I’ve mentioned my uncle the production designer… He had an incredible library – this is an image from the 1942 edition of “House & Garden’s Complete Guide to Interior Decoration”. I should have kept it in mind when I remodeled the kitchen. I think to compensate I got a fire…
Category: Architecture
Myron Hunt, one of the early influential architects of Southern California. Here he is standing outside the beautiful Pasadena Library: Here’s the library he designed: – He also designed the Ambassador Hotel…
Alla Nazimova was a silent screen star who lived large in Hollywood. One day in film class we were threading up the projector to screen Garbo’s CAMILLE – when what we saw was this: Fascinating screen vamp Nazimova beguiling Rudolph Valentino. When the roles dried up Nazimova turned her home,…
Later today I’m posting information about a wonderful production, “A Conversation with Edith Head” that will be at the Pasadena Playhouse November 8th – December 1st… But, first I’d like you to see some theatrical wardrobe design and construction from 1928 – just a few years after Edith Head started…
The Pasadena Playhouse was designed by Elmer Grey (he designed the first incarnation of the Beverly Hills Hotel) and completed in 1924. It’s a lovely auditorium and many of Hollywood’s stars have walked the boards. Here’s what it looked like in 1924: And, here it is in the 1930s: Inside…
This is what Hollywood looked like at the turn of the 20th century: In 1903 a small place built by H.J. Whitley (Whitley Heights is where the silent film stars lived) called the Hollywood Hotel looked like this: Soon after this picture was taken a wealthy woman from Iowa, Almira…