Hollywood Hills Home Where the Screen Actors Guild Was Born Hits the Market

A legendary home owned by actor Craig Robert Young and his husband, producer Michael Di Girolamo, has hit the market in Hollywood Dell, a quiet town in Hollywood Hills. Coming with a long history of celebrity past owners and listed for the reasonable price of $1.529 million, it’s a special find.

In 1933, silent screen power couple and Screen Actors Guild co-founders Kenneth Thomson and Alden Gay lived here. During that time, they held secret meetings at the house with the guild’s other co-founders—thus, the industry-defining union was born. It’s easy to see why meetings took place here, with a cozy formal living room centering an open floor plan that flows from the kitchen to the relaxed den.

British actor John Abbott snapped the home up later in the 1940s and gave the abode an entirely new life. Like the Hollywood royalty of most generations, Bette Davis loved a party. Legend has it that Davis consistently not only out-drank all of Abbott’s other guests but was also always the last to leave the premises. Abbott’s home itself played no small part in the vivacity of the scene, and he lived at the address until his death in 1996.

Today, the circa-1919 property maintains a sense of Old Hollywood glamour, but has been modified for modern living. It spans 2,303 square feet and counts 2 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, as well as having a new chef’s kitchen. With wood beams, brick fireplaces, and idyllic patios, it shines with its style as well as its unique past.

Cory Weiss of Douglas Elliman has the listing.