James Dolena

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James Dolena
Born May 17, 1888
Russia
Died June 12, 1978
Los Angeles County, California
Occupation Architect

James Dolena (1888-1978) was a Russian-born American architect.

Early life

He 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

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

In 1926, he designed the private residence of silent actor Hobart Bosworth (1867-1943), a 3.2-acre mansion located at 809 North Hillcrest Road in Beverly Hills, California.[1][2][4][5][6] The interiors were designed by William Haines (1900-1973) and the landscape by Benjamin Martin Purdy.[4] In 1933, it was purchased by William Powell (1892-1984) and Carole Lombard (1908-1942), and the following year, Dolena redesigned it.[2][5][6][7] In 1969, it became the home of producer Albert R. Broccoli (1909-1996).[4][5] Since 2005, it has been owned by interior designer Kelly Wearstler (born 1967).[4][5]

In 1931, he 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 (1904-1965) in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles.[1][11] In 1936, he designed the home of Ingle Barr (1880-1969), a renowned book collector, in Beverly Hills, California.[1][12][13] From 1934 to 1937, he designed the Farmers Market in the Fairfax District, Los Angeles.[1][14]

From 1937 to 1939, he designed Casa Encantada located at 10644 Bellagio Road in Bel Air, Los Angeles for Hilda Boldt Weber, heiress to the Charles Boldt Glass Co..[1][2][15][16][17][18] The interiors and furniture were designed by T. H. Robsjohn-Gibbings (1905–1976).[2][15] It spans 8.4 acres and has sixty-four rooms.[15] In 1950, hotelier Conrad Hilton (1887-1979) purchased it for US$225,000.[2] He sold it to David H. Murdock (born 1923) for US$12.4 million in 1979.[15][19] Later, Gary Winnick (born 1948), the current owner, purchased it for US$94 million.[15]

From 1937 to 1940, he designed the Boddy House for Manchester Boddy (1891–1967) on the grounds of Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge, California.[1][2][20][21] In 1939, he designed the private residence of George Cukor (1899-1983).[1][22][23][24] William Haines was the interior designer.[22] The same year, he designed the house of Col. David L. Reeves in Santa Barbara, California.[1][25] In 1940, he designed the B.T. Gate House in Brentwood, Los Angeles.[1][26]

In 1949, he designed the Walt Disney Estate, a 5,669-square-foot, seventeen-room mansion, for Walt Disney (1901-1966) and his wife Lillian Disney (1899-1997) in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles.[27][28][29]

Personal life

He lived in Brentwood, Los Angeles, in a house he designed in 1935.[1][30][31][32]

Death

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

References

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 Pacific Coast Architecture Database
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Aaeroe Architectural
  3. 3.0 3.1 Sam Watters, Houses of Los Angeles: 1920-1935, Acanthus Press, 2007, p. 361 [1]
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Pacific Coast Architecture Database: William Powell House
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Hamish Bowles, Kelly Wearstler: The Bold And The Beautiful, Vogue, October 01, 2009
  6. 6.0 6.1 Emily Eerdmans, Kelly Wearstler, Regency Redux: High Style Interiors: Napoleonic, Classical Moderne, and Hollywood Regency, Rizzoli, 2008, p. 9 [2]
  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. 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 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 [3]
  18. Ulysses Grant Dietz, Sam Watters, Dream house: The White House as an American home, Acanthus Press, 2009, p. 198 [4]
  19. Pacific Coast Architecture Database: David Murdock House
  20. Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Boddy House
  21. 'Residence of Mr. Manchester Boddy, La Canada, California', Architectural Digest, 10: 3, 93-96, 1940
  22. 22.0 22.1 Pacific Coast Architecture Database: George Cukor House
  23. William J. Mann, Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn, Macmillan, 2007, p. 188 [5]
  24. 'Cukor house a vestige of gentility', The Los Angeles Times, part VII: 1, 9/4/1983
  25. Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Col and Mrs David L. Reeves House
  26. Pacific Coast Architecture Database: B.T. Gate House
  27. Marc Wanamaker, Westwood, Arcadia Publishing, 2010, p. 68
  28. Laura Meyers, 'Reality Check: Lovers' Lien', Los Angeles, March 1998, p. 44 [6]
  29. Neal Gabler, Walt Disney: The Biography, Aurum, 2007, p. 474
  30. Pacific Coast Architecture Database: James E. Dolena House
  31. "Residence of Mr. J.E. Dolena, Brentwood Park, California", Architectural Digest, 10: 3, 166, 1940
  32. Bruce David Cohen, 'A Dolena legacy: refurbishing the architect's classic house in Los Angeles', Architectural Digest, 47: 10, 164-171, 227, 9/1990