HOLLYWOOD’S LEADING BROODING MAN IS SO MUCH MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE.
Jon Hamm’s an exceptional guy, the kind of person whose coolness is so effortless that it would make even Don Draper jealous. Jon pulled up to our shoot in his Mercedes and instantly went to the 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing we had on set, striking up a conversation with its owner, Gil. A conversation starter in its unique shade of blue, we had to pry him away from the car to get him to wardrobe and start our shoot. As usual, it was a beautiful sunny day in Los Angeles.
We were at Owlwood Estate, a $115,000,000 mansion situated on 10 manicured acres bordering the renowned Los Angeles Country Club. It’s the largest property in Los Angeles’s most coveted and exclusive enclave, Holmby Hills—arguably the most exclusive in all of Los Angeles itself, if not the entire west coast. The estate effortlessly straddles the line between classic elegance and refined modernity and, over decades, has been a stylish backdrop for some of the brightest Hollywood legends.
Initial owners included businessman Charles H. Quinn and, subsequently, hotel magnate Joseph Drown, founder of the Hotel Bel Air. By the 1950s, Hollywood came to Owlwood when Joseph M. Schenck, the first President of United Artists and chairman of 20th Century Fox bought the estate. During this period it’s said that Marilyn Monroe was a frequent guest, but perhaps the most notable occupants of Owlwood came into residency thanks to a chance encounter in the 1960s, when then owner actor Tony Curtis threw a party that brought Sonny and Cher to the home. They fell in love with it, eventually purchased, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Today, Owlwood serves as a perfectly appropriate location for Nobleman to bring two legends of our own together—the ineffable Jon Hamm and a 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing. I started with my usual question. A gentleman always…
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PHOTOGRAPHY BY ERIC MICHAEL ROY
VIDEO BY JOSHUA ADAMS
ART DIRECTION BY DOUG MCLAUGHLIN
WORDS BY KARA STUDZINSKI
STYLING BY TIFFANI MORENO
GROOMING BY KIM VERBECK
SHOT ON LOCATION AT OWLWOOD ESTATE COURTESY OF COMPASS
