The Bubblegum-Pink Palace of Atomic Kitsch: A Streamline Moderne Designed by William Kesling | 11576 Otsego Street

An uncommon opportunity awaits for admirers of timeless design, Hollywood history, and atomic kitsch: an early work by American architect William Kesling, whose Streamline Moderne residences—those sleek, “ocean-liner” silhouettes that once redefined Los Angeles living—remain some of the city’s most compelling architectural artifacts.

11576 Otsego Street
North Hollywood, CA 91601

$1,695,000 | 2 Beds | 3 Baths | Recording Studio | 2,175 Sq. Ft. | $779 Price/Sq.Ft. | 8,100 Sq. Ft. Lot Size |  Built in 1936

Just steps from the major Burbank and Noho studios, this home was originally built in 1936 as the “official party house” for movie magnate MGM and quickly became a social waypoint for Hollywood’s creative vanguard, but it wasn’t until 1980, when two-time Grammy-winning songwriter and art director Allee Willis purchased the home for a scant $230,000, that it was painted bubblegum pink and reinvented as a personal museum of rare, one-of-a-kind curios, joyfully offbeat creative expression, and a John Waters-style of maximalist design.

The home also played host to her vast body of work, resulting in a long list of smash-hit songs such as “September” and “Boogie Wonderland” by Earth, Wind & Fire, “Neutron Dance” by The Pointer Sisters, and “I’ll Be There for You, ” the indelible theme song of NBC’s hit television show Friends. Willis notably once said in an interview, “I always had a music career, an art career, set designer, film and video, technology. The parties really became the only place I could combine everything. ” Her storied festivities have been covered in publications as diverse as People, Life, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Rolling Stone. In fact, there’s even a new documentary about Willis’s life, love of collecting, hosting, and this house you can stream on Hulu called, “The World According To Allee Willis.”

Beneath towering palms, the ’50s-inspired grounds feature a bowling-ball garden, private sand beach, and newly built poolside shower for the modern reveler.

In the living room, vintage collections animate nearly every surface. Colorful artifacts, mid-century treasures, and pieces gathered over decades. And best of all? The home’s next steward may even have the chance to acquire many of them.

Even the kitchen is lined with decades’ worth of collected objects, a global mix of souvenirs, ceramics, and curios that animate the room with unexpected character and a kind of storybook charm.

Among the home’s more unforgettable flourishes is a pink, leather-upholstered dinette wrapped around a perfectly round Formica table. It’s an unapologetically kitschy centerpiece that feels straight out of a Technicolor fever dream.

While most of the home is designed with pop-culture treasures from the 1950s, ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s, modern day celebrity artwork also abounds.

And here is a pop culture portrait of Willis, who continued the home’s legendary reputation as a party palace.

You’d expect all the regulars and pop culture aficionados like Paul Reubens (a.k.a. Pee-wee Herman), Cyndi Lauper, Angelyne, and Bruce Vilanch to drop by. But over the years, the artist, whose songs sold more than 60 million records, also welcomed an eclectic array of guests including her friends Cher, Joni Mitchell, Timothy Leary, Tab Hunter, Lesley Ann Warren, Linda Ronstadt, Elvira, Lily Tomlin, Patti LaBelle, Mark Mothersbaugh, and Katey Sagal.

In addition to the home’s two bedrooms, there is a classic recording studio. James Brown, Bob Dylan, and Cyndi Lauper were just a few of the superstars who recorded here, all surrounded by Willis’s numerous gold and platinum records.

There are classic retro features in every room.

Downstairs, a walk-out basement unfolds into a dark-paneled “Rec Room” outfitted like an aquarium, complete with a blue linoleum floor meant to mimic the sea, a port-hole window, and a display of Willis’s many collectibles.

The singing fish will be included in the sale.

Willis infused the home with her signature whimsy, and in 2025 this Streamline Moderne classic awaits a new owner who will continue the tradition: preserving its atomic-age kitsch and offbeat exuberance, the party atmosphere, and the wonderfully weird spirit alive, while shaping it into something uniquely their own.

Are you interested in purchasing this fantastic home? I would love to get you a private tour of 1576 Otsego Street in North Hollywood. Call me today at (323) 697-3040 or email me at jacqueline.tager@sothebyshomes.com.

Listing provided courtesy of Sally Forster Jones and Christopher Stefanacci, Compass.

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