Beverly Hills Los Angeles Tour

Beverly Hills

In the 1910s the Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas would transition from Mexican-cattle-ranch to Mix-residential thanks to Burton E. Green (along Huntington); but throughout the 60s-70s evolved partly to commercial thanks to Fred Hayman — and today some mansions have become museums that give you a glance into the glamour of the Hills.

Time period: 1920-now

Movie/book: Beverly Hills Cop (1984)/The Legendary Estates of Beverly Hills by Jeff Hyland

Soundtrack: Jazz/Lounge music

Fashion: nude colors, lounge wear and statement sunglasses (plus an it bag)

Budget:

E.F. Hill: Map of Los Angeles, California; LA, 1928

Geo. E. Read, Inc.: Beverly Hills Street Map with a Key to the Homes of Motion Picture Celebrities and Other Notables; LA, 1926

This walking tour would take you around the streets of Beverly Hills: where grand mansions got built by executives and movie stars during the Golden Age of Hollywood; and where luxury brands and auction houses have opened up their flagship stores in recent days. The area is characterized by: Californian architecture, small winding streets and luxury shops. What now is Beverly Hills used to be a cattle ranch called Rodeo de las Aguas until 1907 when investors brought the ranch to looking for oil; sadly they didn’t find oil (but water) so they orchestrated a plan B which was dividing the land into lots and renamed it Beverly Hills. In 1912 the Beverly Hills Hotel opened up to draw buyers to the area, and right behind it that same year the first mansion in the hills got finished The Virginia Robinson Gardens. During the Art Deco days the land from Pasadena to Santa Monica got urbanized into one urban sprawl thanks to: the railroad, electric cars and oil money; and Beverly Hills became the glamorous neighborhood of the SoCal urban Sprawl habitated by movie stars and nepo babies. In 1928 the Beverly Wilshire Apartment Hotel got inaugurated and a decades latter the Saks Fifth Avenue opened up consolidating the area as a luxury neighborhood. Beverly Hills is technically a different city from Los Angeles with its own city hall and public institutions, most of them in Californian style buildings a long the Santa Monica Blvd. Through the decades it remained residential until 1952 when Frank Lloyd Wright did his last building in LA, The Anderton Court Shops on Rodeo drive, but it wasn’t until the 60s when Fred Heyman (the father of Rodeo Drive) opened Giorgio Beverly Hills at 273 of the street that made it luxurious; and after him others fallowed like Aldo Gucci in 1968 and Van Cleef & Arpels. By the 80s the “Golden Triangle” got consolidated as the luxury commercial hub with fancy restaurants, boutiques and furniture stores. The tour suggests having breakfast at the Beverly Hills Hotel plus visiting 2 mansions turn in museums during the morning; then go window shopping at art galleries and designer shops with a relaxing break at a Doheny State before in the afternoon; and to end the day dinner plus a Californian architecture walking tour.