Wednesday May 26th at 7:00 PM. A prime Hancock Park 1927 Mediterranean Revival Architectural Masterpiece has been fully renovated, restored, decorated and enhanced into its present pristine  condition by the legendary design firm of Ron Wilson Interiors and its owner, Joseph Guidera as his personal residence.  This distinctive estate has all the hallmarks of a truly unique and special property: built in the 1920s for a direct descendant of Los Angeles oldest original Spanish land grant holding families, designed for large-scale entertaining and yet with many smaller intimate personal spaces in a grand period revival style by noted architects, constructed by a local well know builder of most prestigious luxury homes of the era, and now restored to all of its former glory.

$25 Member price (Pay Below with a small Paypal fee)*
$35 Non-member price (Pay Below with a small Paypal fee)*
*After your purchase you will be emailed the special presentation link by 6pm the day before the presentation and by 12pm on the day of the presentation.

Wednesday May 26th at 7:00 PM

The Windsor Square Hancock Park Historical Society

presents its first

History and Virtual Home Tour of 330 N. June Street

Featuring an interview and guided tour through this historic property by President Richard Battaglia and home owner Joseph Guidera followed by question and answer period with Mr. Guidera.

Patrick J. Watson was born in 1876 to his parents, Colonel James Alexander Watson of Scotland and Maria Dolores Dominguez on the old Manual Dominguez Rancho, which encompasses much of present day cities of Torrance, Wilmington, Compton, Carson, San Pedro and the South Bay area of Los Angeles. This was the first Spanish land grant in CA from King Carlos of Spain. Patrick Watson was the vice president of the Watson Land Co and in 1923, he sold his share of the original Rancho property to The Pan American Oil Company which was a subsidiary of the Doheny Company. In the mid-1920s, Patrick Watson & his wife, Miss Mamie O’Farrell of San Francisco, were looking to move off of the original Rancho property and decided to build a new home for themselves in the fashionable and developing area of Hancock Park.

Patrick hired the notable Architectural firm of Hunt & Burns to design his new family estate on a large double access lot located on a prominent corner in the new district of Hancock Park.  During their tenure together, Sumner P. Hunt and Silas R. Burns built some of the most beautiful buildings in the Los Angeles area including:  Automobile Club of Southern California, Headquarters – 1921-1923, Children’s Hospital, Los Angeles – 1910, The Wilshire – Ebell Club, Clubhouse – 1926-1927, Los Angeles Public Library, Vermont Square Branch – 1913, McKinley House, Lafayette Park, Los Angeles, CA – 1917, Scripps College, Claremont, CA – 1929, The Los Angeles Tennis Club – 1927 and The Wilshire Country Club – 1919.

For his new home, Patrick Watson would enlist the services of the Sweden-born master builder C.J. Nordquist who had a well-deserved reputation for building some of the grandest homes and public buildings in Los Angeles.

November 10th at 7:00pm. In Saving Radio City Music Hall, published by TurningPointPress, Rosemary Novellino-Mearns reveals how Radio City Music Hall, Art Deco masterpiece and New York City’s premiere tourist attraction for generations, was saved from demolition. After years of struggling with intense, sometimes painful memories, “Rosie” tells the honest, fact-filled, emotionally charged, and often humorous story of how she organized the gargantuan effort to save Radio City Music Hall in the Spring of 1978. Against all odds, and in only four months, she succeeded. Readers will be shocked by the “no good deed goes unpunished” climax of the story in which Rosie reveals her reward for spearheading the movement to save “The Showplace of the Nation.”

*$10 Presentation only  – Members (Pay Below with small Paypal fee)
*$15 Presentation only  – Non Members (Pay Below with small Paypal fee)
Book available through Amazon
*After your purchase you will be emailed the special presentation link by 6pm the day before the presentation and by 12pm on the day of the presentation.

Windsor Square Hancock Park Historical Society

Presents

Saving Radio City Music Hall – A Dancer’s True Story

by Rosemary Novellino-Mearns

November 10th at 7:00pm

A modest but determined young dancer from Glen Rock, New Jersey, Rosemary Novellino joined the Radio City Music Hall Ballet Company, the classical dance counterpart to the world-famous Rockettes, in 1966. After a shaky beginning, she danced with the group for twelve years, eventually becoming its Dance Captain and Assistant to the legendary choreographer Peter Gennaro. In the mid-1970s, questionable behind-the-scenes changes in Music Hall management alarmed hundreds of employees, but no one was prepared for the official announcement in early 1978, that Radio City Music Hall was slated to close that April and be demolished.

Drawing upon formerly untapped inner strengths, Rosemary refused to let this happen. She became President of “The Showpeople’s Committee to Save Radio City Music Hall” and motivated fellow workers, friends, thousands of Radio City fans around the world, New York and national media, cultural leaders and politicians to support the cause. As a result of these efforts, the Art Deco palace was declared a National Historic Landmark. saving not only the building but the jobs and livelihoods of thousands of Music Hall employees on stage and behind the scenes who have entertained millions to this day. This “heartfelt and very personal account of that effort,” says Booklist, “provides a backstage glimpse of the drama that ensued and features a cast of characters that includes performers, politicians, the media, and some very heavy hitters in the world of New York real estate that will delight readers interested in the performing arts and their history in the U.S.”