C.E. Toberman Estate - History

History

The house was built for Charles E. Toberman (1880-1981), a noted real estate developer who was known as "Mr. Hollywood" and the "Father of Hollywood" for his role in developing Hollywood and many of its landmarks, including the Hollywood Bowl, Grauman's Chinese Theater, the Roosevelt Hotel, the Grauman's Egyptian Theatre and the Hollywood Masonic Temple.

The house was reportedly featured in the first issue of Architectural Digest with a young Bette Davis at the front door. The Toberman family lived at the estate until 1941. It was situated on one of the most exclusive streets in Hollywood, adjacent to the Errol Flynn estate and with neighbors including Bette Davis, Samuel Goldwyn, Preston Sturges, Al Jolson, Ozzie and Harriet Nelson and Fatty Arbuckle.

In 1980, the Toberman estate sold for $1 million (then a record price for a house in the Los Colinos section of Hollywood), and it was listed for sale in 1982 at a price of $1.5 million. The estate was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, after the property was purchased and renovated by Beverly Hills attorney and investor Donald L. Hunt. In the 1980s the house was recommended for Historic-Cultural Monument status by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission, but the proposal was initially rejected by the City Council because "the property owner and the councilman of the district object." The estate was later designated as Historic Cultural Monument #285.

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