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New York Post

Dennis Morgan's former LA home can be yours for $8.5M

This Mediterranean revival estate near Los Angeles has a lot to brag about. The home in La Cañada Flintridge was designed in 1927 by trailblazing architect Paul R. Williams, the designer of iconic commercial buildings and residences across California and the first African-American member of the American Institute of Architects. The residence later served as a retreat for Golden Age Hollywood actor Dennis Morgan. On top of its Californian bona fides, the sprawling property boasts an super-sized swimming pool. Now, this 1.2-acre estate can be yours for $8.5 million — marking its first sale in decades. Advertisement 'It's a truly magnificent, almost fossilized home,' Compass agent George Penner told The Post. 'It captures the spirit of Hollywood and Los Angeles in the 1930s.' 19 The grounds include unique structures like an observatory and a tea house. Sterling Reed Photography 19 The living room. Sterling Reed Photography Advertisement 19 Former resident Dennis Morgan appeared in Hollywood musicals and movies throughout the 1940s. Kobal / Shutterstock The primary estate residence, designed by Williams, includes four bedrooms across 8,156 square feet. Painstakingly crafted details are sprinkled throughout the home, including hand-painted stenciled ceilings, black and white marble floors, tile mosaics and stained glass. Specialty rooms include a paneled library, a music room and a basement wine cellar. 19 The home's reception hall with 20-foot ceilings. Sterling Reed Photography Advertisement 19 The formal dining room features a stained glass window. Sterling Reed Photography 19 The library. Sterling Reed Photography 19 The faux bois tea house, built in 1929. Sterling Reed Photography 19 The wonderful interior of the tea house. Sterling Reed Photography Advertisement 19 A one-bedroom casita. Sterling Reed Photography 19 The guest house includes an observatory and a two-car garage. Sterling Reed Photography 19 The guest house interior. Sterling Reed Photography The estate's grounds, nestled in the foothills of the Verdugo Mountains, includes a garden, two greenhouses, a one-bedroom casita and a faux bois tea house built by a Japanese artisan in 1929. A two-bedroom guest house features a look-out 'observatory' and a two-car garage. Then, there's the swimming pool. 19 Penner said the Olympic-size pool draws a great deal of attention. Sterling Reed Photography 19 An aerial of the swimming pool. Cameron Carothers Photos 19 A garden fountain. Sterling Reed Photography Advertisement 19 Scattered sunlight hits a mosaic wall. Sterling Reed Photography 'Everyone seems to comment about the Olympic-size pool, because it's so unusual to have such an enormous, opulent pool for a single family home,' Penner said. Architect Paul R. Williams built the residence early in his career for attorney James Degnan. Williams went on to design homes for the likes of Frank Sinatra and Lucille Ball. '[Williams] was a real trailblazer, and certainly the most prolific African-American architect of the 20th century, certainly in California,' Penner said. 'To do work of this incredible level in 1927 is, I think, extraordinary.' Advertisement Gina Guerra has lived in the home with her family since they purchased it for $2.07 million in 1999. The Guerras inherited the home's well-preserved — but 'quite run down' — architectural details, like original tiling and light fixtures, alongside stories of Errol Flynn partying on the property. Guerra told The Post that the family focused on restoration, rather than renovation, through their years of ownership, although upgrades to the kitchen and bathrooms were necessary. 19 Descendants of James Degnan gifted Guerra vintage photos of the property. 19 The dining room. Advertisement 19 The tiled fountain. 19 A vintage view of the observatory. Guerra added the property's expansive green space and multiple greenhouses turned her into an avid gardener. 'I'm now in the Garden Club of America judging program for horticulture, so it really took me down this whole path that I never expected in my life,' Guerra said. 'I hope another family moves in, raises their kids here and loves it the way we do.'