Los Angeles & Southern California - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [70]
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RODEO DRIVE
It’s pricey and pretentious, but no trip to LA would be complete without a saunter along Rodeo Drive, the famous three-block ribbon of style where sample-size fembots browse for Escada and Prada. The latter’s flagship store at No 343 is a Rem Koolhaas-designed stunner lidded by a pitched glass roof. Most people gravitate to Euro-flavored Two Rodeo (Map; cnr Rodeo Dr & Wilshire Blvd), a cobbled lane lined with outdoor cafés for primo people-watching. Tip: if Rodeo price tags make you gasp, head one block over to the more down-to-earth boutiques and chic chains (Lululemon to Jigsaw London) along Beverly Dr.
For Frank Lloyd Wright fans, there’s the 1953 Anderton Court (322 N Rodeo Dr), a zany zigzag construction, although clearly not his best work. Also check out the 1988 O’Neill House (Map; 507 N Rodeo Dr), a few blocks north. It doesn’t have a famous architect, but the free-form art nouveau structure in the tradition of Catalán master Antonio Gaudí is definitely one of the more imaginative structures in Beverly Hills.
PALEY CENTER FOR MEDIA
Bye, bye Museum of TV & Radio and hello Paley Center for Media (MTR; Map; 310-786-1000; www.mtr.org; 465 N Beverly Dr; suggested donation adult/child/student & senior $10/5/8; noon-5pm Wed-Sun). This Industry institution renamed itself in 2007, ’cause, well, this is the digital age after all, and who wants to sound like a fuddy-duddy? Behind the scenes, though, not much has changed. For visitors, the main lure is still the mind-boggling archive of TV and radio broadcasts going back to 1918. The Beatles’ US debut on the Ed Sullivan Show? The moon landing? The Ugly Betty pilot? All here, docos to day soaps, cartoons to sitcoms, available for your listening and viewing pleasure at private consoles. Plus, two theaters for screenings, live broadcasts and discussions with the casts of Desperate Housewives and Law & Order. Getty Center architect Richard Meier designed the crisp, gleaming white building. Pick up a schedule at the information desk or call 310-786-1025.
BEVERLY HILLS HOTEL
Affectionately known as the ‘Pink Palace,’ the Beverly Hills Hotel (Map; 310-887-2887; 9641 Sunset Blvd) has served as unofficial hobnobbing headquarters of the Industry elite since 1912.
In the 1930s, its Polo Lounge was a notorious postchukker hangout of Darryl F Zanuck, Spencer Tracy, Will Rogers and other lords of the polo crowd. Marlene Dietrich had her very own 7ft-by-8ft bed installed in Bungalow 11, and Howard Hughes, the billionaire recluse, went progressively off his nut during 30 years of delusional semiresidence. Elizabeth Taylor bedded six of her eight husbands in various bungalows. While filming Let’s Make Love, Yves Montand and Marilyn Monroe were probably doing just that; Marilyn is also reported to have ‘bungalowed’ both JFK and RFK here as well.
Alas, by the ’70s, the grande dame had lost her luster and the stars went elsewhere to frolic. It took 20 years for a ‘knight in shining armor’ to rescue her from oblivion. The Sultan of Brunei coughed up almost $300 million to make her regain her blush, lurid wink and ability to seduce the power players. Scripts are once again read and deals cut by the pool, in the Polo Lounge, the Fountain Coffee Shop and the hip new Bar Nineteen12. If you’d like to stay here, Click here for details.
VIRGINIA ROBINSON GARDENS
Beverly Hills’ ultimate ‘secret’ garden (Map; 310-276-5367; www.robinson-gardens.com; 1008 Elden Way; tour adult/child 5-12/student & senior $10/3/5; 10am & 1pm Tue-Fri) is tucked among the manicured estates north of Sunset Blvd. Virginia Robinson, wife of department store mogul Harry Robinson, had a