The Witch’s House

Everyone loves a good fairytale and never more so than here in Los Angeles where (movie) magic and incredible stories abound. One of our favorite houses to show clients is the Spadena House in Beverly Hills. This is also known as the Witch’s House and has come to play a major role in what is known as Storybook architecture.

The house was designed by Hollywood art director Harry Oliver who worked on more than 30 films between 1919 and 1938. It was originally built in 1921 as offices and dressing rooms for Irvin Willat’s film studio in Culver City. No one could have predicted that it would have become a popular tourist attraction given its fairy tale looks. In fact, so much traffic went by there the house, that it caused accidents. Eventually the studio shut down and instead of demolishing this icon of architecture, it got MOVED (yes, moved) across town to Beverly Hills in 1930 and turned into a private home with an overgrown (this is intentional) English-style garden and a pond made to look like a moat. Because what fairytale house would be complete without a moat?

The original owners were the Spadena Family and that is where the house received its long standing name. The second owners (the Green family) renovated it in the 60’s, including filling in the moat with soil because it kept leaking. And no one wants a leaky moat. However, the Green’s made this popular, traffic stopping house even more popular by playing up its legendary looks during Halloween and making it a favorite of kids looking for candy. Unfortunately, by the 90’s, the house had fallen into disrepair, but was snapped up by a real estate investor who renovated it to it’s now show stopping state.

The house continues to be an attraction; between 3000 and 4000 kids visit the house every Halloween, and tour busses stop by constantly. The good news is that as of 2013, the house was designated as a historical landmark by the City of Beverly Hills so it will be around for years to come.

We can take you to the Witch’s House and more on one of our 5-Star rated Private Tours! Choose from our All LA in a Day, the half day Hollywood Experience, or even Build Your Own Tour of any length and choose exactly what you want to see. We have had a 5-star rating on TripAdvisor since 2011 and all of our tours are completely private, custom tours with just you and your family — like your friend in LA taking you around town.

Call us at 800-549-6625 or email us today to book!