The first house in what is known today as L.A.’s Outpost Estates neighborhood, which winds up into the mountains north of Hollywood, was built in the 1850s by Don Tómas Urquidez in the middle of a sycamore grove near what is today the intersection of Outpost Drive and Hillside Avenue. The three-room adobe structure was later owned by Gen. Harrison Gray Otis, the first publisher of the Los Angeles Times, who dubbed it the Outpost.
The land around Otis’s Outpost was eventually acquired by developer Charles E. Toberman, who erected a 30-foot red neon sign that read “Outpost” to promote the upscale development that he called Outpost Estates. Early residents of the hillside enclave included silver screen superstars like Bela Lugosi and Dolores Del Rio, and current showbiz residents include Charlize Theron and David Lynch.
The living room is ample with a fireplace, stained glass, and French doors to the yard.
Sam Ghazi
In 1929, a spacious new house was completed on the site of the original adobe cottage, and six decades later, in 1969, the Spanish-Revival-style home was acquired by 19-time Emmy-winning game show host and dedicated animal rights advocate Bob Barker. The beloved host of The Price Is Right occupied the vintage residence for more than 50 years before he died in August 2023, just a few months shy of his 100th birthday.
Today, Barker’s home is listed for sale for $2.988 million with Robert Valandra of The Flying V Realty Investment Company. Valandra is one of Barker’s nephews and the executor of the trust that owns and is selling the property.
Original elements are present throughout the circa 1929 Spanish Revival-style home.
Sam Ghazi
In need of a restoration and update, the nearly 5,000-square-foot fixer-upper is still in possession of much enviable original detail, including stained-glass windows, wrought-iron detailing, antique light fixtures, and, on the wood-beamed ceiling over the switchback staircase, a delicate fresco. In the 28-foot-long living room, a fireplace is surrounded by the original wood paneling and arched French doors open to the backyard, while the library includes an original walk-in wet bar. Elsewhere are a dining room, a separate breakfast room, a kitchen with a butler’s pantry, a large laundry room, and a couple of powder rooms.
There are four bedrooms and three bathrooms on the upper floor. Two bedrooms share a Jack and Jill bath; another has a private bath; and the primary suite includes a bathroom of its own, along with a walk-in closet and a dressing room.
The backyard and swimming pool are hedged for privacy and gated for security.
Sam Ghazi
There’s an almost 400-square-foot garage at the end of a gated driveway and a 600-square-foot basement level that could be used for additional bedrooms, a screening room, or a home office.
The slightly more than quarter-acre parcel is privatized by tall and thick hedging. Several rooms on the ground floor spill out to the backyard, and stairs provide access to a long balcony on the upper level. Stepping stones across a tree-shaded lawn connect the house to the swimming pool, which is surrounded by flagstone terracing.
The property is number 673 on the L.A.’s list of historical and cultural monuments and, as marketing material states, offers a preservation-minded buyer the opportunity to “bring this sleeping beauty back to life.”
Click here for more photos of Bob Barker’s home.
Sam Ghazi; CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images
Source: Luxury - robbreport.com
