Man of letters Gore Vidal’s one-time home in the Hollywood Hills has sold. Listed at $4.15 million, it went under contract for $3.75 million. The house had been on the market in 2011, but was removed in 2012 when Vidal fell ill. His estate relisted the home in 2015, initially for a shadow under $5.7 million.
Located in the Outpost Estates neighborhood, the Spanish Mediterranean-style home favors the softening effect of a broadly-drawn arch against its otherwise imposing façade; the portico is accessible beneath a beautifully rounded entryway, and terra-cotta tile sets the tone for the interior; within, a double-height foyer offers a tiled staircase with wrought-iron handrail and balustrade. Exposed beams have been stained black; combined with the whitewash, they’d offer only dramatic absence if not for the warm earth tones of the flooring.
Elsewhere, floors are dark hardwood. Lines are generally rounded, occasionally with a bit of Catalan Gothic or Andalusian influence. The house holds a few nice surprises, such as a buttressed ceiling, the arches of the master bath, and a set of rounded French doors, which contrast nicely with more formal design elements such as a coffered living room ceiling and the traditional lines of the master bedroom. While a construction date for the home could not be obtained, the level of craftsmanship, and the voluptuous intersection of stylistic elements would probably place it in the first half of the 1920’s.
Gore Vidal’s acclaimed first novel, ‘Williwaw,’ was written when the author was twenty. Among his works is ‘Myra Breckenridge,’ an innovative Voltaire-influenced satire which called traditional sex roles into question, but his best-known books are 1973’s ‘Burr’ and 1984’s ‘Lincoln’ (he also wrote the screenplay for Tinto Brass’ masterpiece of thoughtlessness ‘Caligula,’ but don’t judge him too harshly for that: it should only be considered parenthetical). His longtime intellectual boxing match with National Review founder Bill Buckley was chronicled in the 2015 film ‘Best of Enemies.’
