Historic home on Huntington Boulevard — once Fresno’s hot spot for celebrities — for sale

Long before much of the affluent population of Fresno migrated north, this southeast Fresno neighborhood was the exclusive place for the city’s rich and famous.

Now, one of the most historic homes on Huntington Boulevard is for sale.

Featuring five bedrooms, seven bathrooms and a five-car garage, the home at 3504 E. Huntington Blvd. resembles an elaborate Mediterranean villa often found in Italy.

Many of the original details at “Villa Corvino” remain in place or have been restored — from the Italian hand-carved limestone statue located in the backyard terrace to the massive wine cellar found at the basement level.

All built for the life of luxury.

But this 6,107 square-foot home, which sits on two parcels of land, isn’t just big and beautiful.

It’s filled with some Fresno history with celebrities and powerful politicians of the past having partied at the house over the years.

The home, after all, has been around since 1939.

“It’s a really amazing property, something that you’d see in a movie,” owner Penny Raven said. “It’s just a beautifully built house — inside and out.

“I had nothing to do with it. I just helped preserve it, and held some fun gatherings there through the years.”

Originally built and owned by famed vineyard and winery owner J.B. Cella and his wife, Maria, the historic home of Huntington Boulevard eventually was sold to Larry and Penny Raven in 1971.

It’s on the market for the first time since with an asking price of $939,000.

Throughout the home’s entire existence, a long list of Fresno movers and shakers have visited.

As well as by some whose fame stretches beyond Fresno.

As told by Penny Raven:

When the Cella family owned the home, the executive vice president of NBC broadcasting often visited since he (Lloyd Yoder) was married to one of the Cella daughters (Alma).

Another invited guest was Maria Callas, who’s considered the greatest female opera singer of all time.

And Callas wasn’t just a renowned singer. She was dating one of the world’s richest men in Aristotle Onassis, the man who would go on to marry former First Lady Jackie Kennedy five years after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

Under the Ravens’ ownership, the Huntington House also became a popular political gathering.

Former Vice President Hubert Humphrey, who served under U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, once visited.

Previous California governors Jerry Brown and Gray Davis also came to the residence to connect with voters from the central San Joaquin Valley .

As did numerous congressmen and other elected officials, including Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, who currently is the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the senior-most member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“We did events and they would get invited and wanted to come, and they knew there’d be voters here,” said Raven, who is a former Fresno socialite and actress. “Sometimes, we’d have 200 people in the backyard.”

Raven’s friends from the television and movie industry also came to the Huntington home.

Such as two-time Academy-Award winning actress Jane Fonda.

And Henry Winkler, best known as “The Fonz” from the television series “Happy Days.”

As well as longtime veteran actor Ed Asner, who in recent years was the voice of the old man character in the Pixar animated film “Up.” He also was “Lou Grant” from the 1970s TV series “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.”

And another notable guest was Mark Victor Hansen, the founder and co-creator of the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series of books.

“We enjoyed our time at the house,” Raven said. “I always felt privileged to live there.”

The Huntington Boulevard neighborhood, which has been around since 1914, offers its own appeal.

A trolley-like service that once went through the neighborhood and extended into downtown Fresno has been long gone.

But the land that once was the track area still serves as a wide grassy median, and residents walk and jog and ride bicycles around the neighborhood.

Lamp posts painted gold and black also light up at night along both sides of the mile-long boulevard between Cedar Avenue and First Street.

And the collection of different trees, including palm, eucalyptus, deodar cedar, camphor and maple, add to the picturesque setting that seems unique compared to any other part of Fresno.

Nonetheless, the Raven family believe it’s simply time for them to sell it.

The three-level home, which currently is occupied by a caretaker, is a bit challenging for the Raven couple to move around in (there are three sets of stairs inside the house).

Penny added that their new home is closer to their family and her husband’s work.

“It’s just time,” Penny Raven said. “Time for someone else to make new and wonderful memories here, and experience life on Huntington Boulevard.”

This story was originally published February 8, 2022 at 3:00 PM.