Tasteful Friends: Penny Marshall's Hollywood Hills House

It's nice, but looks a little too crowded with all the neighbors

Most of that house looks like it needs an extreme makeover

Meh, knockdown

Meh, knockdown

The lot looks tiny, but the architect made the absolute most of the spectacular views. The whole house is all about maximizing exposure to the southern view, with the huge sweeping windows and terraces. The house probably feels spacious and glorious inside, because you aren't looking at the neighbors who are 20 feet away.

I wonder if you can hear them, though.

Definitely a tear down.

I’ve never liked the Hollywood Hills. Narrow streets, the lots are usually small, and there are almost always houses stacked above you on another hill where people can look into your property.

And it will smell like 100 years of cigarettes in there.

She must’ve been living on another one of her properties before she died. That kitchen looks like it’s from the 50s.

I prefer looking at an empty house to a staged house. Great views.

So many questions:

Why did she live in an old dentist's house?

Why the helipad? And why is it so big?

Why is there a repeating pattern on the too low living room ceiling?

With all those framed views, why is LA so ugly?

Looks like it hasn’t been touched much since 1953. Just like Olivia de Havilland.

One touches oneself daily thankyou very much

I really like it.

Hollywood glam meets your grandma’s comfy house.

The one thing I liked was the photo of the roof.

The odd little cupolas and expanses of glass recall too much the architecture of Howard Johnson's restaurants.

R14, I know. It's phallic and lovely.

On another note, I wouldn't be surprised if Rosie buys it.

This pic makes it look like a local Motel 6.

$7 million and it only has a carport?

I like that it’s not totally modernized garbage. But I’m a native Californian who has grown weary of the tear down rebuilds. Keep some character in California.

I really love the kitchen, I wouldn't change a thing!

^ I was thinking how odd it is that I have a kitchen the same size as the one in this $7M house.

For those of us who love a home flooded in sunlight, this would be spectacular. I agree that it’s nice to see an unstaged home, in this instance anyway, because it brings all the focus to the natural light, which is my primary interest.

But the Motel 6 shot at r17 is just awful. The focus there is cracked pavement. They needed to doll that up with potted plants.

$7 million = bubble price

I'd take it as is, honestly. Reminds me of my house in Portland, albeit not as big, and no green carpet, but I prefer my views,

Tasteful friend, I like the 50s era kitchen and the 70s era living room. I wonder why the listing did not show us any bedrooms. From the exterior photos, it looks like there's a balcony off one of the bedrooms.

The house appears to be on the top of a hill. It looks like you could build out the pool a little further out from the house, and then you could have an infinity pool overlooking the city.

She must have been a very cheap person. Clearly didn't like spending any money on keep the place up to date. That kitchen is heinous.

Don't like one thing about it.

What keeps those hillside pools from sliding away during their legendary rain storms?

[quote] —Views of LA aren't attractive

They are at night, but in the daylight hours the LA basin just looks dry and dusty.

Wow! Is that dated. Seems extremely overpriced.

Is anyone else disappointed that the swimming pool isn’t in the shape of a big cursive ‘L’ ?

Sales agents are Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!

She's been dead for over a year - I know it takes time to get things in order and remove the contents. But this is the cleaned up version for sale, believe it or not.

I wanted to see the furnishings, because clearly she did not spend much money on keeping things up to date. Maybe she had other houses?

The kitchen looks like a movie set from Grease.

It doesn't look big enough to actually have 10 full bathrooms. I have to say that I love it being that I was born and raised in L.A. very L.A. suburb.

[quote]I wanted to see the furnishings, because clearly she did not spend much money on keeping things up to date. Maybe she had other houses?

No evidence that she was "house proud."

Love the kitchen, the large rooms, and especially the views...I'd leave the kitchen and completely renovate everything else. The greenish blue carpet is hideous. And the driveway needs repaving.

I have a feeling this was a left-over property in her estate. I'm betting this is where she and Gary put their mom up when they made it big.

It's too run-down and neglected for someone at her level. Gary died in 2016, so this feels like a left-over property.

that listing is really bad. it goes on and on about amenities and then doesn't show them. they should have, at very least, recommended to do something to that cracked pavement prior to sale. that is the first thing you see when you enter and sadly IS shown, but not the ballroom and whatallelse.

love that kitchen. could live in that kitchen.

I love it! I love the old kitchen. I love the watermelons.

The floors need refinishing and there's some exterior work that needs to be done, plus it could use some new carpets and paint, but I'd leave almost all of the rest of it alone.

Although I should add that not being able to see the bathrooms is a big red flag, but I can't imagine they're so bad that they'd make me hate the house.

I wonder if Penny ever swam naked in that pool.

R41 Pardon me, I'm going to be violently ill . . .

Home of a diabetic lesbian pill-popper.

She wasn't actually living in that dump when she died, was she? Was she broke?

The NYC apartment that she sold before she died needed updating too.

Did she and Cindy Williams get residuals for Laverne & Shirley?

Horrible realtor. The pictures show the worst angle - like that driveway. Maybe they were trying to emphasize its a tear down.

[quote]Maybe they were trying to emphasize its a tear down.

I expect that buyers either go looking prepared to tear a place down (or able to afford to do it) or they don't. Intentionally spotlighting condition problems in the listing photos doesn't really advance anyone's agenda.

I think Ms. Marshall cared about as much for the appearance of her houses as she did her own appearance.

I like the house, I don't care about the daytime views of LA. I'd buy it if I had the money.

Which I don't.

I think she could have used it as her main residence. Remember, she had a no-frills attitude about her appearance and dress style. She probably didn't feel the need to be showy about her house either. Not everyone wants a granite and stainless steel kitchen. Maybe the retro kitchen reminded the of her childhood.

I've always wondered, what the hell happened to her voice over the years? She ended up sounding like a stroke victim in her later years.

Lingering effects from the chemo, probably. Her cancer had spread to the brain if I recall, but she still managed to beat it.

[quote] She wasn't actually living in that dump when she died, was she? Was she broke?

Geez, you talk about her like she was Erin Moran or something!

It is near impossible to ever get the smell out of a home where heavy smoking was done. Imagine what that green carpet smells like.🤢

They are delusional asking that amount. It’s a tear down at most.

The streets all over L.A. are in horrible condition. I've read the city does not have the money to fix them.

Surprised how outdated it is. 7 million? Wouldn't be surprised if it needed alot of repairs inside. Pipes, wiring, etc.

The views are spectacular. The driveways definitely need repaving and I wouldn't be surprised if the foundation needs work, also. The kitchen is so 50s. The wrought iron railing reminds me of my childhood home built in the same era. The wood flooring is nice. Definitely needs some work.

It's a shack. I think it is extremely ugly, as is the view.

Why update anything if you spend your days in a marijuana haze?

And it went contingent already - at $7 million! LA real estate is out of control.

It has good bones and could easily be turned into a palace a lot cheaper than tearing it down and rebuilding.

The listing didn't show any of the bathrooms all 10 must be dated or in very bad shape. That's another $350K to update all 10 plus another $70K to update the kitchen. I prefer her NYC penthouse.

Her daughter will be quite the heire$$.

Cocaine, QVC and too much air conditioning.

It's all about the view. She must have felt nostalgic about that hideous kitchen. No garage? I realize all the little quakes make the asphalt crack up, but that parking area/driveway looks terrible. No flagstone or pavers?

Anjelica Huston on Penny Marshall (Vulture):

[quote] She stayed up all night smoking cigarettes in subzero temperatures. Her rooms were freezing. Like air-conditioned, way up. She stayed up all night, followed QVC for beanbag dolls and stuff. She had this collection of sports memorabilia. She had a sort of museum in her basement full of signed baseballs and Lakers shirts. I just couldn’t relate. And also, frankly, she took a lot of coke.

Penny Marshall seems more like a bunker / basement dweller with her need for cold air conditioning (vs. glass walls with expansive views). She was probably up at all hours of the day at night, amidst her collections, shopping online, smoking cigarettes, snorting coke, etc.

I can also picture Penny Marshall drinking Diet Coke and eating nacho flavored Doritos in that basement.

In a timely fashion, she discusses having Kobe over to the house and him spotting a fake autograph of his.

I thought maybe Tracy Reiner was going to keep the house, but it must have just taken so long to clear all this stuff out.

I listened to some of her audiobook last night. Penny actually called Anjelica Huston a close friend.

Joe Pesci was her roommate in this house for a few years. She loaned it to him because he needed a place to stay while filming in LA. She was in New York at the time, but when she moved back he stayed.

Automatic doors could be installed in that garage area with no problem. Most people with a garage area that wide would put one double door and one single door.

Imagine the amount of coke that was snorted in that house.

I always just assumed Penny was lesbo. Her voice sounded like she was heavily clogged all the time. I have to wonder if all the coke destroy her nasal passages

I knew Penny loved her a limo. She discussed how right after September 11th she moved back to New York to support the service workers who she knew would be having a tough time, specifically the limo drivers that she loved.

Last night I learned she didn't drive, at all. Maybe the open carport and "helipad" helped with limo turnaround, if limos are even possible on these winding streets.

She paid a LOT of money to have the kitchen look like that. The stove was just like the one my aunt had in an apartment that she lived in for 50 years until she died. Can't even imagine what it cost to restore it to its original condition. She created her home to remind her of the best times of her life. I love all of it.

Ain't buying it. It looks the way it looks because she was a cheap so and so who only spent money on crap like sports memorabilia and massive amounts of cocaine. Crap that gave her some joy. A fancy up to date home obviously didn't give her that.

[quote] Imagine the amount of coke that was snorted in that house.

Imagine the amount of milk and Pepsi that was drunken in that house.

Very dated, a tad rundown. That’s a lot of money they’re asking.

Well, it’s nicer than Bonnie Franklin’s house.

Coke, limos, and pot aren't cheap.

[quote] Imagine the amount of milk and Pepsi that was drunken in that house.

Drunken? Really? I think you must be drunken. Are you on your 5th Tom Collins?

Considering they were good friends for most of their lives I thought the Anjelica Huston shade was a low blow (no pun intended). I highly doubt either was appreciably more offensive than the other in the coke head dept — I also doubt Penny was using the last decade or two of her life; eating seemed to take its place.

I also like the NYC apt better but that too is way overpriced — maybe CPW but not West End (and I’m surprised she lived on West End, tbh).

Tiny bankett in kitchen, 2 stoves in house and apartment, was it for kosher cooking? So much was not shown, bedrooms, bathrooms, basement. Was there a cabana for the pool? All the cracks in the driveway makes it seem there is foundation damage, is that why no pics of basement? Priced way to high.

[quote] I also doubt Penny was using the last decade or two of her life; eating seemed to take its place.

Not saying that Penny didn't quit or slow way down on cocaine. But you can be overweight & still be a cocaine user.

can I have have that stove?

Ugly carpet, the driveway raises question--it would be normal in a temperate climate but here it probably means foundation problems. The views are great. The kitchen seems cramped--despite the c. 1950 Youngstown Steel stuff.

R82 well regardless I think when you’ve been good friends with someone for decades, and admittedly drug taking was one of the main ways you bonded, it’s nasty — not to mention ridiculously unselfaware — to turn around in an interview and blast her for doing coke all the time. Especially less than a year after she died. I mean...whatever, but it just doesn’t sit right with me.

[quote]Tiny bankett in kitchen, 2 stoves in house and apartment, was it for kosher cooking?

Why would she be doing kosher cooking? She was Italian.

The back is whack.

A lot of Italian-Americans had houses with two kitchens--different stories on this "One was for company" is one story, running a catering business is another. Italian-Americans of certain generation will tell you that there always was a side job/hustle of some sort going on.

Hahaha, R30!! You’re gonna make it.

Imagining Penny Marshall having a side hustle... that requires a double oven.

The point is--two kitchens in an Italian American house was not unusual.

Cracked pavement is very common in the narrow, winding streets of the Hollywood Hills. It is the city's responsibility to fix it not the homeowners.

typo: not the homeowners' responsibility.

This is the house where ninja burglars held Penny hostage in the 80s. Surely this helped increase the asking price.

Another article about the ninja home invasion.

r95 Can someone past that here? Thanks.

She needed a separate kitchen to bake pot brownies and cook up free base.

[quote]This is the house where ninja burglars held Penny hostage in the 80s.

That sounds like a lost episode of Laverne & Shirley.

Total teardown.

That kitchen looks like one Carole Lombard might have cooked in!

R73, when did she buy the house? Maybe the kitchen was that way to begin with and workable so no one updated it. She could have bought it in the mid to late 70s from an estate and never changed anything.

R88, a lot of Jewish people did as well. The second kitchen was for holiday celebrations when a lot of relatives were cooking or heating up foods and then you had to store the left overs.

The double kitchen situation is probably due to either the original owners of the house being observant Orthodox Jews, or there was once a lot of major entertaining done there which required a separate butler's kitchen in order to keep up with the food prep.

That part of Hollywood was not great in the 70s and 80s. Harriet Nelson moved out of the house made famous by its reproduction on her family's tv show after she found somone had invaded the house while she was home. DL fave Christopher Meloni lives there now.

[quote] Cracked pavement is very common in the narrow, winding streets of the Hollywood Hills. It is the city's responsibility to fix it not the homeowners.

We’re not talking about the streets, we’re talking about her driveway.

What I always find amazing is all these celebrities who have more money than God but won't spend money to have extensive intrusion alert systems installed on their properties. I would have motion detectors all over the property, cameras in the trees, a video surveillance system in the house to alert me if anyone even thought about coming onto my property uninvited.

Cracked pavement is common all over L.A.. Even in the tony sections of town many streets are horrors.

I can't believe a dump like that is $7 million.

Looks like lots of oil leaks from cars all over the car park area in front of the garage.

[quote] I can't believe a dump like that is $7 million.

The house is the minor part of that valuation. It's the property that's worth so much money.

Italians really need two kitchens. When the family gets together, which is often, the amount of food and cooking requires it. You can't have 5 Italian cooks in the same kitchen.

R110 do you really think that Penny Marshall was cooking up gobs of pasta e fagioli for the extended clan night after night? She was starring in a hit sitcom, then directing successful movies. I think she had one or two better things to do with her time.

R111, Penny was a renowned homebody, who often entertained friends at her home. Yes, I do think she was cooking up pasta for friends in her two kitchens. Her brother was over there all the time cooking up a storm. Penny rarely worked after a brief spurt as a director.

Have there ever been any, well, you know....Lesbo orgies in that house?

Asking for a friend.

Penny used to cook for Rosie O'Donnell and Carrie Fisher all the time.

[quote] Penny rarely worked after a brief spurt as a director.

You really are clueless, aren’t you?

She was a chain smoker who lived in that house for decades. It will need a total gut reno to get the smoke smell out.

What's wrong with a little cigarette smell?!? Makes a place smell lived in, I say!

[quote]Penny used to cook for Rosie O'Donnell and Carrie Fisher all the time.

That could easily require two kitchens.

The lot is kinda small, no? Too much concrete. It looks like it needs a lot of work and not worth the price. But that is a million dollar view.

I wonder why she stopped directing? She did quite a few successful movies. She alot better than most of the female directors we have now. I'm talking to you, snobby ass Olivia Wilde.

She was directing from the 1970s until at least 2011. Wasn’t that enough, r120?

Those stacked houses look like a hillside slum in south or central America.

You obviously haven't seen many hillside slums in Central or South America.

This is what they look like.

That brown shack at r123 is a $7M dream home with skyliner views!

If I had to blame her failure to update the house on something, it would be depression, not cheapness.

What a dump.

Thank you, Dr. Freud at r125.

[quote] This is the house where ninja burglars held Penny hostage in the 80s.

Hello