The Beverly Hills – Walking tour begins at Beverly Hills Visitors Bureau, located within the Chamber of Commerce building at 239 S. Beverly Drive. Please plan to spend at least two hours completing the entire tour. For your convenience, two hour free parking is available at select city structures.
1 Walk north on Beverly Drive to the corner of Charleville Blvd. and Beverly Drive. You are surrounded by the FOUR CORNERS, which are separate blocks built and owned for many years by the screen actress Corrine Griffith, the first person in the United States to own four city blocks.
2 Continue north on Beverly Drive until you cross Wilshire Blvd. At the northeast corner is ISRAEL DISCOUNT BANK, 206 N. Beverly Drive. Built in 1925 as the Beverly Theater by architect L.A. Smith, this Moorish-style building features an onion-shaped dome. Many world film premieres were shown here during the 1920’s-40’s.
3 Take a left on Wilshire Blvd., heading west. At the intersection of Rodeo Drive is 2 RODEO, one of the most expensive retail centers ever built. Ascend the Spanish Steps to Via Rodeo, a cobblestone pedestrian street, and continue north to Rodeo Drive and Dayton Way. Via Rodeo is the City’s first street built since Beverly Hills’ incorporation in 1914.
4 Walk north on Rodeo Drive to ANDERTON COURT, 322 N. Rodeo Drive, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1953. This Art Deco building has received little publicity because it is considered to be one of Wright’s lesser and zanier creations with its zig-zagged ramp and pointed spire.
5 One block north and across the street is the RODEO COLLECTION, 421 N. Rodeo Drive, built in 1981 by Daryoush Mahboubi Fardi architect Oliver Vidal created the center, which houses some of the world’s most famous designer shops in a futuristic marble setting.
6 Continue north to Little Santa Monica Blvd. On the northwest corner is the ARTISTS AND WRITERS BUILDING, 9501 Santa Monica Blvd. Built in 1924 by architect Roy S. Price of Gable and Wyant, this four-story Spanish Colonial has provided office space for hundreds of artists and writers, a tradition that continues. 7 Take a right on Little Santa Monica Blvd., and head east for three blocks. Across from the Jetson-like gas station on the southeast corner of Crescent Drive is the Georgian-style, three-building complex of Global Crossing. Designed by architect Paul Williams, these elegant structures surround a plaza with an original Florentine Fountain and Greek columns.
8 Continue north on Crescent Drive to BEVERLY HILLS CITY HALL, built in 1932 in the Spanish Renaissance tradition by architect William J. Gage. The low, classical base symbolizes government surmounted by a tower that signifies commerce, a style frequently employed in government buildings between 1913 and 1939. The original building was restored and additions made in 1990. The Civic Center complex is also home to the Public Library and the Police and Fire Departments.
9 Directly to the west is the BEVERLY HILLS POST OFFICE. Built in 1933, this Italian Renaissance design features signature terra cotta and brick, and the interior includes vaulted ceilings covered in mosaic and murals.
10 Across Santa Monica Blvd. to the north is one of the City’s most beautiful parks, BEVERLY GARDENS. Built in 1911, this 14-block stretch of gardens is planted with various species of trees, shrubs and flowers. The central park has the remains of a large lily pond, now filled with plants for safety reasons. At one time, a large sign spelling out “Beverly Hills” arched over the pond. The park is situated directly across from what was once the Pacific Electric Station, called “Morocco Junction.”
11 Continue west along Santa Monica Blvd. to a bronze statue situated in the park bordered by Canon and Crescent Drives. Created by Henri Alfred Marie Jacquemart, the statue, “HUNTER AND HOUNDS,” was purchased by banker W.D. Longyear as a memorial to his son, who was killed in World War I near the Chateau Thierry in France, where the same statue originally stood. Longyear found the statue, saw the holes from the shelling during the war, and arranged with the French Government to ship it to Beverly Hills. It was placed on the front lawn of his Beverly Drive estate in 1925, and for many years memorial ceremonies were held each Armistice Day. When the Longyears moved from Beverly Hills, they donated the statue to the City to be placed in the park.
12 One block north of Santa Monica Blvd. on Rodeo Drive is the O’NEILL HOUSE, 507 N. Rodeo Drive, one of the best examples of Gaudi-esque Art Nouveau architecture in the Los Angeles area. Its guest house was built between 1978 and 1983, and the main house was built in 1986 by architect Don Ramos. Six tile craftsmen created extensive mosaic tile work, and each signed their work by spelling their name in tile.
13 Further north on Rodeo Drive, the median strip is the remains of “DINKY,” a small train that connected Santa Monica and Sunset Boulevards and The Beverly Hills Hotel in 1914. When the trolley tracks were removed in the early 1920’s, the median became a bridle path until horses were banned within the City in 1930.
14 Continue west on Santa Monica Blvd. to Camden Drive to encounter one of the largest collections of cacti in the world. THE CACTUS GARDEN occupies the entire block between Camden and Bedford Drives.
15 Continue west on Santa Monica Blvd. to Wilshire Blvd. THE ELECTRIC FOUNTAIN at the corner was built in 1930 for $1,000, an amount procured by Elizabeth Frazier Lloyd, mother of Harold Lloyd, under the auspices of the Beverly Hills Women’s Club. The statue atop the fountain s ymbolizes an Indian rain prayer, and the frieze of figures circling its base represents the story of early California history.
16 Across the street, at the northwest corner of Wilshire and Santa Monica Blvds. is Merv Griffin’s Beverly HILTON Hotel, home to the annual Golden Globe Awards. Prior to the hotel’s construction in 1953, it was the site of Beverly Hills Nursery, which supplied most of the plants and landscaping for the early homes of the City.
17 Head east on Wilshire Blvd. to Little Santa Monica Blvd. to one of the most exciting new buildings in the City, Creative Artists Agency at 9830 Wilshire Blvd., which was built in 1989 by renown architect I.M. Pei. With one of the City’s most impressive entrances, Pei has created a masterpiece of marble and glass. A gigantic original Lichtenstein artwork is the centerpiece of the lobby.
18 Continue east on Wilshire Blvd. for a stroll down “Department Store Row,” including Barneys New York, Façonnable, Neiman Marcus, and Saks Fifth Avenue. The Regent Beverly Wilshire hotel, 9500 Wilshire Blvd., originally opened in 1928. The Italian Renaissance and Beaux Arts structure was designed by the architectural firm Walker & Eisen under the guidance of developer Walter G. McCarty. A second wing was added in 1970 by famed hotelier Hernando Courtright. The hotel’s charming private, cobblestone street El Camino Real, connects the two wings and features the lanterns of the Edinburgh Castle.
This concludes the walking tour.
Beverly Hills – Walking tour
