From the List of Craig comes word of a studio available for $1,200 in West Hollywood's historic Villa Primavera courtyard complex. Built in 1923, the Spanish-style courtyard complex was the first of 8 buildings designed by the self-taught husband-and-wife team Arthur and Nina Zwebell.
Other Zwebell landmarks include the Andalusia, Patio del Moro, and Casa Laguna. We can't tell much about the unit available, as the ad fails to provide any photos of the interior, but we can relate a juicy bit of Hollywood gossip associated with Villa Primavera involving Rebel Without a Cause director and former resident Nicholas Ray and his wife, actress Gloria Grahame. Ray modeled the courtyard apartment complex in his 1950 film noir, In a Lonely Place, starring Grahame and Humphrey Bogart, after Villa Primavera. Ray and Grahame had been recently married when filming on In A Lonely Place began; however, midway through production, their relationship imploded when the director caught his wife/leading lady in bed with his 13-year-old son from a previous marriage. Following that scandalous discovery, Ray moved onto the set--which was, after all, a replica of his former apartment--for the duration of filming. Pretty kooky, no? Wait, there's more: 10 years later, Grahame actually ended up marrying Ray's son and having two children with him before divorcing in 1974.---Pauline O'Connor
· $1,200 - West Hollywood 1920s Spanish Courtyard [Craigslist]
· In a Lonely Place [RogerEbert.com]
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