Villa Aurora, bought by Jewish refugees in 1943, reopens after Palisades fire

In 1943, German Jewish writer Lion Feuchtwanger and his wife, Marta, bought a crumbling mansion in Pacific Palisades, Los Angels, for $9,000. The couple who had fled Nazi persecution, turned the house into a gathering place for artists, writers and intellectuals.The property, now known as Villa Aurora, was built in 1927 as a Spanish Revival model home. According to Los Angeles Times, when the Feuchtwangers bought it, its remote location, wartime gas shortages and poor condition had brought its price down.The couple had first fled Germany in 1933 and taken refuge in Southern France. They later arrived in Los Angeles, where a growing community of European artists and intellectuals had settled. Their new home soon became part of that community and was described as a cultural hub known as 'Weimar by the sea'.More than eight decades later, January 2025 Palisades Fire had forced it to close.