Mansfield's Madness

So much is always said and written about Jayne Mansfield's famous Hollywood home The Pink Palace but there is not as much talk about her previous home Mansfield's Madness. So I thought I would do a nice lengthy post on Jaynie's very first home she bought herself. So here is the story of the Mansfield's Madness House.

When Jayne and Husband Paul Mansfield first moved to Hollywood from Dallas, Texas in 1954 they rented a small apartment together with their baby daughter Jayne Marie. It wasn't until Jayne inherited $4000 from her grandparents that she decided she wanted to buy her own home. She used the money for a loan on an $18,000 house at 9840 Wanda Park Drive. That house became known as Mansfield's Madness. When Jayne and Paul split, Paul moved back home and Jayne kept the house. The property remained Jayne's while she was away in New York working on the hit Broadway play "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?".When Jayne made her triumphant return to Hollywood in September 1956 the house was waiting for her and her new beau Mickey Hargitay. Jayne, Mickey, little Jayne Marie and their pets the chihuahuas Phillip and Charlessa, the great dane Lord Byron, the scottie Marooney, the toy poodle Mignonella and Zachery the rabbit lived happily in the Mansfield's Madness House until moving out in March 1958 into their new home the Pink Palace. There are thousands of photographs of Jayne, Mickey and Jayne Marie in the Mansfield's Madness House. Plenty of parties and press events where held in the house too. Like little Jayne Marie's Birthday Parties and the 'Christening of the pool' press party Jayne held in September 1957 after Mickey had put in a lovely new swimming pool for the young family (That pool by the way is still there today).

In an article written by Louella Parsons on 30 July 1957 she wrote this about Jayne's house

"A story telephoned to me that Jayne Mansfield had to summon the police to get rid of a man who hung around her house making dire threats, was worth investigating., although at the offset it sounded like a Mansfield publicity yarn. I found that Jayne encourages visitors. She has a huge sign in front of her house saying "Mansfield's Madness," and night and day men, women, and children are standing in front of the place waiting for Jayne's autograph. The studio wishes she wouldn't bring all this trouble on herself, but she's never happy when she isn't attracting a crowd."

The architecture of the house was quite modern for its time. The house is a California bungalow and sits on stilts in the hills. It is a small 2 bedroom by 2 bathroom single family home. When Jayne lived in the house the exterior was covered in hardwood and was quite vibrant and stood out. Since then the exterior of the house has either been painted or remodeled in some other form and does not look as good. It looks pretty dull from the outside to be honest. When Jayne and family moved houses in March 1958 she sold the Mansfield's Madness house for $30,000, the original asking price was $39,500. In an article titled 'Jayne Moves to New Home' printed in the Los Angeles Mirror News it states;

Jayne sells her old home at 9840 Wanda Park Drive complete with furnishings and a lock of her hair to Medhet Mandour, a wealthy Egyptian movie producer for $30,000

The last time the house was placed on the market was in August 2002 and it sold on April 4th 2003 for $739,000, $5000 less than the asking price of $744,000.

And now the part you have been waiting for, the photographs. I have included photos of Jayne at home in the Mansfield's Madness House as well as the photographs taken in 2002 when the house was for sale and images from 2012 google maps.

Mansfield's Madness During Jayne's Time

The house in 2002

Google Maps Street View

As you can see when comparing these photos above, the outdoor deck/balcony at the side of the house is now an extension on the house (an added room)

9840 Mansfield's Madness

Only the 9840 remains

Jayne perched on her outdoor stairs railing

Plants grow around the railing today

The front yard with a slope

The front yard still slopes but looks much more flat

Jayne's Lincoln parked on the property

The closed in garage it now has

Jayne in her kitchen

The kitchen

The kitchen cupboards are now lighter and has a
 shelving unit above the stove

Jayne inside her bedroom

The bedroom has been extended. I think that this could
be where Jayne's outdoor balcony once was. As I
mentioned in the first lot of photos there was very clearly an
extension added.

Jayne relaxes on her balcony

In the living room

Press gather in the living room

The living room

Jayne sitting on her outdoor chair down the side
of the house

The BBQ area down the side of the backyard

Jayne relaxes down the side of the house

The side of the house looks a bit different now
The built in bbq is still there in the left hand corner and a
hot tub has been added

Jayne in Sept 1957 christening her new swimming pool

Jayne and Jayne Marie in their little animal kingdom

A hedge has been placed in and the animal enclosure is gone
The steps appear to be gone as well

The lovely hillside view in the back yard

Washing Jayne Marie's hair in the bathroom

One of the bathrooms in the house

Another room from the house
perhaps this was Jayne Marie's bedroom

Playing in the yard

The garden on the property

So that was my post about the Mansfield's Madness house. I hope it has given you an in-depth look into the house that Jayne lived in and owned before the Pink Palace and what the house looks like today. It is very sad that the Pink Palace no longer exists but if you are looking at doing some Jayne Mansfield sight seeing in the California area then I would suggest visiting this cute little house at 9840 Wanda Park Drive. I will be doing posts on Jayne Mansfield'd other houses in the near future so keep an eye out for that.