From Elementary, junior high,  and high school in the Valley

We walked about two blocks to our swimming lessons at the big pool in the former estate of Stan Laurel (of Laurel and Hardy).

In the summer of 1938, Stan, his bride, her mother and their servants moved to Canoga Park in the San Fernando Valley. He had bought a small, run down stone cottage, which had barely enough room for the servants to live in. He then built a high brick wall around the property and had a large gate installed. This was to keep the reporters from writing anything about what went on in his home. He next built a house that he had designed , consisting of a massive living room with a corner fireplace and a large master suite. He dubbed the new diggs “Fort Laurel” and said it was a refuge from “blondes” and “ex – wives”. He planned to build a vaudeville house on the property where he could try out new gags and routines, but this never happened. He planted a vegitable garden and had a hot house, where he attempted to cross a potato with an onion, (and succeeded, though no one is known to have tasted it). He also had quackless ducks which were fattened and eaten. At this time in his life, Stan was having trouble with his new wife and his employer, Hal Roach, which kept him unemployeed for several months. In 1938 before his problems with Roach came to a head, he and Hardy had released “Swiss Miss” and “Blockheads”. In May 1939 he divorced Illeana. In January 1941 he remarried second wife Virginia Ruth Rogers Laurel. They lived here until April 1946, when they were divorced. On May 6, 1946, he married his last wife, Ida Kitaeva. They remained together until his death in 1965. After he married Ida, he decided to sell “Fort Laurel” and they moved into a two – story house in Sherman Oaks. During the years that he lived at “Fort Laurel”, he and Hardy made eleven films. They made their last film in 1950.

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