Community News

Ridley-Thomas, Raman reflect on their first six months

Councilmembers Nithya Raman (CD4) and Mark Ridley-Thomas (CD10) were part of a slate of new City Council members to be sworn in for a fresh term at the end of last year. The Chronicle asked both of our new representatives about their first six months on the job. Nithya Raman Q: What was your biggest […]

Larchmont ’21 conversations continue

Last month, the Larchmont 2021 group hosted its second of three planned “community conversations” about the future of Larchmont Boulevard. The first event, hosted June 28, was focused on retail trends, while the July 12 meeting topic was “Main Street Placemaking,” or how to enhance a street to meet the needs of its neighboring community. […]

Rezoning not required to produce needed “affordable” housing

The Larchmont Chronicle and our readers, I hope, are grateful to Hancock Park neighbor Marilyn Wells for contributing six informative columns, over the past six months, dealing with the omnipresent and critical issue of unfortunate people living on the streets and sidewalks. Her final column appears on Page 2 of Section 2, and I […]

Center for Yoga to open, thanks to a team of locals

The Center for Yoga may be housed in a creaky old building, circa 1925, but to the yoga community it is sacred, holy ground. And to the Larchmont business community — with its hundreds of yogis stopping at shops and restaurants — the Center had been a lifeline. “This studio has been an iconic studio […]

What's Entertaining

Academy Museum tickets to go on sale Aug. 5

Tickets to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, 6067 Wilshire Blvd., will be on sale to the general public beginning Thurs., Aug. 5. The Academy Museum will officially open Thurs., Sept. 30. Opening day events will include two screenings of the “Wizard of Oz” (1939) with live accompaniment by the American Youth Symphony. Other programs […]

Tailwaggers celebrates its grand opening on Larchmont

Tailwaggers Larchmont, the new multi-purpose pet boutique, hosted a four-day-long grand opening to celebrate its arrival on the Boulevard. The event featured vendor demonstrations, free samples, gift bags with purchase, daily raffle drawings, and the chance to get to know staff members. Tailwaggers, which has two other locations, in Hollywood and West Hollywood, first opened […]

A rollicking and fancy Italian dinner in a bleak part of town

I hadn’t ventured downtown since the before times, but recently the lure of our urban environment called me to indulge in a fancy Italian dinner in the fashion district. It was still light out as we threaded our way past Disney Hall’s gleaming undulating walls and 7th Street’s vibey storefront eateries. Suddenly, civilization gave way […]

Amy Forbes heads Center Theatre Group; Ahmanson joins

The Center Theatre Group Board of Directors has elected Amy R. Forbes as its president. The longtime Windsor Square resident began her new post July 1. She is a current member of the Windsor Square Association board of directors, and she was an influential leader of the successful effort to make Windsor Square an Historic […]

Who's Doing What

Music and art direction – A local business owner combines talents

Flip through any Larchmont Chronicle of the past few years with a Rhodes School of Music ad in it, and you will be met with a creative photo treatment featuring a child holding his or her instrument. The ads struck me during a recent flip- through (for research purposes) of past issues of the […]

It’s a tale of two summers as residents head out of town: For some, it’s a better summer than before

The summer of 2020 was dismal for many families in our Larchmont enclave. COVID numbers weren’t at their worst, but that didn’t make up for the fact that vacation plans were squashed, and camps were half-operational. The dog days, as they say, dragged on. Next, we entered an apocalyptic autumn, with ash filling the sky […]

This year’s Women of Larchmont are On the Boulevard

During the past 55 years, the Larchmont Chronicle has featured many prominent women in our annual Women of Larchmont issue, and we are happy to add to that group this year. The Larchmont Boulevard shopping district is celebrating its 100th anniversary this October. Created in 1921 to provide neighborhood shopping opportunities to residents of the […]

Britain has a new Consul General in Hancock Park

British Consul General Emily Cloke is the latest representative from her country to call the 1928 Wallace Neff house in Hancock Park home. “I feel privileged to live in a house that has been a symbol of the U.K.-U.S. relationship,” Cloke said of the June Street property purchased by the British Government in 1957. In […]

Real Estate News

On Preservation: Well-heeled hero wanted to free Wright’s tarnished treasure

When Harriett Freeman deeded her home in the Hollywood Hills to the University of Southern California in 1984, she must have thought that she had taken an action to ensure its preservation and protection. Built in 1924, the rare architectural treasure was designed for Samuel and Harriett Freeman by none other than America’s most renowned […]

Real Estate Sales

Hot topic: keeping cool by greening our communities

It’s not easy being green, but the hot topic was addressed by the nonprofit Westside Urban Forum (WUF) at a panel discussion on July 21 — “Private Trees, Public Benefit: Fortifying L.A.’s Disappearing Tree Canopy.” Panelists effectively made the case for keeping cool by greening our communities. WUF regularly invites land use professionals to consider […]

Reservoir renamed in honor of Mr. Los Angeles

“He worked with the LADWP, always advocating on behalf of our residents’ needs …” Mr. Los Angeles, as the late 4th District Councilmember was called, was honored at the recent dedication of the Tom LaBonge Headworks Water Complex. “This may be the single best place in Los Angeles to cherish his legacy, and I can’t […]