Selznick's Mountain Retreat Burns : Fire: Renowned for parties in Hollywood's Golden Age, the late producer's mansion is destroyed when fireplace flames eat through mortar.

"In its heyday, all the big movie stars came up here--it was terribly exciting. People are just shattered by the loss. The home, which had been vacant except for several live-in caretakers, was the stuff of legend in this tight-knit community 5,000 feet above the urban sprawl. Half hunting lodge, half castle, it was said to have a wall where the rich and famous scrawled their names every time they came up for a weekend retreat."

"The 18-bedroom, 14-bathroom estate--the site of legendary parties for movie stars who once sought seclusion in the rugged terrain 80 miles east of Los Angeles--was destroyed when flames from one of the home's three fireplaces ate through the mortar and ignited the massive wood structure, fire officials said."

"The guest book of those present at some of the Selznick parties in the early 1930s read like a 'Who's Who' of the Hollywood entertainment industry. Damage was put at $1.5 million, but longtime neighbors said the house symbolized something that was irreplaceable."

A historic 1920s-era mansion in the San Bernardino Mountains community of Running Springs burned to the ground, destroying an 18-bedroom, 14-bathroom estate that served as a retreat for Hollywood's elite. The fire originated from one of the home's three fireplaces, where flames ate through mortar and ignited the massive wood structure. The property, owned by talent agent Myron Selznick, hosted legendary parties attended by major movie stars seeking mountain seclusion 80 miles east of Los Angeles. Damage was estimated at $1.5 million, but residents valued the home far beyond its monetary worth, viewing it as an irreplaceable symbol of Hollywood's early glamorous era and the entertainment industry's golden age.

Read at Los Angeles Times