Nestled between modern apartment buildings in Culver City, a collection of whimsical Hobbit houses stands defiantly with their rounded forms, irregular wooden shingles, and organic double wooden gates. These unique structures, located across from Sony Pictures, represent some of the most significant examples of Storybook or Fairytale architecture in Los Angeles, a building style that flourished during the 1920s and 1930s.
The Hobbit houses, officially known as the Lawrence and Martha Joseph Residence and Apartments, were built by Lawrence Joseph starting in 1946 and completed in 1970. Despite being constructed relatively late in the movement, they became one of the most important examples of this architectural style, leading the Los Angeles Conservancy to add the complex to its list of protected historic monuments in 1996. The first house, built in 1946, features no right angles or door handles, with trees on the property seemingly adapting to the building's organic forms.
The golden age of Storybook architecture, also called Provincial Revivalism or Hansel and Gretel style, actually occurred in the 1920s and 1930s. This architectural movement paid homage to Hollywood films and stories, including developments like Snow White settlements. The style is characterized by playful and fairy-tale elements such as uneven roof tiles and cobblestone floors, small windows and doors in irregular shapes, roofs reminiscent of pointed towers or witch houses, ponds and water moats, and stylized dovecotes.
Charlie Chaplin ranks among the most famous builders and residents of these houses. He constructed bungalows on North Formosa Avenue and at 819 North Sweetzer Avenue, where the Hotel Charlie now operates. Chaplin used these small cottages not only for himself but also to house his artists, with temporary residents including Judy Garland, Rudolph Valentino, and Douglas Fairbanks. The Chaplin Cottages were conveniently located near the Chaplin Studios, where his love for Storybook architecture first became apparent.
After completing his studios on North La Brea Avenue in 1919, Chaplin developed his cottage courts in the mid-1920s. For this project, he hired the husband-and-wife team Arthur and Nina Zwebell, who remain among the best-known representatives of this architectural style to this day. However, the true star of fairy-tale houses was Harry Oliver, who worked not only as an architect but was primarily known as a humorist and Oscar-nominated art director for films from the 1920s and 1930s.
Oliver's masterpiece is the Spadena House, the largest, most beautiful, best-preserved, and most comprehensively viewable example of Storybook architecture, at least from the outside. Also known as the Witch's House, the building at the corner of Walden Drive and Carmelita Avenue has a long and varied history. Built in 1921 as a film set and office building on the grounds of Willat Film Studios in Culver City, it was moved to Beverly Hills in 1926 for private use. Its distinctive features include pointed, crooked roofs, small windows, and an enchanted English garden, along with a water moat that later caused problems for the building.
In the 1960s, water from the moat began penetrating the building, prompting the owners to simply fill it in while neglecting proper maintenance of the house itself. When it came on the market in 1997, finding a buyer proved difficult, so the real estate agent purchased it himself and initially erected a high fence around the property. This decision brought him hate mail from neighbors who suspected he planned to demolish this centerpiece of Storybook architecture. Relief was widespread when the construction fence was removed, revealing that he had lovingly restored the house so well that it now serves as Landmark Number Eight in Beverly Hills.
The Spadena House is iconic not only for its excellent state of preservation but also because it's considered a precursor to Walt Disney's concept of "Imagineering." This term combines "imagination" and "engineering," a concept that would later form the foundation of Disney's theme parks. Both Chaplin and Disney shared the desire to transform their film sets and fantasy worlds into less transient structures, inspiring the architects and buildings of their time. Lawrence Joseph, the architect behind the Hobbit House, was among other things a Disney animator.
The relationship worked in reverse for the Snow White Cottages. Built in 1931 by Ben Sherwood, another major name in Storybook architecture, these houses are considered inspiration for the famous 1937 Snow White film, which held the title of highest-grossing animated film for 55 years. The eight small houses, featuring a patchwork half-timbered appearance with small windows and large chimneys, stand on Griffith Park Boulevard in Los Feliz, just blocks from the former Disney Studios that operated from 1926 to 1940.
According to the late Sylvia Helfert, who acquired the property in 1976 for $140,000, one of the cottages was used as an office during the 1937 film production. This explains the striking similarity between the dwarfs' houses in the film and the Los Angeles cottages, especially considering that eight cottages were perfectly suited for housing Snow White plus seven dwarfs. Today, the complex stands among other residential buildings, and individual cottages have been rented and inhabited by artists over the years, including film musician Elliott Smith. The property also had another film appearance as the Sierra Bonita apartment complex in David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive" (2001).
While most Storybook houses can only be viewed from the outside, visitors can experience the interior of one of Los Angeles' top five examples: the Tam O'Shanter. This house has been owned by the same family since 1922, whose members have continuously operated a Scottish steakhouse there. Built by Harry Oliver, who also designed the Spadena House, it features charred wooden beams as supports for the half-timbered structure, which are also visible inside. The interior displays medieval Scottish and English weapons, kilts, and family coats of arms.
This Scottish theming aligns perfectly with the American version of fairy-tale houses, which incorporates elements of Tudor style such as steep roofs, playful chimneys, specific window arrangements, and decorated doors. However, unlike many other American adaptations, these buildings weren't developed with the typical "make it bigger and better" mentality, but rather embraced the "small is beautiful" philosophy. This charming variation makes these architectural gems well worth visiting.
For those interested in experiencing Storybook architecture firsthand, several options are available. Visitors can stay at the Charlie Hotel, which was once one of Charlie Chaplin's Storybook houses, or dine at the Tam O'Shanter, which serves both as a Storybook house and a steakhouse. While organized tours aren't offered, the five most famous houses can be comfortably visited in an afternoon with a rental car, following this suggested route: Snow White Cottages (2900 Griffith Park Boulevard), Tam O'Shanter (2980 Los Feliz Boulevard), Chaplin Cottages (1328 North Formosa Avenue), Spadena House/Witch's House (516 Walden Drive, Beverly Hills), and the Hobbit House (3819 Dunn Drive, Culver City).
