Historic Preservation Party at Hollywood Riviera Celebrates Swimming Pool Culture

Few images evoke the notion of the California Dream better than the swimming pool. In the mid 20th Century, the California Dream was sold to America based largely on that image of the swimming pool. As the Beverly Hillbillies theme song said, “swimming pools, movie stars.”

Tuesday, as part of the 2012 Historic Preservation Celebration, the city is celebrating the swimming pool and all that it embodies by having a party around, what else but a swimming pool.

But the swimming pool for this event isn’t just any swimming pool. It’s the pool at one of the city’s mid-Century architectural masterpieces, Hollywood Riviera. Built in 1954, the Hollywood Riviera was designed by famed architect Edward Fickett, FAIA.

“LA’s Pool Culture” is the topic of conversation at this event. Leading the discussion are three people who know a lot about architecture – Frances Anderton from KCRW radio’s “DnA: Design and Architecture” program, Jim Heimann from Taschen Books (publisher of books on art, architecture and design) and Chris Nichols from Los Angeles magazine and former chair of Los Angeles Conservancy’s Modern Committee.  

The party is Tuesday from 6-8:30 p.m. with refreshments by Food + Lab Catering and music by the David Samartin Trio and the Aaron Durr Trio. Admission is free.

Now a condominium complex, the city designated the Hollywood Riviera a “local cultural resource” in 2010, one of 82 buildings upon which that city has bestowed that designation.

The Hollywood Riviera is located at 1400 Hayworth Avenue. Free parking for the event is available a half block away at the Sunset Lofts, 7950 Sunset Blvd (opposite the Directors Guild of America building). Note that Hayworth Avenue and surrounding streets are permit-only streets.