Gallery

From the moment in May, 1912, that Margaret J. Anderson and her son Stanley opened the original, Elmer Grey-designed Beverly Hills Hotel (image 2), it became the glamorous heart of the Beverly Hills community. Though at that time Beverly Hills was a relatively underdeveloped area near Los Angeles, “The Pink Lady,” as she is affectionately known, was soon surrounded by the homes of movie industry executives and stars. For decades Hollywood elite lounged at poolside, were seen in the lobby and were even known to appropriate whole public areas for their private use.  The movie stars of the 1920s, 30s and 40s felt so proprietary about the hotel that they often asked management to permanently reserve their favorite tables in the hotel’s restaurants and bars.  Reclusive aviator Howard Hughes maintained a 30-year reservation for four of the hotel’s bungalows (image 16) designed by Paul R. Williams.

The hotel saw hard times during the depression of the ‘30s and closed for a short period, reemerging in the 1940s with some of its aura intact. In 1941, Hernando Courtright and a group of investors purchased the hotel and hired Paul R. Williams and interior designers John Laszlo & John Luccareni and Harriet Shellenberger to redesign and update the lobby. The trio covered the lobby walls with its distinctive banana leaf wallpaper (image 11) and gave the hotel its pink, green and white colors. This project was the first of many for Williams at the hotel. Throughout the 1940s he designed additions and alterations and updated much of the Mission-style hotel complex. Williams was responsible for creating the hotel’s aesthetics, which have essentially remained unchanged even with new ownership in the 1990s. After Paul R. Williams completed the 1949 Crescent Wing (images 8 and 9) with its iconic script Beverly Hills signature, this view of the sign became universally associated with the hotel. The Palm Court Terrace (image 12) was one of Williams’ many renovation projects. Originally used as the main dining room, Williams converted the room into a dining/dancing ballroom and according to the hotel brochure “the large commodious salle-a-manger” maintained the fine Spanish traditions of the hotel.