560-566 12 Bedrooms
9 full + 3 half Bathrooms
East Channel Road Santa Monica Canyon
5,433 sq. ft. Living (main bldg only)
36,958 sq. ft. Lot Size (6 lots)
Hacienda-Mojica.com
Introduction Built to showcase the talent of the most famous Mexican tenor ever to live, the Mojica Hacienda stands as a testimony to its creators. Designed by noted Santa Monica architect, John Byers, the beautiful acoustics of the Grand Music Salon have attracted musicians of every genre to perform. Mojica was a protégé of Enrico Caruso who advised Jose Mojica to come West to sing in talkies and who introduced Mojica to the internationally known King Vidor (director, cinematographer). Vidor had just finished having his second home designed by Byers and he knew of a site in Santa Monica Canyon where Mojica could build a grand estate and yet have privacy and seclusion away from the “Hollywood Scene”. The Architectural Style Nestled deep into the Upper Mesa of Santa Monica Canyon, the Hacienda is entirely Mexican in nature, revealing it’s lines through Byers use of gently sloping hand-made tile roofs, undulating plaster work, and his exceptional ability to generate a three dimensional quality to his designs. As Mediterranean architecture came into popularity the early California Missions and Spanish adobes inspired Byers Mission Revival. To this day the popular style reflects Southern California’s similarity to Mexico’s climate, topography and flora. Hacienda Mojica exemplifies Mexican Mission-style architecture with its whitewashed stucco undulating plaster interiors, hand-made Mexican tile roofs and the use of wooden beams especially prepared for the property. The swimming pool was dug two years before the wood structures were needed and was a trench filled with lime and lye in which to treat the white oak imported for its durability and #01514230 | DeasyPennerPodley® do not guarantee the accuracy of room dimensions, square footage, lot size, or other information regarding the condition or features of the property provided by the seller or obtained from public records or other sources. Buyer is advised to verify that information through personal inspection with the appropriate professionals. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Equal Housing Opportunity. All rights reserved. ©2021
authenticity to Spanish homes. The original Hacienda features a primary façade that reveals itself only to those standing in front of its 80 loggia. The serenity of its entrance is owed in part to its gated entries, but also to the subtle styling imparted by Byers. A stroll down the bougainvillea and palms driveway takes you to a stone-paved loggia leading to a door the front entrance door with the hand-carved inscription. Exterior Hacienda Mojica’s beautifully preserved interior is especially reflective of both Mediterranean design and the mid-1920s. Numerous original interior decorative details survive to this day. Opening the 4 hand-carved entrance door leads into an intimate reception foyer with iron-railed, tiled stairs rising to the wooden, beamed ceiling from which a French chandelier provides the lighting. The foyer is rich with planked- studded doors, hidden features and its own Chain of Title showing the progression of lots from the granting of the Mexican land grant in 1839 to the ownership of the property in the mid 30’s-50s by Anita Loos’ brother Clifford and his daughter Mary Anita. The chandelier was a housewarming present to Jose Mojica from W.R. Hearst who had obtained it from Chapultepec Castle, a remnant of the Napoleonic occupation of Mexico City. Two examples of Byers detailing are found in this foyer with the extended Juliette balcony on the upper landing of the stairwell and the Moroccan arch exiting under that balcony.
#01514230 | DeasyPennerPodley® do not guarantee the accuracy of room dimensions, square footage, lot size, or other information regarding the condition or features of the property provided by the seller or obtained from public records or other sources. Buyer is advised to verify that information through personal inspection with the appropriate professionals. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Equal Housing Opportunity. All rights reserved. ©2021
To the East of the entry lies the sunken formal Grand Music Salon with a massive, yet typically Byers understated fireplace. This room is so acoustically perfect that the Colburn Institute gave seed money for the establishment of a westside venue for its concerts to be performed in it. Mojica used this room to showcase his talents but the phenomena of its acoustics were a startling accomplishment since no sophisticated baffling exists to take the place of the beautiful plasterwork accented by the wide random planked wood floor and white oaks ceilings and exposed rafters highlighting the broad eaves. From the this Salon you catch your first view of the exquisite botanical gardens with plantings brought from Mexico by Mojica in the days when that was still legal. Giant Birds of Paradise offer their foot long black and white and purple blossoms and King palms reign over the tropical gardens. The patios are paved with encaustic tiles made on site in the Rancho workshop. Off the living room and at the same sunken level, Byers designed a library with recessed stucco and white oak shelves, a fireplace evocative of the Spanish countryside, and behind another of those planked-studded doors, a full bar with a hidden stairway leading to the Prohibition Era basement storage of the family’s cases of wine. It would be another five years after completion of the residence before alcohol could be stored at eye level. The library has its own half bath with tile flooring that also opens to the exterior fern garden pathway. To the west is a large dining salon which may be set with a 16 place banquet table or use several round tables to seat up to 24 guests comfortably.
#01514230 | DeasyPennerPodley® do not guarantee the accuracy of room dimensions, square footage, lot size, or other information regarding the condition or features of the property provided by the seller or obtained from public records or other sources. Buyer is advised to verify that information through personal inspection with the appropriate professionals. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Equal Housing Opportunity. All rights reserved. ©2021
The original powder room remains as it was in Mojica’s day, elegant with its fabric-covered painted walls, crystal sconces and original tile flooring that extends throughout the main level except where the wood floors take over. One of the Master Suites is located on the main level. This bedroom, which was designed for Mojica’s mother, has a large sitting room with built in bookshelves and desk, an arched Spanish fireplace and a large raised bedroom area with wood flooring leading to the dressing room with two walls of closets built in drawers and dressing table. The bathroom for this bedroom is the only bath that has changed character since Mojica built it. In the mid 50s the bath had been ‘modernized’ with pink fixtures, bilious green tiles against subway tile white floors. This room was remodeled with handmade art tiles in keeping with the Mexican flavor of the home. Its new French plaster and tile shower provides entry to a three-person Jacuzzi tub with antique wood windows opening onto the rose gardens. Mention the treehouse effect of the “Summer Place” (her suite) and the private terrace for the Winter Palace (His suite). Those were the names of the prior owner, not Mojica. Note that for his entire lifetime, after selling the hacienda to the Loos Family, they retained the Mojica Suite for his use when he was in Los Angeles. Early History: Santa Monica Canyon The story of Hacienda Mojica begins in the late eighteenth century with the first serious exploration and settlement of California by the Spanish Europeans. The first ancestor of La Senora’s historian, Ernest Marquez was a young Mexican born soldado del cuero who came with the Portola Party and traveled with Junipero Serra to Carmel. While in the Los Angeles area, scouting for fresh water, his party of
#01514230 | DeasyPennerPodley® do not guarantee the accuracy of room dimensions, square footage, lot size, or other information regarding the condition or features of the property provided by the seller or obtained from public records or other sources. Buyer is advised to verify that information through personal inspection with the appropriate professionals. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Equal Housing Opportunity. All rights reserved. ©2021
scouts came upon a small creek whose water they proclaimed to be ‘as sweet as the tears of St. Monica.’ Hence the name Santa Monica Creek. Juan Francisco Reyes was in military service building Mission Carmel, before he completed his service in Santa Barbara Presidio under Commandante de la Guerra. After retiring from the army, Reyes came to Los Angeles where he was given a Spanish Land grant called Encino. (Encino was the entire San Fernando Valley). But Spain was a European country, and like all European grants, the land belonged to the Crown but could be used by the grantees until such time as the Crown asked for it back. When Mission San Fernando del Rey was to be built, the Crown asked for Encino to be returned for use of the Mission. In 1793, Reyes was the third Alcalde (Mayor) of Pueblo de Los Angeles. In 1839 it was Reyes grandson, Ysidro Reyes who in partnership with his friend Francisco Marquez would be granted the Rancho Boca de Santa Monica land grant. A decade before, In 1827 the Alcalde of Los Angeles Guillermo Cota had granted Rancho Boca de Santa Monica to their cousins, Antonio Ignacio Machado and Francisco Javier Alvarado turned their rights over to Francisco Marquez (1798-1850) and Ysidro Reyes (1813-1861). Marquez, who was the owner of the largest blacksmith shop in the pueblo and Reyes, who had 17 acres of grapes under cultivation there were next door neighbors. Together they possessed the skill set required to run a Mexican Rancho. They filed petition for proper title with Governor Juan Alvarado in Monterey. The next summer the grant was approved with a final survey determining the Rancho to be 6,656 acres, comprising present day Santa Monica Canyon, Pacific Palisades and parts of Topanga Canyon and most of Sullivan Canyon.
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The land ran from 26th/Allenford to Montana, then to the ocean, along the ocean a mile and a half past Topanga, up to Ferndale and across Sullivan Canyon back to Allenford. Reyes built an adobe casa at the top of Rustic Canyon near present day Chautauqua and Sunset Boulevards. When wolves kept decimating his hen house and eating small animals, he relocated his residence to the ridge above the canyon, now Adelaide Drive. This was more convenient for being close the fertile bottom lands of the canyon where he would plant his vineyards. Francisco Marquez had built the Rancho’s first adobe in Santa Monica Canyon on the mesa, on what would become today’s San Lorenzo Drive. (The foundations of this casa can still be seen inside the family cemetery.) His rancho blacksmith shop at the mouth of the Canyon was well-used by other ranchos, followed by Ranch out-buildings, and a cemetery was added adjacent to the Marquez Casa in the early 1840s. Later came a chapel. With a Mexican land grant, the land belong to the grantees; not to the crown who could not simply ‘ask for its return’. There were many good years for these people who had been born Spanish citizens and become Mexican with the 1821 revolution. But the Civil War loomed. The United States forced Mexico’s hand into selling California (which was actually California, Nevada, part of Colorado, and New Mexico. But the treaty required that all Californios be given full rights as citizens, including their existing land ownership. But property claims came under review and many land grant ranchos were broken up. The Land Act of 1851 required that land grants be filed with the Public Land Commission. Because Francisco Marquez had died, Ysidro Reyes acted as the spokesman for the Rancho Boca
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de Santa Monica. April 14, 1854 brought confirmation of an undivided one-half to Ysidro but denied the same to Francisco’s heirs as they could not prove he was dead. Reyes persisted on behalf of the Marquez heirs until the final determination came almost 30 years later in 1881 by which time both Reyes and Marquez were deceased. And now we begin to see how Santa Monica developed. Reyes’ undivided one-half was left to his wife Maria Antonia (Villa) Reyes, who sold her interest (a decade before the grant had been resolved) in 1873 to Col. Robert S. Baker (a founder of the City of Santa Monica). Baker in turn filed suit to partition the land amongst himself and the heirs of Francisco Marquez, who jointly held the other onehalf. Despite Col. Baker having sold three-quarters of his interest to Sen. John P. Jones (fellow City of Santa Monica founder) and the remaining quarter to his wife Arcadia (She later became a philanthropist who gave the SM Women’s club). A case for partition came before the superior court on July 6, 1882 and within a year, on June 8, 1883 a decree for partition was filed with six allotments. A portion of those allotments to Francisca Marquez de Rios, Manuel Marquez and Pascual Marquez make up Tract 9247, which is the location of the both the Rancho Cemetery and the Hacienda Mojica . It is also the location of Canyon School, which had been a gift to the city by the Marquez family, and one small parcel that still today receives tax bills addressed to Rancho Boca de Santa Monica. It would be another 30 years before the development of Santa Monica Canyon began in earnest. In 1912 the Santa Monica Land Company laid out the first subdivision and by 1913 much of the Canyon had been platted. The street that the cemetery sits on took its name from the statue of San Lorenzo placed in the adobe wall surrounding it. On April 28, 1925 some 105 acres of the Canyon were annexed by the City of Los Angeles taking them into the Pacific Palisades area (though it must be said that Santa Monica Canyon and the Palisades had little in common.)
#01514230 | DeasyPennerPodley® do not guarantee the accuracy of room dimensions, square footage, lot size, or other information regarding the condition or features of the property provided by the seller or obtained from public records or other sources. Buyer is advised to verify that information through personal inspection with the appropriate professionals. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Equal Housing Opportunity. All rights reserved. ©2021
East Channel Road was given its name because of the East branch of Santa Monica Creek that ran freely through it, until the 1938 flood devastated the channels and the beaches and caused the Corps of Engineers to build a concrete enclosure in the streams present location. Within 15 years most of the Springs fed by the creek had dried up, and within another decade the seven wells that had once served the Rancho also dried up. But it would be another 20 years before the large trees of the canyon started to miss the lack of natural irrigation. Today, all areas are irrigated. Owner History The first private individual to purchase our six lots from the Upper Santa Monica Canyon Mesa lots subdivided by Santa Monica Land and Water, was Jose Mojica. After engaging John Byers, the pits were immediately dug for a Mexican-style insect proofing of the lumber which would be shipped from Oregon (to avoid duties of shipping from Mexico.) Construction was well underway when the City of Los Angeles ‘discovered’ the building going up. But permits still weren’t pulled while John Byers struggled with Mojica over Mojica’s claims (to anyone and everyone listening or interviewing him) that ‘he was building a replica of his mother’s family’s hacienda in Mexico that they’d lost during the Juarez era.’ Finally, the City ran out of patience; a permit had to be pulled; in a fit of pique at Mojica claiming Byer’s design was a mere replica, Byers sent his sometime draftsman to pull the permit. Merrill Baird was not an architect, but would become one four years later. He moved to Glendale and built many acclaimed institutional buildings --- but he never designed anything that looked remotely like Byer’s hacienda Mojica.
#01514230 | DeasyPennerPodley® do not guarantee the accuracy of room dimensions, square footage, lot size, or other information regarding the condition or features of the property provided by the seller or obtained from public records or other sources. Buyer is advised to verify that information through personal inspection with the appropriate professionals. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Equal Housing Opportunity. All rights reserved. ©2021
The home was completed shortly after the building permit made it legal, and a housewarming was held to which all of the Mexican Movie Star community was invited as well as many other well known composers, musicians, and anglo stars. Mojica was startled, but pleased when W. R. Hearst and Marion Davies gave him the Entry Hall chandelier as a housewarming present. The Canyon in the late 20s was a largely Mexican community. The Reyes and Marquez clan had intermarried making them all doubly related (though they were all related to practically everyone among the 88 original inhabitants of Pueblo de Los Angeles). When Mojica moved in, Leo Carrillo had his rancho just up E. Channel from Mojica’s place and Dolores del Rio was living in a beautiful home designed for her by then husband Cedric Gibbons. The creek ran free for the Marquez and Reyes children to play in and catch frogs and tadpoles (There were no children in the del Rio, Carrillo or Mojica households at that time). There were no fences or walls between the properties and Leo Carrillo used the hitching posts lining the area where the old mail stage from SM to Topanga had once had its day stable for riding his horse down to visit Mojica. The trees in the canyon were not yet large enough to obscure the view of the ocean from the property. Life was relaxing in the canyon Ernest Marquez and Ysidro Reyes III, Rancho Descendants (both Francisco Marquez and Ysidro Reyes were their triple great grandfathers) were the oldest of the current generations cousins when Mojica built the hacienda. They remember dressing in choirboy robes and carrying candles as they walked behind Mojica when he would circle the ‘island’ on which the Hacienda lay, singing the Posadas at Christmas time. Ernest went to the one room Canyon School. We have photos of both Ernest’s class and his father’s class taken in the front wooden steps of the school. Shortly there after a lovely Italianate, Mediterranean residence was built between Carrillo’s and Mojica’s homes. On East Channel, in the days before it became a flood channel, the home was named Villa of the Stream (Villa del Rcscello). That home had been built by the
#01514230 | DeasyPennerPodley® do not guarantee the accuracy of room dimensions, square footage, lot size, or other information regarding the condition or features of the property provided by the seller or obtained from public records or other sources. Buyer is advised to verify that information through personal inspection with the appropriate professionals. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Equal Housing Opportunity. All rights reserved. ©2021
Coopers who were also socially active and society columns were kept busy noting the many parties held in the Canyon. Remember this was the day of Society Columns. The couple were in the society columns and dividing time between three residences until the mid 1970s. By this time the Hacienda Mojica has been sold in 1976 to Patricia Nettleship, the former owners had developed an active program to coach her in the history of the canyon and its homes. Mary Anita and Anita Loos, led this effort helped whenever necessary by Lyle Wheeler and his wife Donna, and by a remarkable parade of aging movie stars, screen writers, composers, and historians. They were determined that knowledge of the history of their days there should not pass unnoticed.
For property video go to https://youtu.be/ZQU6jEFKIUY
MIKE DEASY
SARA CLEPHANE
BENJAMIN KAHLE
310.275.8880 mike@dppre.com
310.909.4648 sclephane@dppre.com
310.779.4578 bkahle@dppre.com
#00542204
#01932072
#01951554
Chairman
Partner
Partner
Hacienda-Mojica.com #01514230 | DeasyPennerPodley® do not guarantee the accuracy of room dimensions, square footage, lot size, or other information regarding the condition or features of the property provided by the seller or obtained from public records or other sources. Buyer is advised to verify that information through personal inspection with the appropriate professionals. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Equal Housing Opportunity. All rights reserved. ©2021
560 & 566 EAST CHANNEL ROAD, SANTA MONICA
CHAPEL 30' X 9'9
BB Q
STORAGE
STORAGE
SPORT COURT
BRICK PATIO
BAR
LIVING ROO M 11’7 X 19’7
KITCHEN 8’10 X 5’7
CL
CLOSET
BEDROOM 12’ X 15’2
BATH
MASTER BATH
FR
BATH
W/D
KITCHEN 12' X 5'
BATH
CLOSET
DW
CL
10'6 X 12'3
LIVING ROOM 17'5 X 14'4
FR
W/D
BAR
MASTER BEDROOM 13'1 X 20'4
DW
CLOSET BATH
GY 23’ M X 6’9
CLOSET
BEDROOM 11'11 X 11'8
CLOSET
POOL
BEDROOM 9’9 X 10’7
CL CLOSET
D
CLOSET
COVERED PATIO
TC
w
KITCHEN 16'5 X 14'5
DW
THEATER 29'3 X 19'3
LAUNDRY
BEDROOM 20’9 X 12’9
FR
CL
DINING ROOM 19'5 X 15'8
BEDROOM 9'3 X 10'10 DN
UP
CLOSET
BAR
PORCH
ENTRY
2 BEDROOM SUITES WITH BATH
UP
CL
LIVING ROOM 30' X 20'
BEDROOM 9' X 10'10
BEDROOM 20’9 X 11’
CL
DRIVEWAY
DEN / LIBRARY 19' X 13'7
DN
BATH
CL
CL BATH
UP
STUDIO 17' X 12'2
BATH
CLOSET
BALCONY
CLOSET
BEDROOM 19'5 X 16'3
CL
CLOSET
CLOSET
BEDROOM 17'9 X 16'5
BATH
CLOSET
SITTING ROOM 17'2 X 11'1
DN
CL
UP
OPEN TO BELOW
SECOND FLOOR FLOOR PLAN CREATED BY REST, INFORMATION DEEMED RELIABLE, BUT NOT GUARANTEED. (626) 840-1717
Hacienda-Mojica.com #01514230 | DeasyPennerPodley® do not guarantee the accuracy of room dimensions, square footage, lot size, or other information regarding the condition or features of the property provided by the seller or obtained from public records or other sources. Buyer is advised to verify that information through personal inspection with the appropriate professionals. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Equal Housing Opportunity. All rights reserved. ©2021
Hacienda-Mojica.com #01514230 | DeasyPennerPodley® do not guarantee the accuracy of room dimensions, square footage, lot size, or other information regarding the condition or features of the property provided by the seller or obtained from public records or other sources. Buyer is advised to verify that information through personal inspection with the appropriate professionals. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Equal Housing Opportunity. All rights reserved. ©2021