Our Historical Team

Dedicated to Serving You, The Society and Our Community

BOARD AND STAFF MEMBERS

President Richard Battaglia
President Richard Battaglia

PRESIDENT

Richard Battaglia

Richard Battaglia is a realtor with Compass and prior to that was nineteen years in senior management with high end national retailers and specialty stores. In 1985 Richard and his former wife, Robin Piccone, pioneered the use of the wet suit fabric, neoprene, into the women's wear market through their creation of Body Glove Swimwear in their Venice Canals garage.

He is a homeowner in the Elysian Heights Echo Park area of Los Angeles.

In 1989 he purchased a big Dutch Colonial fixer at 144 N. Norton Avenue. While under construction the workmen found a long forgotten sterling silver flask hidden in a wall under the sink in a powder room, a sterling silver cigarette case hidden in the overgrown ivy outside and a Gene Autry gun hidden in a wall near the stairs.

A proud member of the group who initiated the Windsor Square Historic Preservation Overlay Zone (HPOZ) which led to the creation of subsequent overlay zones in Hancock Park, Windsor village, Wilshire Park, etc. He and his group were honored by the Los Angeles Conservancy in June of 2005. This led to a three-year column on historic houses in and around the overlay zone for the Larchmont Chronicle.

His credentials include:
Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Body Glove Swimwear, Guess Swimwear, Robin Piccone
Board member of the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council
Board Member of the Larchmont Village Neighborhood Association
Member of GOHPOZ, Historic Overlay Zone, Windsor Square
Honored by Los Angeles Conservancy, June 2005, GOHPOZ, Windsor Square
Board Member Windsor Square Hancock Park Historical Society
"Preservation Notebook" columnist, Larchmont Chronicle
Father of three children Maximillian, Luca and Isabella

 

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VICE PRESIDENT, MEMBERSHIP

Judy Zeller

Judy Zeller was born and educated in London, England. She studied French, German and Italian and has lived in Switzerland and Italy before moving to Los Angeles in the late 70's. In the 1980's, she was an early employee of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee as a Director of Protocol travelled to the former East Germany and Canada in this role. More recently, Judy was Director of Human Resources for various prominent private equity companies. Judy and her family moved to Windsor Square over twenty years ago and immediately fell in love with the neighborhood. She and her husband, Richard, raised their two daughters in their 1920's Lucerne Boulevard house. Judy joined the Historical Society over ten years ago and has held the positions of Secretary and President (two terms). She is also a member of The Ebell of Los Angeles. Judy enjoys traveling all over the world.

Other volunteer involvement: Mentor for the Fulfillment Fund; volunteer at My Friend's Place and Alexandria House.

Marlene

VICE PRESIDENT, MEMBERSHIP

Marlene Zweig

Marlene Zweig was originally a Jersey girl. After earning a Master’s Degree from Columbia, Marlene worked as a textbook writer/editor for several major publishers, including Allyn and Bacon and Harcourt, Brace. After moving to L.A., Marlene began a second career in Human Resources serving eventually as Divisional Director of Human Resources for the Southern California Region of the American Red Cross, Blood Services. At the Red Cross, Marlene was the honored recipient of a Tiffany Award for Excellence in Management.

Since her retirement, Marlene started a “third” career as an active volunteer, serving as a Board Member of the Museum Service Council of LACMA, a Board
Member of the American Red Cross Retiree Association, a senior member of the Advisory Council of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UCLA, Chair of the Osher Curriculum Committee, a member of the Ebell Club, and Second Vice-President of the Windsor Square-Hancock Park Historical Society.

Marlene is the owner of a 1926 Stacy-Judd designed home on Hudson Avenue in Hancock Park and is the proud parent of one son, Alex Zweig, who lives in San Diego.

Barbara 1

TREASURER

Barbara Coad

Professional: Finance and Accounting Management

Philanthropic and Volunteer Activities:
Past Leadership Positions:
President, Big Sisters of Los Angeles Professional Associates.
Vice President, Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce
Board Member, USC Women of Troy Athletic Board

Current Leadership Positions:
Treasurer, Trojan League Associates of the Valley
Trustee and Treasurer, Windsor Square Hancock Park Historical Society

Community Awards:
Larchmont Chronicle, Women of Larchmont
Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce Past Officers and Directors Award

Bret-Parsons

VICE PRESIDENT, EVENTS

Bret Parsons

Bret Parsons is an award-winning agent representing buyers and sellers of exceptional homes, often termed “architecturals.” With annual production in the top 1% of all Realtors nationwide, he’s also the founder and executive director of the Compass Architectural Division.

Bret created the “Master Architects of Southern California” book series with architect Marc Appleton in 2016. The authors have
compiled monographs about Gordon Kaufmann, Roland Coate, Wallace Neff, and Paul Williams.  In 2008, Bret wrote “Colcord Home”
about beloved residential architect Gerard Colcord.

For the past three decades, Bret has delivered innovative, multi-media presentations about famous homes and their cultural impact,
frequently to standing room only crowds, and now on-line audiences.  He will soon launch “Mansion Owners Guide LA”, the
ultimate resource for one's beloved home.

He’s renovated and sold three period homes, all featured in the Los Angeles Times column, “Hot Properties.”  Bret spent a decade
as a mortgage broker, and prior, vice president of business development at Pacific Design Center.  He’s a former board member
of the Institute of Classical Art & Architecture, Southern California, and, Imagine LA, a non-profit organization dedicated to
ending the cycle of family homeless and chronic poverty.  Bret resides in Windsor Village.

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VICE PRESIDENT, EVENTS

Joseph Guidera

After graduating from Damien High School, LaVerne, CA in 1991, Joseph Guidera attended the University of Redlands where he graduated cum laude while double majoring in Economics and Political Science in 1995. Later, Joe attended Pepperdine University for graduate school earning an MBA in 1998 and Juris Doctor in 1999. After graduation from law school, Joe worked for several boutique law offices in Santa Monica and helped manage his family’s business of commercial real estate development in Rancho Cucamonga. In 2001, Joe was hired as “Marketing Director” at Ron Wilson Interiors, Inc. Ron Wilson Interiors, Inc. is one of the country’s foremost interior design firms. Founded in 1965 by Ron Wilson, who was often referred to as the ‘Designer to the Stars.’ Ron Wilson Interiors has not only embraced the contemporary California aesthetic of natural and organic material but neutral palettes serving as chic back drops for colorful – sometimes whimsical – art and accessories. Joe & Ron’s designs and discoveries have been featured four times in Architectural Digest as well as other publications and on CBS Sunday Morning. A partial list of past & current celebrity clients include: Cher (19 homes,) Eddie Murphy, Tom Selleck, Michael Landon, Mike Douglas, Kenny Rogers, Johnny Carson & Don Rickles. Since Ron’s passing in 2011, the company is led by Joe who developed his design aesthetic from the ten years of working and living with Ron Wilson. Beautiful antiques along with richly textured fabrics and surfaces are often the language spoken by Joe. Joe Guidera has refined Ron Wilson’s aesthetic to carry on his design legacy.
Joe moved to Hancock Park on June St in 2015 when he completed an extensive restoration of a classic 1927 Mediterranean home originally designed by famed architects, Hunt & Burns.

 

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VICE PRESIDENT, LANDMARK AWARDS

Brian Curran

Brian Curran has worked in the field of historic preservation for two decades. He worked on preservation projects in the UK, Ireland, Russia, Romania, Cambodia, and Turkey has served as Director of Projects for the World Monuments Fund in Britain, Projects coordinator and later Board member of the Global Heritage Fund UK, and in the United States, he has served as Vice President, Treasurer and Board member of Hollywood Heritage Inc. and writes a monthly preservation in the Larchmont Chronicle.  He has also authored three books, The Lost World of Pompeii, St. Petersburg and Vanishing Histories all with late architectural historian, critic and heritage activist Colin Amery.  Brian and his husband Kevin MacLellan live in Los Angeles and are the proud fathers of 4yr old twins, Willam and Alexander.

 

Jane gilman smaller

VICE PRESIDENT, LANDMARK AWARDS

Jane Gilman

Jane Gilman, co-vice president, Landmark Awards, is a native of Rye, New York. After graduation from Beloit College  (Wisconsin), she held several jobs on publications in New York City before going to Germany to be a recreation director for the U.S. Army., She later moved to Los Angeles where she met Dawne Goodwin. The pair approached business owners on Larchmont Blvd. to interest them in advertising in their newspaper called Larchmont Chronicle. That was in 1963 and the newspaper is still flourishing although Jane sold it in 2016.
She is a founding member of the Historical Society, has organized Red Cross blood drives, originated Taste of Larchmont fundraiser, and belongs to The Ebell and Wilshire Rotary Club.

Former co-founder, editor and publisher of the Larchmont Chronicle newspaper, Jane Gilman is originally from New York. Following graduation from
Beloit College in Wisconsin with a bachelor’s arts degree, she worked for magazines in New York City. She moved to Los Angeles in 1960.

She and her partner, the late Dawne Goodwin, founded the newspaper in 1963.  Jane retired seven years ago after 52 years as publisher.

While at the Chronicle, she was a co-founder of the Windsor Square-Hancock Park Historical Society.

She has served as a board member of Portals mental  health agency, Wilshire Community Police Council, Larchmont Boulevard Association, Miracle Mile Civic Coalition and The Ebell of Los Angeles.
Other memberships include Wilshire Rotary Club and the Assistance League.
Jane is the author of “Inside Hancock Park,” a history of Hancock Park and of its founder, G. Allan Hancock.

 

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SECRETARY

Colleen Friend

Colleen Friend was born in Cleveland, Ohio and educated at the University of Dayton and Case Western Reserve University. She came to California in 1984 and worked for the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. From there she held various other Los Angeles County jobs and then went into academia at UCLA, in 1993.  She taught there for eleven years. She is both a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW)  and a Professor at the Cal State LA University School of Social Work.

She has lived in her Windsor Square home since 1989 and joined this organization soon after. In 2004, they awarded her and her late husband, Robert Ketch, the Spring Garden Award for "The Visual Impact Garden." Colleen has served as a docent and house manager for countless Windsor Square Hancock Park Historical Society home and garden tours. She serves the organization as its secretary now.

She is also served on the boards of Heaven on Earth, a cat rescue and adoption agency as well as the California Social Welfare Archives and its Social Work Hall of Distinction.

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