This garish mansion was the infamous 'Sheik's House' on Sunset Blvd. It had gained international notoriety for its tacky facade once located at 9561 in Beverly Hills. Back in 1978, Saudi Arabian Sheik Mohammad Al-Fassi and his new wife, Sheikha Ibtissm were the last owners of this 38 room mansion built in 1917. It was originally a stately Italian residence built by Beverly Hill co-founer, May Whittier. It was once such a pristine and classy home until the young Sheik had the statues on the front veranda painted in flesh tones that included fuzzy pubic hair on their genitals! (when it rained, servants covered the statues with raincoats to preserve their obnoxious paintjobs. Inside he has poster blow-ups made from the cheapest pulp porn mags; drugged-out "hippie chicks" with glazed eyes doing "beaver" shots, etc hanging in his powder rooms. At one time he invited the neighbors and my mother got a tour of the place and made the front page of the Beverly Hills paper the next day. The photo was actually taken by director, George Sidney.
Fassi painted his new gaudy mansion a rotting lime green color and had fake plastic trees in the most peculiar colors throughout the estate. He added a gold roof, a mosque, a beacon to ward off low-flying planes and a massive black wrought iron gate. He had over 100 woman dressed in black glueing small black stones to the gate for two weeks. I remember as a little girl taking one as a souvenir. Neighbors renamed it "Dirty Disneyland." Tourist hawks and neighbors complained. Although it did come in handy for Steve Martin. The garish home was used as a location for the movie "The Jerk" as Steve Martin's tacky mansion. Remember the clam shaped bed and the 1970s Disco scenes? All filmed right here - no set designer needed! The Sheik was always dressed in Saturday Night Fever style fashions too as he was determined to be trendy. Big colors, polyester and gold chains.
The Jerk filmed at the Sheik's House
At one point Al-Fassi was worth 6 million dollars, all of which he inherited from being an honorary member of the SaudiRoyal family( he wasn't even a real sheik)
There was a lot of scandal and speculation after this mansion was torched to a crisp in 1981. 'It was the end of an eyesore'. Some say the neighbors did it and some think the Sheik set it on fire so his x wife wouldn't be able to inherit his priceless works of art historic art, including a Matisse (which is rumored to have turned up in Puru recently). I'll never forget the blaze since we lived just a block away. I thought the sheik was blowing up the entire block! When it was finally razed, there was a demolition celebration. In 1985 neighbors, politicians, and real estate agents who watched raised their wine glasses as they watched bulldozers take down what was left of it including Brett Hodges, the great-grandson of Max Whittier, the original occupant of the 68-year-old estate. Nearly dozens of cameras recorded the scene. Here's some archival footage of the interior and its fateful demise. I discovered this footage back in 1999 inside the KTLA vaults and produced this story as a segment of, "Mysteries & Scandals".
There was a lot of scandal and speculation after this mansion was torched to a crisp in 1981. 'It was the end of an eyesore'. Some say the neighbors did it and some think the Sheik set it on fire so his x wife wouldn't be able to inherit his priceless works of art historic art, including a Matisse (which is rumored to have turned up in Puru recently). I'll never forget the blaze since we lived just a block away. I thought the sheik was blowing up the entire block! When it was finally razed, there was a demolition celebration. In 1985 neighbors, politicians, and real estate agents who watched raised their wine glasses as they watched bulldozers take down what was left of it including Brett Hodges, the great-grandson of Max Whittier, the original occupant of the 68-year-old estate. Nearly dozens of cameras recorded the scene. Here's some archival footage of the interior and its fateful demise. I discovered this footage back in 1999 inside the KTLA vaults and produced this story as a segment of, "Mysteries & Scandals".
Today two new massive homes (which look more like embassy's) sit on this property. One of the owners of the house on the west side ran out of money and it's just sitting there empty.
My mother took this photo of the Sheik's house. We used to talk afternoon walks past it
