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Merchant Walter Scott Newhall (1860-1906), a long-time resident of San Francisco, CA, erected this house on a 2.25-acre lot on West 25th Street c. 1896, the year he was married to Los Angeleno Nellie Trowbridge Ainsworth (born c. 1864). (Newhall married Ainsworth on 09/22/1896.) In 01/1899, Judge Charles Silent (1842-1918) platted his "Chester Place" sub-division, which included the improvement of the street, Chester Place. In 1901, plutocratic oilman Edward L. Doheny, Sr. (1856-1935), and his forceful second wife, Carrie Estelle Betzold Doheny (1875-1958), moved into the former Oliver Posey House at 8 Chester Place, and changes soon occurred to the area. Gates were placed at various entry points to Chester Place, marking it as an exclusive territory. The Dohenys liked the neighborhood so much that they bought out a number of neighbors and even Silent's holdings by 1915 giving them extensive acreage. The Dohenys bought the former Newhall House and two to the south for use as rental properties and enclosed them within the gated compound.

This residence was used by the producers of ABC Television's sitcom, The Adams Family, as a backdrop for the Addams House. Special effects people altered the dwelling's appearance for television, adding a third floor topped by a mansard roof. This Second Empire Style appearance resembled houses drawn by Charles Addams (1912-1988) in his macabre cartoons done for the New Yorker magazine between 1938-1988. Addams was a consultant for the ABC show which aired two seasons (64 episodes) from 09/18/1964-04/08/1966.

This house was built by Walter Scott Newhall sometime between 1888-1894 on 2.25 acres and was eerily located right off of West Adams Blvd. in Los Angeles, on a street once called West 25th Street next to “St. James Park”.

Demolished; the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) ordered the destruction of this residence to make way for Frank D. Lanterman High School.

PCAD id: 17500