Sowden House: The sordid history of one LAs most famous houses Curbed LA
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“For the wall mural, I had to pick something to bring them into nature and a calming environment,” Lalikian says. For a bedroom off the nursery, Carmine Sabatella wanted to create a jewel-toned escape. “I thought, if somebody’s taking care of the baby, they have a space where they can come and feel like it’s a retreat,” Sabatella says.
HISTORY
Infamous for its distinctive architecture and sordid history, it’s only fitting that some of the filming takes place at Hodel’s actual 1945 home of Sowden House. Inspired by a true story, the TNT six-part series depicts the tale of the teenager Fauna Hodel (India Eisley) who travels to mid-’60s Los Angeles in search of her past after discovering she was given away at birth. Her investigation, with the help of fallen newspaper reporter Jay Singletary (Chris Pine), leads her to the sinister Hollywood gynecologist George Hodel (Jefferson Mays), who was the subject of the unsolved murder of the Black Dahlia (Elizabeth Short) in 1947. Lloyd Wright built the unique house for his personal friend John Sowden, a painter and photographer who wanted a showplace where he could entertain his friends in the Hollywood film community. The Mayan Revival-style fortress is one of the most unique homes in all of Los Angeles and has a long, storied history that might even hold the key to the notoriously unsolved “Black Dahlia” murder case. The Sowden House with its distinctive entry and patterned concrete block facade was designed by noted architect Lloyd Wright.
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Designer Rachel Scheff used the home’s spectacular ceiling, woodwork, and stained glass as the inspirations for her fanciful, flora- and fauna-filled foyer. “It was one of my favorite rooms in the house because it was the one that had the most history preserved, and I wanted to really celebrate that,” she told AD PRO. For her Foyer of Enchantment, Scheff installed a custom mural by Hattas Art Studios, a John Richard chandelier dripping with glass leaves, a silk wall covering by Aux Abris, and organic furniture created with Amorph Studio. “I wanted you to feel like you were transported to another time and place,” Scheff says. But even one of the world’s most infamous unsolved murders isn’t enough to scare people away from a home this majestic.
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The Potter Daniels Manor, the English Tudor Revival–style residence that hosted the 1975 and 1996 showcase houses, has been reimagined with 30 new interior and exterior spaces for the 2024 edition, which is now open until May 19. From the outside, the Sowden House appears to be a fortress, covering the secrets the residence holds within. The few lucky individuals who visit it can only describe the peaceful vibes the interior gives off. However, at night, when the fire is burning and it’s dark all around, a quick reminder may pop up that the legendary house gave birth to a murderous tragedy many years ago. In 2001, the Sowden House underwent a massive transformation by designer Xorin Balbes, who bought the home for 1.2 million. While the exterior still represents Wright’s iconic style, the interior is adapted to modern life.
Its transformation from private family home into hip showplace had already happened in 2001, when flamboyant real estate entrepreneur Xorin Balbes bought the home from the Mazur family for $1.2 million. After George died, his son Steve, a retired LAPD detective, was going through some of his father's possessions when he found two pictures of a lovely dark-haired girl. He soon became convinced that the photos were of Elizabeth Short, aka the Black Dahlia, whose unsolved 1947 murder and mutilation had long been the stuff of Hollywood legend. In 1945, Dr. George Hodel purchased the already iconic house, which was so confusing to most average mortals.
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The house is noted for its use of ornamented textile blocks and for its striking facade, resembling (depending on the viewer's points of cultural reference) either a Mayan temple or the gaping open mouth of a great white shark. Designer Mark Hermogeno paid tribute to Silver Queen Susanna Bransford Emery-Holmes in the kitchen, butler’s pantry, family room, powder room, and mudroom. “We had thought, What if she actually came back to life and asked us to remodel the space?
Yet since 2008 visitors to the New Canaan compound where Johnson lived with his longtime partner, the collector and curator David Whitney, before donating it to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, have arrived to find the Brick House shut up tight. Designer Stephanie Hatten updated the Gatehouse Kitchen, turning it into an airy English-country-inspired space. An eye-catching natural stone by Walker Zanger was selected for the counters and backsplash, and the space was outfitted with the latest Monogram appliances.
The designer established two seating areas within the space, including a cozy gathering spot with chaise longues that flank the original carved marble fireplace. The room’s coffered ceilings were enhanced with a faux-wood decorative painting by Jhon Ardilla. “I really feel like the dining room is a forgotten room,” says the designer, who set out to prove how vital the space is to a home. The room is anchored by a Riva 1920 table made with the wood of a 50,000-year-old Kauri tree, which Levine surrounded with seating for 12. Another seating area with views of the garden was designed for more intimate dining, games, or meetings, and it’s illuminated by a Murano glass chandelier.
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Even Steve’s first marriage was to a woman who wanted to use him as revenge against his father. Carrying on the legacy of his father, who worked with molded concrete tiles and blocks to create structurally innovative buildings, Lloyd Wright used concrete textile blocks to erect the Sowden House. The technique, just like in the case of his father’s best works, created a unique structure that’s reminiscent of ancient Mayan temples. The Sowden House was designed by noted architect Lloyd Wright, the son of Frank Lloyd Wright, for his friends John and Ruth Sowden. The Sowdens, who were part of the Hollywood film scene, wanted a house that would accommodate lavish parties and entertaining, and they encouraged Wright to create a distinctive showplace. Critics derided the use of the concrete blocks, the cheapest available material, being used in expensive upscale neighbourhoods.
To hear the full story of Elizabeth Short's life and death, as well as more details on the Sowden House listen to Parts I and II of the Black Dahlia series of our podcast, Dark House. Many incriminating statements were caught on tape during the 24/7 surveillance period, and several other witnesses were interviewed to make a case against Dr. Hodel as the Black Dahlia murderer. Shortly thereafter, Jemison closed the case and cleared Dr. Hodel, a decision that baffles many today given the apparent evidence against him.
Major criticisms focused on the changes to the courtyard area, the entryway staircase, and Asian accents that clashed with the pre-existing Mayan theme. But with the costly updates came new attention on a property that had largely gone ignored over the decades. Following renovations, the Sowden House appeared in commercials and popular films such as L.A.
In fact, Frank Lloyd Wright designed a number of houses over the years which featured this Mayan theme, from which Lloyd Wright most likely drew inspiration. Another Mayan-style property known as the ‘Ennis House’ is located nearby, just to the northeast of Loz Feliz. This property was built by Lloyd Wright’s father, the world-renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright in the early 1920s. In 1926, the painter and photographer John Sowden hired his friend, the renowned architect Lloyd Wright, to design and build a 6,000-square-foot neo-Mayan property at 5121 Franklin Avenue in Los Feliz.
This was paid tribute with images of water, clouds, the sun, and harvest activities inscribed into the concrete, giving the LA home a ritualistic quality. So Wright fitted it with a stage, secret room, central courtyard, and ornamented concrete blocks. But despite the architect’s stellar work, John Sowden didn’t live long in the Franklin Ave. house. By 1930, Sowden was likely fed up with the public’s reaction to his uniquely designed house and sold it. The Mazur family eventually sold the Sowden House to a designer and developer, Xorin Balbes, in 2001. Though many of the original details have been preserved over the decades (we especially love the dramatic ceiling in the living room and the stained glass ceiling details above the fireplace), the interior has been updated to suit modern tastes.
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