Home Where Walt Disney Started His First Animation Studio Is Set For Demolition


It’s a Los Angeles home where numerous characters, including the iconic Mickey Mouse, were put down on paper without knowing just how famous they would all become. Now, the home where Walter Elias Disney founded his first animation studio has had a permit filed so that it can be demolished and the land can have a new home built on it.

As reported by L.A. Magazine, the new owners of the property have sought out a demolition permit for Walt Disney’s first home in California. Sitting at 4406 Kingswell Avenue in Los Feliz, it originally belonged to Charlotte and Robert Disney, the aunt and uncle of Walt.

Two months ago, Sang Ho and Krystal Yoo of Studio City purchased the property and are now looking to change it drastically. Plans were submitted this past Friday for a new two-story, 1-or-2 family home to be built on the site after the current structure is demolished.

It was back in November that the Survey L.A. program declared the Kingswell Avenue property as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. This was due to the fact that it was indeed the place where Walt Disney had his first-ever studio in California.

Obviously, the rest is history from that point on, but things have seemed to change. Now, that same program is the one making the consideration of issuing the permit to have the building demolished.

The Disney family sold the location in 1977 after having it in the family for more than half a century. Upon selling it, the description of the home said it had “lots of wood trim, fireplace, & cheery breakfast room.”

If that’s not a Disney description, it’s hard to know what else would be.

[Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images]
Roy Disney, Walt’s older brother, moved from Kansas City to the Veteran’s Hospital in Westwood, California, for the treatment of tuberculosis. It was then that Walt Disney followed him out to the state in hopes of in the film industry and becoming a director.

It was fortunate for Walt that the Kingswell home was halfway between Paramount Pictures in Hollywood and Mack Sennett’s comedy studios in Echo Park. Try as he might, Walt simply couldn’t get work with a studio and his uncle Robert began getting on his case about landing a job soon.

That was when Walt Disney set up the animation studio in the garage behind the house and it led to the beginning of The Disney Brothers animation studio.

The home has two bedrooms and is 1,458 square feet, and it was where a 22-year-old Walter Elias Disney made his room and board for just $5 a week to his aunt and uncle. Many dreams and career aspirations were created in that California home, and the majority of them didn’t stay dreams but ended up becoming reality.

For now, the former Disney family home is not definitely going to be torn down, but the process to have it done has started. It’s possible that the home could end up being declared a historic landmark, but if not, then it will soon be no more.

Walt Disney passed away many years ago, but his legacy is likely to live on long after everyone currently living is gone. Many believe that he has done so much for the world of animation, entertainment, and travel, and with that, some things should be considered sacred. The home in Los Angeles where Walt founded his first studio is one of those places, but it may not last much longer if the demolition permit is granted by the city.

[Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images]

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