That’s right, I’m taking you inside the Armand Hammer Family Mausoleum... why, because I can.
How many of us will ever go inside a mausoleum? Not many. And as luck would have it, one of my dear friends for nearly two decades is a member of the Hammer family, Ms. Casey Hammer. For years she’s joked about taking me inside the family’s mausoleum, where she’d often hang out with her late father Julian Hammer, and late grandfather Dr. Armand Hammer. With her wicked sense of humor, she’d leave the doors ajar, sit back, and then surprise and scare unsuspecting tourists, catching them off guard as they’d try and enter. So, since I finally have this Design Diary in place (thanks to her encouragement) I thought I’d take her up on the offer to finally see the inside of it.
If you’ve ever been to the world famous Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, then you’ve probably seen this mausoleum . Trip Advisor rates this mausoleum as #48 of 1,010 Attractions in Los Angeles. Yes, it’s odd to refer to a cemetery as world famous but here’s a short list of Hollywood Luminaries who are buried here: Truman Capote, Heather O’Rourke (the young actress who played ‘Carol Anee’ in Poltergeist I, II, III – as her headstone states) Dean Martin, Walter Matthau, Carroll O’Connor, Rodney Dangerfield, Farrah Fawcett, Merv Griffin and yes, the worlds most famous and iconic blonde, Marilyn Monroe.
It had been nearly a decade since Casey was inside the family mausoleum. She inserted the key, gave it a little turn, and the heavy bronze gate slowly began to opened. Once the doors were open, the interior took on new life. The luster of the white marble looked brilliant as the setting sun streamed in through the leaded glass side window. The marble floor sparkled with rainbows patterns creating a mystical glow that permeated the space. As we stepped inside, I looked up and noticed the stunning stained glass skylight that was barely visible from the outside. As you may have noticed, the exterior is granite, while the doors are bronze. I would love to know more about the design motifs used in the skylight, leaded glass side windows and the doors, however, I can’t seem to find any information about them. I also couldn’t find any information on who designed the space, but I did learn that this is the only family mausoleum in the cemetery.
Casey explained to me that her grandfather moved his parents Julius and Rose Hammer, as well as brother Harry Hammer, over from Russia to be entombed here. There are two spaces left which are designated for Casey and her brother. Until recently, I couldn’t begin to imagine what it’s like to know where your final resting place would be. However, I’ve recently made that decision for myself, and there’s a sense of relief that comes with taking care of this type of business.
During my feng shui studies at UCLA, our teacher explained to us that thousands of years ago in the asian culture, a warring nation would first attack the tombs of the dead to usurp the chi from the living, thus weakening their opponents. Their belief system indicated that the living drew energy from the deceased relatives for up to 80 years. If that’s true, then I can see why Casey takes great solace in visiting her father, grandfather and great grandparents in this elegant space located just across the street from her grandfathers museum, the Armand Hammer Museum. I know how sacred this space is to her, and I appreciated the opportunity to go inside and spend time with her family. I will also admit that we took a few #CemetarySelfies (see Instagram) and some other photos that might be considered inappropriate… but it gave us both huge belly laughs, and nothing raises the vibration of a space more than laughter. Therefore, I believe we left more ‘light’ in the space than we took.
