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BEVERLY HILLS COURIER | FEBRUARY 27, 2015Page 10BEVERLY H ILLS
REAL ESTATEBy Victoria Talbot
Rarely does a home so eloquentlyspeak to the legacy of a legendary host-ess as the Barnett House speaks of Con-nie Wald, widow of producer-writer Jer-ry Wald.
Built in 1939 by renowned archi-tect Gerard Colcord, the couple pur-chased the majestic estate at 615 No.Beverly Dr. in 1943 from W.B. Barnett,a retired Pennsylvania businessman.
It was then that she started enter-taining, bringing simple food and com-pany together with warmth and hospi-tality.
They hired Loretta Young’s mother,Gladys Belzer, the day’s most stylishdecorator, for the interior spaces, and
the results remained nearly unchangeduntil her death in 2012.
She began her famed dinners to en-tertain thestars thatw o r k e dhard, sixdays a week,offering ac a s u a l ,warm venueto relax anddine in com-fort.
T h ePennsylva-nia Dutch-style farm-house was
large but notpretentious, a
perfect backdrop to a skilled hostesswho really knew how to throw a party.
“When I think about going to din-ner at Connie’s . . . I feel a great sensethat the world is about to be corrected,”said Joan Didion in Vogue magazine.
“It was just cozy,” said BetsyBloomingdale, philanthropist and long-time friend. “Andthey don’t do cozyanymore.” Bloom-ingdale, NancyReagan and AudreyHepburn becameConnie Wald’sclose companions.
Jerry Wald’scredits includeFrom Here To Eter-nity, Peyton Place,Sons And Lovers,Key Largo andmany other films.Wald producedMildred Pierce, thefilm noir about amother and her un-grateful daughter, for which Joan Craw-ford won her Oscar for Best Actress.Crawford was a frequent guest.
Their late son Robbie recalled re-turning home from school one day tofind his parents watching a screeningwith Joanne Woodward, Paul Newman,Marilyn Monroe and Cary Grant. Suchwere their social circle.
In 1952, Columbia Studios offered
to build Jerry Wald an at-home screen-ing room. They brought Colcard back,where he met the couple for the firsttime.
The room had been a MorningRoom, but Colcord expanded it to ap-pear to have always been a theatre in
the house. Jerry Wald died of a heart attack in
1962 at the age of 50. But Connie con-tinued her tradition of opening herhome and her heart to Hollywood’sstars. Dinners prevailed with Conniebringing her sons Robbie and Andrewinto the kitchen with her.
Eventually, Colcord was calledback to the house to convert the garageinto a guest room for Audrey Hepburn.Hepburn always stayed at the housewhen she was in town.
But it was the art of making peoplecomfortable, bringing them out, offer-ing her special brand of entertainingthat made her so special. “She had asunny disposition,” said John Goldwyn,producer grandson of Sam Goldwyn.“She drew people to her.”
When she passed away GeorgeChristy wrote: “Everyone went to Con-nie’s. None better than an invitation
from Connie Wald to dine at her resi-dence, where she lived for 70 years. . .her white picket fence welcomed theworld’s illuminati, culturati and literati.Guests came happily. And came again .. . At Connie’s we all dined royally.”
Says Realtor Bret Parsons, author ofthe book Colcord Home, “The BarnettHouse is one of Colcord’s finest Colo-
nial Revival homes, thestyle for which he isbest known. It em-braces many of Col-cord’s favorite motifs,preeminently the field-stone masonry façade,”said Parsons.
Now, the famedhome is on the marketfor only its secondtime. Like all of Col-cord houses, theyrarely come on themarket.
The home is ap-proximately 5,500-square feet on an18,000-square foot lot.It has five bedroomsand six baths plus a ca-bana, pool and guesthouse. The magnificent
and historic theatre has a separate pro-jection room. Designed by Master Ar-chitect Colcord, the home is being of-fered by realtor Bret Parsons, director ofthe Architectural Division of ColdwellBanker Residential Brokerage.
Legendary Home Of Connie Wald, The Barnett House, Listed By Bret Parsons
POOL AND CABANA
NOTED LIBRARY--conversations on which books were written
HOMEY HEARTH--With her characteristic mix of warmth and casual,Connie Wald spent many hours entertaining before the Colcord signa-ture fireplaces, with heads of state and heads of studios.
THE BARNETT HOUSE BY ARCHITECT GERARD COLCORD
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