MGM mogul Louis B Mayer’s beach house at Santa Monica. It was built in 1926 and constructed in six weeks under the supervision of his studio’s great art director, Cedric Gibbons. Legend has it that Mayer was in this house in January 1927 when he hit upon the idea of forming a movie industry academy. Peter Lawford and his wife, Pat Kennedy bought the house In 1956, and apparently it was one of the places where JFK met with Marilyn Monroe. That’s quite a history for a beach shack! BTW, the house still stands and is only a few paces away from the Annenberg Community Beach House, which is what’s left of the huge WR Hearst/Marion Davies place.
Cake and ice cream, anybody?
Somehow I can’t picture Mayer throwing parties, but here’s some fun pics of Judy Garland’s 16th birthday swim party with Ann Rutherford and Mickey Rooney.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/82/7a/0f/827a0fea69b5293a25ba6be1d01931b0.jpg
http://www.corbisimages.com/images/Corbis-BE056047.jpg?size=67&uid=71e546ca-fa67-45cc-a00f-51ecef68b770
https://jnpickens.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/ann.jpg?w=640
Boy, looks like they’re having a swell time!
Jean
Very cute pictures. I was so hoping to get interior shots of the house. What a beautiful structure.
what years did Mayer own the Beach House ?
what years did Peter Lawford own the Beach House ?
I did a quick google search to see if I could find those dates but I couldn’t dig anything up. Perhaps someone reading this might know.
Good questions. I did not know Lawford had owned it. Are there any interior shots of this house – anyone? Listening to Oscar Wars right now which is why I am here…fascinating.