It’s hard to imagine now, but Wilshire Blvd was once lined with large and beautiful homes. One of the doozies was this place: the home of Ida Harazsthy Hancock at the northeast corner of Wilshire and Vermont. It was built in 1909 and lasted until 1938 (which for LA is an eternity.) Ida was the widow of landowner Henry Hancock who owned Rancho La Brea (covering what is now Hollywood, West Hollywood, Miracle Mile and Hancock Park). Henry died in 1883 unaware that a huge deposit of oil lay under his land. Lucky ol’ Ida struck it rich and built an enormous house. Ah, some things never change.