James Dolena
BornMay 17, 1888
Russian Empire
DiedJune 12, 1978
Los Angeles County, California
OccupationArchitect

James Dolena (1888-1978) was a Russian Empire-born American architect who designed many houses in Los Angeles, California.

Early life

James Dolena was born in Russia on May 17, 1888.[1] He emigrated to the United States in 1905.[2][3] He was trained as an architect and a painter.[2]

Career

Dolena first moved to Los Angeles to install a mural with Hubert Valentine Fanshaw, and spent the rest of his life there.[2][3]

In 1926, Dolena designed a house for the silent actor Hobart Bosworth, a 3.2-acre mansion located at 809 North Hillcrest Road in Beverly Hills, California.[4][5][6] The interiors were designed by William Haines and the gardens by Benjamin Martin Purdy.[4] In 1933, William Powell and Carole Lombard purchased the house, and the following year, Dolena redesigned it.[2][5][6][7] In 1969, the producer Albert R. Broccoli bought it,[4][5] and in 2005, the interior designer Kelly Wearstler bought it.[4][5]

In 1931, Dolena designed the Garden Apartment and Retail Shop, an apartment house in Westwood, Los Angeles.[1][8] The following year, in 1932, he designed the private residence of film director Richard Wallace in Bel Air, Los Angeles.[1][9][10] Later in 1932, he designed the private residence of actress Constance Bennett in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles.[11] In 1936, he designed the home of Ingle Barr, a renowned book collector, in Beverly Hills, California.[12][13] From 1934 to 1937, he designed the Farmers Market in the Fairfax District, Los Angeles.[14]

From 1937 to 1939, Dolena designed Casa Encantada located at 10644 Bellagio Road in Bel Air, Los Angeles for Hilda Boldt Weber, heiress to the Charles Boldt Glass Co.[15][16][17][18] The interiors and furniture were designed by T. H. Robsjohn-Gibbings.[2][15] It spans 8.4 acres (3.4 ha) and has sixty-four rooms.[15] In 1950, hotelier Conrad Hilton purchased it for $225,000.[2] He sold it to David H. Murdock for $12.4 million in 1979.[15][19] Gary Winnick purchased it for $94 million in 2000.[15][20][21]

From 1937 to 1940, Dolena designed the Boddy House for Manchester Boddy on the grounds of Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge, California.[22][23] In 1939, he designed the private residence of George Cukor.[24][25][26] William Haines was the interior designer.[24] The same year, he designed the house of Col. David L. Reeves in Santa Barbara, California.[1][27] In 1940, he designed the B.T. Gate House in Brentwood, Los Angeles.[1][28]

In 1949, Dolena designed the Walt Disney Estate, a 5,669-square-foot, seventeen-room mansion, for Walt Disney and his wife Lillian Disney in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles.[29][30][31]

Personal life

Dolena lived in Brentwood, Los Angeles, in a house he designed in 1935.[32][33][34]

Dolena died on June 12, 1978, in Los Angeles County, California.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pacific Coast Architecture Database
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Aaeroe Architectural". Archived from the original on 2013-10-01. Retrieved 2013-05-02.
  3. 1 2 Sam Watters, Houses of Los Angeles: 1920-1935, Acanthus Press, 2007, p. 361
  4. 1 2 3 4 Pacific Coast Architecture Database: William Powell House
  5. 1 2 3 4 Hamish Bowles, Kelly Wearstler: The Bold And The Beautiful Archived 2013-04-19 at the Wayback Machine, Vogue, October 01, 2009
  6. 1 2 Emily Eerdmans, Kelly Wearstler, Regency Redux: High Style Interiors: Napoleonic, Classical Moderne, and Hollywood Regency, Rizzoli, 2008, p. 9
  7. ↑ John Chase, Glitter Stucco and Dumpster Diving, Verso, 2004, p. 99
  8. ↑ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Garden Apartment and Retail Shop
  9. ↑ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Mr and Mrs Richard Wallace House
  10. ↑ 'Residence of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Wallace, Bel-Air', Architectural Digest, 9: 4, 33-37, 1934-1935
  11. ↑ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Constance Bennett House
  12. ↑ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Ingle Barr House
  13. ↑ 'Residence of Mr. Ingle Barr, Beverly Hills, Calif.', Architectural Digest, 10: 3, 100-104, 1940
  14. ↑ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Farmers Market
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Casa Encantada
  16. ↑ Huntington Digital Library: Hilda Boldt Weber residence
  17. ↑ John Chase, Exterior decoration: Hollywood's inside-out houses, Hennessey & Ingalls, 1982, p. 50
  18. ↑ Ulysses Grant Dietz, Sam Watters, Dream house: The White House as an American home, Acanthus Press, 2009, p. 198
  19. ↑ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: David Murdock House
  20. ↑ LEITEREG, NEAL J. (2019-10-16). "Bel-Air estate lists for the highest price in America: $225 million". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2019-10-17.
  21. ↑ Gammon, Katherine (2019-10-19). "Los Angeles mansion sets US market record with $225m price tag". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-10-21.
  22. ↑ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Boddy House
  23. ↑ 'Residence of Mr. Manchester Boddy, La Canada, California', Architectural Digest, 10: 3, 93-96, 1940
  24. 1 2 Pacific Coast Architecture Database: George Cukor House
  25. ↑ William J. Mann, Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn, Macmillan, 2007, p. 188
  26. ↑ 'Cukor house a vestige of gentility', The Los Angeles Times, part VII: 1, 9/4/1983
  27. ↑ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Col and Mrs David L. Reeves House
  28. ↑ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: B.T. Gate House
  29. ↑ Marc Wanamaker, Westwood, Arcadia Publishing, 2010, p. 68
  30. ↑ Laura Meyers, 'Reality Check: Lovers' Lien', Los Angeles, March 1998, p. 44
  31. ↑ Neal Gabler, Walt Disney: The Biography, Aurum, 2007, p. 474
  32. ↑ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: James E. Dolena House
  33. ↑ "Residence of Mr. J.E. Dolena, Brentwood Park, California", Architectural Digest, 10: 3, 166, 1940
  34. ↑ Bruce David Cohen, 'A Dolena legacy: refurbishing the architect's classic house in Los Angeles', Architectural Digest, 47: 10, 164-171, 227, 9/1990
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