Nuns Hope to Repair ‘Castle’

Just off Sunset, atop a steep boulevard--the highest peak in the city south of the Hollywood Hills--is a “castle in the air.”

Two nuns in habit, Franciscan Missionary Sisters, lead a visitor across the grounds, once silent film star Antonio Moreno’s Silver Lake mansion. It is now the earthquake-scarred Immaculate Conception Home for Girls.

Built in 1923 by Moreno, who was second only to Valentino as a silent screen lover, the mansion was purchased by the Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese and turned into a home for girls in 1954. Since then, hundreds of girls--orphans and others from broken families sent to the home by the County Department of Social Services--have lived on the five-acre estate. There were never more than 10 girls in residence at a time, two to a room, in an intimate, family-like setting, the sisters say.

Moved Into Stable

But structural damage from last October’s earthquake has made the bedrooms in the main house unsafe, says Sister Benigna, the Mother Superior. And the five nuns who live on the property have been forced to move into a converted stable where Moreno used to keep his horses.

The small order of nuns, based in Mexico City, can no longer provide what they feel is a crucial refuge--a home for troubled young women--unless the building is restored to safety. And that will cost about $150,000, say the sisters.

There are fissures from the quake in several brick masonry walls. Several of the chimneys collapsed or have numerous cracks. And the $27,000 pipe organ, which Moreno installed in the original ballroom, is in ruins.

Sister Marina, who likens the Micheltorena Street estate to a castle, points to the birds of paradise around it. “They were brought here from Africa,” she says.

Sister Benigna hopes publicity about damage done to the historic property will help raise the $150,000 needed to restore it.

Standing in the garden, on a rise that overlooks the entire city, “You can see straight to the Pacific Ocean from here on a clear day,” she says.