HOLLYWOOD DESIGN
INSIDE THE
KATY PERRY
CONVENT
AN L.A. HOUSE
HISTORIAN SHARES
NEVER-SEEN IMAGES OF
THE LOS FELIZ NUNNERY
THAT SPARKED A
REAL ESTATE WAR
BY PETER KIEFER
ong before Katy Perry set her
sights on owning a Los Feliz
convent, the property on
Waverly Drive was a canvas
for a Hollywood set designer
turned interior decorator
named Harold Grieve. The year was 1927, and
local radio station owner Earle C. Anthony hired
Grieve to decorate his recently built Bernard
Maybeck-designed estate. “I think Grieve’s
work on the Anthony house was some of his
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3
L
Perry
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1
The swimming pool
at the 8.5-acre
convent in Los Feliz,
in the 1920s.
2
More recently in
2015, Katy Perry
agreed to buy
the Waverly Drive
property from
the Archdiocese,
contingent on
her finding a
replacement for use
by local clergy.
3
An aerial view of the
L.A. property.
4
In 2015, a nun with
Dana Hollister
outside L.A. Superior
Court, where they
battled Perry and the
local Archdiocese
over the right to buy
the property.
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NOW