Early Hollywood filmmaker Charlie Chaplin built the Chaplin Court bungalows in 1923 on North Formosa Avenue to provide living quarters for cast and crew working at his studio a couple of blocks away on La Brea Avenue.
Over the years, stars such as Rudolph Valentino, Douglas Fairbanks, and Judy Garland spent time in the tiny bungalows (560 to 700 square feet), which were designed in the then-popular "storybook" style.
The studio is now home of The Jim Henson Co., but the cottages remain at 1328 North Formosa Avenue, looking pretty much the way they did when they were designed by architects Arthur and Nina Zwebell.
The good news is that the cottages have been sold to a local real estate investor, Michael Kesler, who has vowed to preserve them and restore them to their original condition, according to Kesler's real estate agent, Robert Cipolloni, of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. (Cipolloni represented Kesler with sales associate Finneus Egan.)
"He's a local guy who buys investment properties and favors ones with special meaning and significance," Cipolloni told Curbed. "He's an LA native, and he was always going by it as a kid, and when the opportunity came up to invest in it, he took it." Escrow is expected to close on the property in the next couple of weeks.