A Look Inside Joan Crawford's California and New York Homes
This photo feature surveys Joan Crawford's homes, including El JoDo, the Brentwood Georgian-style house she bought in 1929 and kept for 26 years. It traces her rise from a difficult childhood to Hollywood stardom and notes the personal turmoil she faced. Her residences, from Southern California to New York, offered comfort and stability.
Crawford was born in Texas and spent her early years moving throughout the heartland with her mother and stepfather after her father left before her birth. A dancer before MGM executives discovered her, she became a Golden Age star through films such as Untamed, Mildred Pierce, and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
In 1929 she bought El JoDo, a Georgian house on North Bristol Avenue in Brentwood, for $57,000. She kept it 26 years and remodeled it often; a 1990 AD feature described greens, golds, silks, and brocades. With Franchot Tone, she shared dachshunds Baby and Boopshen and several pianos.
This nostalgic home tour may resonate with design and classic-film audiences, who could find inspiration in Crawford’s layered interiors and hosting style. It may also invite renewed discussion of how celebrity homes function as both private refuge and public image, affecting fans, preservation-minded readers, and those interested in the gap between stardom and personal struggle.