Sherman Oaks Business Profile – Vintage Los Angeles

During the 1989-1990 time frame I must have picked this up somewhere in Sherman Oaks. There is a lot in here, but for now I will focus on 14050 Valley Vista Boulevard in Sherman Oaks which was originally the home of Herbert J. Yates, the founder and President of Republican Studios (now CBS) in Studio City.

Yates made a fortune in tobacco by the time he was thirty, in 1910. By the 1920s he was in the recording industry buying out dimestore record labels. He also was funding Fatty Arbuckle and Mack Sennette’s film efforts. In 1935 he merged several studios including the Mack Sennette lot in Studio City and Ventura Place. He greatly increased its size, changed its name to Republic Studios, and featured Roy Rogers and Gene Autry in his films. Yates died in his Sherman Oaks in 1966.

The home at 14050 Valley Vista still stands. My wife believes it is the grandest structure along Valley Vista, and the most elegant home in the Sherman Oaks/Studio City area (it is no secret she does not like my modern architecture). Yates built the home in 1939. It is considerably set back from the street. Its wide frontage is impressive, and I believe it is the largest useable lot remaining along Valley Vista.

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