If you think Beverly Hills is the location for movie stars, shopping on Rodeo Drive, the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, and lima beans, you're right. Wait, you didn't know about the lima beans? Well, in the 1800s, much of the Beverly Hills area was part of a lima bean farm.
Another bit of Beverly Hills trivia to share with friends is the origin of Wilshire Boulevard. It once was part of a Native American trail, and the hotel site may have served as a campground. Now, as you explore locations around Beverly Hills, you can view them as they are today while imagining how they appeared in the past.
Start your exploration with lunch or by spending a night at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel or the Beverly Hills Hotel.
The E-shaped Beverly Wilshire Hotel opened in 1928 and has had many celebrity guests. Whether you dine at one of their restaurants or spend the night, you can indulge in the glamour and luxury of the hotel and feel like a celebrity.
The pink and green Beverly Hills Hotel opened in 1912 and offers luxury and glamour with a modern touch. The grounds feature 12 acres of exotic flowers and tropical gardens. Enjoy dinner at the hotel or stay in a guest room or bungalow, and you'll understand why many Hollywood stars favor it.
After dining or lodging among movie stars, you should visit the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences located in the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre. Replicas of the Oscar statue surround the theatre, which is the location of the Academy Awards and movie premieres. The Academy started in 1927, and the first Oscars were awarded in 1929. The Academy also preserves an extensive collection of films and movie-related photographs, posters, scripts, and artistic renderings.
Beverly Hills and the fantasy settings of the movie industry is the perfect place for the Spadena House. It resembles a somewhat dilapidated storybook house and is also called The Witch's House. Designed by movie art director Harry Oliver, it was built in 1921 to serve as the offices for Irvin Willat. Relocated in 1934, it became a private residence and was deliberately landscaped to look overgrown. The third owner did some needed renovations in 1997. It's located at 516 Walden Drive.
The 1920s Greystone Mansion, with its 18.3 acres, takes you from the fantasy movie setting of Spadena House to the fantasy mansion style of Beverly Hills. Built over a three year period and completed in 1928, Greystone Mansion was originally the home Edward Doheny, Jr. The estate's original grounds, designed in Gothic and neo classical style by Paul G. Thiene, included streams, waterfalls, a fire station, and more.
The mansion, designed by Gordon B. Kaufmann, is constructed of steel reinforced concrete with an Indiana limestone exterior and a Welsh slate roof. A different artist designed the five chimneys.
The 46,054 square foot interior features 55 rooms including a master bedroom suite with a massage room and two baths. The bedrooms for Doheny's two oldest sons were connected to a circular staircase leading to a recreation wing with a movie theater, a Brunswick bowling alley, a billiard room, and a hidden bar. The living room features a balcony to spotlight musicians performing for special occasions. The mansion also includes rooms for a live-in staff of 15.
The mansion has been used as a movie backdrop and is now owned by the city of Beverly Hills. It became a public park in 1965. The mansion is open for special events such as Music in the Mansion, and the park is open daily.
The Beverly Gardens Park occupies 1.9 miles alongside Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills. The park offers a lit, 40-foot replica of the Beverly Hills Sign with a lily pond in front of it, and it features the Wilshire Electric Fountain at one end and the Doheny Fountain at the other end. You can walk along the path that runs the length of the park and enjoy the cactus and rose gardens. The community events held at the park include the annual Beverly Hills Art Show on the third weekends of May and October.
If you would like a manicured landscape equal to the Greystone Mansion and the Beverly Gardens Park while still having time to enjoy all that Beverly Hills has to offer, let the lawn experts at Lawn Love take care of your lawn maintenance for you.
