See Inside the Playful Pink Allee Willis House, Home of “The Best” Hollywood Parties
The Allee Willis House in North Hollywood, home of the famous singer/songwriter/creator responsible for the Friends theme song and Boogie Wonderland, is currently on the market. Relive the eclectic, A-List parties she threw!
The mercurial North Hollywood home of famed songwriter Allee Willis—the woman behind megahits like Wind & Fire’s “Boogie Wonderland,” the “Friends” theme tune, “I’ll Be There For You,” and the Broadway hit “The Color Purple,” has been listed for sale for $1.99 million, five years after her death.During the 40 years that Willis, who died age 72 in December 2019, lived there, she became famous for the fabulous soirees she threw at the dwelling, which was originally built in 1936 as the official party house for movie giant MGM.The home’s illustrious heritage as a Hollywood hot spot is so revered among industry insiders that it was even immortalized in its very own pop-up, pull-out book dedicated to capturing Willis’ unique design details.”She’s one of the few people I knew who created her own theme park, inside and out,” says prominent pop culture humorist and historian Charles Phoenix, who wrote the forward to the pop-up book, “Willis Wonderland—The Legendary House of Atomic Kitsch.”
“So you can’t just have a blank wall. If you’re going to put in a wall and a gate, it’s gotta be something special. A radio, a TV tube …”
The home was originally was designed as a portfolio piece by renowned architect William Kesling, who was celebrated for his historic collection of homes in the Streamline Moderne style, a subtype of art deco appropriately dubbed “ocean liner style” by the French.
His homes throughout L.A. became very popular with the celebrity crowd.
Willis bought the house in 1980 for $230,000 and began putting her whimsical designer stamp on it by painting it pink and filling it with kitschy, pop-culture treasures from the 1950s, ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. Celebrity artwork also abounds.
What happened in the Allee Willis House
The two-time Grammy-winning, Emmy- and Tony-nominated songwriter/art director also began throwing legendary parties there.
You would expect celebrities like Paul Reubens (aka Pee-wee Herman), Cyndy Lauper, and Angeline and Bruce Vilanch to show up.
But through the years, the creative artist, whose songs sold more than 60 million records, racked up a number of other very diverse names in her guest book, including Cher, Joni Mitchell, Timothy Leary, Tab Hunter, Leslie Ann Warren, Linda Ronstadt, Elvira, Lily Tomlin, Patti LaBelle, Mark Mothersbaugh, and Katey Segal.
James Brown and Bob Dylan were just a few of the superstars who recorded in Willis’s studio—which still exists in the house—surrounded by her numerous gold and platinum records.
Even Mark Cuban, who collaborated with Willis on a social network before the internet was born, was known to enjoy the creative vibe at the home that came to be known as “Willis Wonderland.”
“I always had a music career, an art career, set designer, film and video, technology,” said Willis in a New York Times article. “The parties really became the only place I could combine everything.”
Some of the more interesting features of the house include a pink leather-upholstered dinette with a round Formica table in the center, an art studio, bowling-ball gardens and a private sand beach near the sparkling pool and spa.
Also in the backyard are various tiki touches, a newly built poolside shower, neon signs and vintage metal patio chairs and umbrellas, along with various period sculptures, furniture screens, and outdoor artwork, much of it embedded.
Downstairs there’s a walk-out basement, dark paneled “Rec Room” with a blue linoleum floor intended to look like the bottom of the sea, where many of Willis’s collectibles were stored and displayed.
Willis died of an aortic aneurysm on Christmas Eve 2019. Her partner Prudence Fenton, a prominent animator and producer, wanted to see the house preserved.
She and Vincent Biggs, a nonprofit professional with extensive experience in the creation and administration of exhibits, installations, and educational programs, founded the Willis Wonderland Foundation in 2022 with an eye toward preserving the spectacular residence as a 21st-century museum that would support songwriters and multimedia artists from underprivileged communities.
The Foundation was behind the pop-up book, written and created by Hillary Carlip.
“I met Allee in the ’80s and we became fast friends,” she says. “I spent so much time in her magical house. Everyone who set foot in it couldn’t help but be inspired by the enormous amount of creativity and joy in every inch and corner.”
The Foundation also collaborated on the documentary “The World According to Allee Willis,” which can be viewed on Hulu.
But it looks like the dream to create a sort of Inside the Mind of Allie Willis museum in her longtime home will likely go unfilled. It was listed for sale by Willis’ irrevocable trust on June 5, 2025.
“Some furnishings, memorabilia, or collectibles may be negotiable,” according to the listing.
“Given the nature of the memorabilia and collectibles, this is really situational or buyer-dependent,” says listing agent Sally Forster Jones, of COMPASS. “If a music buff wanted some items for a collection, for example, this could be a conversation.”
Nostalgia lovers who spent time in the house are hoping that someone who knew Willis will step up, buy the house and its contents, and open them to the public. Let’s see if one of them makes an offer, for old time’s sake.
The Allee Willis House in North Hollywood, home of the famous singer/songwriter/creator responsible for the Friends theme song and Boogie Wonderland, is currently on the market. Relive the eclectic, A-List parties she threw!
