Curiosity for rent:
Snow White cottages in Los Feliz
R. Daniel Foster
July 6, 2016
When Sylvia Helfert considered buying eight storybook cottages in 1976, her friends said she was crazy to spend so much money on old pieces of junk. Newly divorced in her 50s and pressed for cash, Helfert gambled and offered $140,000 for the 1931 Los Feliz property that Roque & Mark Real Estate had listed for $160,000. . . .
. . . The property served as the Sierra Bonita apartment complex in David Lynch's 2001 film, "Mulholland Drive."
Nori Muster rented the cottage at 2910 Griffith Park Blvd. for two years, paying $1,800 a month. Muster described her landlord as "a really interesting character. She drove a big old Cadillac or something similar, wore high boots, dressed like a movie star and saw herself as that. And she was a real sweetheart."
Editor's note: The reporter forgot to include when I said Sylvia was just like Cruella Deville. She had the temperament, the car, and the fur coat. She walked out of a Disney movie to own the cottages, I promise. Although she was hard to get along with as a landlord, I still wish her well.
Read the full obituary, which includes more research on the history of the property: latimes.com
More photos and links for the Disney Cottages at Surrealist.org.
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