For the next 8 years, the Stimson House became the site of boisterous parties, elaborate pranks, and late-night frolicking.Īt the time, Carrie Estelle Doheny, the widow of oil tycoon Edward L. The property was then sold and underwent several ownership changes until 1940, at which time it was purchased by the USC chapter of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity for $20,000.
After Stimson passed away in February 1898, his widow, Achsah, continued to live at the residence until her death in 1904. Construction on the residence was completed in 1893 and cost approximately $130,000, making it, at the time, the most expensive home in all of Los Angeles. The interior, which was dubbed “a shrine to lumber” by Jake Doherty in a January 1994 Los Angeles Times article, consisted of oak flooring, hand-carved wood-paneled walls, beamed ceilings, custom-built china cabinets, and made use of over 8 different kinds of wood, including ash, sycamore, walnut, gumwood, birch, mahogany, oak, and monkeypod. Brown and featured an Arizona red sandstone façade, a 4-story octagonal corner tower, stained glass windows, gabled Gothic arches, Palladian windows, and brick chimneys. The 12,800-square-foot, 30-room property was designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style by architect Carroll H. The 3 1/2-story Stimson House was originally built in 1891 as a retirement home for Chicago lumberman/financier Thomas Douglas Stimson. Incredibly though, thanks to the abode’s unusual beauty and prominent history, this was one location that he actually did not mind being dragged to! I was immediately intrigued by the home and, because it has been featured in several spooky productions over the years, figured it would fit right in with my Haunted Hollywood theme and dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out to stalk the place a short time later. A 560-hectare nature reserve that is owned by the UK’s Ministry of Defence and located over 500 miles away from Glen Etive.After stalking Mills View, the Monrovia-area residence that appeared in the 1986 movie House, I started doing some online research on the flick’s 1987 sequel, House II: The Second Story, and came across information about the Stimson House, an incredibly unique, castle-like property located in Los Angeles’ West Adams District. In fact, the property is not even located in Scotland, it is on Hankley Common in Surrey, England.
However, while this is a lovely back story for the home, it may or may not surprise you to find out that Skyfall Lodge is fake! Much like many other great movie homes, such as Forrest Gump’s Alabama home, it’s nothing but a film set!
It also had a weapons room as mentioned by 007, but unfortunately, Kincade sold every single gun found in the room to a collector “…from Idaho, or some such place,” leaving only a few sticks of dynamite and his father’s hunting rifle. The lodge has a hidden tunnel that leads to the estate’s swamp, which after being crossed leads to a chapel. Its only resident ever since has been gamekeeper Kincade.Īfter they died, Bond’s parents were buried in the chapel on the grounds. However, James Bond had not visited his ancestral home since his parents’ death. Prior to the events of Skyfall, the Bond family resided at Skyfall Lodge.