Gene Hackman’s Former Woodland Hills Estate at 4934 Queen Florence Lane Lists for Nearly $6 Million

Another piece of San Fernando Valley celebrity real estate has surfaced, this time in the hills of Woodland Hills, where a historic estate once tied to the late Gene Hackman has been listed for $5,995,000.

Located at 4934 Queen Florence Lane, the property is known as the Canoga Estate and dates back to 1928. Set behind gates on approximately 2.09 acres in the Queen Streets area of Woodland Hills, the estate was designed as an English Cotswold-inspired manor and remains one of the more distinctive surviving residential compounds in the western San Fernando Valley.

According to the listing, the property offers approximately 6,474 square feet of living space with six bedrooms and nine bathrooms. The total includes a roughly 4,847-square-foot main residence, a 1,352-square-foot guest house with poolside dressing rooms and baths, and a separate 275-square-foot recreation room.

The estate’s setting is part of the appeal. A long original granite-and-brick cobblestone driveway winds through mature landscaping and towering trees before arriving at the manor-style residence. The grounds include oak trees, Deodar cedars, rose gardens, garden paths, a koi pond, a sweeping lawn once used as a croquet field, a swimming pool, spa, tennis court, guest house, and gated parking.

Inside, the home retains many of its period details, including hardwood floors, cathedral ceilings with exposed beams, leaded-glass windows and doors, hand-painted tile work, copper gutters, a slate roof, multiple fireplaces, a library, office, billiard room, art studio, basement, workshop, and other flexible living spaces. The property feels less like a typical luxury listing and more like a preserved piece of early Valley estate history.

The home’s Hollywood pedigree is also significant. The listing notes that the estate was commissioned in 1928 by developer Harold Ferguson as part of his larger 250-plus-acre estate. It was later owned by Michael Curtiz, the legendary director of Casablanca, The Adventures of Robin Hood, White Christmas, and other studio-era classics. Curtiz reportedly acquired the estate in the 1930s and commissioned enhancements documented by original 1935 blueprints.

The property later passed through a notable line of ownership that included business magnate Walter Weisman and Academy Award-winning actor Gene Hackman. Hackman reportedly owned the Woodland Hills estate around 1970, shortly before his Oscar-winning performance in The French Connection. Although his time there appears to have been brief, the home adds another local footnote to one of the most respected acting careers in American film.

The current ownership also adds a more recent chapter to the estate’s story. The property is owned by Antoinette Openshaw Miller and Steve Miller. Antoinette “Nonnie” Openshaw-Miller, a longtime Woodland Hills resident, passed away on January 9, 2024, at age 73 following a long battle with cancer. Her passing gives the current listing a more personal transition, as the nearly century-old property looks toward its next steward.

For Woodland Hills, the listing is a reminder that the western San Fernando Valley still contains pockets of early Los Angeles estate history hidden behind gates, trees, and winding hillside streets. Before the Valley became defined by postwar suburbia, shopping centers, and freeway growth, estates like the Canoga Estate helped shape the area as a private retreat from central Los Angeles.

Gene Hackman, who passed away in 2025, left behind a film career that included The French Connection, The Conversation, Superman, Hoosiers, Unforgiven, and The Royal Tenenbaums. His former Woodland Hills home now stands as another example of the San Fernando Valley’s layered celebrity real estate history, connecting early estate development, Old Hollywood filmmaking, and later generations of film stars.

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