Nest on lyrical Blue Jay Way
This house is on one of the “bird streets” overlooking Sunset Strip. It’s across the street from the house that inspired the Beatles’ George Harrison to write “Blue Jay Way” and around the corner from Oriole Drive and Mockingbird Place.
The history of the bird streets can be traced to investor Cooley Butler, who bought 20 acres in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood in 1922, according to Pasadena-based historian Tim Gregory, also known as “The Building Biographer.” Butler, who had an interest in a diamond mine and was an early member of the Teamsters union, asked Larue Wallace, who became his second wife, to name the streets. She did, naming them after birds.
About this house: Described as “a maintenance-challenged ‘60s tract house” when it was purchased about a year ago by L.A.-based interior designer Angie Thornbury, this house has been transformed and modernized with high-speed Internet connection, a view-oriented 41-foot-long lap pool and a sushi bar in the kitchen.
Entering the front door requires walking on water, using strategically placed stepping-stones. Thornbury’s Chinese heritage inspired her use of feng shui principles in the home, which has city-to-ocean views.
Asking price: $2.25 million
Size: The home has three bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms in 2,362 square feet. It’s on a 16,687-square-foot lot.
Features: Every room is wired for the Internet and music. Besides the new pool, the home has an eight-plus-person spa; a courtyard with a fountain; a loft-like living room; and a master bathroom with a heated floor and towel bar, spa tub and steam shower. There is also a garden with shoji screens in front of bamboo plantings.
Where: Hollywood Hills, Sunset Strip area
Listing agent: Cory Sheldon, Westside Realty Investments, (323) 294-6066, Ext. 7.
To submit a candidate for Home of the Week, please send color interior and exterior photos (copies only; 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; or e-mail homeoftheweek@latimes.com.
