Events Calendar
Welcome to the Windsor Square Hancock Park Historical Society Calendar. We look forward to seeing you at our upcoming events.
Bunker Hill Los Angeles: Essence of Sunshine and Noir
In Bunker Hill Los Angeles: Essence of Sunshine and Noir, historian Nathan Marsak tells the story of the Hill, from the district’s inception in the mid-19th century to its present day. Once home to wealthy Angelenos living in LA’s “first suburb,” then the epicenter of the city’s shifting demographics and the shadow and vice of an urban underbelly, Bunker Hill survived its attempted erasure and burgeoned as a hub of arts, politics, business, and tourism.
$40 signed book Bunker Hill Los Angeles: Essence of Sunshine and Noir by Nathan Marsak. Click here to Purchase
$10 Presentation only – Members (Pay Below with small Paypal fee)
$15 Presentation only – Non Members (Pay Below with small Paypal fee)
Windsor Square Hancock Park Historical Society
And
Angel City Press
present
Bunker Hill Los Angeles:
Essence of Sunshine and Noir
by Nathan Marsak
Please join us February 17th at 7:00pm
As compelling as the story of the destruction of Bunker Hill is its people who made the Hill at once desirable and undesirable. Marsak commemorates the poets and writers, artists and activists, little guys and big guys, and of course, the many architects who built and rebuilt the community on the Hill—time after historic time.
Any fan of American architecture will treasure Marsak’s analysis of buildings that have crowned the Hill: the exuberance of Victorian shingle and spindlework, from Mission to Modern, from Queen Anne to Frank Gehry, Bunker Hill has been home to it all, the ever-changing built environment.
With more than 150 photographs—many in color—as well as maps and vintage ephemera to tell his dramatic visual story, Marsak lures us into Bunker Hill Los Angeles and shares its lost world, then guides us to its new one.
Please join us on April 21, 2021, 7pm.
Paul Revere Williams’s inspirational story has fascinated historians for the simple fact that his journey was so improbable. The orphan son of an African American fruit-and-vegetable merchant, he was repeatedly told he had no chance of ever realizing his childhood dream of becoming an architect. And yet, he ignored the naysayers to reach the pinnacle of his chosen profession, while overcoming widespread discrimination throughout early- to mid-twentieth century America. The odds against him succeeding were enormous.
$60 Hardcover copy of the 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
Master Architects of Southern California 1920-1940: Paul R. Williams
by Marc Appleton, Stephen Gee, and Bret Parsons
April 21, 2021, 7pm
Master Architects of Southern California 1920-1940, a new twelve-volume series by Marc Appleton and Bret Parsons showcases the work of the Golden Era’s most important residential architects as originally featured in the earliest issues of The Architectural Digest. Featuring some of the earliest known photographs of the work of legendary architects, the series is devoted to the era when oil titans, film industry moguls, bankers, and successful entrepreneurs who were new to the region hired the most accomplished and talented architects they could find.
August 25th, 7:00 PM. Do you want to read something funny? Let’s say, a novel set at a divorce ranch in Reno in the 1930s? A book with memorably eccentric characters, sparkling dialogue, a satisfying plot twist, and some romance and sex? A feel-good literary comedy/western? Here it is, then, the book you’ve been looking for: Julia Claiborne Johnson’s Better Luck Next Time.”— author of Dear Committee Members and The Shakespeare Requirement
The eagerly anticipated second novel from the bestselling author of Be Frank with Me, a charming story of endings, new beginnings, and the complexities and complications of friendship and love, set in late 1930s Reno.
$10 Presentation only – Members (Pay Below with small Paypal fee)*
$15 Presentation only – Non Members (Pay Below with small Paypal fee)*
$31.74 Better Luck Next Time book signed by author Julia Claiborne Johnson – Available for pick up at Chevalier’s Bookstore or shipped for an additional $6
*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.
The Windsor Square Hancock Park Historical Society
presents
BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME
with author Julia Claiborne Johnson
Please join us WEDNESDAY August 25th, 7:00 PM
It’s 1938 and women seeking a quick, no-questions split from their husbands head to the “divorce capital of the world,” Reno, Nevada. There’s one catch: they have to wait six weeks to become “residents.” Many of these wealthy, soon-to-be divorcees flock to the Flying Leap, a dude ranch that caters to their every need.
Twenty-four-year-old Ward spent one year at Yale before his family lost everything in the Great Depression; now he’s earning an honest living as a ranch hand at the Flying Leap. Admired for his dashing good looks—“Cary Grant in cowboy boots”—Ward thinks he’s got the Flying Leap’s clients all figured out. But two new guests are about to upend everything he thinks he knows: Nina, a St Louis heiress and amateur pilot back for her third divorce, and Emily, whose bravest moment in life was leaving her cheating husband back in San Francisco and driving herself to Reno.
A novel about divorce, marriage, and everything that comes in between (money, class, ambition, and opportunity), Better Luck Next Time is a hilarious yet poignant examination of the ways friendship can save us, love can destroy us, and the family we create can be stronger than the family we come from.
September 18, 5pm to 7pm. Please join us on a fascinating twilight walk through of historic Windsor Square on September 18th from 5:00 to 7:00. Explore the architecture and learn about the current and former residents of this beautiful area right in the center of Los Angeles. This is the second in our new series of walks around Windsor Square and Hancock park with Eleanor Schrader and Bret Parsons. Wear comfortable shoes. You won’t want to miss this.
This event has been SOLD OUT.
Member $50. Non-member $60 (You may pay below with a small Paypal fee)
The Windsor Square Hancock Park Historical Society
presents
Mansions, Moguls & Movie Stars Twilight Tour
with Eleanor Schrader & Bret Parsons
Please join us September 18th, 2021, 5:00pm – 7:00pm
Refreshments will be Served
Eleanor Schrader is an award-winning educator, lecturer, and author. She lectures worldwide on the history of architecture, interiors, and decorative arts and leads art and architecture tours throughout the world. She has been named a Distinguished Instructor of design history at UCLA Extension. She is also Professor Emeritus of Art and Architectural History at Santa Monica College. She has done graduate work in fine and decorative arts at Sotheby’s Institute in London and New York and has served as Design Review Commissioner for the City of Beverly Hills. She is co-author of “Master Architects of Southern California, 1920-1940: Wallace Neff”.
Bret Parsons has written five books, including Colcord Home (2008), the biography of the beloved Southern California architect Gerard Colcord. He is the co-author of books on Paul R. Williams, Roland E.Coate, Gordan B. Kaufmann, and Wallace Neff among others in the Master Architects of Southern California 1920-1940s published by Angel City Press. A residential Realtor, he founded Bret Parsons Real Estate in 2008. He is the founder and executive director of the architectural division of Compass. Bret resides in Los Angeles.
Wednesday, September 22nd. 7:00 PM. In 1933, “Fortune” magazine suggested to the American fashion industry that they could benefit from the showmanship demonstrated by the Hollywood designers in order to compete with the French couturiers. The Hollywood designer “Fortune” most praised was Adrian of M-G-M. It was a logical choice as Adrian’s design for Joan Crawford in the 1932 film “Letty Lynton” dominated the fashion industry for the next two years. Join us for Adrian, American Designer, Hollywood Original by Richard Matukonis-Adkins.
$10 Presentation only – Members (Pay Below with small Paypal fee)*
$15 Presentation only – Non Members (Pay Below with small Paypal fee)*
$55 Presentation and electronic book, Member price (Pay Below with small Paypal fee)
$60 Presentation and electronic book, Non-Member price (Pay Below with small Paypal fee)
Purchase e-book or additional e-books separately
*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.
The Windsor Square Hancock Park Historical Society
presents
Adrian, American Designer, Hollywood Original
with author Richard Matukonis-Adkins
Please join us Wednesday, September 22nd. 7:00 PM
Despite offers to go into the retail business as early as 1928, Adrian did not enter the commercial fashion world until 1942, after leaving M-G-M, but taking his fame with him. In 1944 he would win the prestigious Coty Award for fashion design. One of the reasons he did so was his innovative Trompe l’oiel painted imagery on fabric, a tasteful solution to the L-85 fabric restrictions of World War II. So proud of the award was Adrian that he added the line “American Designer” to all his advertisements in the prestigious fashion magazines.
By 1952, he had achieved all his dreams. He was famous, successful, married to a lovely woman, movie star Janet Gaynor, father to a son, Robin, had traveled to Africa, and was working happily in fashion, theatre, and fine art. Unfortunately, a weak heart demanded he give up his fashion business. His “retirement” however, was hardly inactive.
Attendance at a film festival in Brazil in 1952 led the Adrians to build – by hand – a home outside the new capital of Brasilia. They spent half their year in Brazil and half in Los Angeles. Janet made a return to movies in 1957, and Adrian designed his first stage production since 1924, a musical version of his film hit “Grand Hotel”. Dual offers came to Janet and Adrian to continue theatrical work, her to star in “Midnight Sun” with Arthur Hill, and for Adrian to design for the musical which became “Camelot” and for which he was awarded a posthumous Tony Award, shared with Tony Duquette, who completed the production after Adrian suddenly died three months into the assignment.
The nostalgia boom began just a few years after Adrian’s passing, but the surviving pieces of his film work were soon commanding high prices at auctions, with the Judy Garland-worn ruby slippers becoming the most valuable of all movie artifacts. Also, his couturier work began to be presented in museum exhibitions all over the world.
According to their son, Robin, neither Janet nor Adrian dwelt in the past. He would probably be a little surprised at the attention his work still receives, but would nonetheless be pleased about it, I’m sure.
I have studied Adrian and his work for the last two decades, with the result being my book, “Adrian – American Designer, Hollywood Original” and I am pleased to be able to share new information with those familiar with his work and to introduce him to new audiences who know the designer, but not as much about the man.
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 27TH, 7:00 PM Clete Keith never had thoughts of writing a book, let alone one on the paranormal. He was not someone totally convinced of the existence of ghosts or spiritual hauntings-until he started working at Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills. After twenty-two years working at the mansion, he woke up one night with the idea of writing a book about the stories he has heard as well as his own experiences. Ghosts of Greystone – Beverly Hills is a landmark exposé of eyewitness accounts detailing supernatural activity associated with this extraordinary location.
$10 Presentation only – Members (Pay Below with small Paypal fee)*
$15 Presentation only – Non Members (Pay Below with small Paypal fee)*
$44 Presentation and autographed hardcover book including shipping, Member price (Pay Below with small Paypal fee)*
$49 Presentation and autographed hardcover book including shipping, Non-Member price (Pay Below with 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.
Purchase book or additional books separately
The Windsor Square Hancock Park Historical Society
presents
GHOSTS OF GREYSTONE – BEVERLY HILLS
with author Clete Keith
Please join us WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 27TH, 7:00 PM
Having been approached by many guests, patrons, and employees over the years, Keith has heard it all. “Two tourists walked up to me and asked how they could get inside the mansion for the tour. When I told them the interior is closed to the public one replied, ‘Oh, because we saw a man in period clothing staring out the window and we thought he was part of the tour.’” This marks just one encounter of 237 paranormal stories documented at Greystone Mansion. Keith spent nearly three years researching the supernatural activity at the estate. With 86 interviews, including guests of the park, City staff, police officers, movie crew personnel, and janitorial services, Ghosts of Greystone – Beverly Hills promises you a riveting history and ghostly encounters. For more than two decades, the mystery surrounding the strange events taking place in and around Greystone Mansion has been suppressed, ignored, and disbelieved. Along with rare photographs and intriguing details about the landscape and architecture, Keith delves into the family of Ned and Lucy Doheny, including the fateful murder/suicide on the night of February 16, 1929, and other unfortunate deaths that surround these enigmatic grounds that may have stoked the paranormal fire of activity. “People from all over the world come to visit this iconic location. They want to peek behind the curtain and observe this ghostly estate for themselves. Ghosts of Greystone – Beverly Hills will allow them to do just that.”
SOLD OUT. Saturday, April 10, 2022, 10:00-Noon. Join us for a walking tour of Los Angeles’ premier Hancock Park enclave with realtor Bret Parsons and architectural historian Eleanor Schrader. You’ll learn the secrets that illuminate this historic HPOZ neighborhood founded in the 1920s by George Allan Hancock. Be regaled with details about its architecture and architects, movie and television filming locations, plus anecdotes about the lavish lifestyles of the famous (and infamous!) personalities who resided here. This tour focuses on Muirfield Road and Rossmore Avenue. Wear comfortable shoes.
$50 Members
$60 Non-Members
SOLD OUT
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
Sunday, September 11 at 10:00 the gates of Greystone Manor open. Soon afterward at 10:30 Ghosts Of Greystone author, Clete Keith will take 20 Historical Society members on a special guided “ghost tour” of the Mansion. Clete Keith worked at Greystone for 20 years and his book is based on his experiences as well as his interviews with others. This is not an architectural tour of Greystone. Those who come at 10:00 will experience the beautiful gardens leading up to the house and will then meet in the courtyard of the mansion.
$25 Members Only
SOLD OUT
Sunday, September 11th
10am
905 Loma Vista Drive. Beverly Hills
Parking is in the upper parking lot.
Please wear comfortable shoes for there are a lot of steps and no elevators involved with this tour.
No food or drinks are allowed inside the Manor.
Saturday, November 5th, 2022 from 11:00 to 3:00, Please join us for the continuation of the Windsor Square~Hancock Park Historical Society home tour. This annual event was put on a two-year hiatus because of the pandemic and is now back. This year’s home tour features a selection of century-old houses on one of Hancock Park’s premier streets, Rimpau Boulevard. Join us as these generous homeowners open their seldomly seen houses for you. There will be food and refreshments as well as a silent auction. Three of the homes were designed by renowned architect Gordon Kaufmann.
Member tickets are $65 (+ a small Paypal fee)
Non-Members $75 (+ a small Paypal fee)
Food and Refreshments Silent Auction
Saturday, November 5th, 2022 from 11:00 to 3:00
Location will be provided with the purchase of your ticket