Qualla: Nethercutt Collection

Nethercutt Collection: Introduction

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit N748MN, CC BY-SA 4.0. J.B. Nethercutt came to Sylmar looking for warehouse space. He had been accumulating cars — Duesenbergs, Bugattis, Rolls-Royces, Packards — for years, and the collection had outgrown wherever it had been stored before. He owned Merle Norman Cosmetics, which he ran as CEO and Chairman after co-founding it with his aunt, and he needed a facility near the new Merle Norman manufacturing plant. What he built instead of a warehouse was a six-floor, ten-story Art Deco tower with Louis XV dining rooms, a pipe organ, mechanical orchestrions, and enough space to display the finest private car collection in the United States.

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Image: N748MN | CC BY-SA 4.0

Nethercutt Collection: The Tower and What It Holds

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit ZR1748, CC BY-SA 4.0. The San Sylmar estate opened in 1971 as one of the largest private residences in the United States — 60,000 square feet — and operated as a free museum whenever Nethercutt was not in residence. The lower floors of the tower, known as the Lower and Grand Salon, displayed Nethercut...

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Image: ZR1748 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Nethercutt Collection: Two Hundred and Fifty Cars

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jeremy Thompson from Los Angeles, California, CC BY 2.0. The automobile collection spans American and European marques across more than a century of automotive history: Aston Martin, Austin-Healey, Bentley, Bugatti, Cadillac, Duesenberg, Ferrari, Lincoln, Maybach, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Rolls-Royce. The collection includes a Bugatti T...

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Image: Jeremy Thompson from Los Angeles, California | CC BY 2.0

Nethercutt Collection: After J.B.

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Gary Warren, CC BY 3.0. J.B. Nethercutt died in 2004. Until his death, he hosted an annual picnic tour of the collection for invited guests. The museum continues to operate, free of charge, as it always has been. From 2008 to 2010, cars from the collection served as the lead vehicles and Grand Marshal t...

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Image: Gary Warren | CC BY 3.0