The Home of Edwin & Leilani Raquel

The historic Los Angeles subdivision Fremont Place has been home to movie stars, government and religious leaders, civic leaders, entrepreneurs, and “regular folks too,” as its website declares. Originally planned in 1911 as a private, park-like refuge of sedate mansions, the subdivision’s first home was built in 1916. This home, which for a time was the residence of boxing legend Muhammad Ali in the 1970’s, is across the street from the home of Edwin and Leilani Raquel, where Pacific Serenades will perform on April 24 at 4:00 pm.

The Raquel home was rented by Hollywood silent film star Mary Pickford in 1918. Pickford had left her first husband and moved into the two-story Beaux Arts mansion with her mother. Pickford was secretly dating movie star Douglas Fairbanks, and after their marriage several months later, they moved into their Pickfair estate in Beverly Hills. Actress Mary Miles Minter moved into the mansion after Pickford and lived there until 1920.

The home has been expanded and remodeled by the Raquels, and they added an intimate ballroom to the property, an ideal site for this and two previous Pacific Serenades concerts.

The home is mentioned in Wilshire Blvd, The Grand Concourse of Los Angeles by Kevin Roderick and J. Eric Lynxwiler, who along with Board President Philip McKinley, is a long-time subscriber and supporter of Pacific Serenades.