In 1932, Mickey Mouse was sweeping the nation, Walt was about to accept his first Oscar—and his wife, Lillian, was expecting a child. To make room for his growing family, Walt bought 5 acres up the hill from his Hyperion studio and commissioned a $50,000 (nearly $1,000,000 today), 12-room house by architect Frank Crowhurst, who had previously designed a tower at the studio. The job was done in just two months using a crew that otherwise had been put out of work by the Depression.
Sadly, the baby did not come to term, and the strain of that helped push Walt into a nervous breakdown. He took some time off, and the next year the couple welcomed the birth of Diane. In 1936, her sister Sharon was adopted into the family.
This is the household where Walt became a household name. He called it home as he worked on some of his most innovative triumphs (plus some box office failures that, in time, became recognized as triumphs): Three Little Pigs (1933), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940), Dumbo (1941), Bambi (1942), Cinderella (1950), and his studio’s first live-action picture, Treasure Island (1950).
Los Feliz is still an area favored by celebrities who want to live privately but as normally as possible. Because the hillside streets are narrow and windy, tourist lookie-loos stick out like Dumbo’s ears. Recent residents in the neighborhood include Jim Parsons, Angelina Jolie, Kristen Wiig, Katy Perry, Chris Pine, and current Disney princess Kristen Bell. 4053 Woking Way is still a residence. It’s gated and because the home is built back on the hill, it’s not easily viewed from the road. So if you go, please be respectful.