Shhh! Built During Prohibition, $4.1M Lowry Estate in L.A. Has a Secret Floor

The Lowry Estate in Los Angeles exudes Spanish charm—and it holds a secret.

The 1929 structure has entered the market for $4,188,000. And its striking design has already gained some attention.

“One of the crazy details is the ClayCal tile around the front door,” says listing agent Laura Thomas Mullen, with Sotheby’s International Realty – Los Feliz Brokerage. “Someone knocked on the [owner’s] door and said they would offer $15,000 or $20,000 just to take the tiles around the door, because it is original to the house, and it is stunning. All the details have been preserved.”

Secret floor

The 4,991-square-foot home was built during Prohibition, when alcohol was banned—so people had to be stealthy when imbibing. The house includes a hideaway that was used for just such a purpose.

“There is a hidden, secret floor,” Thomas Mullen explains. “It just looks like a hallway door and when you go into the room, there is a little storage door. When you open it and push on the shelves, they open to an area under the stairs where people used to hide their alcohol.”

There’s also a little trip switch inside that was used to alert people on the bedroom floor and set off lights if someone was near the alcohol. She says the room is filled with cleaning supplies these days but has loads of potential.

“It could be so cool,” she says. “You could make it something fantastic.”

The secret floor also has a safe. The owner, who has lived in the place for 29 years, had some initial problems unlocking it and eventually hired a safe cracker. Turned out, there was nothing inside. This time, though, the code to the safe will be handed over to the buyer.

The home has four bedrooms, five bathrooms, and gorgeous tile work throughout.

“The tiles in all three fireplaces are Batchelder, which is supercollectible and is really beautiful,” she explains, referring to the Arts and Crafts-era, artisan tile. “The bathrooms upstairs all have original tiles on the walls.”

Many of the light fixtures and other details are also original.

“I actually gasped when I walked in because of the entry door, and all of the light fixtures are from the 1920s,” Thomas Mullen says, adding the owner has taken care of everything and recently painted all of the plaster walls.

She says many people have come through the house and are taking time to bask in its charm.

“I think the perfect buyer would be somebody that appreciates all the details—not someone that wants to rip things out,” Thomas Mullen notes. “That often happens with these houses, and I think that that would be really sad—because it is so beautiful just the way it is.”

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