"[3] More than a hundred years later, the Times said: "From the front, the 31⁄2-story house resembles a medieval castle, with brick chimneys standing guard like sentries along the roof and an ornate four-story crenelated tower on the northeast corner, a noble rook from a massive chess board.

[6] The original occupant, Thomas Douglas Stimson, hired architect H. Carroll Brown, then only 27 years old, to design his new home.

A Times writer in 1948 noted that the house presents a "puzzling" appearance: "Its architecture reflects the Mission influence, a bit of Byzantine, something Latin and a little Fort Ticonderoga.

"[8] Brown obtained the distinctive red stones from a quarry in New Mexico and used San Fernando sandstone for the windows, balconies and the tower's crown trim.

[4] Stimson reportedly took photographs of his Chicago mansion and hired Carsley and East Manufacturing Co. to duplicate them and ship the finished products to Los Angeles.

The headline in the Los Angeles Times read, "DYNAMITE FIENDS: An Attempt to Blow Up the Stimson Mansion; The Redstone Walls Resisted the Terrific Explosion.

[3] Two neighbors witnessed the culprit lighting the fire on the dynamite, grabbed their guns, ran across the lawn, and were thrown off their feet by the explosion.

[3] Initially, there was suspicion that "the plot to blow up the house" was either a robbery attempt or the "dastardly" act of "some Anarchist or enemy of capitalists who took this cowardly method of expressing his hatred for men of wealth, and singled out a man who is reputed to be one of the wealthiest in Los Angeles, and who lives sumptuously as becomes his station.

Over a period of time, Coyne advised Stimson that the criminal had been attempting to break into the house, and sought to verify his claim with the discovery of tools and marks on a window.

[14] After the explosion, Coyne told Stimson that the trouble was still not over, that he was in constant danger of being shot or stabbed and that the crooks had eleven sticks of dynamite remaining that would be used for another attack on the house.

[14] Coyne's minute information as to the supposed crooks' plans and actions betrayed his role in the crime,[16] and he was eventually convicted and sentenced to five years at Folsom Prison.

[4] In 1940, the Maier family sold the house to USC's Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity for $20,000 – about 13% of the original cost of construction.

[6] In their first year of occupancy, the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity put Stimson House at the center of a near riot among USC students.

Members of a UCLA fraternity prematurely set the traditional USC bonfire ablaze early in the morning before the scheduled event.

[17] In response to the acts of the UCLA students, 800 Trojans set fires in the streets with makeshift piles of sticks, boxes, crates, wooden benches and anything that would burn.

"[8] For eight years from 1940 to 1948, Mrs. Doheny lived behind the fraternity, and the boisterous parties in the house's dungeon-like "catacombs" were an ongoing source of annoyance.

[7] After the sale closed, Mrs. Doheny assured herself that she would have no further problems with noisy neighbors by deeding Stimson House to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet for use as a convent.

"[8] When the fraternity brothers gathered for their reunion in 1996, the Los Angeles Times noted: "What a difference half a century makes.

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondolet now say their prayers in those wood-paneled rooms where the PiKAs sang: 'He rambled down to Hades, To see the poor lost souls, Saw a bunch of Kappa Sigs a-roasting on the coals.

[19] The Sisters of St. Joseph had reoccupied the house as a convent in the fall of 1993, but were forced to vacate the property for ten months while repairs were made.

[6] The Stimson House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and has also been named a Historic-Cultural Monument (# 212) by the City of Los Angeles.