Britain in Los Angeles: A Visit to the Official British Residency in Hancock Park

As Oscar weekend got underway, I had a chance to visit the British Residency in Los Angeles for the first time ever, to enjoy tea and toast this year's British nominees. It's a beautiful home, the site of regular events, the home to the British Consul-General in Los Angeles, and was famously where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, aka William and Kate, stayed when they visited in 2011.

The Wallace Neff-designed house was built in 1928 and has belonged to Britain since 1957. The British consulate itself is in Century City.

Per the official British government website, "Michael Howells is a British diplomat and Consul General in Los Angeles. He is the senior representative of the UK government in Southern California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Hawaii. In this role, he promotes trade and investment, scientific cooperation, creative and media collaborations and educational partnerships between the UK and the southwestern United States. He also oversees delivery of essential consular services to a 600,000-strong British resident community and British visitors numbering over a million per year."

It was a beautiful afternoon, so many of the attendees headed to the backyard. Among those spotted in attendance: Richard E. Grant ("Can You Ever Forgive Me?"), nominated for outstanding supporting actor. It was a great weekend for Grant, who won the Independent Spirit Award on Saturday, and tweeted a video on Sunday of himself on the trampoline at Melissa McCarthy's house.

Los Angeles Ad Town: 6th Street Edition

Thanks to Franklin Avenue reader Donovan for passing along this Infiniti ad, which hits the Hancock Park streets around 6th. He writes:

The Infinity ad is on W 6th street, specifically exterior or Getty House. Kind of funny that the ad is about a guy that forget his anniversary. Also worth noting, the VO is done by Henry Rollins.

Here's a Google Maps image of where the ad was shot.

Celebrating Hancock Park's Crazy David Statue Guy

LA Citybeat is throwing a party to celebrate Norwood Young, who recently appeared on the cover of the free weekly's best of L.A. issue.

Wait, so who's Norwood Young? He's an R&B singer. But more importantly, he's the owner of this home:


(Flickr pic by Santos.)

Yep, Young owns the crazy Hancock Park home (at 3rd and Muirfield) with all of those David statues. He calls it "Youngwood Court." The paper writes:

LA City Beat Magazine named Young as the “Best Thing in Hancock Park” because his home is “an architectural tribute to beauty, art, glamour, fantasy, flamboyance, and living out loud.” The publication also praises Young for “a refusal to stay silent, to hide one’s talents or one’s love of Michelangelo. A disdain for blending in, for conforming … .” Young was featured on the cover of the September 25, 2008 issue (Volume 6/Number 39) of LA City Beat Magazine.

And after 13 years of rumor, controversy and lawsuits, change is in the air. The dust has settled. And Young and his digs, Youngwood Court, are finally embraced by the neighbors.

“During this exciting climate of political change and tolerance, I deem the induction of ‘King of Hancock Park’ a personal victory; not only for me, but for other individuals who’ve been ostracized and criticized because they would not compromise,” said Young. “This is the most rewarding experience of my life,” he added. “I painfully fought for 13 years to stand for something, and because of this recognition by LA City Beat Magazine and their readers, I no longer feel my fight was in vain.”

Young’s home has been the subject of rumor, controversy and lawsuits, due to the neighbors feeling that Young’s personal taste was not suitable for the neighborhood and that he was a rock and roll intruder, making headline news in the media. The late, great attorney Johnny Cochran defended his right to live in the neighborhood and decorate his house, according to “his taste.” Young reigned victoriously, and the case was thrown out of court.

Still, that didn’t stop the bullying, nor the bullets (yes, there have been bullets shot at his home) and media headlines, weighing in on his decorative taste as “Art or Eyesore?” The neighbors made suck a ruckus, the story actually made national headlines across the country! This was a humiliating intrusion of Young’s right to privacy.

Determined, Young fought a good fight and won. Today, “Youngwood Court” is part of LA’s pop culture. It’s even included as part of Hollywood’s tours of famous homes.

LA Citybeat is throwing an event on Nov. 2 to crown Young as "King of Hancock Park."

Here's Why Koreatown is Next to Hancock Park... Probably

(Flickr pic by Ophelia Chong.)

The Militant Angeleno wrote about Koreatown grocery store HK Market the other day (there's also an even bigger outlet in Glendale) but blew me away with a side observation.

He notes the origin of the name "HK Market" -- and winds up giving a very plausible theory on how Koreatown wound up in Mid-Wilshire/Mid-City:

In this case, (the "HK" in "HK Market") stands for "Han Kook" (Han-guk) which in Korean is the commonly-used nickname for the Republic of South Korea, and is probably the main reason why Korean immigrants in the late '60s decided to build their community more or less where it is today - in close proximity to Hancock Park.

I have no idea if that's true or not... but it sure sounds like a good enough reason to me.

"Hey, where should we settle once we get to L.A.?"

"I dunno, but this "Republic of South Korea Park" neighborhood sounds inviting."