House of Davids – 21 DEC 2010

There was a slight break in the rain when I was returning from Glendale; so, I took a detour to check out Youngwood Court, also known as the House of Davids. A wildly bizarre house on 3rd and Muirfield in Hancock Park belonging to the singer, Norwood Berry Young who has 19 statues of Michelangelo’s David lining his driveway.

Each Christmas he turns his yard into an extravagant display of lights and cotton snow complete with a black Mr. & Mrs. Santa. I photographed it a few years ago when he put Santa hats on all the statues. Now they have matching red leather jackets.

I knew there was a holiday card in there somewhere:

So who is Norwood Young and why so many statues? It seams several years ago, he put “a” Statue of David in his front yard. Some neighbors complained and wanted to force him to remove it. He brought in 16 more and he's now up to 19. He is a self-proclaimed: Singer, Songwriter, Author, Son of God, Philanthropist, Confidant, Son, Brother, Friend, Producer, Motivational Speaker, and King (hence the crown above his front door). LA City Beat Magazine did declare him King of Hancock Park in November of 2008. Last year, he published a tell-all autobiography, Getting Back to My Me. He has several YouTube videos…most are very dated in style, giving me flashbacks to the 70’s. He has a pleasant voice but for my tastes it is more piano bar than CD material. Before doing a Michael Jackson on his face, which he is now reversing as part of his childhood abuse recovery process, Norwood was on Starsearch (back when Ed McMahon was still alive). Several people blog about him but most know little or nothing about him and only want to denounce his choice in lawn décor (these same ignorant people think his name is Norbert Youngwood and his house belonged to Nat King Cole which was at 401 S. Muirfield Rd). According to The Black Gays of LA, his Norrywood Christmas Party will be “extra, extra, fabulous!” He does seem to rub shoulders with many celebrities.
 
I love his front yard…anytime of year. His kind of extravagance just adds to what makes Southern California just a great place to live!