James Dolena Explained

James Dolena
Birth Date:May 17, 1888
Birth Place:Russian Empire
Death Date:June 12, 1978
Death Place:Los Angeles County, California
Occupation:Architect

James Dolena (1888–1978) was a Russian Empire-born American architect who designed many houses in Los Angeles, California.

Early life

James Dolena was born in Russia on May 17, 1888.[1] He emigrated to the United States in 1905.[2] [3] He was trained as an architect and a painter.[2]

Career

Dolena first moved to Los Angeles to install a mural with Hubert Valentine Fanshaw, and spent the rest of his life there.[2] [3]

In 1926, Dolena designed a house for the silent actor Hobart Bosworth, a 3.2-acre mansion located at 809 North Hillcrest Road in Beverly Hills, California.[4] [5] [6] The interiors were designed by William Haines and the gardens by Benjamin Martin Purdy.[4] In 1933, William Powell and Carole Lombard purchased the house, and the following year, Dolena redesigned it.[2] [5] [6] [7] In 1969, the producer Albert R. Broccoli bought it,[4] [5] and in 2005, the interior designer Kelly Wearstler bought it.[4] [5]

In 1931, Dolena designed the Garden Apartment and Retail Shop, an apartment house in Westwood, Los Angeles.[1] [8] The following year, in 1932, he designed the private residence of film director Richard Wallace in Bel Air, Los Angeles.[1] [9] [10] Later in 1932, he designed the private residence of actress Constance Bennett in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles.[11] In 1936, he designed the home of Ingle Barr, a renowned book collector, in Beverly Hills, California.[12] [13] From 1934 to 1937, he designed the Farmers Market in the Fairfax District, Los Angeles.[14]

From 1937 to 1939, Dolena designed Casa Encantada located at 10644 Bellagio Road in Bel Air, Los Angeles for Hilda Boldt Weber, heiress to the Charles Boldt Glass Co.[15] [16] [17] [18] The interiors and furniture were designed by T. H. Robsjohn-Gibbings.[2] [15] It spans and has sixty-four rooms.[15] In 1950, hotelier Conrad Hilton purchased it for $225,000.[2] He sold it to David H. Murdock for $12.4 million in 1979.[15] [19] Gary Winnick purchased it for $94 million in 2000.[15] [20] [21]

From 1937 to 1940, Dolena designed the Boddy House for Manchester Boddy on the grounds of Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge, California.[22] [23] In 1939, he designed the private residence of George Cukor.[24] [25] [26] William Haines was the interior designer. The same year, he designed the house of Col. David L. Reeves in Santa Barbara, California.[1] [27] In 1940, he designed the B.T. Gate House in Brentwood, Los Angeles.[1] [28]

In 1949, Dolena designed the Walt Disney Estate, a 5,669-square-foot, seventeen-room mansion, for Walt Disney and his wife Lillian Disney in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles.[29] [30] [31]

Personal life

Dolena lived in Brentwood, Los Angeles, in a house he designed in 1935.[32] [33] [34]

Dolena died on June 12, 1978, in Los Angeles County, California.[1]

Notes and References

  1. https://digital.lib.washington.edu/architect/architects/220/ Pacific Coast Architecture Database
  2. Web site: Aaeroe Architectural . 2013-05-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131001045252/http://www.aaroearchitectural.com/architects-historic/12 . 2013-10-01 . dead .
  3. Sam Watters, Houses of Los Angeles: 1920-1935, Acanthus Press, 2007, p. 361 https://books.google.com/books?id=qi03AQAAIAAJ&q=%22james+E.+dolena%22
  4. https://digital.lib.washington.edu/architect/structures/3888/ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: William Powell House
  5. Hamish Bowles, Kelly Wearstler: The Bold And The Beautiful, Vogue, October 01, 2009
  6. Emily Eerdmans, Kelly Wearstler, Regency Redux: High Style Interiors: Napoleonic, Classical Moderne, and Hollywood Regency, Rizzoli, 2008, p. 9 https://books.google.com/books?id=QDbrAAAAMAAJ&q=%22james+dolena%22
  7. https://books.google.com/books?id=MXRvA_Hwgq8C&dq=%22james+dolena%22&pg=PA99 John Chase, Glitter Stucco and Dumpster Diving, Verso, 2004, p. 99
  8. https://digital.lib.washington.edu/architect/structures/1485/ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Garden Apartment and Retail Shop
  9. https://digital.lib.washington.edu/architect/structures/3889/ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Mr and Mrs Richard Wallace House
  10. 'Residence of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Wallace, Bel-Air', Architectural Digest, 9: 4, 33-37, 1934-1935
  11. https://digital.lib.washington.edu/architect/structures/3890/ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Constance Bennett House
  12. https://digital.lib.washington.edu/architect/structures/3906/ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Ingle Barr House
  13. 'Residence of Mr. Ingle Barr, Beverly Hills, Calif.', Architectural Digest, 10: 3, 100-104, 1940
  14. https://digital.lib.washington.edu/architect/structures/766/ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Farmers Market
  15. https://digital.lib.washington.edu/architect/structures/379/ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Casa Encantada
  16. http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15150coll5/id/5867/rec/35 Huntington Digital Library: Hilda Boldt Weber residence
  17. John Chase, Exterior decoration: Hollywood's inside-out houses, Hennessey & Ingalls, 1982, p. 50 https://books.google.com/books?id=nHAqAQAAIAAJ&q=%22james+dolena%22
  18. Ulysses Grant Dietz, Sam Watters, Dream house: The White House as an American home, Acanthus Press, 2009, p. 198 https://books.google.com/books?id=gvZIAQAAIAAJ&q=%22james+E.+dolena%22
  19. https://digital.lib.washington.edu/architect/structures/3909/ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: David Murdock House
  20. News: Bel-Air estate lists for the highest price in America: $225 million. LEITEREG. NEAL J.. 2019-10-16. Los Angeles Times. en-US. 2019-10-17.
  21. News: Los Angeles mansion sets US market record with $225m price tag. Gammon. Katherine. 2019-10-19. The Guardian. 2019-10-21. en-GB. 0261-3077.
  22. https://digital.lib.washington.edu/architect/structures/3908/ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Boddy House
  23. 'Residence of Mr. Manchester Boddy, La Canada, California', Architectural Digest, 10: 3, 93-96, 1940
  24. https://digital.lib.washington.edu/architect/structures/432/ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: George Cukor House
  25. William J. Mann, Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn, Macmillan, 2007, p. 188 https://books.google.com/books?id=60tp4b5PiXYC&dq=%22james+dolena%22&pg=PA188
  26. 'Cukor house a vestige of gentility', The Los Angeles Times, part VII: 1, 9/4/1983
  27. https://digital.lib.washington.edu/architect/structures/3905/ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Col and Mrs David L. Reeves House
  28. https://digital.lib.washington.edu/architect/structures/3907/ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: B.T. Gate House
  29. https://books.google.com/books?id=VWxdBTTzfFoC&dq=%22james+dolena%22&pg=PA68 Marc Wanamaker, Westwood, Arcadia Publishing, 2010, p. 68
  30. Laura Meyers, 'Reality Check: Lovers' Lien', Los Angeles, March 1998, p. 44 https://books.google.com/books?id=8V0EAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22james+dolena%22&pg=PA44
  31. https://books.google.com/books?id=EX0WAQAAIAAJ&q=%22james+dolena%22 Neal Gabler, Walt Disney: The Biography, Aurum, 2007, p. 474
  32. https://digital.lib.washington.edu/architect/structures/3895/ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: James E. Dolena House
  33. "Residence of Mr. J.E. Dolena, Brentwood Park, California", Architectural Digest, 10: 3, 166, 1940
  34. Bruce David Cohen, 'A Dolena legacy: refurbishing the architect's classic house in Los Angeles', Architectural Digest, 47: 10, 164-171, 227, 9/1990

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