By Bill Pumford, Image from Bill Pumford

TITLE: SELZNICK MANSION IN RUNNING SPRINGS: The haunting image displayed in this week’s image shows mop up by firefighters of the Selznick mansion after the fire in 1991 which destroyed the fine structure. In the 1920s and 1930s several cabins were built by notable Hollywood personages on the western ridge of the San Bernardino Mountains near Running Springs. The cabins were actually large homes or mansions built by Reginald Denny, Myron Selznick, and Walter Huston, all within sight of each other. Myron Selznick, a talent agent in Hollywood, was the brother of David O. Selznick who produced ‘Gone With The Wind.’ Selznick built the massive 15,000 square foot home in 1924 which included 18 bedrooms, 14 bathrooms, 3 fireplaces, billiard room, and library. Outside were shaded tennis courts and a kidney shaped pool. A large generator ensured the guests of continued electricity when the power lines went down. According to John Robinson in his book ‘The San Bernardinos’ the guest book of the Selznick parties in the 1930s read like a ‘Who’s Who’ of the entertainment industry. Guests frequently went back and forth between the Selznick and Huston residences since they were so close. Myron Selznick died in 1944 and the mountain home passed to his brother David who died in 1965. At that point the property went to a niece of David’s. After the death of the niece the property eventually was sold to a group of investors. In November of 1991, while a wedding party was staying in the home, a fire in one of the fireplaces burned through the mortar, starting a fire on one of the nearby wooden walls in the mansion and burned enough to where the home could not be rebuilt. The loss, at the time, was estimated to have been $1.4 million. Some remnants of the old mansion remain including the swimming pool and some stone walls and fence supports.