The Hurdle at Hancock Park: Nat King Cole’s Defiance of Racially Restrictive Covenants

As many artists will tell you, fame and respect can be mutually exclusive. American history is littered with examples of outstanding talents who were praised for their work and simultaneously harassed for their race. Notable among these was Nat King Cole, one of the foremost jazz singers and instrumentalists of his time. He is remembered for hits like ‘Unforgettable’, ‘L-O-V-E’ and ‘The Christmas Song’, which have become timeless classics. He is also remembered for his struggle against a racially restrictive covenant that attempted to bar him from owning a home in Hancock Park, Los Angeles.

Where a Legend Lived (and Fought)

Where does a musician at the height of his career settle? LA, of course. When Nat King Cole was newly married to his second wife, Maria, the couple embarked on a quest to find a suitable home to start a family. They finally settled on a stately mansion at 401 South Muirfield Road, Hancock Park.

This was an unusual choice in many ways. The Coles could easily afford the $85,000 home in 1948, which would be equivalent to over a million dollars today. However, Hancock Park was home to old money; families that had built generational wealth from real estate, transport, oil, and banking. It was an unlikely place for nouveau-riche musicians. It was an even more unlikely place for a Black couple like the Coles, because Hancock Park was a white-only neighbourhood.

Los Angeles Real Estate and Racist Covenants

Like a teabag left to fester at the bottom of a mug for far too long, the first half of the twentieth Century was steeped in racial segregation that has carried over from the days of slavery. Although the West Coast was comparatively tolerant compared to the South and thus considered a haven by many, old beliefs die hard. One of these was the segregation, which remained as a cultural norm long after the civil rights movement began striking down the laws that enforced it.

The concept of racial covenants was first popularised in Los Angeles in the early 1900s. A racial covenant was a condition baked into the purchase of a house that stipulated that there would be no Black residents in a given area aside from servants. Hancock Park in particular was established under a fifty-year racial covenant, set to expire in the 1970s. However, the same year the Coles made their purchase, the Supreme Court had ruled in Shelley v Kraemer that racial covenants were legally unenforceable on a federal level.

Regardless, they were aware that there would be some pushback. The Coles’ real estate agent hired a light-skinned (and presumably white-passing) woman to carry out the actual transaction in place of the buyers. After the sale went through, and the neighbourhood found out who was moving in, outrage spread faster than a groove on a jazz dance floor.

Public Image versus Private Battles

Nat King Cole was privileged to have achieved national celebrity and international appeal with the power of his smooth, clear-as-a-bell voice. His social standing was further raised by marrying Maria, a pedigreed socialite raised by her Aunt, activist and educator Charlotte Hawkins Brown. However, his impeccable public image did not protect him from the backlash that followed the purchase of the house in Hancock Park.

Their neighbours attempted to buy the Coles out of their home to get them out of the neighbourhood. When the Coles would not sell, threats piled up, directed not just at the Coles but even at their real estate agent. Even this polite, moneyed, ‘model’ Black family was considered too vulgar for Hancock Park’s tastes.

Nat King Cole eventually felt a need to hold a press conference to address the matter, but his genteel approach and desire for peace changed little. He was never known as a particularly outspoken activist, especially in the early half of his career. His attempt to reason with the public fell on deaf ears. A new homeowner’s association was formed just to pressure his family out of the neighbourhood. A gunshot went through his window, and years later, a cross was burned into his yard. What truly struck a nerve for Cole was the death of his dog, which had been poisoned with tampered meat set out by the neighbours.

The situation gathered national attention, further fuelled by a tax scandal. In 1951, the house was seized by the IRS due to a massive debt of back taxes owed by Nat. It was rumoured that this was catalysed by the influence of Cole’s powerful neighbours. The Coles eventually reclaimed after Nat bargained for a payment plan. This was in no small part due to public pressure from the Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper, which covered the proceedings and amplified public support for the Cole family.  A few unions, and even First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, publicly backed the couple.

The Slow Wheels of Change

Whether through stubbornness or conviction, the family persevered. This was not the first time Nat had faced overt racism. In his professional life, he had been denied entry at numerous performance venues and hotels despite being one of the country’s foremost names in jazz and pop music. His approach was to take it in stride. Eventually, bit by excruciatingly tiny bit, the resistance diminished. It may have taken many years, but eventually, society evolved to a point where living next to a jazz star was something to boast about, not resist.

The Coles settled in and raised their five children in the tree-circled Tudor brick mansion. Nat lived at Hancock Park until he died in 1965. Maria lived there until the 1970s, when she sold it to move to Massachusetts.

Legacy of Black Home Ownership in Los Angeles

Although Hancock Park remains a preserve of the wealthy upper class, its racial demographics have evolved. About 40% of its residents are people of colour, 5% of whom are African American. While these aren’t overwhelming numbers by any stretch of imagination, they signal great progress since Nat and Maria Cole’s first controversial steps. Their experience proves that racism cannot be outrun, even with fame, money, and diplomacy. Resistance, however quiet, is a critical step to lasting social and political change.