Evening star., 1938-12-10
Hollywood an Exhibit
NLatest Innovations
In Home Construction
Movie People Quick
To Take Advantage
Of New Comforts

The latest innovations In home
building, visible in isolated sections
Of various cities throughout the
United States. are gathered to-
gether in one community in that
section of Los Angeles known as
Hollywood, according to Dorothy
Ducas, who with Elizabeth Gordon
writes Designed for Living" for he
Star, and who recently returned
from a tour of inspection of homes
Of the motion picture stars.
I'm Hollywood, where new homes
and remodeled homes are being
constructed as rapidly as anywhere
writes Designed for Living" for The
building industry are exceptionally
easy to see," Miss Ducas said.
Motion picture people are quick to
incorporate In their homes the latest
materials and comforts, with the
result that you see everywhere air
conditioning, concealed radios, ply
wood paneled walls, glass blocks and
q host of other improvements.
Houses Lack Easements.
1.-THE houses being built in Holly
wood these days are no longer only
traditional Spanish or California
ranch types of architecture. There
is every kind of house from Cape
Cod cottage to Norman chateau.
Although most of the houses are
built without Easements, because OF
climatic conditions, they have ceased
to look like what we would call
summer cottages in the Northeastern
part of the country. There are as
many different kinds of houses as
you'd find in severe climates.
THE interior plans of the houses
almost invariably included a break
fast room of the dining room in
formally decorated in contrast to
the rather formal arrangements OF
the dining room; complete absence
of porches and the substitution OF
wide tiled terraces giving on two or
three sides of the house; the use OF
bay windows either In playroom or
breakfast room with glass shelves
and potted plants and ivies used as
the sole decorations; dressing rooms
off master bedrooms with all chests
of drawers, vanity tables and the
like excluded from the sleeping
room: story-and-a-half or two
story half levels within the
house so that even in low rambling
houses there are steps up and down
from bedrooms to living rooms, etc."
Grillwork at Entrances.
EXTERNALLY" Miss Ducas pointed
out, there seems to be wider
use of wrought-iron grillwork, at
entrance doors and second-floor bal
comics, and white is the leading color
for all exterior paint work, whether
brick, stucco or frame. A thin coat
of white paint over knotty pine
paneling, such as Andy Devine uses
in the living room OF his ranch
house home, is popular for the more
informal type of house, although
John Barrymore uses knotty pine
In It's natural form in his basement
serving room.
"Everything is built in-bookcases,
radios. bars even automatic phono-
graphs are concealed behind doors,
80 that when they are not used they
do not protrude into the rooms.
Joan Benefits phonograph is placed
between the study and the living
room, with loud speakers IN both
rooms, so that there may be music
in either room, or in both, should
the gathering be large enough to
AL the two rooms.
"Fireplaces are the focal spot IN
all living rooms. This, though heat
ing is adequate without them IN
most of the stars homes. There are
all kinds of fireplaces-Joan Ben
netts is Dutch in influence, with
squares of blue and white tlllng
around it, while Humphrey Bogart
uses Spanish tile to make shelves
at either side of his.
Fonda Uses Glass Block.
zone of the most interesting
things is the way in which glass
block. most modern of materials, is
used in conventional houses. Henry
Fonda's newly remodeled home has
a glass block wall at one side OF his
dressing room, to admit the light,
and since the room is at the rear
of the house it in no way spoils the
Colonial facade"
Another trend noted by Miss
Ducas is the use of the same pat
tern chintz on furniture and walls,
such as that used in Claudette Col
berts guest bathroom. where the
drawers correspond with the chintz
on the wall.
"Air conditioning in most in
stances" she said, "is confined to
the winter type. although there were
a few examples of air-cooling as well
as heating"
The use of color in interiors is
markedly modern, although few OF
the homes visited were modern In
exterior. Chief among the striking
color schemes were Irene Dunne's
blue and peach bedroom and up
stairs sitting room; the maroon and
white bedroom of DR.. Joel Pressman,