From the Editor
As a new generation discovers Hollywood as a cultural playground, I’m reminded that this is another layer built upon a rich tradition of the arts and entertainment that this community has enjoyed for 100 years. Paul DeLongpre, the famed botanical artist, built his estate at Cahuenga and Prospect (now Hollywood Blvd.). His gardens were one of the city’s first tourist attractions.
Hollywood’s pioneers, the early farmers and ranchers came to Hollywood for its rich land planting bean fields and orchards until the movie makers would change it forever. Soon some of these ranchers were subdividing their land and building housing for a developing film industry. Today their legacy is in street names – Wilcox, Cole, Seward, Fuller and Hudson.
Our climate also attracted the wealthy from the east who purchased large parcels on which to build their grandiose homes. Such was the case with Aline Barnsdall who not only brought her inheritance but patronage of the arts and a famed but disgraced architect to build upon her Olive Hill. Cheryl Johnson’s article concentrates on the free thinking Aline as the mother of Los Angeles’ great architecture. Hollyhock House reopens this summer after five years. Although we learn from the article that Aline Barnsdall wasn’t enamored with her home, its wonders delight all who visit.
Although Frank Lloyd Wright did not stay in Los Angeles, he left a great architectural heritage in his son, Lloyd, who remained and built many architectural masterpieces throughout the region. David Jameson’s biography of Lloyd Wright features photographs of his amazing Samuel-Novarro house.
Dan MacIntosh’s “Music City,” traces the importance of the musical muse in the development of Hollywood. In the summer we celebrate our heritage at the Hollywood Bowl, Ford Amphitheatre and The Greek Theatre when the evenings are filled with music from classical to rock and rhythms from around the world. Music is the heartbeat of Hollywood.
The times are changing, but when the present is built not only upon a glorious past but upon a tradition of new beginnings and reinvention, the future looks bright indeed.
