Culver City, California: Hobbit House

I first lived at the small bachelor apartment at 3827-1/4 Dunn Drive. Then I married, and my wife and I lived in the main building, #3827, upstairs on the right. That's the biggest apartment in the Hobbit House -- which was never called that when I lived there from February 1962 to June 1965. I knew Lawrence Joseph well (and his wife, Martha). He was quite the craftsman. I also did some modifications to the main apartment I lived in, with Joseph instructing/teaching. Much that has been published about Joseph and the various buildings that he built/modified, are wrong. Paula Prentiss (the actress) and her husband, Dick Benjamin, lived in the apartment next to us. All of the furniture inside and the pegged curved floors, etc., were hand-made by L. Joseph, using old-time tools such as spoke shaves. The interior is marvelous.

There are a cluster of these little hobbit houses together, surrounded by ponds that have living turtles. They are apartments now, but still retain the old world charm intended by the designer. When I went there it was possible to walk up the driveway between the buildings and up to one of the ponds.

This is the house Alicia Silverstone walked by in the movie "Clueless" ~ the story of Mr. Hall, teacher at Beverly Hills High School.

The Hobbit House [is still visible from the street].