Vanities

Bette Davis Slept Here

—MATTHEW TYRNAUER

Tracing the pedigrees of Hollywood homes

It's a little-known bit of Hollywood lore: Whoopi Goldberg and David Niven slept under the same roof. So did Bette Davis and Jodie Foster; Clark Gable and Michael Milken. But it's not what you think. Goldberg bought the Niven house in 1993–10 years after David died. Foster took over Bette's apartment only last year, and Milken moved into Gable's Encino home more than a decade ago, after the estate had been subdivided. “It's actually rare for celebrity homes to have star pedigrees,” according to Bruce Nelson, L.A.'s uncontested real-estate agent to the stars. “And it does nothing for the price.” In fact, Hollywood aristos often prefer to raze historic buildings and erect their own monuments to domesticity. Here, however, are a few Lotusland piles that have survived the ages and been passed down from luminary to luminary.

THEN

David Niven Bette Davis Nancy Sinatra Rock Hudson Clark Gable Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Fanny Brice Jack Warner Dean Martin Ingrid Bergman Betty Grable Humphrey Bogart Mary Tyler Moore Jules Stein Gilbert Rowland William Powell Neil Simon

Whoopi Goldberg Jodie Foster Elizabeth Taylor John Landis Michael Milken Steven Spielberg Alan Ladd Jr. David Geffen Tom Jones Allan Carr Frank Price Ray Stark Peter Guber Rupert Murdoch Bob Daly Albert “Cubby” Broccoli Robert Redford