There’s no place like Judy Garland‘s childhood home, which, surprisingly enough, is located in Lancaster, Calif., a good hour-and-a-half drive northeast of Los Angeles.
Although the Antelope Valley town is a bit remote, and not one of the Golden State’s more glamorous locales, you just can’t brush the stardust off the property that’s currently on the market for $550,000.
Garland was born Frances Ethel Gumm in 1922 in Grand Rapids, Minn., and her family headed west in 1926. In search of the limelight, the budding star and father Frank, mother Ethel, and older sisters Mary Jane and Virginia settled in Southern California in the late 1920s.
Her dad intended to buy a theater where his three daughters could sing and dance. After searching areas close to the bright lights of Los Angeles, including Glendale and West Hollywood, he finally found what he was looking for somewhere over the rainbow in the 500-seat Lancaster Theater.
In addition to the theater, the family bought a home on Cedar Avenue, not far from their “Valley Theater,” which Frank had renamed and extensively renovated. The family lived in this cottage from 1926 to about 1933, while performing at the theater and driving to Hollywood for performances, dance lessons, and auditions.
When the Gumm Sisters, who later became the Garland Sisters, began booking regular vaudeville gigs in Los Angeles, the family moved closer to Hollywood. Judy Garland signed with MGM in 1935 at the age of 13.
Although Garland’s childhood home, built in 1915, has been expanded and remodeled, some of the original features it had when she lived there still exist. You can gaze out the same windows, brush against the same moldings, and dance across some of the same floors (many of them, however, have been resurfaced with newer wood and tile).
Some of the cupboards and cabinets in the kitchen and bathrooms are also original, and likely held Garland’s belongings in the past.
Today, the home has eight bedrooms, four bathrooms, and a basement, which is rare for a home in SoCal. There are also a couple of separate units and an office in back, for a total of 4,062 square feet of interior space. Listing agent Steven Burton of Keller Williams Antelope Valley says, “This is a great home for a large family or a board and care facility.”
It’s also close to Downtown Lancaster’s newly renovated area known as The BLVD, which features outdoor shopping, upscale dining, entertainment, and the Lancaster Performing Arts Center. What’s old seems to be new again.
Garland would go on to call several more luxurious residences in Los Angeles and New York home. Her final days were spent in a London townhouse, where she died in 1967.