Anyone near Riverton Ave, North Hollywood?

[tb]

Last fall, I bought an original Carl Barks watercolor from 1936

through Heritage. Yesterday, I opened the frame to take a closer

look and found Barks' address pencilled on the back.

 

I am curious whether the house/building he lived in, presumably

where he stayed while working for the Disney story department

in the mid-late 30s, might still be around. The address is 4928

Riverton Ave. If anyone lives nearby and might be able to check

it out, I'd greatly appreciate it.

[deathlok]

I can drive by there if you'd like sometime this week.

[tb]

Thanks for offering to help. It would be interesting to hear what the neighborhood is like and what is at the address today. Since there is no apartment number, I assume it must have been a house back then.

[Silver Surfer]

I can drive by there if you'd like sometime this week.

 

Another "drive by" with the posse.

[deathlok]

I can drive by there if you'd like sometime this week.

 

Another "drive by" with the posse.

Imma roll up and see whas crackin on da block.

[rjpb]

I drove by, as the address is near the closest auto parts store to me, where I had to go today.

 

The house is still there - sad to say it's a shabby looking one story stucco, the kind that was built all over LA in the 30s & 40s - though this one lacks any interesting architectural detail that can sometimes be found on houses from that era. If I had a digital camera I'd take a picture.

 

The neighborhood is a mix of these sort of homes and 2 story apartment buildings, most built since 1960, so it was probably still mostly single family homes when Barks lived there. The main boulevards in the area are still mostly filled with low-rent strip malls and the like, but North Hollywood's proximity to Universal, Warner Brothers, and Disney Studios, as well as some more desirable neighborhoods, combined with extremely high real estate values in LA have lead to a slow but inevitable improvement in the area. So some of the houses in the neighborhood have been fixed up and landscaped, and even the dumpy looking former Barks home, which is probably 1200-1500 sq. feet in size, would likely sell for around $400,000.

[tb]

Thanks a lot! Quite amazing to have an answer in less than 24 hours.

 

I've read that Barks was the superstar at Calgary Eye Opener and that the magazine quickly went downhill after he left around 1935-36. As far as I remember, Barks did not start at Disney before 1937 so I was a bit surprised to see his Hollywood address in 1936(?). I'll need to go back and check my references - does anyone have information that would explain this?

[rjpb]

You're welcome - although I will add that North Hollywood is a seperate community from Hollywood.

It is on the other side if the Santa Monica Mountains ( they're hills really ) in the San Fernando Valley, though it just north of Hollywood. Both are part of the City of Los Angeles, though West Hollywood ( unsurprisingly just west of Hollywood) is it's own city.