Jayne Mansfield's Pink Palace

Coordinates: 34°4′49.26″N 118°25′34.71″W / 34.0803500°N 118.4263083°W / 34.0803500; -118.4263083
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Jayne Mansfield's Pink Palace
Gate and partial view of Mansfield's former mansion, the Pink Palace (photographed 1997)
Map
General information
Address10100 Sunset Boulevard
Town or cityHolmby Hills, Los Angeles
Coordinates34°4′49.26″N 118°25′34.71″W / 34.0803500°N 118.4263083°W / 34.0803500; -118.4263083
Demolished2002

Jayne Mansfield's Pink Palace was a mansion built by the actress as a "pink landmark".[1]

History

In November 1957, shortly before her marriage to Mickey Hargitay, Mansfield bought a 40-room Mediterranean-style mansion formerly owned by Rudy Vallée at 10100 Sunset Boulevard in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles.[2] Much of the investment to buy the house came from the $81,340 ($882,404 in 2024 dollars[3]) she inherited from her maternal grandfather Elmer Palmer.[4][5] Mansfield had the house painted pink, with cupids surrounded by pink fluorescent lights, pink furs in the bathrooms, a pink heart-shaped bathtub, and a fountain spurting pink champagne, and then dubbed it the "Pink Palace". Hargitay, a plumber and carpenter before getting into bodybuilding, built a pink heart-shaped swimming pool. Mansfield decorated the Pink Palace by writing to furniture and building suppliers requesting free samples. She received over $150,000 ($1,627,251 in 2024 dollars[3]) in free merchandise, paying only $76,000 ($824,474 in 2024 dollars[3]) for the mansion itself.[6] It was still a large sum, when the average cost of a house at the time was under $7,500 ($81,363 in 2024 dollars[3]).[7]

The Pink Palace was sold and its subsequent owners have included Ringo Starr, Cass Elliot and Engelbert Humperdinck.[8] In 2002, Humperdinck sold it to developers, and the house was demolished in November of that year.

References

  • Strait, Raymond (1992). Here They Are Jayne Mansfield. New York: S.P.I. Books. ISBN 978-1-56171-146-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Faris, Jocelyn (November 1994). Jayne Mansfield: A Bio-Bibliography. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-28544-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

Notes