Fit for a shoe king
SHORTLY before UCLA moved to Westwood, Sol and Ida Rosenberg purchased land in the vicinity from the Janss Investment Co., owner of the new subdivision carved from the old Wolfskill ranch. The area where the Rosenbergs built this Spanish-style home in 1928 is known today as Little Holmby.
Sol Rosenberg owned a shoe factory in Boston and, according to a 1923 news report from The Times archives, was “said to be the largest wholesaler jobber of shoes in the world.”
He spent lavishly on the two-story home -- with its three bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs, and maid’s quarters including a three-quarter bathroom downstairs -- at least $11,000 at a time when many houses cost less than a 10th of that amount. It was the first of six consecutive houses Allen Siple would design for the Rosenbergs.
About this house: Details original to the period include pegged and grooved oak floors, the hearth, ironwork, carved ceiling beams and the roof tiles. An arched colonnade overlooks a tiled fishpond.
Size: Four bedrooms and 2 3/4 bathrooms in about 3,200 square feet on a flat corner lot of more than 9,500 square feet.
Features: There is a living room, a formal dining room and a junior dining room. French doors open to two backyard gardens filled with roses and bougainvilleas. The kitchen was remodeled in 2006.
Asking price: $2,995,000
Where: Little Holmby in Westwood is close to Holmby Hills and has tree-lined streets with homes built in the ‘20s and ‘30s. This house is within walking distance of UCLA and one block from Warner Avenue Elementary School.
Listing agent: Hilary Stevens, (310) 278-3311, of Hilton & Hyland, Beverly Hills.
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To submit a candidate for Home of the Week, send color photographs with caption information on a CD and a detailed description of the house to Ruth Ryon, Real Estate, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A., CA 90012. Questions may be sent to homeoftheweek@latimes.com.
