Cherry Blossom Time

Washington, D.C.

www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org

DC's iconic cherry blossoms are expected to reach peak bloom on Thursday, March 26.  The peak, defined by 70% of the Yoshino trees blooming is occuring early due to warm weather.  The best viewing at the Tidal Basin is expected to last though the weekend of March 28-29 following the peak. The peak blooms generally last 4-7 days, but can last up to 2 weeks under ideal, cool weather. 

The National Cherry Blossom Festival runs from March 20-April 12.  It features an opening ceremony, kite festival and parade. The festival honors American and Japanese cultures and represents a close bond forged between the two countries that began with Tokyo Mayor Yukio Ozaki's gift of the trees back in 1912. 

And speaking of trees, you can assist in the effort to preserve and protect DC's iconic cherry trees through the Trust for the National Mall's .. Adopt a Cherry Tree campaign.

For those who wish to celebrate from afar, enthusiasts can see the cherry blossoms via the live BloomCam. The BloomCam is a live, 24/7 camera feed that provides a view of the cherry trees lining the Tidal Basin on the National Mall.  The camera is a partnership between the Trust for the National Mall, the National Park Service and EarthCam.  The camera changes angles every five minutes to provide a complete picture of the area.

An event called Petalpalooza takes place at the Wharf waterfront district in Washington along the Washington Channel of the Potomac River.  It features live music, art installations, family activities and a fireworks show over the Potomac River.

Few experiences capture the magic of Spring in Washington quite like the cherry blossoms.  The pale pink petals drifting across the Tidal Basin, the vibrant energy of the waterfront and the excitement of festivals like Petalpalooza combine to create an unforgettable seasonal atmosphere. 

 

Inside the Typing Pools:  What Happened to 2.6 Million Typists?

This documentary goes inside the typing pool, the labor, the IBM Selectric and their quiet disappearance.  The room no longer exists in most buildings, but if you know where to look, you can still find traces of it.  A reinforced floor on the third story of an old government building.  A usually large open space on a corporate floor plan that doesn't quite make sense for modern use.  A ventilation system that was clearly designed to handle something noisier than conversation.  The room held dozens of women, sometimes hundreds.  They sat in long rows at heavy machines.  They typed all day, every day. 

The sound was constant and extraordinary, a mechanical percussion that filled the entire floor that traveled through the walls and into the corridors that defined the acoustic character of a working office building for most of the 20th century. 

A typing pool was not simply an office where secretaries happened to type.  It was a centralized managed industrial unit with a larger organization specifically designed to process written documents. The concept emerged from a fundamental problem of large organizations.  In the early 20th century, businesses and government agencies were producing more written material than ever before .. letters, memos, contracts, reports, meeting minutes, financial statements, purchase orders .. all of it had to be produced by hand or by machine.  And the machine, the typewriter, required skill.  Not everyone in an organization could type.  Not everyone was expected to type.  Executives dictated.  Managers wrote notes by hand.  The actual production of clean, legible, properly formated text was specialized work and the typing pool was the industrial solution to that specialization. A typing pool was, in a meaningful sense, a document factory.

Picture a large American insurance company in 1952.  The building is downtown, eight or nine stories, stone facade, brass details in the lobby.  The executives are on the upper floors.  Legal is on six.  Accounts is on four.  The typing pool is on three.  You step off the elevator and you hear it immediately.  Even through the closed door at the end of the corridor, the sound is unmistakable.  It has a texture to it, a rhythm that is not quite rhythmic.  Dozens of individual machines, each one operating at its own pace, each one producting its own combination of keystrokes, carriage returns, the mechanical bell that signals the end of a line.  Together, they create something between music and machinery.  People who worked near typing pools for years often described the sound as something they simply stopped hearing after a while.  

You open the door and the sound becomes complete.  The room is long, wider than you expect.  The ceiling is high and there are large windows along one side.  The windows are important.  Typing is precise work.  It requires good light.  The machines sit on individual desks.  They're in parallel rows, running the length of the room with narrow aisles between them.  There are no cubicles.  There are no partitions.  The space is open and organized in the same way a production floor is organized for visibility, for supervision, for efficiency.  Each desk holds a typewriter, not a small portable machine.  They are bolted to the desk surface. Behind each desk sits a woman likely between the ages of 18-35.  She wears her hair back.  She sits straight.  Her hands are positioned over the keyboard in a specific way, fingers curved, wrists level. To her left, a wire basket, incoming work, dictation notes, cylinder recordings waiting to be transcribed.  To her right, another basket, completed work, ready for collection.  

A competent typist could sustain 60-80 words per minute.  A fast typist could reach over 100 words per minute with acceptable accuracy.  A document with errors had to be retyped from scratch which is the era before correction fluid and correction tape meant the entire page was wasted.

 Today, the insurance buildings remain in most cases.  The rooms have been converted, but the bones of the architecture have not changed.  If it was built before 1960, likely it has a floor that was once a typing pool.  The dimensions will suggest it.  The structure will confirm it .. the reinforced floor, the ventilation and the electrical configurations. Now the room is quiet.  People type on keyboards, but the keyboards are nearly silent.  Everyone wears headphones.  The sound of individual disconnected work has replaced the collective sound of the typing pool.

The typing pool is gone from daily life.  Now the machines are in museums or perhaps in storage. 

 

What Happened to the Drive-In Movie Theater?

Part II

At their peak in 1958, more than 4,000 drive-in movie theaters ooperated across the United States.  Today, only a few hundred remain.

For decades, the drive-in was one of the most affordable and flexible ways for American famillies to spend a summer evening.  You pulled in before sunset, clipped the speaker to your car window, watched the concession slides flicker across the screen and stayed as long as you wanted.  Kids fell asleep in the back seat.  Teenagers stayed for the second feature.  Nobody rushed you out.  

Some of the real reasons drive-in theaters declined were rising land values, the arrival of HBO in 1972, the spread of the VCR in the late 1970s and the rise of the indoor movie theater. Yet with the rise of television in the 1950s, indoor movie theaters faced competition.  The single-screen palace declined replaced by multiplexes which were single venues holding multiple screens which boomed in the 1980s. 

What Happened to the Drive-In Movie Theater? 

Part I

The first patented drive-in movie theater was opened by Richard M. Hollingshead on June 6, 1933 on Admiral Wilson Boulevard charging 25 cents per person in Camden, New Jersey.  The drive-in was designed as a family-friendly accessible alternative to indoor theaters.  After peaking in the 1950s and 1960s with over 4,000 U.S. locations, they declined due to the 1970s energy crisis, rising land values and home video, but experienced a niche resurgence as a nostalgic experience for another generation.

Richard M. Hollingshead, Jr., a sales manager at his father's company created the drive-in to solve the discomfort of traditional theaters and make movies accessible to families, regardless of how noisy children were. In 1932, Hollingshead tested his idea in his driveway by nailing a screen to trees, using a 1928 projector on his car hood and placing a radio behind the screen to test sound. He applied for a patent in August of 1932 which was granted in May 1933.  While the idea was novel the original drive-in was not immediately successful and Hollingshead sold it after three years.

Post WWII, with the boom in car culture, drive-ins exploded in popularity, particularly in rural areas and suburbs. The introduction of in-car speakers with volume control in 1941 by RCA significantly improved the experience.  Drive-ins often included playgrounds and miniature golf.

Drive-ins were not without challenges:  the sound broadcast from the screen reached viewers in the back with an annoying time delay, out of sync with what was happening in the films.  This was addressed first by more speakers, then by clip-on speakers, and ultimately by broadcasting the soundtrack directly to car radios.

Originally, the movie's sound was provided by speakers on the screen and later by individual speakers hung from the window of each car which was attached to a small pole by a wire.  These speaker systems were superseded by the more practical method of broadcasting the soundtrack through car radios. 

By 1958, the peak year for drive-in theaters in the United States, there were approximately 4,000 to 5,000 operating with specific figures citing around 4,063 locations marking the zenith of their popularity before television and home entertainment led to a decline.  The height of the drive-in era was driven by post-war culture and the baby boom. This boom was fueled by suburban growth and the demand for family--friendly entertainment, a niche drive-ins filled perfectly. 

Michigan has the largest drive-in theater, the Ford-Wyoming Drive-In in Dearborn which once held nine screens and capacity for 3,000 cars making it the world's largest though it now operates with fewer screens but remains a huge venue.  Another contender for the biggest screen is Gengie's Drive-In in Maryland known for its massive screen.

The oldest continuously operating drive-in theater in America is Shankweiler's Drive-In Theatre in Orefield, PA. off PA Route 309 by Wilson Shankweiler.  It opened on April 15, 1934 and holds the Guinness World Record as the oldest in the world being the second drive-in ever built in the United States after the original in Camden, New Jersey. The Shankweiler's Drive-In was one of the first drive-ins to use FM radio for audio and later adopted digital projection. 

 

 

The Biltmore Hotel

150 Bradley Place

Palm Beach, Florida

Built in 1926 as a boutique hotel for $7 million by winter Palm Beach resident, Gustav Maurice Heckscher, the Alba Hotel was a grand 12-story, 550-room Palm Beach landmark designed for wealthy socialites.  Heckscher had developed properties in California and named the new hotel after his polo-playing friend, the Spanish Duke of Alba. The Duke was supposed to have attended the grand opening, but records show he didn't.  But who cared?  A Who's Who was still present.  

While Eva Roberts Cromwell Stotesbury* along with Paris and Lillie Singer, among others, helped with activities among the older crowd, Stotesbury's son from a previous marriage to Olver Eaton Cromwell, by the name of Jimmy Cromwell, who later married the richest-girl-in-the-world, Doris Duke caroused with a younger A-list group in the Alba's Isabella dining room and Muleteer Grill. Throughout its hotel years, it hosted famous visitors including the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The Alba was the talk of the town.  Unlike previous wooden Palm Beach hotels that succumbed to fire, it was a fortress of stucco, reinforced concrete and quarry-key rock. Though however robust its structure, the Alba Hotel wasn't strong enough to weather the financial crisis that lay ahead.  By the spring of 1926, the hotel was bankrupt as Florida's land boom began to bust.  By 1927, under new ownership, it reopened as part of the national Ambassador Hotels system and would be renamed The Ambassador. 

The Alba Hotel 

Circa 1920s

In 1934, under yet another owner, the name changed again and this time it stuck:  The Palm Beach Biltmore which drew guests equally as prominent as before.  Then everything changed all over Palm Beach.

The island in the early 1940s remained a resort town as ever, but one on wartime footing with a local Civil Patrol and numerous periodic blackouts as German U-boats lurked offshore during WWII.  The Breakers was pressed into service as an Army hospital while locals opened their homes to provide meals and comfort to servicemen stationed in the area.

At the Biltmore in 1943, "elaborate furniture and most everything else that once represented civilian luxury and comfort at the hotel had been removed in favor of austere double-decker cots, plain scant furniture and rigid discipline" a visiting Miami News reporter wrote.

Until February 1945, the nation's largest indoctrination and training center for the U.S. Coast Guard Women's Reserve was at the Biltmore.  Not long after, the Biltmore served as a U.S. Naval convalescent hospital with a doctor and nurse staff with rooms for 1,400 patients.

Circa 1943-1944

After the war, the hotel underwent other ownership changes, first with Hilton Hotels of America which lightened and brightened the building's Spanish theme dating from its Alba Hotel days. A new lounge was added called the Cascades along with a party room called Fiesta.  

By 1970, insurance magnate and philanthropist John D. MacArthur had bought the Biltmore for a reported $1.5 million after the previous owner filed for bankruptcy and closed the hotel which then temporarily lost its occupancy license. MacArthur was a force in the area.  He had already made a fortune investing in Florida real estate and by the mid-1950s alone, he reportedly had purchased hundreds of acres in today's Lake Park, North Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens and more.

Surely, he'd breathe new life in the Biltmore though after tussling with town leaders over what the building's future would look like and also suffering health issues, MacArthur put the property up for sale.  On more than a few occasions, he made it clear there was a contingency:  If you want to buy it, no demolishing the building.

It wasn't until 1975 that a sale finalized:  Stanley J. Harte, a developer with a local sensibility, paid $5.3 million for the Biltmore property.  He planned to convert it all into condominium apartments. Since that time,the residences have been fully renovated and remodeled to reflect the chic South Florida style. Condos at the Biltmore offer two bedrooms, two bathrooms with approximately 2,000 square feet of indoor living space.  Common appointments include marble floors, 10-foot ceilings, custom cabinets, gourmet kitchens, ample storage, private balconies, laundry rooms, floor to ceiling windows, impact resistant glass plus high-end fixtures and furnishings.

"Its high time that the unpleasant sight of a beautiful building deteriorating before our very eyes should be stopped and its beauty restored to the fullest extent."

Stanley J. Harte

The 128-unit Palm Beach Biltmore Condominiums debuted in 1981 when Harte received an award from the Palm Beach Daily News.  "In simple terms, Mr. Harte's history in Palm Beach is written in the promises he made and kept" the Daily News then-publisher Agnes Ash said at Harte's winning Business Leader of the Year,

Back then, a one-bedroom condo might sell for $105,000. Today, units which include up to four-bedroom residences, start at significantly higher price points, of course.  A recent online search showed condos there with asking prices ranging from $3.975 million to $9.25 million. Amenities include a doorman and concierge service, an onsite building manager and other staff, as well as party rooms, gardens, a heated Olympic-sized saltwater swimming pool, private cabanas, locker rooms with infrared saunas, two Har-Tru tennis courts, bike and jogging trail, fitness center, conference rooms, on-site security, courtesy bus, valet and boat slips in the Intracoastal Waterway.  Nearby on Sunset Avenue is the Biltmore's beach club with a restaurant. It also offers a Grand Salon for grand parties.

Residents appreciate the deep dock access, private beach club and restaurant.  With its central location, residents of the Biltmore are never short on things to do.  From casual social events to black tie galas, the Palm Beach area is a mecca for charitable fundraisers, theatrical performances, symphonies, ballets, upscale shops, polo matches, championship golf courses, fishing excursions and equestrian events.

The historic building is situated on the lakefront just over a block north of Royal Poinciana Way facing the Intracoastal Waterway.  Opening in February 1926 with major society fanfare, it was built by a 1,400-member crew on the site.  Despite its luxurious debut, the hotel went bankrupt by May 1926 coinciding with the collapse of the Florida land boom through it continued to operate.  Known briefly as The Ambassador (1929) before being acquired a renamed the Palm Beach Biltmore by Colonel Henry Doherty in 1934. The hotel was famous for its glamorous parties and notable guests, reportedly including the Duke of Alba and mobster Al Capone.

The Palm Beach Daily News issued dated February 16, 2026 printed an article titled The Biltmore at 100, from Glamourous Hotel to Prestigious Address.

"Its halls have been roamed by everyone from royals to Hollywood stars and by social and financial elites from July Garland, Dorothy Parker and Arthur Hammerstein.  When it debuted 100 years ago this month, it was Palm Beach's tallest building:  Rising 12 stories with an architectural design bookended by towers, it was reminiscent of what The Breakers looks like today, an iconic 1896 founded Palm Beach property. In February 1926, the oceanfront Breakers was temporarily absent .. still under construction after an all-consuming 1925 fire.  So imagine the awe when, just a stone's hurl west, the soaring Hotel Alba on the lake opened just after the midpoint of the Roaring '20s.  With a Spanish flair to its architecture, it was tall and stalwart and grand.

Known as The Palm Beach Biltmore condominum since 1981, it has been a sought-after residential property.  The town designated the building protected landmark in 1991. 

A by-invitation centennial celebration took place Feb. 5 at the lakeside property at 150 Bradley Place, a little more than a block north of Royal Poinciana Way.  Among those present at the centennial party was longtime Biltmore resident Ambassador Eric M. Javits who has wintered in Palm Beach for years including the stays of his childhood.  He recalls how his late parents likely were the first overnight guests on the property in 1926 and weeks before The Alba debuted on February 17. The opening event complete with two orchestras onsite included such chairpersons as then so-called Palm Beach society queen Eva Stotesbury, who lived on the island's then-most extravagant estate, El Mirasol with her financier husband, Edward.  

With 500-plus guest rooms, the massive twin-towered Alba had risen, phoenix-like on a six acre property.  "The Alba", a local reporter noted, "towers above all other Palm Beach hotels and clubs in its commanding position facing the palm-fringed city across the way" .. a reference to West Palm Beach.

Logo of Palm Beach Condominium on gate leading to dock on the intracoastal waterway.

Sunrise over the Biltmore Condominium

*Eva and Edward Stotesbury, the same prominent couple behind the famed Whitemarsh Hall in PA (featured on this blog) and Wingwood in Bar Harbor, Maine also owned El Mirasol, a lavish Palm Beach estate.  Completed in 1920, the Mediterranean-style mansion boasted 37 grand rooms, a 40-car garage in the basement level and even its own zoo .. a true symbol of Gilded Age extravagance of South Florida. Designed by the famous Palm Beach architect Addison Mizner, the estate spanned the full width of the island (Atlantic Ocean to Intracoastal Waterway) encompassing more than 40 acres.

El Mirasol

Circa

January 19, 1933

Despite its stately splendor, El Mirasol a 37-room Spanish Colonial Revival met the same fate as many other opulent homes of its era and was sadly demolished in the 1950s, erasing one of Palm Beach's most remarkable architectural landmarks from the landscape.  El Mirasol was believed to be located on the Intracoastal Waterway near North County Road at 348 North Ocean Boulevard. Today, a luxury residence is on the former El Mirasol property.

 Hollywood Legends and Their Homes

.. let's start with Bing Crosby and Lucille Ball .. 

Bing Crosby's Home

1200 Jackling Drive

Hillsborough, California 

Bing Crosby's primary longtime residence was a 13,635-square-foot French chateau-style mansion.  The home sold for $25 million dollars in June 2025.  Built in 1929, the 5-acre estate was owned by the family for 60 years and featured 11 bedrooms, a pool converted to a lawn and a piano from Bing's movie, High Society with actress, Grace Kelly.

Crosby purchased the home in 1965 to raise his family away from Hollywood.  The property previously belonged to Seabiscuit race horse owner, Charles Howard.

Crosby also had a well-known desert home in the Palm Springs area.  It was situated in the exclusive Thunderbird Heights community.  The 6-bedroom, 5.5 baths with 6,700-square-foot, Moroccan-inspired estate. The property is known for its 1.36 acre lot, a 1,400-square-foot master bedroom, a professional kitchen and extensive panoramic views.  While associated with several homes in the area, the Calico Road home is the most prominent property often linked to him in the Coachella Valley. 

70375 Calico Road

Rancho Mirage

10500 Camarillo 

Toluca Lake, California 

Crosby owned this 20-room home near Hollywood from 1936-1943. Known as the "Bing Crosby Estate" he lived here with his first wife, Dixie Lee and their 4 sons. This property was rebuilt after a fire and has since been owned by several celebrities including the late, Andy Griffith.

Bing Crosby was honored with three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 8, 1960.  These stars recognized his massive contributions in three distinct categories:  Recording (6751 Hollywood Blvd.), Motion Pictures (1611 Vine Street) and Radio (6769 Hollywood Blvd.).

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz Home

1000 North Roxbury Drive

Beverly Hills, California 

This is the home that Lucy and Desi purchased in 1954 for $80,000.  It is still standing today though modified from its 1936 original appearance.  Lucy lived here until her passing in 1989.  Roxbury Drive was the street of stars.  Jack Benny lived next door, Peter Falk lived down the street as did Betty Grable, George and Ira Gershwin and Jimmy Stewart.

Lucy's home decor style can be best described as a blend of elegance, warmth and a dash of fun reflecting her vibrant personality.  The home featured luxurious touches showcasing her love for classic elegance.  Lucy adored her outdoor spaces, particularly her beautifully landscaped garden where she would tend to plants and enjoy the sunshine.  Her home was filled with personal mementos showcasing her artistic passions and family life.  The interior of this home included the living room designed to blend comfort with style, reflecting her larger-than-life Hollywood persona. 

Notable features in her Roxbury Drive address included spacious rooms as the home had six bedrooms, seven bathrooms and spanned approximately 4,126 square feet.  The architectural style was a blend of 1930s elegance and modern design with a Mediterranean Revival style and Spanish-style architecture.  The ornate details featured arched doorways, wrought-iron details and intricate stucco work reflecting the era rich in artistic flair.  

Lucy's homes included a Palm Springs retreat which boasted mid-century modern charm with pops of color.

40241 Club View Drive

Rancho Mirage, California

Coachella Valley

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz owned this ranch-style home in Palm Springs built near the 17th fairway in the gated Thunderbird Country Club.  It was "desert modern" or "open ranch" style featuring large patios and extensive floor-to-ceiling glass windows to merge indoors with outdoors, natural stone and decorative concrete walls creating an open, airy atmosphere. Designed for entertaining and privacy, the desert home featured a luxurious pool and according to lore, was built on a lot won by Desi in a poker game!  The home was a desert escape during the I Love Lucy years. 

It was designed by the most renowned black architect of the 20th century, Paul Revere Williams (1894-1980). Williams was known as the "Architect to the Stars" and was the first home completed in the country club development. An interesting fact is that Williams taught himself to draw upside down.  He retired in 1973 shaping the architectural look of Southern California from residential projects to commercial and municipal ones. He earned that "architect to the stars" tagline after designing homes during the Golden Age of Hollywood for a raft of A-list celebrities besides Lucille Ball which included Tyrone Power, Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra and silent movie legend, Lon Chaney. 

Architect Paul R. Williams in his Los Angeles office.

Photo: Julius Shulman

Williams' commercial buildings that came off his drawing board were Saks Fifth Avenue's flagship Beverly Hills store, the Los Angeles County Courthouse and landmark additions to LA's Beverly Hills Hotel. When Williams passed, he left behind a prolific portfolio of more than 3,000 buildings that included homes, hotels, banks, churches, hospitals and schools many of which have become Southern Caifornia icons.  

Williams also previously designed Lucy and Desi's home in the Chatsworth area of Los Angeles at 19700 Devonshire Street for $16,000 in 1941.  The property was on five-acres and called Desilu Ranch.  It was a secluded, rustic oasis featuring orange groves, a swimming pool, pool house and game room.  The ranch was known for its many animals including dogs, cats and a cow named the "Duchess of Devonshire". 

It sold in 1956 to actress Jane Withers and her husband, Kenneth Errair before its 1976 demolition for a housing development.  Sadly, it no longer exists as a landmark.

1194 North Via Miraleste

Del Mar, California

Another Palm Springs home associated with Lucy and Desi was located in the Movie Colony neighborhood.  Known as "Casa de Amigos", this Spanish Colonial-style property is often referenced in historical accounts of their time in the area.  Today, it is operated as a luxury rental property.  In July 2009, this "Old Hollywood" celebrity home opened its gates for events.  Property owner, Amber Willat and planning director, Gina Leslie have expanded its use to private and community events.  

After divorcing Lucille Ball in 1960, Desi Arnaz moved into their former summer home located at 1920 Ocean Front Drive in Del Mar, California. Based on reports and discussions involving Desi's daughter, Lucie Arnaz, the original home in Del Mar was torn down and replaced by two new properties.  While he did own a beachfront property there until his passing in 1986, the specific structure no long exists in its original form.

The coastal town served as a sanctuary for him where he frequently attended races at the Del Mar Racetrack, a passion he maintained alongside music.  This home was a significant, quieter alternative to their large, more public estates in Beverly Hills and in Chatsworth. Arnaz's connection to Del Mar began in the 1940s when he first visited the racetrack, a glamourous destination founded by Bing Crosby and frequented by Hollywood's biggest stars though for Desi, it wasn't just a social scene .. it was a true love affair with the sport.  He owned and bred thoroughbreds, frequently attending races and becoming a well-known figure at the Turf Club. Lucille Ball, too, shared in his love for Del Mar, often accompanying him to the races.  Photos from the era capture the couple in their element .. laughing in the grandstands, placing bets and rubbing shoulders with the Hollywood elite.  Their presence added to Del Mar's reputation as a playground for the stars, where the entertainment industry and California's coastal charm blended seamlessly. 

Del Mar Racetrack is where "the turf meets the surf" at 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd.

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz with a jockey at the track

Photo courtesy of Del Mar Thoroughbred Club

Desi Arnaz's home in Del Mar, a peaceful retreat with stunning beach views, reflected his Cuban heritage and mid-century modern style.  The iconic residence where he spent his final days.  The house featured a Mediterranean Revival design with stucco walls, red-tiled roofs and arched windows blending indoor and outdoor living spaces. His final days in the home were marked by a heartfelt phone call from his ex-wife, Lucille Ball, with whom he shared a deep and enduring connection.

Desi Arnaz's last words to Lucille Ball, spoken during their final phone call on their wedding anniversary in 1986 were "I love you, honey.  Good luck with your show" after she told him she loved him.  Their daughter, Lucie revealed this simple, tender exchange which offered closure and marked a moment of peace before Arnaz passed away from lung cancer two days later.  It was November 30, 1986 when Lucie Arnaz put the phone to her father's ear and Lucille Ball told him "I love you" multiple times. Desi replied with his loving farewell, followed by a wish for her future TV appearance. 

Lucille Ball was widely considered Desi Arnaz' true love, despite their famously tumultuous marriage and divorce with both acknowledging their deep bond and partnership even sharing passionate love letters, though his infidelity and struggles with alcohol led to their separation.  A devastating end to a love that built an empire but was ultimately complex and challenging.  

Lucy's Childhood Home

59 Lucy Lane

Celeron, New York 

 The Lucy House in New York State is located at 59 Lucy Lane (formerly 59 West Eighth Street) in Celoron, New York near Jamestown, NY.  Lucy's childhood home was meticulously restored to its original appearance by fans and owners, Mary and Bill Rapaport since 2005.  The restoration was with input from Lucy's brother, Fred Ball and cousin, Cleo Smith. The home features original elements like the original bathtub and linoleum, as well as lilac bushes in the backyard. Lucille Ball grew up here with her mother, brother and grandparents until 1927.

Lilacs for Lucy

This wall art now on display in Lucy's childhood home was painted by Michael Israel.*

*Michael Israel is a world-renowned artist based in Boca Raton, Florida.  Famous for his high-energy "art concerts" where he creates large-scale, realistic paintings in minutes using a "speed painting" technique often for charity events and celebrities raising millions for various causes.  His portfolio includes portraits of celebrities, musicians and historical figures, as well as cityscapes and patriotic themes.  He has performed for presidents, Olympic events and major corporations.  His work has been featured at prestigious venues like the Grimaldi Forum in Monte Carlo.

Michael has lived his motto:  "When Imagination Exceeds Reality, Dreams are Born!"

www.michaelisrael.com 

Lucille Ball was honored with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 8, 1960.  She received one for her work in Motion Pictures (6436 Hollywood Blvd.) and one for Television (6104 Hollywood Blvd.). Miss Ball was among the inaugural group of entertainers honored when the walk was first installed.  This cemented her legacy for all time.