A Chance for a Matchup
Jack Dempsey’s Laughlin Park estate had no garage when he and his actress wife, Estelle Taylor, bought the property in 1927. A year later, they bought the lot next door and, using the same architect who designed their Country English-style house, built a four-car garage with a chauffeur’s quarters.
About this house: The house was built in 1923 by Harley Earl and his wife, Sue. Earl designed the junior Cadillac, called the LaSalle, which debuted in 1927. As head designer for General Motors, he gave the Cadillac its fins and the Corvette its style.
Dempsey was heavyweight boxing champion before he and Taylor bought the house. When they sold it in 1948, the garage was sold separately and converted to a duplex. The house and duplex still have separate owners, but both structures are on the market again, providing the chance, for the first time in more than 50 years, for someone to turn the properties back into one estate.
Asking price: $2,195,000 for the house; $649,000 for the duplex.
Size: The house has five bedrooms in 5,300 square feet. The house, on slightly more than an acre, also has a detached guest house and cabana. The duplex has two two-bedroom units.
Features: The house has a 600-square-foot master suite. The duplex has a screening room, billiard room and sitting room, with a fireplace 7 feet wide and 5 feet high.
Where: The house is at 2047 Laughlin Park Drive; the duplex, at 5268 Los Feliz Blvd.
Listing agents: Richard Stanley and Marc Janvier of Coldwell Banker Previews, Los Feliz; (323) 906-2417.
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Ruth Ryon can be e-mailed with candidates for Home of the Week at ruth.ryon@latimes.com.
