About

“Arzner-Morgan Residence”

Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #301, declared 10/29/86 by Council District 13.

W. C. Tanner & C. H. Tucker Engineering, architect.

History:

Dorothy Arzner /Marion Morgan house.

Designed by architect W. C. Tanner in 1931, the Arzner/Morgan residence resembles a Grecian villa. It is a two-story hillside home with a unique site, high above the Los Angeles Basin. The house contains several large rooms which flow into each other. The living room, on the main level, opens into a Doric-columned loggia which overlooks the city. Wrought iron lighting fixtures, wall sconces, door knobs and other decorative elements reinforce the Grecian classical motif of the design.

The home was the residence of Dorothy Arzner, Hollywood’s first and most famous female director, and Marian Morgan, the talented avant-garde danseuse. Original landscaping by Florence Yoch. (Source: James Yoch, Landscaping the American Dream: The Gardens and Film Sets of Florence Yoch, 18901972, Abrams, New York, 1989.) Listed at $2,300,000 in 1998. Photos. (Lists architect as John Austin, erroneously??) Listed at $1,795,000. Sold at $1,900,000 in May, 2001.