Stan Fedderly of Orange County, a direct mail executive,
has purchased the Palm Desert house once owned by the late actor William
Boyd, known to millions as the iconic movie and television cowboy
Hopalong Cassidy.
The historic, black and white house, located at 73-498 Joshua Tree St.,
sold for $467,500 at an auction June 2.
“I’m just a lucky guy,” Fedderly said in released statement. “I didn’t
think I was going to get the house, but I did.”
Fedderly and his wife, Lynn, will use the two-bedroom, 1,892-square-foot
house as a weekend home. The couple plan to retire to the Coachella
Valley.
Boyd and his wife, Grace, lived in the house from 1955 to 1971. Boyd was
77 when he died in 1972. Mario Hernandez of Rancho Mirage, an area
contractor, bought the house two years ago and restored it.
Over 200 people attended the auction, where some of Boyd’s Hopalong
memorabilia was also sold.
Hernandez is donating the proceeds from the memorabilia and T-shirts
sold at the auction to the Boys and Girls Club of the Coachella Valley
and the Michael J. Fox Foundation for research on Parkinson’s disease.
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Official Press Release
Hopalong Cassidy’s Palm Desert
Hideaway Sold At Auction to Orange County Executive
PALM DESERT (Calif.) – Stan Fedderly, an Orange County direct mail
executive, has purchased the desert hideaway of the late actor William
Boyd, better known as “Hopalong Cassidy,” one of America’s best loved TV
cowboy stars.
The historic, black and white-themed house sold for $467,500 at an
auction June 2. “I’m just a lucky guy,” Fedderly said. I didn’t think I
was going to get the house, but I did.”
Fedderly and his wife, Lynn, of Costa Mesa, will eventually retire to
the Coachella Valley and live in the two-bedroom, 1,892-square-foot
home. In the meantime, the Fedderly’s will stay there on weekends. Boyd
and his wife Grace lived in the house from 1955 to 1971. Boyd was 77
when he died in 1972.
“I’m absolutely thrilled for the Fedderlys to buy the Hoppy house,’’
said Mario Hernandez, a Rancho Mirage contractor and owner of TileCare
Company, Hernandez painstakingly restored Boyd’s home to the glamour of
yesteryear. He bought the house about two years ago with the idea of
refurbishing it and selling it. He retained Pacific Auction Exchange of
Pleasanton, Calif., to put up the auction which turned into an
entertaining community event.
“We had over 200 people attend the auction to witness a piece of western
movie history with the sale of Hoppy’s house,” Hernandez said. Some of
the items belonging to Hoppy were also auctioned June 2 with proceeds of
about $600 going to the Boys and Girls Club of the Coachella Valley and
more than $500 going to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for research for
Parkinson’s disease. Boyd had Parkinson’s disease when he died.
Hernandez also plans to donate about $9,000 in materials and labor for a
new kitchen floor for the Boys and Girls Club in La Quinta.
Most of the items in the house, including authentic saddles that were
mounted atop bar stools at the pool-side bar, went to auction June 4 at
Bonham & Butterfields Auctioneers in Los Angeles. Hernandez said about
80 percent of the 30 lots of memorabilia sold at auction, including bolo
ties, vintage radio and exercise bike, bass violin, brass horse door
knockers, a coffee cup with Hoppy’s portrait, furniture and artwork from
the estate home.
Boyd, a star of the silent movies under contract to Cecil B. DeMille,
brought Hopalong to the screen in a feature produced by Paramount
Pictures. Paramount made 34 more pictures with Boyd as Hoppy and United
Artists produced 31 others, also with Bill Boyd. On June 24, 1949, Hoppy
starred in what became the first network Western television series,
airing on NBC. Boyd starred in 52 half-hour TV programs and 104 radio
shows.
