Tasteful friends: Pee Wee Herman's home for sale

very nice actually, i love the bathroom walls

There's no basement!

I like everything except the kitchen.

Is that an aviary? Did he keep parrots?

Dining room chairs are on point.

Gorgeous. I'm sure he had a few hot gooning sessions in there with his historical erotica.

Wow, very cool. I had no idea Pee Wee had such good MCM taste 👍

Looks more like a catio R4. Nice slice of original MCM. You know that look won’t last.

Good find, OP.

It's lovely, really.

The wallpapering is all different, yet similar (in a good way).

I can see living in there without changing much.

The kitchen does have an updated stove, but the wall stove looks like it may have come from the era in which it was built.

It looks like late mid '60s or so?

I like the bathrooms and the primary bedroom with the wooden wall and wooden vanity.

I’d change the wallpaper and update the kitchen a bit.

Is that Pee Wee’s stuff?

I'm obviously not in tune with the masses, but I think it's a whole lot of ugly.

That's a very large spa. For whatever that's worth.

[quote] I’d change the wallpaper

I actually like the wallpaper, esp. the one in the bar room.

Very nice and not ostentatious at all. I'm sure someone will bulldoze it and build a "look at me" monstrosity.

I would move in immediately. Love everything about. I'll take all the furniture that's there.

Very tasteful. Would be a shame if this becomes a teardown.

Yeah the kitchen colors are kind of odd. R8, my first guess was birds, too many things in the house that the cats can knock over. But I like the overall feel of the house. Do you suppose these are his belongings and furniture, or it's staged?

An aviary with a ceiling fan?!?

Am I lucky or what?

I bet he did have birds. I love it, I want it. I'll move in now with my bird.

I’d get birds. I’m sure my cat won’t mind.

Do you know how many diamond back rattlesnakes are roaming around those hills? No thanks. Love PeeWee though.

^are those bad?

It's so 1960s Hollywood, with a view of the iconic "Hollywood" sign. You almost expect Sharon Tate and Cass Elliott to come waltzing through the door for an impromptu dinner party.

Love the views and how private it seems.

Some of the rooms need updating/warmth.

More Mid-Century Gay. What is the deal with that crap?

I thought it would look more like his buddy Allee Willis's campy crib.

I love it! I wouldn't change a thing. I was expecting more kitsch, but he had great taste.

@r20, "^are those bad? "

Oh, no, diamondback rattlers make lovely pets 🙄

He paid $415,000 in 1985 which was a lot in 1985 when MCM houses were at a low point in popularity. He could have really fucked it up trying to update it. So glad he saw the value in just maintaining it as is

Very nice. Not a lot that I would change, the exceptions being updating the bathrooms but in keeping with the mid-century look, and fixing / rebuilding those dividing walls / vanities in the bedrooms that are in poor shape. And in some places the outdoor property is in need of repair / updates. The swimming pool looks completely original but appears to have been well maintained.

The decor is rather anonymous, and I would have expected more books, so I'm guessing some staging has been done. But it's beautiful!

[quote] More Mid-Century Gay. What is the deal with that crap?

Are you calling Pee-Wee a fag?

Hate this with a passion, and I usually love MCM. I was horrified by the cinder blocks, and it does not look well maintained. You know what I see? A money pit. It is falling apart, and wasn’t built with premium materials.

All this to say — I loved him. His talent is missed. And I do love the spirit behind this house, I just think the colors and textures are a miss. Too much dirty grout.

@r28, I'm sure they cleared out his personal stuff a long time ago, but a lot of that furniture looks original or it was very well staged. Odd that there's no washer and dryer

Pool still has a diving board.

Insurance won't let you have diving boards anymore.

Looks more like a hotel, not a home.

Now I am sad all over again about losing Paul Reubens

I was surprised by how unkitschy it was myself -- the wallpaper feels very him though. I imagine heaps of personal stuff has been carted out. I'm pretty sure I remember reading somewhere that he had an entire building for storage of his collection of that kind of stuff. Midcentury toys and such. God I would've killed to dive into that!

@r33, Hotels haven't looked like that in 50 years

@r34, Really, he collected mid-century memorabilia? Well, that explains why he kept the house so original

Have they excavated the foundations in search of kids' bodies? They should.

@r23, That's 30s Deco-streamline which is more of a precursor to MCM. Paul's house could very well had been filled with MCM tchotchkes, but have since been cleared away

I'm surprised he held on to it given the lows in his career. I wonder if the wall phone and Formica countertops were conscious choices to keep.

Oh here it is, the article about PR's collection of memorabilia -- it was in the New York Times.

"Elvis and Liberace miniatures, chunks of petrified wood, lenticular photographs and bobbing lava lamps — including one of the largest ever made — are only a sliver of the mammoth collections that Paul Reubens, the comic mastermind behind the guileless character Pee-wee Herman, left behind. “He wouldn’t buy one of something, he’d buy five of them,” says the actor David Arquette, a longtime friend who would often go on road trips with Reubens to scour thrift stores and auctions. At one point, Reubens’s collections sprawled across 14 storage units. “He absolutely just collected and collected and collected,” the creative director Marc Balet recalls. “He would spend hours talking about it, showing you items — he was just obsessive about it, like he was obsessive about his work, about Pee-wee.” Balet continues: “I used to come out to L.A., and I’d stay in his spare bedroom. Then slowly, there was no spare bedroom anymore. It was chock-full of stuff.” Reubens, Arquette says, would hunt down the most “offbeat, kitschiest, weird, swirled-looking-faced” versions of toys and trinkets; the film producer Prudence Fenton, who worked with Reubens on “Pee-wee’s Playhouse,” called his collections a “mission to preserve Americana.”"

[quote] He could have really fucked it up trying to update it. So glad he saw the value in just maintaining it as is

[quote] I'm surprised he held on to it given the lows in his career.

Sounds like he bought it for a reasonable price ($400K in the '80s), considering it's LA, it's secluded, there's a view, etc.

Also, he probably liked the style and looks like he may have been frugal.

Andy Dick had a really cool MCM with a courtyard in the middle of it in Woodland Hills. He now lives in a shack.

I hate Andy Dick.

I love everything but the fact that the man apparently held multi-line business calls while sitting on the shitter. Maybe he didn't want to go out like Elvis?

The bathrooms are hideous and dated. Ugh.

There's no way I'd pay five million for that house. It'd take a million in remodeling just to make it livable.

This has to be staged within an inch of its life.

I love it!

Wouldn't change a damn thing.

He has good taste.

Excluding some of the furniture, I like it.

Phones in the bathroom were a thing maybe in the '80s? But why such an elaborate phone system with the multiple lines? Seems like (in pre-mobile phone days), it would be useful to call 911, but you don't need multiple lines for that.

I think he did own birds. That bird area is the only part of the house that really gives me the creeps. I'd paint it and get rid of all evidence that birds once lived there.

Last Exit to Brush Fires

What?! No Chairy?! Then no deal.

There’s something very depressing about it but I can’t explain what it is.

@r40, That was really informative and explains a lot. I guess this house was filled to the rafters with stuff

I love that he keep many of the original sinks, the laminate in the kitchen, old tiles...just wish it was more “Playhouse” like

Mid Mod Mish Mosh.

Yuck.

Most celebrities have multiple phone lines, r49. Over the years I have seen many pictures of celebrity homes with "office phones" in them.

They keep a line for family use and probably one or more for business purposes.

Our dearest friend Joan Crawford has one visible in the picture where she is seated with a dog at the link below.

@r42, "He now lives in a shack. "

Still too good for him 😏

I agree, r52. Too much of a time capsule, I think.

Its not to my personal taste at all, but its a really good example of its type, I hope it is preserved

[quote]It looks like late mid '60s or so?

R9 it was built 1957 so close. I couldnt quite pin the era down at first either until I read the listing, initially thought 70's then 60's

[quote]I would move in immediately. Love everything about. I'll take all the furniture that's there.

[quote]Very tasteful. Would be a shame if this becomes a teardown.

R14 I wouldnt but I really hope that someone like you does that will appreciate it and preserve it, would be a great shame if it became a teardown

Unfortunately I suspect R13 is right that someone will do that and build a "look at me" monstrosity in its place, the location is fantastic

Definitely staged for simplicity, but a really interesting property. R52 is right, there is a loneliness to it in its present form. I suspect it had more collectibles and books and interesting things when Reubens occupied it.

Pretty fascinating to see, actually.

The kitchen is the only room I like. I love the yellow counters and sink, the gray wood grain cabinets and the perfect wallpaper.

The exterior looks undistinguished.

These vintage graphic wallpapers are all pretty cool. R61 I like the kitchen laminates, too.

If the walls could talk?

^ “I know you are, but what am I?”

“That’s my name. Don’t wear it out.”

“Go ahead, scream your head off! We’re miles from where anyone can hear you!” Pee-wee pool"

“Why don’t you take a picture? It’ll last longer.”

Walls don't talk Hahahahahaha!

Nice to see a pool with a diving board.

But r65, zoom in on the pool. Look at the condition of the cement and pool edge pavers or whatever they are called. It’s a gut job.

I adore it. Fantastic use of vintage wallpaper. I really like the bathroom with the original blue sinks and vinyl composite tile floors.

It's the same template as those Topanga Canyon homes in the 1960s. It has massive Cielo Drive vibes, although the Cielo house wasn't as MCM. But I just feel the mid-century mediocre overall with this house. Maybe that was Pee-Wee's kitsch. Has potential, but the exterior facade is very unappealing. It needs a lot of help. Very sad house.

The death house on Cielo had nothing MCM about it, at all. ?!

I grew up in this Bronson Canyon neighborhood and now live just a mile east of it in Los Feliz. In my opinion, it's one of the most beautiful areas in Los Angeles. The canyon and city views are stunning, and this home sits on a large secluded property. Unfortunately, this makes it a likely candidate for teardown, with a McMansion probably taking its place.

Also, it's quite possible that Pee Wee had a downhill view of Brad Pitt's sprawling Los Feliz estate.

r63, I know the chair and the window once did.

I’d want to do an extensive blacklight review first.

"Unfortunately, this makes it a likely candidate for teardown, with a McMansion probably taking its place."

Or, just as bad, someone with too much money and not enough taste will buy it and hire some hack "designer" like Christina Hall who will gut the fabulous built-ins, stone fireplaces and stone flooring, and replace it all with every known cliche in her very limited repertoire: white subway tile, white kitchen cabinets, grey paint, grey plank flooring, ad nauseum.

r70 does that mean Pee-wee had a front-row seat for Brad Pitt's backyard nude shenanigans?

I love everything about it. To update it would be to ruin it.

Thank you, Miss Havisham.

Fabulous, I love this home!

It's been almost a year since he died, so I imagine that the exteriors incl. the pool have not been really upkept.

It seems bigger than 2,921 ft.

R78: Unless there are large liens or second mortgages he estate can afford a caretaker given the eventual payout.

It looks like a large double wide, no thanks.

R45- The only reason that house is up for sale for $4.95 million is because it has a large lot 1.4 acres.Many houses for sale in luxury neighborhood measure the size of the lot and square feet not an acreage because the lots are so tiny. If that house is on half an acre selling price would be cut in half.

R82: much of the property isn' t buildable. That would affect the degree to which the land contributes to the price.

Love it! I'd move right in but where is the gloryhole? Oh, there it is.

If you want a pool with a diving board, this is the place to buy.

Nice write up in Dirt with more history

In general I love it. But he certainly liked keeping things original, didn't he? I'd have to rip the kitchen and the bathrooms out and do a total re-do. But most of the rest I would only do some cosmetic adjustments.

Does Large Marge come with?

I'm not really a fan as I hate places with different types of floor in every room, but I'll take the word of those who say it's a great example of its type. The grounds and pool area look great to me, at least.

He upgraded the hob, but those ovens and that countertop in the kitchen look to be the ones that were there when he bought the place 40 years ago.

The pool area would look a thousand times better if all that concrete was pressure washed. It's very dingy and coated in mildew.

And someone please tell me what that green room with the weird grating leading to the outside is? It looks like an aviary at first with all those weirdly placed limbs and branches, but there's a ceiling fan in there and I can't believe he would have kept birds in there with a ceiling fan running.

There's something vaguely "the Jetsons meet the Flintstones" about that house

Are you saying it looks like Bam Bam fucked Judy Jetson in that house?

That was intentional!

Well, I'm not NOT saying it looks like Bam Bam fucked Judy Jetson in that house...

I’m gonna sit on the porch and jerk off openly

And I assume without shame or remorse. YOU GO BOY, GET THAT NUT!

[quote] And someone please tell me what that green room with the weird grating leading to the outside is? It looks like an aviary at first with all those weirdly placed limbs and branches, but there's a ceiling fan in there and I can't believe he would have kept birds in there with a ceiling fan running.

[quote] The home’s most charming idiosyncrasy might be the cat patio — or “catio” — with a full-scale jungle gym that Reubens built for his multiple cats. He did it so they would have a place to roam, play and, importantly, avoid being snatched up by the likes of mountain lions and coyotes in the area. The late celebrity mountain lion P-22, it should be noted, was Reubens’ neighbor in Griffith Park.

Awww he was a Cat Man. Makes me like him even more.

He was such a creative, funny man. 70 is too young.

Yet Drumpf lives on.

So he didn't have any other properties around the world

being a household name for about 40 Years?

What an odd commentt^

No he wasn’t fighting over vineyards like his old neighborhood. Sounds like a plus to me.

@r100, Don't be silly, he owned this house as well

That house is gorgeous, with the exception of some of the wall paper choices

I want to love it, but as has been noted, there’s something sad about it, too. Perhaps it’s the staging, the dinginess, and all the wood-on wood?

It reminds me of places owned by friends of my parents in the early ‘70s when I was very young, with swingy stuff and cultural weirdness going on that I didn’t understand. The breezeblock in the catio is “triggering” to me, haha. 🤷🏻

"The breezeblock in the catio is “triggering” to me"

This is a whole new sentence

You must never, EVER enter Palm Springs or you shall explode and die

I didn't know Pee Wee's Big Adventure was not a smash hit when it was released to the theaters. It had a relatively small roll out and finished #15 for the year with 40M but so many people think back fondly to this movie. I think it became a smash hit when it ran on HBO, etc. For a long time after the movie, whenever you'd hear "Tequila" in a public space, people would start mimicking Ruben's dance. Humorless spoilsport Gene Siskel gave it zero stars.

Ahhh PewWee, he was a treasure...

The longtime LA home of the late Paul Reubens has sold for $3.8M