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A Victorian home currently on the market in Windsor Square was actually built elsewhere, then moved to its current location in the early 1900s.
The home in question sits at 357 Lorraine Blvd. and it is a beauty. It's selling for the first time since 1998 for $8.195 million. Three stories and 12,500 square feet, it boasts 11 bedrooms and 8.5 bathrooms, plus a 2-bedroom carriage house. According to the listing, it's full of "glorious, priceless craftsmanship" and has a "hidden bar room with and carved walls and a secret door to outside."
It was built in 1890 by Isaac Newton Van Nuys, but not in Windsor Square. It was moved in 1915 to the neighborhood by Van Nuys' son, J. Benton Van Nuys. According to Old Homes of Los Angeles, the home's original location was 6th and Loma, now the home of the LAPD's Rampart station.
Isaac Newton Van Nuys was a businessman and farmer who owned a large chunk of the San Fernando Valley, according to Curbed L.A. In the early 1900s, he sold the land off speculators, who were able to cash in on the purchase after water from the Owens Valley flowed into L.A., making it a good spot to develop housing.
Van Nuys did not actually found the town of Van Nuys, but he was made the honorary godfather of the town.
You might recognize the home from Cheaper by the Dozen (2003). This is the home Tom and Kate Baker, played by Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt, move their 12 children to after Baker gets an offer to coach football at a school in Evanston, Illinois. Clearly, the home is not in the Midwest, but right here in L.A.
See 0:34 in the trailer below:
