Lucy & Desi

The beloved couple found happiness in their California abodes

Closer tours Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz’s former LA abodes.

Luuuuuucy, I’m hooooome!” Few phrases are more endearing than Desi Arnaz’s melodious greeting to Lucille Ball on I Love Lucy — and their offscreen homecomings were often just as sweet. It all started on their 5-acre ranch in Chatsworth, Calif. (“our first house and our garden,” Lucy lovingly recalled), purchased right after their 1940 wedding for $14,500. After imagining names like “LuDes” and “Arball,” they dubbed their little slice of heaven “Desilu” (later the moniker of their successful production company). It boasted a huge ranch house, a swimming pool and a grove with 350 orange trees.

In 1951, little Lucie joined the family, and Desi Jr. followed two years later, making their home complete. But by 1955, exhausted from the long commute to the

I Love Lucy studio in Hollywood, the comedienne began scouting homes around Beverly Hills.

When Lucy spotted a white twostory house at 1000 N. Roxbury Drive, she rang the bell. “An elderly woman named Mrs. Bang opened the door,” she said. “I could’ve been the Avon Lady for all that mattered!” It wasn’t long before a persuasive Lucy reached an agreement with Mr. and Mrs. Bang to sell her the home for $85,000.

Lucy and Desi weren’t the only stars in the neighborhood: Jimmy Stewart, Rosemary Clooney and Jack Benny all lived nearby. Though Lucy and Desi split in 1960, she found happiness there again with her second husband, Gary Morton. And if you stopped by on Halloween, you’d get a real treat — Lucy answered the door herself!

Lucy and Desi’s house at 1000 N. Roxbury Drive in Beverly Hills

but instead Lucy used She once dreamed of becoming a concert pianist, singing with Desi as he her musical talent at home, playing piano and rehearsed for his band performances.

Lucy enjoyed doing needlepoint — which she learned to do as a child — on her bedroom’s chaise longue.