An overhead view of 6533 Cahuenga Terrace, via Google Street View.

Hyperbole reigns in the world of real estate listings, inflating a dump into a dream palace or attempting to gild a lily. Nowhere is this more prevalent than around the Los Angeles and Hollywood area, where fictionalized listings purport to be the former homes of motion picture stars, particularly Theda Bara, Charlie Chaplin, and Valentino. Most of the time, reality far outshines the make-believe concocted by realty agents. Such is the case with 6533 Cahuenga Terrace, which listings have claimed possessed Theda Bara, Pola Negri, and Rudolph Valentino as owners, but was built in 1923 for opera prima donna Maude Lillian Berri, a little gal from Fresno, with a story fit for the movies.

Born Maude Lillian Berry July 10, 1871, in San Francisco, the star-to-be grew up as one of the daughters of “Commodore” Fulton Berry, early California pioneer. The family moved to Fresno when she was a child, where her father became a raisin and oil industrialist and later member of the Bohemian Club and top yachtsman. Miss Berry, raised to be a lady, lived at home and sang in the local church choir before moving to San Francisco and singing in the First Presbyterian Church choir. The young lady also possessed a wicked sense of humor, with the Marion Daily newspaper reporting August 15, 1907, “Miss Berri says she began to sing when she began to talk.”

Mary Mallory’s latest book, “Living With Grace: Life Lessons from America’s Princess,” will be released June 1. Update: June 30.

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