Mediterranean style built in 1913, two stories, stucco, Mission and Spanish tile roof, arched French windows and doors on three levels. Several bullseye windows. It’sone of the oldest remaining house in the District. 

Captain Vesey O’Davoren and his artist wife, Ivy DeVerley, were two of Whitley Heights' first residents. They met in a London hospital when O'Davoren was recuperating from wounds suffered in WW1. Madame DeVerley was dispensing appreciation and good cheer to British soldier-patients. She was already internationally acclaimed as a portrait painter. He was smitten.

Vesey visited Ivy’s salon following his discharge from hospital. A romance blossomed. They married in January 1916 while he was still in the Chelsea Hospital. His medical prognosis for survival was for only six months (he lived to celebrate his 101st birthday) if spent in a dry climate like Arizona. In 1920 they relocated to Hollywood. Vesey nicknamed his bride Flossie. They lived a creative life.

Often mistaken for handsome John Barrymore, Vesey was readily accepted by the film industry. The couple lived in the Hollywood Hotel where Madame DeVerley owned her salon. They became an instant part of the social scene. His voice returned to normal after seven years. Vesey appeared in many films after the advent of talkies. He also directed and appeared in Shakespeare plays for the recently built Hollywood Bowl. O'Davoren possessed versatility as an actor - https://youtu.be/Z1IirUiucbs  The Three Stooges "Ants In The Pantry” 1936

Madame DeVerley was born in Jamaica, West Indies. An independent spirit, she sailed for London to study painting. A bit of a gypsy she traveled to Berlin for more study. Back to London she joined an art colony and took commissions and grew her business. 

From Ivy’s memoir:

"In 1921, we bought a picturesque little house built over a stream surrounded by twenty-nine eucalyptus trees, under which we slept and were called “Babes in the Woods”. It was a wilderness without even a telephone. So primitive it was that coyotes came down and howled around all night, and weird hoot-owls - not to mention the little kittens with white stripes down their backs who we fed at our door. In 1923 we added a large studio bedroom, etc, and built an annex - a four-from guest next door.”

During the 1920s and 1930s, she painted "mask" portraits and was active in the local art scene. Vesey also directed plays and was in an early Hollywood Bowl production of The Pied Piper, taking the title role. During WWII Vesey worked in a defense plant, and Ivy learned to cook.

A grand circular tower with spiral staircase was added to the cottage for displaying Ivy's paintings.

Madame DeVerley holding a copy of her portrait of Emperor Hallie Selassie of Ethiopia. Flossie was 84 when she passed away December 27, 1963.

Vesey remained an adored neighbor until the early 80s. He sold the property but remained in touch. His last appearance was in a 1986 documentary by Lyn Picallo, "Old Hollywood - A Time Remembered".