We flashback to eras of wild, if not inspiring, eclectic excess.
The Hollywood Style (reissued as
Hollywood Life: The Glamorous Homes of Vintage Hollywood), published in 1969, is filled with eye widening interiors of celebrities such as Kirk Douglas, Rock Hudson, Natalie Wood, Charlton Heston, James Coburn and Steve McQueen. Spanning across three generations of stars, starting with the Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks era when Hollywood's royalty emulated Old World stately manors and stately homes of the European royalty they believed themselves to inhabit in spirit, then to the
William Haines period of antiques and objets d'art mixed and matched with contemporary pieces, the book showcases homes that were part residence, part museum.
But by far, my favourite part of the book is the later third, where we get to peek inside the visual overload of home's of Hollywood's then nouveau riche...an era where James Coburn dared to create a Moorish Mod palace, Tony Curtis fancied himself a zebra-skin chair collector of fine modern art, Natalie Wood relaxed as a princess, and Charlton Heston surprises us with a sleek MidCentury home where he shares a bit too much of his lifestyle. Perhaps every home isn't in good taste, but it's all in good fun...perhaps a sentiment that best represents many aspects of our fair town.
Oh Chuck...such a thoughtful fella! But what a home!
