On December 22, 2013, the world-famous Hollywood Park Race Track closed its doors forever. In 2014, demolition began on the landmark race track, effectively erasing seventy-five years of history, while at the same time making space for an entire new neighborhood to suddenly arise in the middle of the metropolis. Photographer Michele Asselin spent every day at Hollywood Park in the last two weeks before it closed, photographing the buildings, the employees, and the patrons of the track. Clubhouse Turn: The Twilight of Hollywood Park Race Track is the product of her efforts, and the story of two cultures colliding in the middle of a rapidly evolving city.

$50 Autographed hardcover book from Angel City Press

*$10 Presentation only  – Members (Pay Below with small Paypal fee)
*$15 Presentation only  – Non Members (Pay Below with small Paypal fee)

*Once you purchase your ticket you will be taken to a page with your zoom link to the event . That is your invite. Yay! Please bookmark that page, print that page or save that link as we will not be emailing out the zoom link.

Windsor Square Hancock Park Historical Society

And

Angel City Press

present

Clubhouse Turn: The Twilight of Hollywood Park Race Track 
By Michelle Asselin

Please join us MARCH 17th at 7:00pm

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.

On April 2nd from 12:00 to 3:00 Ms. Woolverton is graciously opening her Windsor Square home for a one on one interview highlighting her fascinating career from budding young playwright to the first female screenwriter for The Walt Disney Company.

$35. For members $45. For non-members.

Linda Woolverton is an American screenwriter, playwright, and novelist, whose most prominent works include the screenplays and books of several acclaimed Disney films and stage musicals. She is the first woman to have written an animated feature for Beauty and the Beast (1991),^[1] which is also the first animated film ever to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. She also co-wrote the screenplay of The Lion King (1994), provided additional story material for Mulan (1998), and adapted her own Beauty and the Beast screenplay into the book of the Broadway adaptation of the film, for which she received a Tony Award nomination and won an Olivier Award.^[2][3]

Her recent work includes the screenplays for Alice in Wonderland (2010) and Maleficent (2014), both of which were significant box office successes. The former made her the first female screenwriter with a sole writing credit on a film that grossed $1 billion dollars.^[4] She subsequently wrote the screenplays of the sequels for both of those films—Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016) and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019). 

Refreshments will be served.

Sunday July 31st, 1-5pm. Please join us at the historical Gilmore Adobe on Sunday, July 31st, from 1:00 to 5:00 for our Annual Meeting and barbecue. The Gilmore Adobe was built in 1852 and is located in that mysterious space at The Grove hidden behind tall walls, beautiful gardens, and colorful peacocks. Wedged between Maggiano’s, the former home of Wood Ranch, and Umami Burger the Gilmore Adobe is beautifully preserved and is one of the oldest homes in Los Angeles. It has served the Gilmore family since Arthur Gilmore purchased the house and surrounding 256 acres in 1880. Guests will have full access to the charming museums and on the grounds of the adobe. We will have a guest speaker and food and wine will be served.

SOLD OUT

Members – $55*
Non-Members – $65*

Sunday, July 31st 1:00pm to 5:00pm

Gilmore Adobe, Charming museums and on the grounds, Guest speaker

6333 W. Third Street, Los Angeles, 90036

Windsor Square Hancock Historical Society
Presents

2023 Annual Meeting and Barbeque

SOLD OUT!
NO MORE TICKETS AVAILABLE

Members $65
Non-Members $80

On the grounds of one of the best houses in Windsor Square
501 S. Plymouth Blvd, SW corner of 5th and Plymouth.

Not only is the O’Melveny House a beautiful historic Craftsman-style home it is also the cover photo of our website and was moved in pieces from its original location at Wilshire Boulevard and New Hampshire Avenue. It is now the home of our hosts, Executive Committee member, Brian Curran and his husband, Kevin MacLellan.

If you would like more information on the history of the house, you can go here.  https://wilshireboulevardhouses.blogspot.com/2013/06/3250-wilshire-boulevard-please-see-our.html

Guest speaker author Rosemary Lord

Rosemary is an actress and the author of the popular books Hollywood: Then And Now, Los Angeles: Then And Now, and Los Angeles. Rosemary will be speaking to us on the history of the Women’s Club Of Hollywood of which she is the newly elected President.

For new members, the Historical Society holds its Annual Meeting every year to give out our Landmark Awards and install our new Executive Committee for the next year. We also install our new class of Trustees and Advisors.