tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6048968877751194418.post607879106420644350..comments2024-03-25T05:06:18.799-04:00Comments on Half Pudding Half Sauce: "HILL GROVE" RESIDENCE OF MR. GEORGE LEWIS, BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIAHalfPuddingHalfSaucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05322213537553774149noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6048968877751194418.post-80787260886948300982023-09-19T21:52:05.904-04:002023-09-19T21:52:05.904-04:00I just watched ‘Angel Face’ with Robert Mitchum an...I just watched ‘Angel Face’ with Robert Mitchum and Jean Simmons. 1953. This was the mansion they used in the film. Magnificent place. I’m sorry it’s gone.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6048968877751194418.post-87644000020225602632022-08-23T14:31:50.211-04:002022-08-23T14:31:50.211-04:00Just watched Topper from 1937 on TCM which IMDB sa...Just watched Topper from 1937 on TCM which IMDB says was filmed at Hill Grove. Beautiful interiors.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6048968877751194418.post-82405889369126894502022-08-03T08:35:32.754-04:002022-08-03T08:35:32.754-04:00It looks like two of the three Sabrina shooting ma...It looks like two of the three Sabrina shooting mansions used for the film have been bulldozed, with the surviving one on Long Island just going on the market:<br />https://www.dirt.com/gallery/locations/filming-locations/sabrina-house-rye-new-york-1203574035/lb-sabrina-mansion-rye-new-york-3/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6048968877751194418.post-63031730828145091202022-04-21T11:10:49.583-04:002022-04-21T11:10:49.583-04:00It's funny how in the 1950s-1960s, all the gre...It's funny how in the 1950s-1960s, all the great homes were torn down because they were "unlivable, IE we can't afford 30 servants and the outrageous township taxes (extortion) levied against them" But these days they build houses 2x to 3x larger, 1000x uglier, and seem to manage the taxes and the servants, with their automatic money machines, their internet websites. And the new homes are much worse on maintenance because they are made of disposable cardboard, vinyl, EIFS, etc. instead of Brick, Stone, Slate Marble etc. My father saved a 28,000 sq. ft. mountaintop renaissance palace in 1962, everyone who came in and saw all the marble and gold leaf, 18 fireplaces etc. always said "how can you live like this?" Lucky he saved it, because now a pharmaceutical magnate owns it and pays $2,000 per day on expenses (tax, mortgage, insurance), plus servants salaries. It was less than $2000 a year when my dad moved in, in 1962, and we had not a single servant, and we lived very well thank you. The only problem is we will never be happy again in a normal house, and that part is permanently heartbreaking...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18338257446873870133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6048968877751194418.post-70398127235272469682021-08-09T11:50:23.410-04:002021-08-09T11:50:23.410-04:00Hill Grove can also be seen as stately Brandon Abb...Hill Grove can also be seen as stately Brandon Abbas in "Beau Ideal" (1931). "Beau Ideal" was the second sequel to "Beau Geste" (1926).Frank Thompsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00611248403350670923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6048968877751194418.post-37972973453907720992021-05-29T00:02:11.093-04:002021-05-29T00:02:11.093-04:00Thanks for sharing this great content. It is reall...Thanks for sharing this great content. It is really informative and useful., <br />Roger Perryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17732283972036364327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6048968877751194418.post-30673490048108602372019-11-15T09:15:32.776-05:002019-11-15T09:15:32.776-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Elmer Fuddhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03346206490237185348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6048968877751194418.post-64389345824804283462019-07-02T19:26:21.037-04:002019-07-02T19:26:21.037-04:00At least some of the scenes of the original movie...At least some of the scenes of the original movie of Sabrina appear to have been filmed at Old Westbury Gardens in Long Island,NY .The great majority of the scenes were certainly filmed at Hill Grove.I can only add my regrets that it was ever torn down.It was truly a beautiful place. Couldn't it have been used as a school or for similar purposes?johncoltranefanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10999622520636660599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6048968877751194418.post-84079213093450462782018-06-04T13:10:51.213-04:002018-06-04T13:10:51.213-04:00Hey, wonderful article. I was wondering where the ...Hey, wonderful article. I was wondering where the servants' quarter above the garage scenes and the party scenes in Sabrina (1954) were filmed? Please do let me know, if you might have any idea. Thank You. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6048968877751194418.post-49587869207400240902016-02-27T17:54:07.023-05:002016-02-27T17:54:07.023-05:00You can reach me via my profile page - https://www...You can reach me via my profile page - https://www.blogger.com/profile/05322213537553774149. There is a contact link there.HalfPuddingHalfSaucehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05322213537553774149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6048968877751194418.post-65326783805955227852016-02-23T19:31:35.498-05:002016-02-23T19:31:35.498-05:00I have found a few more photos of Hill Grove which...I have found a few more photos of Hill Grove which I will send on to you as soon as my wife finds time to extract then from the discs on which they are recorded. I am worse than useless at that sort of thing.<br />I am not sure what you mean when you say to send them by your "contact link". Would you please tell me where to find it? I'm sorry to ask what is probably a stupid question, but I'm a complete novice when it comes to internet terminology. Ardeequenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6048968877751194418.post-46870473079953965772016-02-18T05:45:28.897-05:002016-02-18T05:45:28.897-05:00My mother and father bought part of the subdivide ...My mother and father bought part of the subdivide estate across from Hill Grove at 1181 Angelo Drive. Our house was built starting in 1953 until we moved there in 1955. My mother lived there for 58 years until her death at 98 in 2013. Our house was a Gregory Ain house and was a beautiful example of mid-century architecture. The house now looks nothing like my mothers home.<br /> <br />I remember the Hill Grove estate as a child. (I was 4 years old when we moved to Angelo Drive.) I remember looking at that big house on the hill, as I remember looking a these pictures I may have climbed up and looked in to the estate when it was about to be torn down.<br />It seems all the great homes are being torn down, as I see with my own eyes, and cheaply builder designed "mansionettes" are being build.<br />When they started to tear it down I thought, "Why are they tearing down such a beautiful home, to build little ticky-tacky houses."Jim Feldmannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6048968877751194418.post-82673876902677261742016-01-28T19:37:43.692-05:002016-01-28T19:37:43.692-05:00Ardeeque thank you for sharing all this informatio...Ardeeque thank you for sharing all this information. Your certainly welcome to send any photos or other information via my contact link. HalfPuddingHalfSaucehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05322213537553774149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6048968877751194418.post-85329945583209318122016-01-28T03:18:47.324-05:002016-01-28T03:18:47.324-05:00Hill Grove was a 10 acre estate located at the sou...Hill Grove was a 10 acre estate located at the south-eastern corner of Angelo Drive and Hillgrove Drive, Beverly Hills. The main house was built on a hill in (more or less) the centre of the property. If you refer to a modern survey map and locate coordinates 34N-05'27" - 118W-25'58", this will be very close to the location of the original house. <br /><br />The entrance to the Hill Grove estate was in Hillgrove Drive, about 150 feet east from its intersection with Angelo Drive. The gates were set back from the road and the driveway went from the gates to the Gatehouse (part of which can be seen in the Laurel and Hardy photo above), where it turned left, then to the right and proceeded to a point near the southern boundary of the property where it did a U turn and proceeded up the hill, past the swimming pool on the left and on to the house; then through the Port-cochere, down the hill, then to the right, parallel with Angelo Drive to the front (North) of the property, then again to the right parallel with Hillgrove Drive past the front of the Gatehouse and back to the entrance gates. The southern part of the driveway and the U turn at the bottom are shown in the aerial photo above. I think (but I'm not sure) that present day Eventide Place, (or rather, the southern portion thereof) is part of the original driveway).<br /><br />I may have a few more photos of the property somewhere and if anyone is interested I could publish copies if I am permitted to do so by the Forum Moderator and assuming I can find them. I carried out a lot of research into Hill Grove some years ago with an idea I had in mind, but which I have since abandoned and wiped some of the discs containing the information. I still think Hill Grove was a magnificent property, but admiring it is as far as I want to go these days. <br /><br /><br />Ardeequenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6048968877751194418.post-83817183408410699382016-01-11T23:01:43.525-05:002016-01-11T23:01:43.525-05:00Ive never been able to figure out just where the m...Ive never been able to figure out just where the main driveway was off of Hillgrove, which is off Benedict Cyn drive, and also where the house actually sat in relation to the area now.EJ Fleming tried to explain it to me, but I didn't get it..lol..Any ideas??Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08053009981216297352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6048968877751194418.post-84361754517444740032015-11-20T21:13:58.947-05:002015-11-20T21:13:58.947-05:00I don't know why "Hill Grove" was de...I don't know why "Hill Grove" was demolished. I expect time caught up with it as it did with many similar houses.<br /><br />I think Anne is referring to the film "Night & Day", which I haven't seen, but it is mentioned in the main article above, which states it was filmed at "Hill Grove".<br /><br />I saw the film "Sabrina" recently and some of the scenes in it as far as "Hill Grove" is concerned, are a bit confusing. The scenes of the front of the house in and around the entrance court were filmed at "Hill Grove", but the scenes of the garage area at the back of the house through the Porte-cochere were filmed elsewhere, as the garage and rear area at "Hill Grove" and that depicted in the film were entirely different.<br /><br />The garage in the film had from memory, three of four Basket Arches and a rather out of place metal spiral staircase leading to what were presumably servants' quarters, whereas the garage at "Hill Grove" was a three-car affair with a single rectangular opening and sliding doors. The garage area in the film was either a studio set or another house elsewhere. I know this a minor point and hardly worth mentioning, but I thought it may be interest to someone. Ardeequenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6048968877751194418.post-23417778850644593482015-11-12T05:47:43.374-05:002015-11-12T05:47:43.374-05:00Thanks for the additional information. Do you know...Thanks for the additional information. Do you know why it was demolished? Can you answer Ann's question - Was that also a setting for the Cole Porter biopic?HalfPuddingHalfSaucehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05322213537553774149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6048968877751194418.post-2897683895669311802015-11-12T02:18:20.838-05:002015-11-12T02:18:20.838-05:00Thank you for this informative article. "Hil...Thank you for this informative article. "Hill Grove" was indeed a beautiful place and a great credit to its architects, Albert Farr and Francis Ward. Full credit must also go to the owners who paid for it all. I believe the cost of establishing the estate including furnishings, was about $650,000. By the way, the landscape architect was Seymour Thomas (associate John Finken) who also made a significant contribution.<br /><br />Apart from the mansion itself, there were other buildings on the property, including a fairly substantial Gatehouse/Cottage near the entrance gates, which were in Hillgrove Drive, about 150 feet from its intersection with Angelo Drive.<br /><br />As well as being used as a shooting location, the estate had another connection of sorts with the motion picture industry. In March, 1934, it was leased to noted film producer Walter F. Wanger and his wife, Justine at a rental of $18,000 a year. It was subsequently alleged that the tenants caused considerable damage to the property and the owners instituted court proceedings seeking to recover about $4,000 by way of compensation.<br /><br />Mr. & Mrs. Wanger denied liability and the matter was determined by the court in June, 1935. I don't know the outcome, but it seems that the damages were relatively minor - some debris in the swimming pool and on the tennis court, a few dead rose bushes etc. - the sort of thing most people would attribute to normal wear and tear, although some expensive glassware and curtains were alleged to have been damaged.Ardeequenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6048968877751194418.post-16722014628980971942015-04-08T10:03:40.244-04:002015-04-08T10:03:40.244-04:00A beauty so far superior to the psuedo palace-like...A beauty so far superior to the psuedo palace-like monstrosities that are being built in Beverly Hills these days.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6048968877751194418.post-43448318630010641762015-04-07T00:52:59.421-04:002015-04-07T00:52:59.421-04:00Love the history of this house and the description...Love the history of this house and the description of its owner, it's such a shame the house was torn down.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6048968877751194418.post-61149596766501314372015-04-06T20:26:10.994-04:002015-04-06T20:26:10.994-04:00Was that also a setting for the Cole Porter biopic...Was that also a setting for the Cole Porter biopic?annenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6048968877751194418.post-41705030633483875472015-04-06T15:26:13.193-04:002015-04-06T15:26:13.193-04:00Wonderful write up! I'd always wondered whethe...Wonderful write up! I'd always wondered whether the home in Sabrina was filmed purely on-set, but I'd never researched it. Funny, I'd only just joined VINTAGE HOLLYWOOD HOMES late, l a t e last night ;) - what perfect timing! 1928 HOMEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13383525814026845107noreply@blogger.com