North Hollywood barrel-shaped cafe to open its doors next month

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (KABC) -- North Hollywood has a lot going for it these days: new apartment buildings, trendy restaurants, even a barrel of laughs. But it's a barrel of a building partially hidden behind construction fencing that is once again catching people's attention.

Bobby Green and his two partners are known as the 1933 Group. They're set to reopen the old Idle Hour on Vineland Avenue. The barrel-looking building dates all the way back to 1941 and was built by former Universal Studios employee Michael Connolly and his wife Irene.

"In Los Angeles of 75 years ago, there were fanciful exotic buildings on every corner and now that there's just a tiny, tiny handful of them left, they're even more valuable and even more important to preserve," said local historian Chris Nichols.

Preserving, though, wasn't happening at the cafe. The past 70-some years have not been kind to the Idle Hour.

"Most of the wood was rotted so we had to completely strip all the siding off the exterior, interior, and then we had to bring everything up to code," Green said.

The new owners are banking on North Hollywood's resurgence. They see the Idle Hour being anything but idle once they open their doors next month.

"I see it packed every day, knock on wood," Green said.

Expensive wood. If you think the Idle Hour is looking like a million bucks these days, it's probably because that's what Green's company spent bringing the old cafe back to life. Actually, it's closer to $1.5 million.

"My partners and I agree, it's worth every penny," Green said. "This is a historical Los Angeles space, you know. L.A. used to be covered in buildings like this, buildings that look like dogs, shoes, chili bowls and luckily, there's a couple left around."

Same barrel, just different cars outside.