Hollywood will close its old-folks home. What next?

"Movie industry hospital and nursing home to close" Thursday at latimes.com feels like a further unraveling of Southern California.

The Motion Picture & Television Fund -- a charity started by Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and other Hollywood luminaries to care for entertainers who fell on hard times -- said Wednesday that it was closing a hospital and nursing home by year's end.

With more than 500 hospital admissions last year and about 100 long-term residents, the Woodland Hills facilities have been a $10-million annual drain on the fund's budget for the last four years. The fund administrators projected the shortfall would only grow as a result of the deteriorating economy.

The origins of the "motion picture home," as it is commonly referred to by people in the entertainment industry, date to 1940, when actor Jean Hersholt, who played Shirley Temple's grandfather in the film "Heidi," planted 48 acres of walnut and orange trees in Woodland Hills on the site of the future Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital, opened eight years later.

Residents have included DeForest Kelley, who played Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy on "Star Trek"; Dick Wilson, of Mr. Whipple fame; and producer-director Stanley Kramer, whose credits include "High Noon" and "Judgment at Nuremberg." He died there in 2001 at 87.

If a philanthropy supported by (and for) entertainers, is foundering, what about all those other homes that may not have such deep pockets -- ones for missionaries or church workers?

Some clues (at least regarding DreamWorks Animation SKG chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, and filmmaker Steven Spielberg) emerge later in the story:

Katzenberg and Spielberg are both major donors to the fund. Both men were victims of the alleged $50-billion fraud run by New York money manager Bernard Madoff. Spielberg's Wunderkinder Foundation was among some 400 U.S. nonprofit groups that invested with Madoff. Wunderkinder contributed $77,000 in 2007 to the motion picture fund.

Still, in a region full of star power, I'm surprised. Hollywood is still big bucks. 

-- Lauren Beale

Thoughts? Comments?

Photo: The Motion Picture and Television Fund will close some operations in the hospital at their facilities in Woodland Hills. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

Woodland Hills median price micro-view

Next up, Woodland Hills, which has two ZIP Codes, hence the double decker on the single-family home sales statistics from MDA DataQuick.

Woodland Hills 91364

Date/Number sold/Median price (in thousands)/Percent change from previous year

2002   607    $429    17.9% 
2003   608    $525    22.4%
2004   579    $655    24.7%   
2005   525    $750    14.5%   
2006   395    $792    5.1%   
2007   335    $811    2.2% 

Since again there aren't enough sales in October to give a full picture, I've added several months previous. These percentage drops are from the same month in 2007.
    
01/2008    15     $875      5.7%
02/2008    21     $624    -21.6%
03/2008    16     $530    -35.4%
04/2008    24     $700    -19.9% 
05/2008    25     $630    -23.2%   
06/2008    23     $625    -35.7%   
07/2008    25     $726     -3.2%
09/2008    20     $593    -23.4%
10/2008    31     $600    -17.8%

Woodland Hills 91367

Date/Number sold/Median price/Percent change from previous year

2002   502    $405    14.7%
2003   542    $485    19.8%
2004   510    $610    25.8%    
2005   467    $725    18.9% 
2006   395    $765     5.8%   
2007   323    $750    -1.8%

These percentage drops are from the same month in 2007.
 
01/2008    14     $540    -30.3%
02/2008     8      $613    -13.2%
03/2008    17     $587    -23.5% 
04/2008    14     $718     -1.0%   
05/2008    27     $690     -8.8%
06/2008    19     $535    -32.5%   
07/2008    23     $587    -26.5%
09/2008    23     $570    -21.4%*
10/2008    21     $458    -28.0%*

That's a steep turnaround in 2008 for both ZIPs after mostly hanging on through 2007. (Sorry to say August is missing from my databank.)

*Update: Laker asks a question here on why the median changes so much from September to October. It's because too few homes sold to give an accurate picture. Up in the year over year totals we have enough houses selling to get a good comparison. But the medians for 23 or 21 houses can vary widely based on which particular homes sold. DataQuick likes a sample size of at least 50 to give a good indication. So in these ZIP Codes with few sales each month we're merely watching the progress so far this year.   

-- Lauren Beale

Thoughts? Comments?

Top photo: A home in the old Girard Tract in Woodland Hills. Credit: Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times. Bottom: A five-bedroom, 9 1/2-bath residence in Woodland Hills listed this year at $3.6 million.

Tracking Woodland Hills 91364

I trekked up the 101 to Woodland Hills this morning to have coffee with Laker* -- the frequent commenter -- and to discuss the housing market in his corner of Los Angeles, specifically Woodland Hills and Tarzana.

Laker, who rents a house in Woodland Hills, is looking to buy in the area, but is cautious, given that the economy is weakening and prices are still falling. He and his wife like the area for a variety of factors: It's their home, the schools are good, it's close to the 101, and it's an easy trip to Malibu beaches via Topanga Canyon. But it is pricey: Even after a historic housing slump, the median listing price in 91364 is $699,000.

Earlier this year, Laker says, "there was a huge drop in prices. There were a lot of investors here, a lot of spec houses were built. Prices dropped maybe 20% in six months." Now foreclosures are popping up in streets close to Ventura Boulevard.

Laker's looking for a 4-bedroom home in the $600,000 to $700,000 range. Ideal location for Laker's dream house? On or near Wells Drive, a gently curving, picturesque, tree-shaded road lined with white picket fences and flowering bushes that runs south of, and parallel to, Ventura Boulevard.  Many of the homes are discretely tucked behind hedges, like the one pictured above, at the corner of Wells and Natoma.

Pictured: 4766 Natoma Avenue, a 4-bedroom, 3-bath, 2,800-square-foot house on a third of an acre. Agent's description begins "Incredible celebrity home in Vista de Oro ... beautifully remodeled estate..." Includes pool and permitted apartment. Originally listed at $1.05 million, reduced to $999,000.

Look for more on Laker in a separate post.

More about 91364, from Redfin:

Date                              Oct. 21

--Listed for sale             267
(home and condos)
--Foreclosures for sale      30
--Median list price        $699,000 
--Median sales price**    $488,000
--Median sold price per square foot: $288
--Median days listed        79
--% reduced in price        32.9%
--Median total reduction   9.5%

*Laker is not his real name, of course, and he prefers to keep his identity private.

**Based on homes sold or taken off the market in the previous 90 days.

-- Peter Viles

Comments? Thoughts? I'm always in the market for more neighborhoods to profile, especially if you are willing to act as my local market guide.

Photo Credit: L.A. Land