The Legendary Estates of Beverly Hills - by Jeffrey Hyland (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A re-edition of the authoritative Los Angeles estates book, featuring the homes, gardens, and lifestyles of many of the city's original great architects and residents.

This deluxe volume offers a meticulously researched and lavishly illustrated history of fifty magnificent estates in three of America's most prized residential districts: Beverly Hills, Bel-Air, and Holmby Hills. Lush color photographs as well as a trove of historical images take readers beyond the front gates for an exceptional view of the mansions, grounds, and gardens of these sumptuous estates and tell the history of Los Angeles's rise from rugged paddocks and farmland to famed metropolis. Each house is explored both for its historical and architectural importance, for here are the epitome of residences and gardens reflecting the famed Italianate and California Mediterranean styles by all the leading architects of Southern California, including Wallace Neff, James Dolena, Gordon Kaufmann, Robert Farquhar, Roland Coate, and Paul Williams. They built for clients such as Gary Cooper, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and Bing Crosby, whose own stories reflect the intrigue and foibles of Hollywood society. The book's final chapter, "Gone but Not Forgotten," pays homage to great estates that have been destroyed or lost to history.

Review Quotes

"...a meticulously researched and lavishly illustrated history of fifty magnificent estates..." -- Upscale Living

"The elites of Edwardian-era Los Angeles liked building their mansions in Pasadena and Hancock Park but would soon be looking west. The grand homes that rose out of the boom of the 1920s are at the heart of the opulent book The Legendary Estates of Beverly Hills, out Sept. 2 from Rizzoli. Author Jeff Hyland, the late cofounder of luxury real estate firm Hilton & Hyland, spent years researching the book and created a personal library of Beverly Hills historical items. His widow, Lori, is now CEO of the company and penned the introduction to this expanded edition." -- Los Angeles Magazine

"Judging this book by its cover photo and author credit (the late president of Hilton & Hyland real estate brokerage), one might think it would contain over-the-top lavish residential palaces rife with realtor-speak. However, you'd be only half right. Yes, the estates are lavish, but the prose is seriously researched (evidenced in the sources section) and informative. Well-illustrated histories of how Beverly Hills, Homby Hills, and Bel Air became the tony homes of the rich and famous begin each section. Home portraits follow featuring historic and contemporary photos (most by Randolph Harrison and Tim Street-Porter) along with stories of the famous residents and visitors--primarily from 1920s and '30s Hollywood. The lives of the architects and designers are highlighted as well for the full story of the homes. Like almost any other book on the history of LA single-family residences, there's a last elegiac section on homes that have been lost." -- Society of Architectural Historians

About the Author

Jeffrey Hyland (1946-2022) was the president of Hilton & Hyland, the preeminent real estate brokerage firm in Beverly Hills. He was frequently quoted in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Los Angeles Times as an authority on Southern California real estate, architecture, and history. Lori Hyland is the chairman and owner of Hilton & Hyland.