Photo By Cincinnati.com

We’re a little bit late on reporting this story to you, but the Theda Bara house in Cincinnati was demolished this past week. The villa built in the 1920’s may not have looked very historically significant from the outside, but it was known for it’s exotic and over the top decor inside.

The home was originally built by Theda Bara, a movie star from the silent film era. She maintained a large mansion in Hollywood but had this smaller villa built in her home town of Cincinnati.

The land that the home sits on was later purchased by Xavier University in 1979. The home was first turned into housing for nuns and in later years housing for honor students. Former alumni who were interviewed said that the house was in serious disrepair as early as the 1990’s with pieces of stucco separating from the structure. A representative from the University said that historically significant parts of the home were preserved.

Theda Bara could very well have been considered the Lady Gaga of her day. She was known for playing sultry seductresses and for her over the top and outrageous life style; most of which historians suggest was crafted by the film studios to help sell movie tickets. Like her former home, many of the movies that Bara starred in have been lost to time.

Where It Was:

Sources:
Cincinnati.com– “Goodbye Theda Bara House“
Victoria Advocate- “Former Ohio home of silent film star comes down”
Wikipedia- “Theda Bara“