Worth a Look is an occasional feature in which WEHOville calls out stories in other publications about people and issues that have or have had an impact on West Hollywood.
A Look Inside What’s Planned for 8899 Beverly Blvd.
You may not be able to afford one of the 40 multi-million dollar condos or the eight Rosewood Avenue townhouses being created as well part of the conversion of what once was known as the International Design Center at 8899 Beverly Blvd. And it’s unlikely that most of us will even get invited to a real estate open house there.
But Interior Design magazine got access to images of the new condos designed by Olson Kundig, which can be seen by clicking here.
In addition to the 12,000-square-foot garden with a pool, there’s what Interior Design refers to as a “car stable, with 16 select garage stalls. Featuring herringbone brick flooring, black metal columns, and white oak wall paneling, this perk shows that luxury and attention to detail know no limits.”
WeHo’s Body Modification History
Gus Heully has reported the history of that circular green building on Sunset Boulevard near Holloway Drive, which not only is known for having been designed by famed architect Oscar Niemeyer but also was the office of Dr. Robert Allen Franklyn, the plastic surgeon who was one of the early advocates and practitioners of breast augmentation. (Franklyn even wrote a book on the subject: “On Developing Bosom Beauty.”)
Now Vice reports that West Hollywood also was the location for of one of the nation’s first body piercing studios, the Gauntlet, which opened in 1978 on Santa Monica Boulevard.
The Gauntet was funded by Richard Simonton, who Vice describes as “a wealthy businessman with a wife and children” who, by night, operated as “Malloy, a piercing enthusiast and homosexual S&M practitioner.”
“Ward, dubbed by MTV as ‘the granddaddy of the modern piercing movement,’ innovated piercing techniques as well as many jewelry designs such as the fixed bead ring and barbells,” says the Vice story, which can be read in full here . He also was an early practitioner of “clit piercing,” something that became all the rage among followers of Janet Jackson and Lady Gaga, who liked to flash their pierced privates.
I did not know that about Janet Jackson.