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Check Out What Dov Charney's Hilltop Mansion Looked Like Before He Raised a Middle Finger to the World
Want to check out what Dov Charney's hilltop mansion in a gated community in Silver Lake looked like before he tried to convert it into an updated (and more heavily-litigated) version of Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion?
Sure you do! A land use activist writing for Echo Park Patch notes that even though the Garbutt home in Silver Lake is not open to the public, the home built in the 1920s is listed in the National Register and gets 20 percent tax credit. It linked to a video tour of the home from the 1980s before and after it was renovated:
It was The EastsiderLA that noted that this tour was before American Apparel founder Dov Charney moved in (and installed a middle finger to the world).
Here's a quick history via The Eastsider:
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But decades before Charney moved, the nearly 12,000-square foot home served as the home for the family of industrialist Frank Garbutt, who built the house in the late 1920s. In 1981, the home was restored and was declared a national historic monument as the hilltop around it was developed for a gated community called Hathaway Hill Estates. Unless you get an invite from Dov Charney, there’s no way you can even get past the Hathaway Hills guard house to enjoy the 360-degree views from the Garbutt mansion, which now sits amid 1980s tract houses.
And if you wanted to see that middle finger, check out this photo from a post we did in 2008:
Photo used with permission
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
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