Quote:
Originally Posted by Fab Fifties Fan
Its kind of like Alice in Wonderland builds her dream home
"The Enchanted Castle" a private residence at 4857 Melrose in 1935
and today a Thai restaurant. Supposedly it is in there somewhere.
Photo one courtesy jalopyjournal.com
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I'm up to page 224 now, and still enjoying the hell out of this thread! Last night I was really pleased to find posts about two buildings that I had been hoping to see here. This is the first one.
In the 1990's I saw this unusual building many times while driving down Melrose and could see that it was a small Asian night club.The trees outside were covered in fairy lights and situated atop a small hill, I figured it would have a nice view of the city. So one night I drove over there and worked up my courage to ascend the stairway and step inside.
Well, as the only non-Korean on the premises I created a minor stir (or should I say "panic") but the hostess reluctantly seated me and took my drink order. The place was smoky inside, very atmospheric, and, facing south, indeed had nice views of downtown and mid Wilshire. There were little outside tables and a running fountain. After I finished my drink the server nervously said something to the effect that my table was reserved for someone else, and it might be best if I did my drinking elsewhere, so I moved on. Oh well - at least I got to see the place!
I had always wondered what the story was behind that curious building and had been hoping I'd see it on this thread. And of course, I drove over there today -- but the news is not good. The place is still there but it's boarded up, in bad shape, and the foliage is so overgrown that you can barely see it from the street. The gate was open so I wandered inside and took a few photos. There's a fairly big parking lot east of the building (the green awning must have been there to shelter customers and the valet from rain and cold weather). The main house is almost completely covered by ivy and overgrown plants. One interesting artifact that I hadn't noticed that night is a concrete plaque, installed near one of the fountains. It's badly worn (and some meathead worker apparently splashed concrete on it, covering up some words). It reads:
CASTLE OF ENCHANTMENT
BUILT BY MILT HOPKINS
(illegible characters)
STATUES BUILT BY
(illegible characters)
After getting home I searched and learned a little more about the place. According to an article in the New York Times, Milton Hopkins built the "whimsical Castle" in 1948 as a gift to his wife. He used materials that came from buildings destroyed to make way for the Hollywood Freeway, then under construction. (I suppose that, being sheriff, the construction boys delivered them with a smile.) When his creation was finished, in 1957, the Hopkins's medieval-style home, topped off by battlements, had a front-yard kingdom that included a pump-driven stream, 15 waterfalls, a steel suspension bridge wide enough to walk over, and a wishing well.
I read elsewhere that in the mid 60's someone named Michael Boosin rented the place. He was an acquaintance of Andy Warhol, had money, and it sounds like he hosted some pretty wild parties there. It later became a Thai restaurant called The Siamese Castle, then a French place called La Bastille, and finally the Ko Kung Club, the Korean place that briefly let me in. A Korean sign can still be seen outside.
I hope the property survives, but it will need a lot of work! The location is interesting. The Castle is at the crest of a small hill that Melrose passes over, between Kingsley and Western. That particular area of Melrose is pretty seedy now -- there are 2 pot dispensaries across from the Castle -- but just north is a very nice old residential area now called the Melrose Hill Historic District, that I'd never heard of before (last 2 photos). The beautiful old house is at 4920 Marathon Street, it almost looks down on the Castle.
http://www.nytimes.com/1988/04/17/tr...ted=all&src=pm