There are widespread urban legends that the Disney Studios built and/or owned the so-called “Snow White” cottages on the 2900 block of Griffith Park Avenue in L.A. These charming–but tiny–1931 dwellings were built by architect Ben Sherwood in the storybook style that was popular in Southern California during the early decades of the 1900’s–especially in Hollywood. AlthoughDisney’s Hyperion studio was located nearby (from 1926 – 1940), Disney neither built nor owned the Griffith Park Boulevard cottages. It is true (as confirmed by Dave Smith, Disney’s Chief Archivist Emeritus, in a January 2013 D23 Fanfare column) that some Disneyanimators rented the cottages as living spaces; their proximity to the Hyperion studio was too good to pass up. Ham Luske, supervising animator of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, was an occupant of one cottage.
It is possible that the whimsical storybook flavor of the Griffith Park Avenue cottages inspired some of the animators’ Snow White production designs. It would seem impossible to live in a fairy tale cottage, among other fairy tale cottages, while working on Snow White, without the real architecture influencing the animation. A January 2014 visit to the cottage complex by the author and her research associate revealed that the courtyard, which in recent years had fallen on hard times, seems to have been painstakingly renovated, its original charm restored. It is a gem, definitely worth a look if you’re a Disney fan and you’re in the neighborhood. (Just remember that there are tenants in residence; quiet, please.) The Gelson’s supermarket located nearby stands on the site of Walt’s Hyperion studio. A plaque memorializes the significance of the site. And Walt once lived at another nearby (and privately owned) landmark, the house at Lyric and St. George.
It is possible that the whimsical storybook flavor of the Griffith Park Avenue cottages inspired some of the animators’ Snow White production designs. It would seem impossible to live in a fairy tale cottage, among other fairy tale cottages, while working on Snow White, without the real architecture influencing the animation. A January 2014 visit to the cottage complex by the author and her research associate revealed that the courtyard, which in recent years had fallen on hard times, seems to have been painstakingly renovated, its original charm restored. It is a gem, definitely worth a look if you’re a Disney fan and you’re in the neighborhood. (Just remember that there are tenants in residence; quiet, please.) The Gelson’s supermarket located nearby stands on the site of Walt’s Hyperion studio. A plaque memorializes the significance of the site. And Walt once lived at another nearby (and privately owned) landmark, the house at Lyric and St. George.
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