The Ann Dvorak Schulyer Road Whorehouse Could Be Yours For a Mere $4.5 Million
1514 Schulyer Rd in it current and no doubt much more boring current state. (The Agency)
The Den of Vice Incorporated (Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection)
For those of you wanting to live in a swanky Beverly Hills residence, formerly owned by a movie star, and the scene of a major vice raid – you’re in luck! This Mediterranean-style residence located at 1514 Schulyer Road is on the market for *only* $4.5 million and fits all of the above criteria.
Inside the high class palace of vice. (Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection)
If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you may recall this residence from our tour of Ann Dvorak’s Los Angeles last year. In a nutshell, Ann owned the house in the early 1950s but was spending most of her time at a Malibu property, so she rented the Beverly Hills home out. In 1951, when Ann was abroad, the house of Schuyler Rd was raided and many arrests were made on pandering charges. Ann was oblivious to the goings on and the press didn’t even link her to the events. In the wake of raid, Ann was made aware and even had a sense of humor about it when she wrote to her agent, “How did you like the Schuyler Road whorehouse episode? It was a good house for that purpose. Had all the makings (no cracks please). Den of Vice Incorporated. I particularly liked the ‘Purple Room.’ $150 for a ‘double header’ – man & two women. Please tell me Bill how they manage that?â€
The Purple Room was available for $150 an hour. (Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection)
Is this what became of the Purple Room? (The Agency)
The house has had some major renovations and the inside and now bears little resemblance to the former Den of Vice Incorporated. I don’t even know when one of these was once the purple room, though I like to think that if you look in a corner near the floor, a trace of “Ann Dvorak loosely affiliated whorehouse purple” is still visible.
That looks like a 1950 Cadillac convertible in the front of the Schulyer Road residence in the 1951 photograph. Which would have gone for a little less than $3000 at the time. And which apparently belonged to Kal Rubin, the gentleman sitting on the couch in the middle of the photograph beneath it. (That according to the caption from the original Herald-Examiner article of the story in the LA Public Library collection.)
According to that same caption, the brunette woman in the dark slacks not looking at the camera in that same photograph was identified as “Barrie Bensen (sic) called the successor to Brenda Allen as ‘Queen Bee’ of Hollywood vice.” A little research shows that Ms. Allen was a Los Angeles Madam whose relationship with a member of the LAPD’s Vice squad led to a resignation of the LA Chief of Police when it was discovered in 1948. Ms. Allen was played by Joan Van Ark in a 1988 made-for-television film called “Shakedown on Sunset Strip”.
That $150 an hour fee for the ‘double-header’ available in the Purple Room in 1951, would be about $1400 an hour today.
Keep us abreast of what happens with this property if you can.
A little late, but — would sure have loved to have taken part in the recent Chicago-area festivities. Hope you sold a lot of books.
As one who can’t get enough stories about the seamier side of Hollywood, I find this episode in Ann’s life fascinating. She really didn’t know what was going on at the residence? And her comments about the “double header” – how do they manage that? Ann (as you suggest) had to have tongue in cheek here; she could not have been that naïve!
So, $4.5 million, huh? As a long time Southern Cal resident, does that seem like a fair price for the property, Christina?
I figured that a property manager would have been taking care of the rental, so it would not be a stretch that Ann was completely clueless about what was going on.
Well it is Beverly Hills, which is as ritzy as you’ve heard but I do think this asking price is a bit high.