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Historic Home in Los Angeles’s First Gated Community On the Market

It was once home to a razor company scion, an archbishop and a cardinal

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Listing of the day

Location: Los Angeles, California

Price: $11 million

The historic Mediterranean revival-style mansion in Los Angeles’s Fremont Place community has been home to King G. Gillette, son of the razor baron; John J. Cantwell, the first archbishop of Los Angeles; James Francis McIntyre, when he served as cardinal; and Patricia Barham, one of the first women to report on the Korean war.

Barham, who died in 2016, had rented the house from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese before buying it in an off-market deal in 1973. Barham wrote a Hollywood column for the Los Angeles Herald & Express, and entertained often at the mansion. "She knew everybody and everybody knew her," said James Inman, her husband, adding that Barham Boulevard in Los Angeles is actually named after her father, Frank Barham, publisher of the Los Angeles Herald-Express.

Fremont Place was the first gated community in Los Angeles, with 73 mansions on large lots, each vying to be more glamorous than the next. The enclave has maintained its original exclusivity—it is open only to residents and their guests and doesn’t appear on Google Street View. This house was among the earlier homes to be built in the enclave. Like others in Fremont Place, it has kept many original details like mahogany paneling.

Stats

The 9,339-square-foot house has nine bedrooms and six bathrooms, plus one partial bath and a restroom accessible from outside.

The chauffeur’s quarters above the four-car garage include a bedroom, living room, kitchen, and bathroom. The grounds cover 1.25 acres.

More:Los Feliz Home Goes from Whisper Listing to Market for $8.495M

Amenities

The 36.5-by-14-foot pool, with an additional six-by-five-foot spat at the end, is heated.

A chapel installed by Cantwell was converted to a music room by Barham. In the basement, a wine cave can hold more than 300 bottles.

Design pedigree

The house was built in 1915 by Charles Henry Thompson, a Chicago developer. The beamed ceiling in the dining room is painted in a Renaissance style.

More:Matthew Perry Sells Mid-Century L.A. Home for $12.5 Million

Neighborhood notes

Fremont Place is part of the greater Hancock Park neighborhood, "one of the most desirable parts of the city," said Chase Campen, agent for the listing. "It is right in the middle of the city. Whether you work in Beverly Hills or downtown Los Angeles or Hollywood—even Pasadena and Century City—this is a prime location to get there quickly."

Besides the famous residents of the home, Fremont Place has been home to silent-screen star Mary Pickford; boxer Muhammad Ali, actors Frank Powell, Courtney Vance and Angela Bassett; and A.P. Giannini, founder of Bank of America, according to Mr. Campen.

Agent: Chase Campen, Compass

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