns the property across the street at 750 Bel Air Road whose exterior was used for the TV show “The Beverly Hillbillies”.  He also purchased 800 Nimes Road in 2009 which is behind his home.  The Twin Gables property is now vacant land as reported by the Los Angeles County Assessor.

I first drove by Twin Gables in 1964.  The Raymonds had already moved by this time but it still could be viewed easily from the street.  In recent years, due to high walls and dense shrubbery, you could not tell if the house was still there.   While attending the recent Nelson and Jeanette Birthday Meeting at the Sportsman’s Club in June, 2010, the MacEddy group visited many of the former homes of Jeanette and Nelson.  A friend climbed the wall at Twin Gables and took pictures over the wall and also stood in the trunk of a car to take more pictures.  The house was indeed gone and replaced by something that resembled grape arbor supports with no plants.  The interior stone garden walls still remained with paths leading to nowhere. 

The East Gate Bel Air community in which Twin Gables was located, was the original Bel Air tract founded and opened by Alphonzo  E.  Bell, Sr. in 1922. Having made his money with the discovery of oil on his Santa Fe property, he purchased a large ranch house atop what is now Bel Air Road. He was overwhelmed by the beauty of the area and saw the potential to develop the land into a magnificent community with roads and generous lots.  He used Italian names for the streets.  He opened a sales office in Stone Canyon which is now a suite in the Hotel Bel Air. He owned the development company until 1945.  After several heart attacks, he sold his holdings in the Bel Air Land Company.

Twin Gables has an interesting and colorful history.   The Raymonds sold the house in 1962 to a personal friend, Bo Roos, business manager to stars such as John Wayne, Fred MacMurray, Red Skelton, and Lloyd Nolan who 3 years later would deliver the eulogy at Jeanette’s funeral.   The house was then purchased by John and Michelle Phillips of the singing group “The Mammas and the Pappas.”  They renovated the house and held a large New Years Eve bash there in 1968 that included such notable guests as Charles Manson who was allowed to park his van on the property for a time.  In the 1970’s the house was occupied by Sly Stone of the group Sly and the Family Stone who was firmly entrenched in the drug culture of the day.

For a time, the property was owned by the Japan Bbc Corporation who sold it in 2006 to Melvin and Bren Simon of Indianapolis, Indiana.  Mr. Simon was owner of the Simon Investment Corporation whose chief business was developing and managing shopping centers such as the Mall of the Americas.  For a time he dabbled in the movie business but quickly decided that wasn’t for him.  The property was then sold to Mr. Perenchio in 2007 who had the house demolished.