Where an Oil Executive, Jockey and Stars Converge
This Los Feliz home was built in 1964 for Harold Berg, who became president of Getty Oil Co. in 1976 following the death at 83 of the company’s president, billionaire J. Paul Getty. After Berg sold the house, it was owned for several years by Laffit Pincay Jr., who at 52 surpassed Bill Shoemaker in 1999 to become thoroughbred racing’s winningest jockey.
About this house: It is in Laughlin Park, a historic gated community where Cecil B. DeMille, Charlie Chaplin and other film greats once lived. The half-acre on which the house sits was once part of the DeMille estate. DeMille’s estate, which occupied several acres, is now 2.5 acres and remains next door to this house.
Both the DeMille estate and this house are owned by the same couple. They bought this house and renovated it as a place to live while refurbishing the DeMille estate.
Asking price: $2,595,000.
Size: Five bedrooms and 7 1/2 bathrooms in 4,800 square feet.
Features: The current owners installed walnut floors, a new kitchen, a 38-foot entry gallery with several walls for art, and a two-room master suite with two bathrooms, a walk-in closet and a sauna. The one-story home also has three or four other bedrooms, a kitchen with a breakfast room and glass walls that look out to lush grounds, a 48-foot pool, a pool house and a view of the Griffith Park Observatory.
Where: Laughlin Park.
Contact: Brett Lawyer, Prudential California, John Aaroe Division, (310) 777-2831.
To submit a candidate for Home of the Week, please send color interior and exterior photos (copies only, please; we cannot return the pictures) and a brief description of the house, including what makes the property unusual, to Ruth Ryon, Real Estate Section, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012.
