Growing up in Cheviot Hills

Enjoyed “The Burr of Scotland and the Whir of Cameras” (Oct. 26) on Cheviot Hills because it’s where I grew up from 1930 to 1951 -- in those days, a wonderful place for kids.

Not long after my parents’ custom house was built on Glenbarr Avenue in 1938 (3,000 square feet cost about $10,000!), my sister, my best friend and I discovered a way to get into “The Laurels.” Unoccupied, it was the former house of Stan Laurel.

It was truly a marvelous place, very large. Two features I can still picture were a sizable bar that looked like a typical old-fashioned saloon, complete with long bar and swinging doors to both the saloon and its bathroom. The other amazing room was an extra bath upstairs, very large, containing a steam cabinet in the center -- the only one I’ve ever seen.

Mary Lou Whitmore

Los Angeles