From latimes.com:
“This was his home away from home,” company spokesman J.D. Isip said as he ushered me into the tiny one-room apartment above the firehouse that Disney called his own. “After Walt built Disneyland, Burbank didnt see him much — he was here every day.”
The first thing you notice is the faint smell of potpourri. Then the realization strikes that you are in a secret corner of the Earths happiest place that very few mortals see.
Disney built the 500-square-foot apartment, outfitted with red crushed carpet and velvety Victorian decor, in 1954. It was the parks second structure after the opera house, which doubled as a sawmill.
“In those days he would often spend the night going over blueprints, then get up at 5 a.m. to talk to Imagineers,” Isip said.
Legend has it that a close look at the taped broadcast of Disneylands official opening in 1955 reveals several tiny faces peering out from behind a window above the firehouse. Some believe they belonged to Disneys grandchildren — reportedly kept there for their own protection — while others say that they were definitely the mugs of Mousketeers.
In keeping with Disneys penchant for fun, the apartment originally had a fire pole connecting it to the firehouse below, Isip said. After an early visitor managed to shimmy up into the unit, however, the pole was removed.
Over the years, the hidden abode became a private haven for Disney and his famous friends, including John Wayne, Buddy Ebsen, Dick Van Dyke, Julie Andrews, Frank Sinatra and Fess Parker — better known as “king of the wild frontier.”
Early Disney employees remember that a light in the window would signal that the boss was at home.
Link to read the complete article - Dr. Disney
