A family of candy makers lived the sweet life here

This is the house where Allen Wertz lived after setting up his candy factory in Los Feliz and a store on Wilshire Boulevard.

He had first established the self-named Allen Wertz Candy Co. in his hometown of Reading, Pa., where his father-in-law, Karl Zipf, had moved his family confectionery business from Germany in 1870. Wertz, his wife, Marie, and their two sons, Allen Jr. and Karl, moved to Southern California in 1936.

Ten years later, after getting to know Los Feliz through their neighborhood candy operations, the family bought this house.

The Wertzes lived there only for about three years. Allen Wertz Sr. retired, sold the house in 1949 and died at 60 in 1952. His company closed its doors late last year. It was not related to Lebanon, Pa.-based Wertz Candies, which is still in business.

About this house: It was built in 1926 for $35,000, a large sum for its time, when the average house could be built for less than half that amount, according to Tim Gregory, a Pasadena-based building biographer. The Spanish Colonial Revival was designed and built by Harley S. Bradley, a specialist in hillside architecture. The three-story house is on Glendower Avenue, on a hill with downtown-to-Century City views.

The home was meticulously restored by its current owners, who installed period tiles, fixtures and flooring. They also renovated electrical and other systems. The house has central air conditioning and heating.

Asking price: $5.9 million

Size: There are seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms in about 8,000 square feet. The lot size is 22,932 square feet.

Features: The estate has a pool house-guesthouse, a pool, a spa, a media room, a terrace and four fireplaces.

Where: Los Feliz

Listing agents: Brett Lawyer, (310) 888-3808, Sotheby’s International Realty-Sunset Strip Brokerage, and Rosemary Low, Sotheby’s International Realty-Los Feliz Brokerage, (323) 665-1700.

To submit a candidate, please send color interior and exterior photos on a CD with caption information and a description of the house, including what makes the property unusual, to Ruth Ryon, Real Estate Section, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012; or e-mail [email protected].