Crime of the Week

This rambling Spanish Revival house at 6215 Holly Mont Drive in Hollywood is said to be the former home of Barbara Stanwyck. Since Stanwyck's residency, the place has taken quite a tumble.

An old pile on Holly Mont Drive, Hollywood

The house could be quite charming, even spectacular, if brought back to its original standards. Alas, it is currently a shambles, and the present owner—an international concert pianist, former child prodigy, spiritual recluse, and ping pong enthusiast (I'm not joking, folks)—seems bent on even further vulgarization.

Vulgarization in progress

In addition to various masts, flags, aerials, strings of lights, untrimmed palms, grates, chains, padlocks, metal fences, grass windscreens, and makeshift rooftop cabanas, he has recently installed a haphazard hodge-podge of cheap knock-off statues in front of the once-proud house. One expects self-indulgent follies in Hollywood, but this mess is completely without style.

"Sculpture garden"

The owner was also contemplating adding a water feature, requiring the removal of massive amounts of soil from the hillside, thereby potentially threatening the stability of the entire foundation.

A padlocked gate keeps the ghosts in.

Of course, the homeowner may have some excuse, considering that the house was reported to be haunted by a tenant who lived there in the 1970s.