10 Degrees Cooler
An Adventure On Woodrow Wilson Drive
By Joann Deutch
Mar 22, 2009 - 8:57:54 AM

I’d heard that J. Boon Lankershim (his family owned most of the Valley) was buried somewhere near Woodrow Wilson and Mulholland.  How hard could a stone marker be to find? Turns out that Woodrow Wilson and Mulholland intersect one another in no less than three spots, and as usual one adventure turns into another.

 
I thought the right spot would be above Nichols Canyon.  Turning north on Woodrow Wilson I started to creep through the neighborhood.  I had no idea that there were mansions up here. The mansions come with paparazzi. Not like Brittany’s posse, but still, enough to 1. recognize the group of guys loitering, and 2. to impress your company.  A great place to cruise with your out-of-town guests.

 
So what made me slam on my brakes and swivel like a bobble head doll?  On my left was an amazing castello.  A switch back set of stairs, terracotta tile roof; battered plinth flanking the road; a chemin de ronde on top of the turret.  Holy Cow!

Seated on the battlement was a gentleman sporting a full crown of white hair using a tile nipper. The entire outside of the house, and when I say entire, I mean walls, floors, stairs, window recesses, everything was covered in small tiles.  I called up and asked “What’s the deal with the tile work?”  Georges Ehling, the white haired gentleman, the owner, does all the tile work by hand.  He bought the house in the 1960s and has been at it since then.

Over the staircase in tile is inscribed the family motto:  Alla Buona in Famiglia Ehling – translation? Everything is good with the Ehling family.   Mr. Ehling was a gracious host.  It ‘s hard to tell whether his personal story, the story of the tile work, or the house itself was more intriguing.  Georges is a sturdy guy.  He recounts that he was known as the “Cowboy Gladiator” back in the day.  I spied a Call Sheet for a Dino de Laurentis film, and some stills of Georges in his prime in a little leather skirt, bare chest, weapon in hand.  I later figured out he was in the 1960 “The Barbarians” directed by Rudolph Mate, filmed in Italy.  It fits Georges’ story of being a poor actor in Italy mooching off the rich and famous.  He also had a gig in “Barabba” the 1961 Dino de Laurentis film starring Anthony Quinn, Jack Palance and Ernest Borgnine.

Somehow this Renaissance man managed to squeeze in study and training with mosaic masters in Florence.  He has executed the classic medallion – three -quarter profile – mosaic over the doorway.  A self-portrait, and a good one at that.  My mind was going “Oh my God, I can’t believe this!” I’d turn around and something else would blow my mind.

The tour of the inside of the house was equally amazing.  He had executed some tricky triangle in triangle mosaics, the kind you’d see in a piazza in Italy.  He admitted they were a little difficult to master.  “Ya don’t say.”  He had sets of tiles embedded in the wall, which he set off with tile frames.  I thought I was looking at actual picture frames. No formal plan, all of it by eye.