About

Includes 3892 ½ W. Clayton Avenue

History:

3892 Clayton was the home of Anthony Berkeley in the 1930s, a prolific crime writer originally from England. After serving in the British Army in World War I, he worked as a journalist for many years, contributing to such magazines as Punch and The Humorist. His first novel, The Layton Court Mystery, was published anonymously in 1925. It introduced Roger Sheringham, the amateur detective who features in many of the author’s novels including the classic Poisoned Chocolates Case. In 1930, Berkeley founded the legendary Detection Club in London along with Agatha Christie, Freeman Wills Crofts and other established mystery writers. His 1932 novel (as “Francis Iles”), Before the Fact was adapted into the 1941 classic film Suspicion, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine. Trial and Error was turned into the unusual 1941 film Flight From Destiny starring Thomas Mitchell. In 1938, he took up book reviewing for John O’London’s Weekly and the Daily Telegraph, writing under his pen name Francis Iles. He also wrote for the Sunday Times in the 1940s and for the Manchester Guardian, later The Guardian, from the mid-1950s until 1970. A key figure in the development of crime fiction, he died in 1971 in St John’s Wood, London (Internet Movie Database).

1930 Census:
3892 W. Clayton Avenue (value $12,000): 1) Martha Van Dyke, owner and head of household; white female widow 46 years of age; married at age 22; born in Wisconsin; parents born in Germany; dress shop manager.

1940 Census:
3892 W. Clayton Avenue (Rents for $60/month: 1) Bruce F. Anthony, renter and head of household; white divorced male 31 years of age; born in California; artist in animated motion pictures.

3892 ½ W. Clayton Avenue (Rents for $35/month): 1) Hubert Rickert, renter and head of household; white married male 28 years of age; born in California; artist at a movie studio; earns $1,840. 2) Evan Rickert, wife; white married female 23 years of age; born in Canada; not working.

About Storybook:  The storybook style is a nod toward Hollywood design technically called Provincial Revivalism and more commonly called Fairy Tale or Hansel and Gretel. While there is no specific definition of what makes a house storybook style, the main factor may be a sense of playfulness and whimsy. Most seemed snapped out of a craggy old-world village with intentionally uneven roofs, many cobblestone, doors and windows which may look mismatched and odd-shaped. It took a foothold in California, particularly in Los Angeles, during the 1920s and 1930s. (Source: Wikipedia)