It’s the castle on the hill, the Great Dame of Tinseltown, the old lady of La-la land. For nearly 100 years, Chateau Marmont has been a withdrawal of list A. All those who are someone have stayed there, and whoever wants to be someone goes there.
The reason is simple: in a city where everyone is constantly judged, valued and placed in competition with each other, in Chateau, all bets are out. It is an isolated oasis: a place where you can be yourself. Or, better yet, be someone else. The hotels are from transitional spaces by nature that allow you to recreate, experiment and risk trying things that you may not be at home. Chateau in particular is a type of home halfway, a perfect bardo, a suspension of reality.
Its story as a place of freedom for the famous is commemorated in Chateau Manual Marmont HollywoodThe official account of the hotel history and a classic cult, now again in the press a year waiting for its next 30th anniversary. Edited by the owner of the hotel, André Balazs, the book is a juicy memory that captures the stories of those who were in the settlement there: Marilyn Monroe, Howard Hughes, Greta Garbo, James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor, F Scott Fitzgerald, Hunter S Thompson, Keanu Reeves, Anthony Kiedis and Bret Easton Ellis. Images, which include Julie Delpy making the ironing and her groups of women dancing in the gardens, remind us that art and game are inexplicably connected and that nothing inventors or new comes from following the rules.
Chateau was built in 1929 as the first earthquake test building in Los Angeles, modeled after Château d’Amboise, a once -time Mary’s house, Queen of Scottish, in France Loire Valley. She gained a reputation as a place to go to wrongdoing by following the Hays Code of the 1930s, a form of self-imposed censorship approved by Hollywood studios that did not allow nudity, sex and internment relationships in their films. In the midst of this climate, the hotel became the perfect place to hide, with its thick walls, intimacy from the street and the famous staff. As Columbia Pictures Harry Cohn co -founder said in 1939: “If you have to have problems, do it in Chateau Marmont.” (The hotel also managed to get into trouble in 2020 when the employees of the Pandemic and long hit were suddenly fired, leading to a boycott supported by many celebrities. Fences have then improved, and hotel workers have now joined.)
Chateau attracts foreigners of all kinds: artists, writers, discrepancies and anyone on the edge, those who feel insecure, scattered or invisible, and even U2’s Edge. It is a house away from home for those looking for shelter – from the public, and sometimes by itself. Hollywood manual Reports that Robert Mitchum, presented in the book making washing in one of the Chateau apartments, was hit while in the settlement of smoking a Spliff. Newspaper cuttings since 1982 report that actor John Belushi had died from a Bungalow drug overdose. Miley Cyrus celebrated her 31st birthday at the hotel with an embedded lobby concert. And this year’s holiday in Eve Golden, the night before Golden Globes, attracted so many fans and paparazzi that the road outside the hotel had to close.
I’ve seen it be an extremely creative environment. My 2006 novel, This book will save your lifeThe story of the crisis of a man’s life and the search for the connection located on the hills of Los Angeles, which ends with a fire in the exact part of the Pacific Coast highway that was just burned, was mainly written there, as many were of my short stories. I often write in my room and have many favorites, including the one facing the back and oversees a swimming pool, where I have seen to see a red swimsuit woman make her daily laps. And if I get a little block of the writer, I take my notebook downstairs, sit on the porch and drink Palmers Endless Arnold Palmers while people look and make notes. There is a frisson in the air, we call it energy or inspiration, but it is stronger than Wi-Fi and available to everyone. More than an artist I know has described their home experience as in the center of a swirl of generating energy.
And, of course, the discretion in which the hotel boasts is also favorable for romance. I used to have a 14-hour date in the outdoor kindergarten, painted by visits by a high school friend, Bret Easton Ellis, his friend, actor Robert Pattinson and the beloved hotel manager, who sat with us for a few hours and shared his future story. The date ended only because I had to get an early flight to New York, but the relationship that stimulated lasted more than a decade.
Pathos and country ethics are best exposed in Peekaboo dance played by his guests: “See me, don’t see me”, without picture please, but tell me what you just got “,” Don’t quote me , but make sure I end up in the book. ” Fame – made only in the right place and in the right time – grows infamous is no coincidence.
The hotel spaces are all part of this dance. There is a small intimate bar outside the lobby, a large, dark, velvet room and an outdoor restaurant that is the main part of the social center. One can sit and look out of the porch or dive into the tidal pool of famous cheeks kisses. The pages I have noticed go from Kardashians to Jack Nicholson and Keanu Reeves. The main L -shaped building, consisting of 63 rooms with full kitchens, is conducive to control and never leave. There are terraces and balconies that are like observation decks to see. The outside of the hotel is covered with high leaves and walls. And if even more intimacy is desired? It has historical villas and pool bungalows, to be achieved through a closed port and through the plants in the jungle and overloaded.
Feeling is like that of a private club: Gothic, eccentric, recipient. Among the international community of writers, artists, musicians and actors there is always someone who knows to stay there. And as an old family home, furniture is often a bit like something you will find in your aunt’s house, a little bold or in need of some repairs. But imperfection is perfection: it is true of life, a celebration of our imperfections. Upon arrival you have been delivered a fob of bronze keys (yes, they still use keys) and in your room, there is a hotel writing with your name in it, and above the phrase “in the settlement”.
Here is my main phobia – yes, it is certainly stolen. Shhh … is our secret.
Chateau Manual Marmont Hollywood is published by Rizzoli with $ 39.95. The last novel of Am Homes, The Empoling, is published by Gravel with £ 9,99
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