A Truly Fantastic Local House

There’s a nearby house that is just amazing looking. It’s one of those houses that we all take our out-of-town visitors by so they can gawk at it. It sits near the border between La Cañada and La Crescenta – 2270 Cross St. to be exact. If you’re a longtime local, you’ve probably seen it. It’s a Tudor-gothic castle-like masterpiece … something straight out of Disneyland. And indeed it does have some roots in Disney in that its designer worked for Disney for a while. Here’s its story.

The building of the house was started by Julius Rakisits, a Hungarian immigrant, in the early ’20s. Julius was a fascinating character. He was a member of the pre–WWI Hapsburg Empire aristocracy in Europe. He was a highly educated officer in the Austro-Hungarian military, literate in nine languages, and fluent in 13. In 1911, some untoward romance or failed political intrigue made the up-and-coming young officer flee to America. Landing in Chicago, he used his education and mastery of languages to secure a job in international banking. As soon as America joined the war against Germany and Austria-Hungary, Julius was almost immediately picked up as a spy.

After six months in prison, one of his influential banking customers got him sprung and he and his growing family escaped to Texas near the Mexican border. Aristocratic Julius, who had probably never done a day of manual labor in his life, envisioned himself a cowboy and carved out a little cattle ranch. However, Pancho Villa’s soldiers continually raided his ranch and the Rakisits family lost everything.

Julius found a way out when he secured a job with the Bullocks Department Store family of La Cañada (they had a weekend getaway home in La Cañada, recently demolished by the school district). In 1923 the family moved into an abandoned chicken coop on a piece of sagebrush at Ocean View Boulevard and Cross Street. Mrs. Rakisits and the kids soon joined him in the coop as “learn by doing” Julius began slowly building a huge stone house that, according to his kids, took him 20 years to complete.

Bob and Patty McDonnell bought the one-story house in the early ’60s. Bob McDonnell was an independent architectural and interior design consultant who had worked for Disney for seven years before branching out on his own. McDonnell specialized in Tudor mansions. He had an impressive portfolio of clients, including music producer Barney Ales of Motown Records and pop legend Michael Jackson.

On the Cross Street house, he did much of the work himself. He lifted the roof of the mostly one-story house to three stories, and populated the roofline with fantastical turrets and dormers topped with imaginative wood and tin finials. The roof is of heavy shake and a tiled ridge with a tall golden weathervane. The fantasy chimney is a mix of natural stones, used bricks and clinker bricks. All the windows are leaded glass or stained glass – one spectacular window from a church that was being demolished. Good hardwoods were used throughout, lots of brick work, fine paneling and beamed ceiling interiors.

The garage was built new, with fantastic handmade doors. The garage was topped with a giant playroom with a cathedral ceiling and a hand-carved oak bar.

The McDonnells filled the house with antiques they had collected over the years. And finally, the large property has been surrounded with an artistic wrought-iron fence.

If you haven’t been to see it, do take a drive by. You’ll be amazed. It’s easily reached by driving up Ocean View from Foothill. Turn right at the first stop sign, Cross Street, and you’ll see the house on your right side. It’s a feast for the eyes. It has roots deep in the history of the valley with an immigrant family trying to make do with available material (rocks). The story arcs into the present day with a visionary designer with a background in the entertainment industry (Disney). The current house does indeed look like something from Disneyland … and now you know it’s long story.