Historic Los Angeles property (Jaws House) still for sale and worth seeing just for fun!
When driving in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles you see some pretty fabulous houses, but none so awe-inspiring as this one, located at
5121 Franklin Avenue.
John Sowden House
Hidden behind large beautiful trees and succulent greenery, you must stop to really see it. But you'll be glad you did. It is, after all, on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places (since 1971) and a Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument.
The home was built for and originally owned by John Sowden a painter and photographer. Colloquially described as the Jaws House, an outer facade of sharp ridges at the front entrance is said to resemble the wide open mouth of a shark. Unique by any definition. Not surprising John liked to host parties in his spectacular home where he entertained "friends in the Hollywood film community". Unfortunately this historic property, is not currently open to the public and is rented for private parties and special events.
The mansion was designed in 1926 by Lloyd Wright, a friend of Sowden's, and son of famous Frank Lloyd Wright. The striking design of the front, as well as other views of the home can be seen in such pictures as these. Seemingly built to survive the worst California tremors, the ornamented concrete blocks are similar in building material to other splendid homes Wright designed in the early 20th century. The patterned block is called textile blocking.
This particular mansion is the one Lloyd Wright is best known for. Wright was mainly a landscape architect and this house exemplifies his blending of the sand colored concrete, courtyard, pools and open air design.
Mayan style
Mayan Revival architecture, a style that drew from Meso-American cultures, was not unique to Wright
but popular and trendy at the time the home was built. With its pyramid shape the mansion resembles a Mayan temple.
Frank Lloyd Wright, also built homes in this style in the early 1920's in Los Angeles, constructing two less than 2 miles from the Sowden House. Those homes are known as the Hollyhock House and the Ennis House. You can visit all of them in the same trip to see this wonderful style of architecture.
History and Mystery
After changing ownership, the home was linked to a real-life murder known as The Black Dahlia Case. An LA physician owned the home during that time (1947) and was a prime suspect. The mansion was used as a movie set for Martin Scorsese's film,The Aviator (2004), and has been the set for many photo shoots and TV shows.
Renovations and remodels to the interior and exterior in the early 2000's (after changing ownership for a third time) accommodates a more modern lifestyle. The home sold in 2011 for $3.85 million and then in 2013 the asking price was $4.888 million. Today Zillow describes the home as 5600 square feet, five-bedroom, six-bath single family residence with a pool, garage, theater, on 0.32 acres. The price: $4,799,000.
Interested in another unique Los Angeles property? Check out the Playboy Mansion.
Historic Los Angeles property (Jaws House) still for sale.
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