Larchmont Chronicle
Larchmont Chronicle The Voice of the Community since 1963
presort standard u.s. postage
paid
south gate ca. permit no. 294
JULY 2013
vol. 50, no. 7 • delivered to the 76,439 readers in hancock park • windsor square • fremont place • park labrea • larchmont village • Miracle Mile
SECTION ONE
Senior Outlook Larchmont chronicLe
JuLY 2013
Insurance firm to move to Warner Center Farmers will vacate three properties
MODEL T FORD carried Marilyn and Wayne Thomas throughout Europe.
14
SPECIAL section Pages 11 to 22 POKER strategies.
12
SELF DEFENSE.
13
ExERCISE venues.
19
VARIANCE for Bungalow?
4
MILLENNIUM moves to Council. 4 HISTORICAL tea at Gilmore Adobe. 5 PLAN AHEAD, advises widow.
14
FIND FREEDOM in downsizing. 17 MUSIC, gardens in Around Town. 22 SUMMER reading at libraries. 27 RESIDENT'S film is At the Movies. 31
SECTION TWO Real Estate Home & Garden
Farmers Insurance Group, is planning to move its Wilshire Blvd. headquarters to Farmers’ Warner Center offices at 6301-6303 Owensmouth Ave. in Canoga Park, the company announced recently. The decision was made to avoid the cost of a needed seismic retrofit of its headquarters, which was constructed in 1937. “We were looking at having to do some expensive and time-consuming renovations to be able to stay in the Wilshire location,” said spokesman Erin Freeman. The move, involving three properties and 1,400 employees, will take place during the next five years. “New owners or occupants of the Farmers’ properties in the Park Mile will enjoy the same low-density campus environment as has been enjoyed by Farmers (and its single-family residential neighbors) for so many years,” said John Welborne, one of the authors of the Park Mile zoning. Zoning limits buildings to a height of six stories between Crenshaw Blvd. and Highland Ave. on Wilshire Blvd.
Widening results in ficus removal at Melrose site
FAMILIES will gather for the annual Fourth of July festivities. Above, residents of Lillian Way, Cahuenga Blvd. and Wilcox Ave. celebrate the holiday last year. See story page 7
Lennar Corp. Boulevard zoning could to build 47 spin Flywheel off course houses on lot Cycling center lacks a variance permit Small lot ordinance okayed project Plans are in the works to build 47, three-story houses at 5112 Melrose Ave. by Floridabased developer Lennar Corp. Construction is set to begin in September on the three-story homes on a 72,000-square foot lot between Gramercy Pl. and St. Andrews Pl. Lennar purchased the property in April, with entitlements in place for multiple, detached houses on a single lot under the city’s Small Lot See Melrose, p 4
By Suzan Filipek Flywheel Sports has hit some turbulence since it opened a branch of its popular spinning chain at 147 N. Larchmont Blvd. The facility with stationary, high-tech bikes is operating illegally, according to the Windsor Square Association, and the city cited the business for offering classes in a gym setting while licensed as a retail store. The indoor cycling center, in the former Blockbuster site, applied for a variance a few
Women of Larchmont
Trees to be planted
FINANCIER shaped American dream. 3 GAMBLE HOUSE upstairs and down. 6 SOLD: home sales on the rise. 8 WINNING at Monte Carlo.
15
For Information on Advertising Rates, Please Call Pam Rudy 323-462-2241, x 11
The city’s requirement to widen El Centro and Camerford streets has resulted in the removal of 25 full-grown ficus trees. The widening is in conjunction with a 85-unit retail/ apartment complex being erected between Melrose and Camerford streets bordered by El Centro. The ficus will be replaced by 20 new trees once the building is complete. “We are adding six Australian willows on the Melrose side, seven golden trumpets on both the El Centro and Camerford sides,” said Patrick Roberts, spokesman for the developers, California Landmark Co.
days prior to its April 13 opening. A company representative told the board of the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council in March it would operate a retail store with a testing room, not a gym. The Windsor Square Assoc. board voted recently "to take all actions available to oppose illegal use of the property." It also opposed the variance unless the gym closed during the application period. On its website, stadium cycling classes are offered beginning at 6:15 a.m.
Our annual section highlights women of accomplishment. Advertising deadline is Mon., July 15. To reserve space, call Pam Rudy, 323-462-2241 x 11.
On the Boulevard Glimpses by Jane
CYCLISTS AND WALKERS were part of the 100,000 plus people enjoying CicLAvia along Wilshire Blvd. from downtown to Fairfax Ave. on June 23. Giant Oscar statuettes lined the front of the site of the new movie museum at LACMA.
Many Larchmontians took to the street on June 23 to enjoy CicLAvia. They took advantage of car-free day along Wilshire Blvd. from downtown to Fairfax Ave. Musicians, dancers and talks by architects and historians turned the event into a festival. See BLVD., p 23
www.larchmontchronicle.com ~ Entire Issue Online!