The Castle was less sacrosanct than it is now (no history had been made to be injured). When his mom and grandfather came to see the new apartment they saw his great-grandmother (obviously not a young woman), standing high on a ladder peeling old paint from the ceiling beams. His mother was little then and scared to walk under the ladder for fear it would bring her grandparents bad luck. She abstained and they were spared, and no ill luck ever befell them.
When he was little he too came to see the castle. In the summers he could go to his great-grandparents to swim, which was much suaver than going to the neighbors or the Y.
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| Hotel Green pool, 1950s postcard |
The pool was fun and safe, if one had not just recently eaten, but the ride up to his great-grandparents apartment was terrifying. He was not surprised their hair had turned white.
The elevator creaked and rattled and, each time relieved to have survived it, he took a step up from the elevator into a little room. He was not in his great-grandparents apartment yet. On one side of the little room was a door that opened up to the outside: suddenly putting one on the roof, a horrifying proposition.
Fortunately on the other side of the little room were huge doors that led to inside, to his great-grandparents' apartment. His great-grandparents were happy to see him and his great-grandmother's clock chimed throughout the giant apartment declaring it their home.
He has that clock today in his own home; it's electric and still chimes. Which made no sense when he visited the Castle penthouse on the annual tour, and distinctly heard it chiming.
17 comments:
Oh, I am charmed. Chimed.
Thank you for consistently chiming in!
I have not been in the penthouse since my Great Grandmother passed away in 1972. I went today (3-7-13) and yes, that chime clock is now mine and I may have indeed heard it. I did, however, miss the chimes that once were on a wall outside the kitchen. The wall is gone with the chimes. They were there to signal that the elevator had arrived. Thank you for your blogs.
An egg shaped pool. I wonder what year those were considered vogue? Well, it's not a cliche after all. They did pave paradise and they did put in a parking lot - have you all seen the destruction of that beautiful Ambasador(?) mansion off of Green across from the Ralphs parking lot? my heart bleeds
Larry N.,
The elevator chiming outside the kitchen is neat. It's so very much of an era.
Pasadena Adjacent,
Can't make me look; that's upsetting.
John and I traipsed around that mansion taking photos one day. (the Ambassador). Pretty sad. Don't want to see it happen any more.
The first thing I wanted to see were those chimes on the wall and was disappointed the wall and chimes were gone. On a brighter note, a picture I sent my mother seems to suggest the old oven is the same one my great grandmother installed when she moved in in 1954. The louvered cabinet doors are changed, but otherwise it was the same as it was 40 plus years ago.
PS. The arches in the penthouse now are not original to the building.
Larry N,
Some locals today told me about the wall that used to be in the penthouse. Apparently it made the bedroom and kitchen separate from the rest of the unit. As cool as I'm sure your great-grandparents were, it seems unlikely they'd have wanted a studio apartment.
Petrea, I understand. My husband and I thought we could escape the destruction of pretty old things, living in Castle Green. That's why the "upgrades" are upsetting.
As best as I can remember, the wall extended out from the kitchen, which is where the elevator chimes were, and we had a small kitchen table there. I don't recall what was beyond that, except a bedroom at/near the far corner. My great grandparents built large, free standing wall dividers to seperate it into large areas.
PS. I stand corrected. The stove is a newer installation. The wall, added in the 1920's, was removed and the original arches restored.
It's my understanding that the pool was a much later addition to the Hotel Green, and I think it was added after the 1926 Hotel Green / Castle Green split, meaning that Castle Green never actually had a pool.
The story is taken from a first person account, so the Castle Green residents must at least have had access to the pool.
The Castle Green swimming pool was in the backyard; a friendly remainder of the Castle's grand hotel days.
They paved over paradise to put in a parking lot?! (And, it continues!)
Yes, it does!
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