Belvedere home that was backdrop for 1952 thriller 'Sudden Fear' up for historic designation

A Belvedere Cove home that was featured in the Joan Crawford-led thriller “Sudden Fear” has taken the first step toward becoming a historic city property.

In a unanimous vote at its July 11 meeting, the Historic Preservation Committee recommended the designation for the English country-style home on Beach Road, built in 1935 and now owned by Rosalind and John Colver.

The house joins its neighbor in seeking historic designation; both were designed by Jack Heidelberg, a real-estate agent who built a dozen homes on the peninsula.

Heidelberg and his wife, Bobbie, lived in the house for decades before it was sold to the current owners in 1992. It underwent an extensive remodel but retained its original design and most of its unique exterior and interior touches, including wood floors and ceilings and innovative built-ins, according to the report.

The home and its “whimsical” gardens attracted Hollywood attention and served as a filming location for “Sudden Fear,” in which Crawford starred opposite Jack Palance as a successful woman who marries a murderous man. She received an Academy Award nomination for her performance in the film, which was released in 1952.

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