Here is the beginning of one of the most in-depth articles I’ve ever read about the homes of the stars. It was published on LastMovie Outpost by RunforitMarty – September 8, 2020. If you love Hollywood, this is a must read! Enjoy!!
Located in Beverly Hills, Roxbury Dr. was the home to many of the biggest stars in Hollywood during the Golden Age of Hollywood. A few of the big names include Lucille Ball (above with her dogs) Ginger Rogers, Jimmy Stewart, brothers George and Ira Gershwin.
These stars are all dead now and a great number of their homes have been demolished, replaced with larger and more modern structures. The destruction of these landmarks is a disgrace on architecture as well as historical levels. If a house wasn’t demolished it was easy to include the size specifications. If it was demolished, typically, this information was difficult to ascertain so it was not included.
So let’s step back in time and dive into these wonderful homes and their owners that have been lost to time.
Note the title of this article if figurative. There are no actual ghosts in this article (okay, there is 1).
The 1000 (‘Ten Hundred’) Block Of Roxbury Dr.
1000 N. Roxbury Dr.
1000 N. Roxbury was the home of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Jimmy Stewart lived in the house next door on to the South (918 N. Roxbury) and Jack Benny lived next door in the house to the North (1002 N. Roxbury).
The 1955 episode of I Love Lucy called “The Tour” was shot in the yard of this house. In the episode, the house is supposed to belong to Richard Widmark, but they decided to just use their own house instead. Lucy and Ethel steal a grapefruit from the backyard.
They were inspired to do that episode because they hated the tour buses that would drive around and drop people off in the front of her house.
Apparently people would pack a picnic basket, and then eat lunch on her front yard when the bus let them out. Like anybody else, she despised this. One day when complaining to Stewart about it, he told her that she should do what he did and turn the sprinkler system on from the back yard as soon as they started eating.
When Dezi Arnaz Jr. was 11 years old he set up a lemonade stand in the driveway. He would go up to the cars that stopped to see his mother’s house and lie to the occupants, telling them the star maps were out of date and that a bunch of stars had moved. He would then charge them $1 for the updated addresses. Everything he told them was completely made up.
Once Jack Benny entered Ball’s house (now married to Gary Morton) through the backdoor unexpectedly at suppertime while the family was eating its meal. He was in character, dressed in what he would wear on television and playing the violin. Ball was in tears from laughter and Morton gave Benny a tip. When Benny arrived back at his house he realized he was locked out.
Ball lived in this home until her death in 1989. One of her favorite annual activities was to personally hand out the Halloween candy to neighborhood children that came trick or treating. She dressed as a witch with blacked-out teeth every year.
After her death, Morton sold the home. The new owners essentially replaced the entire exterior of the home with beige stucco, making it unrecognizable. They also destroyed the front garden making it into an expanded parking area.
A number of people have claimed that Ball still haunts this home. During the remodelling of the house by the new owners one of Ball’s friends claimed that he could see her ghost looking at him from her bedroom (the exterior wall was missing) as he drove past.
One of the owners of the house claims that her spirit frequently moves around boxes and items stored in the attic. Another member of that family stated that sometimes the music from I Love Lucy can be heard once in a while, coming from the attic as well.