Jayne Mansfield's Pink Palace was a

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...

bought and refurbished with

pink Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...

paint and fixtures by American actress

Jayne Mansfield Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actress, singer, nightclub entertainer, and ''Playboy'' Playmate. A sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s while under contract at 20th Century Fox, Man ...

in 1957. The mansion was demolished in 2002.

History

In November 1957, shortly before her marriage to

Mickey Hargitay Mickey Hargitay (January 6, 1926 – September 14, 2006), born Miklós Karoly Hargitay, was a Hungarian-American actor and the 1955 Mr. Universe. Born in Budapest, Hargitay moved to the United States in 1947 and eventually became a U.S. citi ...

, Mansfield bought a 40-room Mediterranean-style mansion formerly owned by

Rudy Vallée Hubert Prior Vallée (July 28, 1901 – July 3, 1986), known professionally as Rudy Vallée, was an American singer, musician, actor, and radio host. He was one of the first modern pop stars of the teen idol type. Early life Hubert Prior Vall ...

at 10100

Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in t ...

Holmby Hills, Los Angeles Holmby Hills is a neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, United States. The neighborhood was developed in the early twentieth century by the Janss Investment Company, which developed the rest of Westwood as well as other Los Ang ...

.Marc Wanamaker, ''Westwood'', Arcadia Publishing, 2010 , p. 55
/ref> Much of the investment to buy the house came from the $81,340 ($ in dollars) she inherited from her maternal grandfather Elmer Palmer. Mansfield had the house painted pink, with

cupid In classical mythology, Cupid (Latin Cupīdō , meaning "passionate desire") is the god of desire, lust, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus (mythology), Venus and the god of war Mar ...

s surrounded by pink fluorescent lights, pink furs in the bathrooms, a pink heart-shaped bathtub, and a fountain spurting pink champagne, and then dubbed it the "Pink Palace". It was, according to her, a "pink landmark." Hargitay, a plumber and carpenter before getting into bodybuilding, built a pink heart-shaped swimming pool. Mansfield decorated the Pink Palace by writing to furniture and building suppliers requesting free samples. She received over $150,000 ($ in dollars) in free merchandise, paying only $76,000 ($ in dollars) for the mansion itself. It was still a large sum, when the average cost of a house at the time was under $7,500 ($ in dollars). The ''Pink Palace'' was sold after her death and its subsequent owners have included

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

and Engelbert Humperdinck.Web bio
from fansite. In 2002, Humperdinck sold it to developers, and the house was demolished in November of that year.

Citations

References

* * {{Jayne Mansfield Pink Palace History of Los Angeles Culture of Los Angeles Jayne Mansfield Demolished buildings and structures in Los Angeles Buildings and structures demolished in 2002 Houses in California