In 1907, Omaha banker, Gordon Wattles decided he needed a winter home where he could escape from the Nebraskan winters, and we can’t blame him for that, can we? So he bought a parcel of land north of Hollywood Blvd and engaged Myron Hunt and Elmer Gray (who had designed the Mt Wilson Observatory) to build the estate Wattles called Jualita. I don’t have a date on this aerial photo, but I’m guessing it was taken not long after the project was completed, so circa 1910 or thereabouts.
The Wattles mansion is still there and sits amid a 50-acre site known as Wattles Park. As far as I know it just sits there. When I visited it a few years ago, you could walk the grounds but the house itself is firmly locked. This is how the property looks now. The image is from the hillside behind the house looking south toward Hollywood.
It is available for gatherings, but the all grounds should be made available to the general public and the Hollywood Blvd exposure improved to a park the locals can be proud of. The “gardeners” now control it and pass their plot rights to their children.
I like the signs warning hikers to beware of rattlesnakes and tarantulas.