. . and a producer's ideas brought to life
Producer Sid Krofft's house rises like a dream from the Hollywood hillside. Unlike the stucco mansions that surround it, it is beautifully constructed from old barn wood on four-and-a-half acres of land. Inside, there are no doors, so each room flows into the next. And he keeps so many plants scattered around that it is difficult to distinguish inside from out.
The house feels alive, almost enchanted.
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"People always say it looks like a hobbit lives here," he laughs.
A little magic is just what you might expect from Sid Krofft. He and his brother and producing partner Marty are the creative force behind some of the most beloved and downright bizarre programmes in US television history. In 1969, the Kroffts created the classic series H.R. Pufnstuf, about a larger-than-life dragon who was the mayor of a magical island where everything, from book to houses, was animate. Among their many other psychedelic creations was Lidsville, about a land inhabited by living hats; Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, which followed the adventures of a runaway sea monster; and Land of the Lost, about a family trapped ina prehistoric world. Such original programming has earned them a loyal and enduring fan base.
The brothers' production offices in Studio City are still very much in business, but Krofft says he has always preferred to work at home. "In the office everybody is so uptight, I can't have that around me," he explains. "Here I can create something magical."
Krofft first visited the property in 1974 with a real estate agent and promptly offended the owner bytelling him how ugly his house was. He was asked to leave but quickly explained that he intended to buyit anyway.
"We tore it down and just kept a slab," he recalls.
Next, Krofft came across a newspaper advertisement placed by a woman who wanted someone to tear her barn down in exchange for the wood. He jumped at the chance, arranged the demolition, gathered the material for himself and designed and built a dream home with help from three friends. It took 13 years during which he slept in a tent onthe land.
As a result of this labour of love, the house is filled with stories and every corner is its own piece of art. The magnificent fireplace, which appears to grow right out of the floor, is comprised of old brick that he bought for two cents a brick from a nearby demolished school. He modelled the dining room table after Gepetto's work table in Pinocchio and on the wooden wall behind it is the outline of a castle. "You see there," he says. "It's just like my castle."
Krofft, a strict vegetarian, talked a local butcher into selling him the massive, unused butcher block that now serves as his kitchen table. It's so heavy that it takes 12 people just to move it.
The bar stools were made from the beams of the demolished barn. When Raquel Welch, whose act the Kroffts had produced in Las Vegas, came by the house to visit, he used her famous curves to model the contour of the seats on the bar stools. "It's all Raquel Welch," he laughs.
Artist Neil Parrow built what Krofft refers to as "the hut" on the screened-in back porch, where his belovedpet bird Harley, an African Grey, rules the roost. The porch is a serene oasis of vegetation with a koi pond and a view of the San Gabriel mountains. Parrow also did the spectacular stained-glass work in the house representing the flowers and the sunset in Maui, Hawaii, where Krofft lived for years.
A self-described "original hippy", Krofft bakes his bread in the sun and has a water tower on his roof to purify water for his pool. He also built a tree house in his yard; he climbs up there to work in peace and on a clear day can look out to the ocean. "There is no electricity up there," he says. "Just the silence of mother nature."
His love of the outdoors is most evident in the upstairs bedroom, where the ceiling directly above his bed can be cranked open to view the sky. "I love the cold," he says. "I sleep with it open." Of course, the set-up has its risks; he's been woken by an unexpected rain shower or visited by the local owls more than once.
Krofft's paradise was shaken to the core during the 1994 earthquake. His house was so damaged that it need to be torn down, reframed and rebuilt. "I thought if I just numbered each piece of wood, I could put them back the way they were, but it didn't work," he says. He quickly ran out of wood.
A friend living in Pennsylvania came to the rescue, approaching an Amish family that planned to tear down its barn. "Of course, they didn't know who I was because they don't even watch TV," Krofft says. Still, they agreed to provide him with the wood he needed and even blessed it.
Once again, Krofft opted not to leave during construction and lived in a box on the grounds. Artist Donnie Molls was responsible for much of the rebuilding work, along with one of the original carpenters, Chris Buzzel, and Gordon Brown, who handled the woodwork. They were faithful to the design and today it appears much as it did before the earthquake.
Krofft's house is certainly not the most expensive in Los Angeles but to him it is priceless. "I had a very famous person here who threw his chequebook down and said, 'Whatever you want, this is my house,'" he says. "I just said, 'No . . . it's mine.'"
And he's not going anywhere.
一位好莱坞制片人的梦幻住宅
制片人锡德?克罗夫特(Sid Krofft) 的房子，梦幻般地坐落在好莱坞的山坡上。与周围灰泥粉饰的寓所不同，它是在4.5英亩的土地上，用陈旧的畜棚木头精巧地构建而成。房屋内部没有门，因此每个房间和隔壁都是相通的。他养了很多植物，散落在屋中各处，以至于很难分清屋里屋外。
这座房子生机勃勃，几乎令人着魔。
他笑着说：“人们经常说，这里就像是住着（神话中的）小矮人。”
十三年的造屋工程
你期望从锡德?克罗夫特身上看到的，或许就是那么一点魔力。他和自己的弟弟兼制作伙伴马蒂(Marty)，创作了美国电视史上一些最受人喜爱、非常奇异的节目。1969年，克罗夫特兄弟制作了经典系列片《H.R. Pufnstuf》，描写的是一只具有传奇色彩的龙，它是一个魔幻岛上的市长，在那里，从书本到房屋，都是有生命的。在他们其它众多的玄幻作品中，有《Lidsville》，讲述的是一个住着有生命的帽子的地方；《西格蒙德和海怪们》 (Sigmund and the Sea Monsters)，一个逃亡海怪的历险记；《失去的土地》(Land of the Lost)，描写一家人身陷史前世界的故事。这些原创节目让他们赢得了忠实而又持久的拥趸基础。
两兄弟在Studio City的制作室还是很商业化的，但克罗夫特表示，他一直喜欢在家工作。“在办公室里，人人都情绪焦躁，我周围不能有那种气氛，”他解释道，“在家里，我能创作出一些神奇的东西。”
1974年，克罗夫特和一位房地产代理人第一次来看房，很快就得罪了房主，因为他说这栋房子看起来很丑陋。房主下了逐客令，但他立刻解释称，无论如何他都打算把它买下。
他回忆道：“我们把它全拆了，只留了一个板层。”
随后，克罗夫特看到了一位女士在报纸上登的广告，她想找人把自己家的畜棚拆除，条件是可以把木头拿走。他欣然接受了这个机会，安排了拆除工作，为自己筹集了原料，并在3个朋友的帮助下设计、建造一个梦幻之家。这项工程花费了13年时间，其间，他就睡在地上搭的一个帐篷里。
这项充满了感情的劳动，使这所房子到处都有故事，每个角落都有其独特的艺术魅力。华丽的壁炉看起来就像是直接从地板里长出来的，那些旧砖是他从附近一个拆掉的学校，以每块2美分的价钱买来的。他仿照《木偶奇遇记》(Pinocchio)中老木匠Gepetto 的工作桌做了餐桌，而且在它后面的木墙上，还勾勒出了一个城堡。“你看看那儿，”他说，“它就像是我的城堡。”
作为一个忠实的素食主义者，克罗夫特却说服一位当地的屠夫，把厚重、不用的案板卖给他，充当他厨房里的桌子。这个案板很重，要12个人才刚刚能挪动。
酒吧的高脚凳是用那个被拆掉的畜棚的横梁做的。克罗夫特兄弟曾在拉斯维加斯制作过拉克尔?韦尔奇(Raquel Welch)的节目，当她途经此处，前来拜访时，克罗夫特将她著名的婀娜曲线，用在了酒吧高脚凳座位的轮廓。他笑着说：“这是真正的拉克尔?韦尔奇。”
画家尼尔?帕罗(Neil Parrow)在房屋的后廊，建造了克罗夫特所说的“棚屋”，这是他心爱的宠物鸟非洲灰鹦鹉哈利(Harley)所统治的栖息之所。这个后廊是一片宁静的绿洲，有一个鲤鱼池，还能看见圣盖博山的景色。帕罗还在房子里做了件壮观的彩色玻璃作品，象征着夏威夷毛伊岛的鲜花和日落，克罗夫特曾在那里生活多年。
房屋的嬉皮士精神
克罗夫特把自己称为“原创嬉皮士”，他用日光烤面包，在房顶有个水塔，净化池子里的水。他还在院子里的树上建了一个屋子；他会爬上去在那里安静地工作，晴朗的日子还能眺望大海。 “上面没有电，”他说，“只有自然母亲的静谧。”
楼上的卧室，最能体现出他对户外生活的热爱。在那里，他床铺正上方的天花板能打开，直接看到天空。“我喜欢那股寒意，”他表示，“我开着它睡觉。”当然，这种构造也有它自身的风险：他曾被突如其来的大雨淋醒，也曾被当地的猫头鹰不只一次地造访。
木头的来源
1994年地震期间，克罗夫特的天堂彻底动摇了。房屋毁坏得很严重，需要拆掉、重新构造和重建。他表示：“我想，如果把每块木头都编上号，我就能把它们复原，但这行不通。”他很快就没木头了。
一位住在宾夕法尼亚州的朋友伸出了援助之手，帮他向一家门诺教派的信徒求援。他们计划将粮仓拆掉。克罗夫特说：“当然，他们不知道我是谁，因为他们甚至都不看电视。”尽管如此，他们还是同意给他所需要的木头，甚至还为木头祈福。
又一次，克罗夫特选择在建设期间不离开现场，并住在地上的一个箱子里。画家唐尼?莫尔斯 (Donnie Molls)负责大部分重建工作，一起工作的还有富有创意的木匠克里斯?巴泽尔(Chris Buzzel)，以及负责木艺工作的戈登 ?布朗(Gordon Brown)。他们尽心竭力地设计，如今，房屋总体看来与地震前十分相似。
克罗夫特的房子当然不是洛杉矶最昂贵的，但对他而言是无价之宝。 “曾有个非常有名的人来到这，扔下他的支票簿说‘你想要多少就开多少，这房子是我的了。’”他说，“我只说，‘不……它是我的。’”
他哪儿都不会去的，只想呆在这个地方。
