Melodramatic mansion in the Hollywood Hills by AF Leicht asking $3.8M

Born in Connecticut in 1862, Adolphus Frederick Leicht began his architectural practice in Queens but migrated to California following World War I. The classically trained architect’s boldly theatrical design sensibility was in high demand during the heady days of Old Hollywood—between 1922 and 1929, Leicht whipped up more than two dozen grand residences in Los Feliz, Hancock Park, and the Hollywood Hills.

Now on the market is a statement-making mansion Leicht designed in 1926. Perched in the hills above the Sunset Strip, overlooking Frank Lloyd Wright’s Storer House, the five-bedroom, 4.5-bath home is laden with exuberant details, including a dramatic magnesite staircase, a circular tower, curving walls and windows, vaulted ceilings, a massive limestone fireplace, and flying buttresses.

The Laurel View Drive property has had several occupants of note, including dancer/actress Ann Miller, who lived there during the 1940s, and Marlon Brando, who showed off the home and played the bongos for chain-smoking newsman Edward R. Murrow in a 1955 episode of Murrow’s show Person to Person.

Sold in 2015 for $3.1 million, the 4,363-square-foot residence is listed with an asking price of $3.795 million. Open house is scheduled from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday.

• 8142 Laurel View Dr [Sotheby’s International Realty]