Mac/Eddy Driving Tour – June 25, 2010

11 AM starting point: Trader Joe’s parking lot, 7304 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood.
About 2 streets West of La Brea you turn left on N. Poinsetta Pl and then turn right into the
Movietown Plaza Shopping Center where the Trader Joes is. There should be ample parking in
their lot…and this is where we will all meet. You can arrive a few minutes earlier and buy
water/drinks/food, etc. if necessary for our journey in the TJ’s. NOTE: There is another Trader
Joes farther west – but the one you want is right near La Brea.

We are heading into the Beverly Hills “flats” – the streets “below” Sunset Blvd (ie, south of
Sunset). This is the famous zipcode 91210. The streets are laid out in an easy-to-drive grid and
Nelson or Jeanette owned/rented/leased a home on almost every street in this area!

From Trader Joes we go back out N. Poinsetta and turn left (west) onto Santa Monica Blvd. Turn
right on N Palm Dr.
Isabel Eddy’s residence from 1948-51
526 N. Palm Dr
5 bed/4 bath, 3187 sq ft. Built 1925

Turn left (west) at first corner (Carmelita Ave), turn right (north) on the N. Maple

Ann Franklin’s home when she married Nelson

He moved in and they lived there from 1939-40
720 N. Maple Dr
7 bed/6 bath, 6,069 sq ft. Built 1935
(No current picture)

Continue north on N. Maple and make an almost immediate very sharp left onto the first street
(Lomitas Ave). You’ll drive past Elm Dr (where Nelson had a home in Jan 1934 but it was torn
down and rebuilt in 1974). The street after that is N. Foothill Dr, turn left (south).

Nelson’s home in 1933

619 N. Foothill Dr
4 bed/3bath, 5,076 sq ft. Built 1926

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Continue driving south on N. Foothill to the first street (Carmelina Ave) and turn right. Turn
right (north) again at the first street, Alpine Dr.

Nelson’s home – June 1935

703 N. Alpine Dr
4 bed/5bath, 4,093 sq ft.
(Says it was built 1936. Not sure how this fits with Nelson giving it as his address in ’35.)

Continue north to the next street. Left (west) on Lomitas, left (south) on N. Rexford. Go one
block (south), turn right (west) on Elevado Ave. Go 4 blocks, right (north) on N. Beverly Dr.

Nelson’s home – 1934-35

617 N. Beverly Dr
6 bed/7 bath, 8,119 sq ft. Built 1933

Continue north on N Beverly Dr. to corner, turn left on Elevado Ave. Go past Rodeo Dr and take
next right (north) on N. Camden Dr.T urn left (south) at the first street, N. Camden Dr.

Anna MacDonald’s home – until her death in 1947

710 N. Camden Dr
5 bed/6 bath, 4,392 sq ft. Built 1934
Jeanette owned this house.
Blossom and her husband lived there for a time,
taking care of Mrs. MacDonald in her last years.
In 1947 Nelson used this as his return address on at least one letter.

Continue south on N. Camden, turn right (west) at Elevado Ave. Go 1 block, turn left (south) on
N. Bedford Dr. 2 doors down on the right is:

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 Jeanette’s home – 1931
621 N. Bedford Dr.
4 bed/5 bath, 3,290 sq ft. Built 1923

Continue south on N. Bedford Dr. Left (west) on Carmelita Ave. Right (north) onto Roxbury Dr.

Nelson’s home – 1935-36

721 N. Roxbury Dr
4 bed/5 bath, 4,618 sq ft. Built 1925

Continue north on N Roxbury Dr, left (west) on Lomitas Ave. Left (south) on N. Linden Dr.

Jeanette’s home – 1932

711 N. Linden Dr.
5 Bed/5 Bath, 5,112 sq ft. built 1929

Continue south on N Linden. Left (east) on Elevado Ave. Go 5 blocks, left (north) on N. Beverly
Drive 1 block to an intersection of 3 streets by the Will Rogers triangle park. DO NOT take the
sharp left onto Lomitas. Bear left onto N. Canon Drive and drive across Sunset Blvd onto what is
now Benedict Canyon Dr. Continue north to Angelo Dr (signal). Left onto Angelo Dr. Continue
a steep climb to the top of the mountain; the narrow road ends. Note that we can only see the
gate and driveway - and the stunning scenic view of this property.

Nelson’s home – “Mists” – 1937-1949

1330 Angelo Dr.
This was his secret hideaway home with Jeanette.

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Return to Sunset Blvd, turn right (west). We’ll leave Beverly Hills now and drive to Bel Air.
Just past Beverly Glen, turn right through gates on Copa De Oro Rd and turn onto Bel Air Road.
You will drive up a very windy, narrow road up the mountain to a now-empty lot on the left side
of the road. You’ll know you’re there when you reach the Strada Vecchia Rd. Turn left on Strada
Vecchia and pull over to enjoy the view.

Jeanette’s home “Twin Gables” – 1937-63

783 Bel Air Road
(now a vacant lot, see below one of the last photos of it from 2007)

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Return down Bel Air Rd to Sunset Blvd and turn right (west). Drive to Glenroy Ave. (signal).
Turn right onto Glenroy, left onto Ashdale Ave. Right on Ashdale Pl.

Nelson’s last home – 1951-67

166 Ashdale Pl
4 bed/4bath 3,398 sq ft. Built 1949

Return to Sunset Blvd and turn right (west). Pass over the 405 Freeway. Continue to Barrington
(signal). Turn right on Barrington. Continue until it intersects with Halvern (turn right).

Nelson’s home – 1940 or 41 – 1946

485 Halvern Dr.
6 bed/6 bath, 6,513 sq feet. Built 1940

Nelson built the Halvern house but only after five years or so, he sold it to Fred MacMurray.
After the deaths of MacMurray and his wife June Haver, the house went back on the market in
2008. You can see extensive photos of the inside and out by going to our blog at
www.maceddy.com/blog and do a search for “halvern 2008”.

Return to Sunset Blvd and turn right (west). Drive all the way through Pacific Palisades and to
Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). You pass under a footbridge (that goes over the highway) and
immediately bear right onto Porto Marina Way. The first pinkish building you see as you turn
onto Porto Marina (17575 Pacific Coast Highway) was in the 1930s a private club for
Hollywood high society called Joya’s, located on the second floor. On the ground floor was
actress’ Thelma Todd’s Sidewalk Café. Todd died a mysterious death on December 16, 1935.
Isabel’s beach house is at the top of the incline, the very next building up the block on the left.

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 Isabel Eddy’s Residence – 1939-42
(Nelson stayed here frequently in 1939)
17720 Porto Marina Way
4 bed/3 bath, 3,909 sq ft. Built 1926

Return to PCH and turn left. Left on Sunset Blvd. Go about 2 ½ miles then turn left onto W
Channel Rd. After about ½ mile you go straight onto Entrada Dr. Entrada Dr becomes 7th St.
Turn left onto San Vicente Blvd. Drive about 3 ½ miles to Wilshire Blvd, turn left. After about
1/3 mile turn left onto Wilkins Ave. Isabel’s home is on the left.

Isabel Eddy’s Last Residence – 1951-57

10835 Wilkins Ave.
3 bed/2bath, 1,952 sq ft. Built 1931

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Go east on Wilkins Ave 1 block, turn left (north) on Malcolm Ave. Go 4 blocks, turn right (east)
on Wilshire Blvd. Drive a little over 1 miles to Comstock Ave. (We will turn left onto Comstock
if people want to stop.) There are two twin apartment buildings at the corner. The one closest to
the corner is where Jeanette lived on the 8th floor. (She and Gene Raymond had a lease for two
apartments; an adjoining door was put in between the two.) In the next building, Nelson had his
own apartment. Ann Eddy lived in it for some time after Nelson’s death.

Jeanette’s last home

Wilshire Comstock
865 Comstock Ave.
2 bed/2 bath apartments (now condos)

END OF TOUR

***

Homes not visited or no longer standing:

1. Nelson’s home at 155 N. Hudson in Hancock Park area (south-east of Hollywood). He

lived there from 1946-51. The house numbering in this area has been completely
changed.
2. Jeanette’s home in Hancock Park where she lived from 1935-1937 when she got married.
Address: 441 N June St. The address no longer exists.
3. Jeanette’s home at 193 N Carmelina Ave (in the Brentwood area a mile away from
Nelson’s Halvern home). Jeanette leased this home and when the lease was up in May
1935 she moved to June St.
4. Nelson’s home at 517 N. Elm Dr, Beverly Hills, where he lived in January 1934. The
home was torn down and rebuilt in 1974.
5. Nelson’s home at 805 N. Alpine Dr., Beverly Hills, which was torn down and rebuilt in
1993. Nelson lived in the original house from late 1937-1939 although there is some
record that he still used the residence until 1942.
6. Nelson’s hideaway home at 812 S. Mariposa in Burbank. Used by Nelson and Jeanette in
1938 and at times in the 1940s as it was near Nelson’s riding stables. Everything on the
block was demolished around 1990.