Where Walt Disney First Lived in Los Angeles
Where Walt Disney First Lived in Los Angeles

Some sad news about the house Walt Disney first called home in California, it is set to be demolished which is also the birthplace of the first animation studio in Los Angeles.

The house is located one block east of Vermont in Los Feliz, 4406 Kingswell Avenue and was built in 1914. Walt first moved to California in July of 1923 into his Uncle Robert Disney’s house for only $5 dollars per week in rent.

The new owners Sang Ho and Krystal Yoo of Studio City submitted plans on Friday for a new 2-story, 1 or 2-family home they plan to build on the site, they just filed for a demolition permit. Most likely oblivious to the history this house has. The trees and surrounding foliage have been removed already.

The City of Los Angeles Survey L.A. program declared the property eligible for the National Register of Historic Places in November 2015 for it’s role as Walt Disney’s very first studio in California however the same City Planning department is now considering issuing a permit for its demolition.

In accordance with the city’s recognition of its historical significance, a movement is already taking place to save the house from destruction. The original one car garage that was Walt’s first studio was removed from the property several years ago and is now located on a lot in Orange county.

Talk is of trying to save the original site or relocate the house to another site. It is significant that the original site be preserved since the other original site of Walt’s first official studio was located one block west in the building at Kingswell and Vermont. That unit is now a copy shop.

Here is a home video taken in front of the house.

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The Author

Lavalle Lee

Lavalle Lee

Lavalle Lee has been creating animated cartoons online since 1999/2000 for his website flashcartoons.org. Many cartoons on the site have gained viral video status reaching millions of viewers online. In 2009, Lavalle started learning hand drawn animation from Don Bluth in his animation classes, as well as attending his Masterclasses in Arizona. He has also personally studied animation and visual effects from Veteran Disney animators in Orlando, FL.

Lavalle is widely known in the animation industry as the creator of the TraditionalAnimation.com website. After seeing that most animation sites were about all types of animation, not any specific to classical hand drawn animation, Lavalle knew Traditional Animation needed to be represented online. TraditionalAnimation.com has become the leading website and social media account for all things 2D. The website served as inspiration for “The Traditional Animation Show” in which Lavalle was both producer and host.

His partnership with Don Bluth began when he championed the Dragon's Lair Indiegogo campaign as lead project manager, editor, voice actor and in-betweener. The campaign reached $730,000 dollars to produce a 7-minute pitch video. In 2017, Lavalle brought the idea of creating a school to Don Bluth, and Don Bluth University was born. After a decade of learning from Don Bluth and working together on multiple pitches and business ventures, Lavalle accepted the position as Vice President of Don Bluth's new company Don Bluth Studios.

18 Comments

  1. July 21, 2016 at 4:11 pm —

    You’d think that Disney would own that place.

  2. July 21, 2016 at 4:18 pm —

    “The new owners Sang Ho and Krystal Yoo of Studio City submitted plans on Friday for a new 2-story, 1 or 2-family home they plan to build on the site, they just filed for a demolition permit. Most likely oblivious to the history this house has.”

  3. July 21, 2016 at 4:21 pm —

    Aside from the historical significance , that’s a beautiful little CA bungalow. I didn’t read the article yet , but I suppose the reason they want to tear it down is to put a much larger structure on the property (?) Probably one of those faux Italian-style McMansions that doesn’t proportionally fit on the property .

  4. July 21, 2016 at 5:37 pm —

    No!
    We must petition for this!

  5. July 21, 2016 at 5:50 pm —

    I guess they found rats

  6. July 21, 2016 at 6:18 pm —

    :'(

  7. July 21, 2016 at 6:28 pm —

    What are they going to put in its place? Another Frozen themed house?

  8. July 21, 2016 at 6:46 pm —

    The Disney Company could easily purchase the house, move it their park property in Anaheim and open it as a living museum. People would definitely want to visit where Walt once lived.

  9. July 21, 2016 at 8:22 pm —

    There is a petition on change.org to stop the demolition. On my phone so don’t have a link, just go to the website and search for it.

  10. July 21, 2016 at 10:04 pm —

    How come this has to be destroyed? There are PLENTY of acres for w/e they need. This should just be displayed or bought by someone else. Idk, what is the demolition for?

  11. July 21, 2016 at 10:43 pm —

    No more f…ing respect.

  12. July 22, 2016 at 3:25 am —

    It would be cool if they could relocate the house.

  13. July 22, 2016 at 6:29 am —

    That’s sad it’s not going to be preserved as it is a historical piece of architecture

  14. July 22, 2016 at 8:30 am —

    Sad.

  15. July 22, 2016 at 8:51 am —

    Nada M. Yousri

  16. July 22, 2016 at 3:02 pm —

    Wow. No respect.

  17. August 12, 2016 at 9:49 pm —

    it’s sad

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