The Spadena House aka The Witch’s House

If you’re in Beverly Hills you should definitely drive by the Witch’s House! Looks like it is straight out of Disneyland with a moat and everything. I’m so curious about what it looks like inside.

In true Halloween Spirit this year we decided to visit the Witches house in Beverly Hills.
My best advice is get there EARLY on Halloween night. Street parking fills up quick and street start to close around the at about 6 pm.
We arrived close to 5pm. Got great parking & scored great candy. YES! Full size candy bars.

Beverly Hills, CA: very unique!
This unusual and uniquely styled house sits on the northeast corner of Walden at Carmelita. It is very generous of the owner to share the property with the public by allowing photographs from the curb. Views of the house could easily have been blocked by a higher fence or shrubbery. Photographs posted by other Unilocalers tell pretty much what can be viewed as this is a private home much in use. Thank you so very much, kind owner of this story book house, for sharing!
2 hours free parking was allowed on adjacent, residential streets. A small tour bus pulled up and stopped briefly at the very front of the house as I was departing. A novel stop worth seeking out.

Saw my friend visited this place so I decided to check it out myself yesterday and the house is beautiful! Located on Walden Drive & Carmelita in Beverly Hills. The architecture is amazing. I wanted to see what the inside look like but no luck. Perfect spot to take Halloween pictures or do a photoshoot :)

Upon looking for things to do in Los Angeles, and thanks to Unilocal,I stumbled onto reviews for The Witch’s House, to which I immediately asked, «Gee, what’s this that I never heard of? Right here in Beverly Hills?» Well, truth be told, I had never heard of it UNTIL, you guessed it, Unilocal.
Yearning (for)
Endless
Learning
Possibilities
Okay, folks, work with me on that. The point is, you can learn so much about the world around us all on this wonderful website. So, this Spadena House was built in 1921 by some genius who had a touch of whimsy in him, not to mention intense creativity, and a playful side. Not sure if he or subsequent owners added the «Do Not Pick The Berries — The Witch» sign, but it’s a great sign. I think my favorite part is the little, specially carved gates, I swear, right out of a Disneyland set, but then the house itself is sooooooo awesome.
I’ve been coming to Beverly Hills my entire life and driving by many a beautiful home, with the sole intent of viewing homes, driving street after street after street to see them, yet never knew about this home. It just goes to show you… stick with Unilocal,and you’ll have this and every city covered right down to the nitty gritty. It doesn’t take long to see this spectacular home on the corner of Walden and Carmelita, but it’s worth it to stop by for a few minutes. It’ll make you smile. It’s just so cute and creative… and certainly different.

I’m from Southern California, born and raised. And yet every day I still find something new in my own hometown. I came across this place when a fellow Unilocaler checked in. I immediately bookmarked it and came here when some of my East Coast friends wanted me to play tour guide
The Spadena house, aka Witch’s House located at 516 Walden Dr, Beverly Hills, right off Santa Monica Blvd. I found a parking spot right next to house and took a few pictures, and was just as amused when I saw a bunch of Hollywood tour vans also slowing down for their customers to take pictures. I kept my distance and did not trespass.
I had no idea about this house, so I looked it up on Wikipedia. Here’s what it said:
«The Spadena House, also known as The Witch’s House, is a storybook house in Beverly Hills, California. Located on the corner of Walden Drive and Carmelita Avenue, it is known for its fanciful, intentionally dilapidated design, and is a landmark included on tours of the area.
The house was designed by Hollywood art director Harry Oliver, who went on to play a major role in Storybook architecture. Oliver was a Hollywood art director who worked on more than 30 films between 1919 to 1938 as art director, art department & as set decorator. It was originally built in 1921 to serve as the offices and dressing rooms for Irvin Willat’s film studio in Culver City, and was moved to its present location in 1934. The converted private home, with its pointy, lopsided roof, tiny windows and stucco with a distressed paint job were then surrounded by an intentionally overgrown English-​style garden and a moat-​like pond.
The first residents of the 3,500 square feet (330 m2) home, the Spadena family, lent the house their name. A second family moved in and renovated the interior in the 1960s, making some exterior alterations including a skylight visible from certain angles. The moat began leaking under the second family’s ownership and they filled it with soil, and planted a garden. By the time the house came on the market again in 1997, it had fallen into disrepair. Because of the value of its prime location, it was unable to immediately find a buyer uninterested in a teardown of the property. Consequently Michael Libow, a real estate agent, who did not want to see the home demolished, purchased it and began a gradual renovation. After tall, black fencing was initially placed around the lot, the owner received hate mail from people who thought he was going to tear it down.
The home has been called a precursor to Walt Disney’s concept of Imagineering, whereby stage sets become fully realized environments. Architect Charles Willard Moore once described the building as the «quintessential Hansel and Gretel house.»
If you have nothing to do, and want to explore Los Angeles, drop the address on to the GPS and stop by!

I think this is house is so cool. It sits on the corner in your typical Beverly Hills area it’s a nice attraction and well kept up. If you have kids or people visiting bring them they’d think it’s pretty neat too– looks like it’s right out of a movie.

I brought my kids here for a quick pic. I automatically fell I love with this house. The details on the entire house are awesome. From the droopy roof to the signs posted in the exterior. There’s also fake crows on the property to add to the creepy-​ness. I would suggest parking on the street and walking up to get a better look/​picture

What a cool house! I saw it at night and it was adorable. The landscaping and signs from the «witch» added a nice touch. Worth seeing for sure!
You can park for a bit on the corner of Carmelita and Walden and take pics in front of the house.

Did you know there’s a house in Beverly Hills that resembles something you would see out of a movie — a witch’s house?! Well, I’ve seen it myself and you should go check it out too, if you’re in the area! :) A quick stop will do, which is what I ended up doing in March 2015.
What a curious sighting, right? It felt a bit «chilly» as I approached, hahaa… I was freaking myself out. :) It stands out amongst the other mansions in the area, since nothing else looks like it at all. It’s right on the corner of 2 streets, so you can’t miss it. Have fun exploring the outside perimeter!
More photos here:

Aaah! My dream house! It is soooo adorable, I love how the «Witch House“theme is carried throughout the entire property! (How much would I LOVE a tour of the inside??) Totally worth it to drive by and take a peek if you are anywhere near the area– why not? It’s free and you can take tons of cute pictures!

After living near Beverly Hills my whole life, I never knew about this place. It was less then a month ago when I was researching interesting places to go for Angelenos and this place came up.
Beautifully decorated, unique house. I bring my friends and family here, as most haven’t been here. Yes, this isn’t worth the drive if it’s completely out of the way, but so worth it if you’re in the area.
The residents sure keep this place well kept, and the decorations are phenomenal.
Every time I have come here, I’ve seen the star tours driving by and tourists snapping photos of this amazing house– so it’s a popular hotspot to visit in LA.
This is a great place to come for less then 10 minutes. Snap some photos, enjoy the architecture and leave :)
Enjoy the spookiness!

I luv this place. It could not be more perfect…
This is such a magical and amazing place, I drive by often. Hell! Is it a personal residence now? Wonder what it looks like inside.

We were driving around Beverly Hills to tour the upcoming real estate listings, and came upon this very unique looking «witch’s house». Had to stop to take some pictures. This house looks like it’s straight out of Disneyland. I came home and googled «scary house Beverly Hills» and found out this house is famous. It’s The Spadena House that was designed by a Hollywood art director. It’s unique and very cute in a creepy way. Wonder how the inside of the house looks like?

Fun to drive by and look at but not worth an out of town drive for a tourist, unless you’re in the neighbourhood. Totally cute, but obviously private property.
Halloween is too crazy for me and my lil one. I will leave that for all the teenagers that like to be hooligans. ;)

If you happen to be in the area, it wouldn’t hurt to stop by and do a little sidewalk gazing.
Legend has it that this house was built in 1921 to serve as the offices and dressing rooms for a film studio. It later turned into a private residence and changed hands a few times. In 1997 neighbors thought they would soon see the demise of the Spadena house as there were rumors that the home was being sold for its prime location in the 90 210 zip code. Thankfully, the real estate agent could not bear to see the destruction of such a imaginative and historical structure that he bought the house and began a gradual renovation.
It is now thanks to realtor Michael Libow that we have this spectacular little Hansel and Gretel house, equipped with it’s very own moat, that is sure to be the star of your very next selfie.

It’s really a quick and easy fun place to check out. Obviously, the best draw is the architecture. This home was made by a movie mogul as a set for a movie, with one difference, that is that it is a livable home.
Don’t just drive by it! Park on the corner of Carmelita and Walden! Walk around the perimeter of the fence and notice the cute signs placed up and also the pond in front with the bridge that leads to the front door.
I wonder who lives here?! Enjoy! Here’s the other cool thing! The people that take bus tours through the celebrity homes don’t get off and see the intricacies of this home. If you park for five minutes, you can get a photo in front of the house and also look at all of the details of the home (the roof, fence, signs and gardening)…

I think this place is SO COOL! It is literally chilling out at the corner of a street in the heart of your stereotypical Beverly Hills neighborhood. And for once, it’s a free attraction in Los Angeles haha. It’s almost eerie when you notice all of the details. They must put a lot of work to upkeep it. They have black roses, fescue-​like grass in their front lawn, a pond, etc. There is a beware the witch sign, which I thought was a fun detail.
There’s a 2 hour parking right in front of the house. I suggest if you could, park, and take a look around. It’s a pretty neat place-​looks like it came straight out of a movie… not even exaggerating haha. Definitely took a touristy picture in front of it and got in the way of those tour buses who drove by haha!
Wonder if anyone lives in there or if they would hand out Halloween Candy?! haha.

Saw this while on the Dearly Departed Tragical History Tour. I had it bookmarked and voila, there I am, sitting in the middle of the intersection looking at the house and wishing we could go in and see what t looks like n the inside.
A little history about the place. If I can recall correctly, the house was originally built in Culver City to house dressing rooms for a film studio. It was picked up and moved to it’s current location to spare it departure and celebrate it’s novelty.

As the owner of this funky landmark, I was astonished to discover today that the name of one of the original owners was Louis E. Spadina. I don’t know how the «e» came into association with the name of my home (Spadena); but, it appears to be inaccurate. As an intriguing side note, the first owners, Ward and Liliian Lascelle took in a «renter» to share their home named Louis Spadina who wound up marrying Lillian Lascelle after her divorce from Ward.
Michael