Mid-Century Bloomer

Albert Collins sold sweet peas on a street corner when he was a student at Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles. He saved up enough money to open a flower shop 50 years ago on Normandie Avenue at Santa Barbara, now Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. He went into real estate and became a successful owner, manager and developer. But his love of flowers lingered. He shared that passion and his flair for design with every motorist who passed the vast decorated lawns of his Beverly Hills home at Easter, Halloween and Christmas. It was a gift to all from the 1990 Man of the Year for the Sephardic Hebrew Center/Beth Shalom.

About this house: This is the first time that this house, built in 1952, has come on the market in 20 years. Collins and his wife, Jeanne, bought it in 1981. Over the years, they held many parties here; two or three times a year, they hosted gatherings for hundreds. They loved to entertain their friends, many of them members of their temple. “They made it possible, if only for an evening, for us to live the good life,” wrote Jack Israel in a temple bulletin. Albert and Jeanne Collins died within several weeks of each other recently.

Asking price: $6.5 million.

Size: The house has four bedrooms and six baths in about 7,000 square feet.

Features: Tudor in its exterior style, the home has an open floor plan with a den, a guest house, two patios, a bar, a cabana, a library/study, three fireplaces, a pool and city views. The house is on about 1.6 acres of landscaped grounds.

Where: 9463 Sunset Blvd.

Listing agents: Dana Kates and Harvey Dlugatch at Ramsey-Shilling Associates, (818) 763-4278.

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Candidates for Home of the Week may be e-mailed to ruth .ryon@latimes.com.