The Most Storied Hollywood House

Emily Mortimer, star of this fall's Formula 51, adds a funky fashion splash to a famous mansion.

_______________________________________

1. It's hard to imagine the charming Emily Mortimer as an English import. In her endearing performance in last summer's Lovely & Amazing, Mortimer got the neurotic, self-doubting American starlet bit down to a tee, even capturing that unmistakable L.A. drawl. Mortimer can currently be seen opposite Samuel L. Jackson in Formula 51, directed by Hong Kong action man Ronny Yu. Currently, Mortimer's got the enviable task of filming Young Adam opposite the dashing Ewan McGregor. She's also quite the multitasker, having written the screenplay version of Bad Blood, Lorna Sage's memoirs, which will commence shooting this fall.

2. Unlike Pickfair, Falcon Lair or Greenacres, Buster Keaton's Italian Villa in Beverly Hills didn't have a grand name of its own; however, it sure was marvelously fitted for one. Located just across the street from Charlie Chaplin's house, in what was then referred to as "Hollywood's Knob Hill," the over-20 room mansion was finished in 1925 for $300,000, an extravagant sum for the time. Now valued at $19.9 million, the villa was recently renovated by real estate developers Christopher Bedrosian and John Bercsi, who specialize in high-end estates. Since Keaton, the property has been enlivened at one point or another by Marlene Dietrich, Cary Grant, Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole and James Mason. Mason, the last of the famous inhabitants, discovered a secret vault containing working copies and negatives of all of Keaton's films, which at the time were thought to have been lost or destroyed in a fire at MGM. The discovery helped revive a then-near penniless Keaton's career, which he enjoyed until his death in the '60s. (For information on purchasing the house, call Loren Judd at Westside State Agency, 310-860-8882.)

_______________________________________