Touring The House That Magic Built

One thing we can all say about Walt Disney is that he was magical. Instead of having the King Midas Touch he had his own special thing…..A Magic touch. Once he got the business going you could see it in everything he wanted to do. Starting on short with no music, then adding music, going from black and white to color, making a full length film, having the idea of Disneyland. This man had an imagination that the world will never forget. It’s no wonder that he applied it in his day to day life as well. The Working Way Estate was born. For the re-release of Sleeping Beauty and the release of Maleficent the Disney crew had us Mommy Bloggers take a tour of the estate with Historian Paula Sigman Lowery. It was one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had. Walking through the hallways that Magic Built you could feel the creativity in the house bursting through the cracks. We were not allowed to take pictures during the tour, but here are some provided so that you can get a feel of it:

Once Upon a Dream…

In 1923, aspiring filmmaker Walt Disney made his way from Kansas City to Hollywood with little money and big dreams. Joining forces with brother Roy, already a California resident, the two launched Disney Bros. Studio out of a small storefront on Kingswell Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, and signed a contract with M.J. Winkler, a cartoon distributor, who released the Alice Comedies. As the company expanded, Walt and Roy built a new studio on Hyperion Avenue in the Silver Lake District of Los Angeles and began to grow their staff. Among the new hires was an inker named Lillian Bounds, who caught Walt’s eye. Walt and Lillian fell in love and were married in 1925.

A Home Fit for Walt’s Sleeping Beauties…

In 1932, Lillian (or Lilly, as she was called) became pregnant. Feeling their residence at 2495 Lyric Avenue was too small to accommodate a growing family, Walt decided to build a new home on a five-acre piece of property near the Hyperion Studios on Woking Way, a narrow, quiet street in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles. Walt designed his future family home with architect Frank Crowhurst, who had previously worked on a tower addition to the Hyperion Studio.

The $50,000 twelve-room home would combine elements of Tudor and French Normandy styles and include four bedrooms, four and a half baths, a circular rotunda with painted ceilings, a formal double-story living room with vaulted beamed ceilings, rod iron spandrels, original stained leaded glass and Juliet balcony, a dining room, a screening room, a gym room with sleeping porch, a pool and pool house, and a badminton court.

The house was built in a quick two months in order to be ready in time for the baby’s arrival and was constructed by a crew largely composed of out-of-work, Depression-era workers. Walt Disney told Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper, “I built a house in Los Feliz during the Depression. Men used to line up there in the morning hoping to get work. I found a graduate of the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts and had him paint my whole ceiling.” (Lowery 3)

Sadly, Lillian miscarried the expected child but the Woking Way household would soon be filled with the laughter of daughters Diane Marie Disney, born in December 1933, and Sharon Mae Disney, adopted in December 1936.

A Merry Life at Woking Way…

Life at Woking Way was filled with childlike play inspired as much by Walt’s daughters’ imaginations as by his own. According to daughter Diane, Walt would chase the girls around the house, cackling like the witch from Snow White, or twirl them endlessly by their heels. He would also stand in the swimming pool and let them climb to his shoulders. “I thought my father was the strongest man in the world and the most fun,” she recalled. (Gabler 283)

At night, Walt would read to the girls in their bedrooms. On occasion, Walt caught Diane giggling in bed while reading “The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” and “Mary Poppins” alone. Her enjoyment of these books inspired him to acquire both properties and turn them into feature films. (Lowery 5)

The family also enjoyed gathering in the screening room to watch movies like Gone with the Wind and dailies from the studio. Diane recalled, “We saw all the great movies of the time, including Hop-a-long Cassidy and Roy Rogers films, as well as dailies from Dad’s current live-action films.” (Lowery 6)

Despite the presence of Disney dailies, the house itself was largely devoid of any “Disney” merchandise. Walt told an interviewer he deliberately kept Disney products out of his house because “I’ve lived with it too much and I just didn’t want to live with it at home.” (Gabler 282)

Walt and family did live with a series of pets, including a chow named Sunnee, which Walt had given to Lily in a hatbox - a moment memorialized in Lady & The Tramp (Gabler 105) - a black cat named Manxie, and, when Sunnee passed, a brown standard poodle named Duchess, who followed Walt around the house. (Gabler 463)

An Escape from the Hollywood Scene…

Although Hollywood legends Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, actress Mark Pickford, and director Ernest Lubitsch clamored to get a tour of Walt Disney Studios on Hyperion Avenue (Gabler 259) - visible from the Woking Way property – Walt was not a big fan of mixing with the stars or the Hollywood scene and preferred to stay at home with his family. That said, the Disneys did socialize throughout the 1930s with the Spencer Tracys, inviting them to the house for an afternoon of swimming and badminton. (Gabler 282)

Enjoying the Neighborhood…

During their residency at Woking Way, Walt joined the nearby Hollywood Athletic Club, where he wrestled two or three times a week. The family also enjoyed trips to Griffith Park, where Walt and his daughters would ride the merry-go-round and Walt and Lily rode real life horses. Walt also frequently dined down the hill at the Tam O’Shanter Inn, Los Angeles’ oldest restaurant, which still stands at 2980 Los Feliz Boulevard. (waltsapartment.com/walt-disneys-los-feliz-home/)

Professional Milestones During the Woking Way Years…

During the Woking Way years (1932 to 1950), Walt Disney’s career included the 1933 release of Three Little Pigs, featuring the song “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf,” which became a national hit and anthem for the Great Depression; the 1937 release of the box office hit Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), for which Walt received an honorary Academy Award for “Significant Screen Innovation”; the 1940 releases of Pinocchio and Fantasia, the latter featuring Fantasound, a precursor to stereo and surround sound; the successful 1941 release of Dumbo; the 1942 release of Bambi, featuring the Disney Studio’s most naturalistic animation to date; the 1948 release of Seal Island, the first of the “True-Life Adventure” series; and the 1950 releases of Cinderella, Disney’s most successful animated film since Snow White, and the studio’s first live-action release, Treasure Island.

Leaving Woking Way…

Walt and his family lived at the Woking Way residence until May 1950, at which time they moved to a new home in Holmby Hills, which they called a “25th Anniversary [present] to themselves.” (Lowery 7) At the time of the move, Diane was 17 and Sharon was 13.

From One Filmmaker to Another: Woking Way Today…

The home at Woking Way is currently occupied by Russian filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov, best known in the United States for the films Night Watch (2004), its sequel Day Watch (2006), Wanted (2008), starring Maleficent’s Angelina Jolie, and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012). Although none of the original Disney furniture remains in the home, Bekmambetov is committed to preserving the memory of its famed former resident by limiting remodeling work and filling it with assorted memorabilia celebrating Disney’s life and work. This memorabilia includes original Disney Studios artwork and historic photos of Walt Disney at home and at work. To Mr. Bekmambetov, “This is an iconic house. It should be treated like a museum.” Bekmambetov is the first resident since Walt Disney to open the home for private viewing and it has recently hosted events for the American Film Institute and Walt Disney Studios.

***Disclosure: I attended the #DisneyInHomeEvent My flight, lodgings, and expenses were covered by Disney All opinions are 100% mine. ***

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