What is so special about beverly hills?

• 12 Celebrities That Live in Beverly Hills. Leonardo DiCaprio.
• Leonardo DiCaprio. The most famous celebrities that lives in Beverly Hills is Leonardo DiCaprio.
• Adele.
• Ellen Degeneres.
• Jack Nicholson.
• Katy Perry.
• Jessica Alba.
• John Legend.

The city is well known for its Rodeo Drive shopping district that includes many designer brands. Throughout its history, the city has been home to many celebrities. It is also home to numerous hotels and resorts, including the Beverly Hilton and the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Need we say anything more? You’ve seen it in the movies, you’ve heard about it in pop songs, and you’ve definitely seen it in many a TMZ paparazzi shot. Take a stroll down the streets of the most famous neighborhood in America, and pull back the gilded curtain shrouding the secrets of America’s A-Listers. (Pro-Tip: Book any of our Beverly Hills tours to get an even MORE up-close and personal exposé of the best neighborhood in LA!)

The reports are true— Beverly Hills is truly the most luxurious neighborhood in the world. (Believe it or not, Beverly Hills is actually its own city, with its own police department and legal code.)  Many a celebrity or superstar call it home. As of 2020, the median asking price for a house in Beverly Hills was a casual $3,483,646, according to Zillow. The average household income in Beverly Hills is $190,537. It’s also home to many a celebrity, and boasts two of the wealthiest streets in America- Beverly Park Circle, and Beverly Park Terrace. Beverly Park Circle is consistently ranked America’s most exclusive gated community, with homes averaging around $16.238 million dollars a pop, and one block away, Beverly Park Terrace is close behind, with an average $15.813 million dollar home listing. Denzel Washington and Eddie Murphy call BPT home – for more insider intel as to where the top celebrities live in Los Angeles, book our Beverly Hills Bike Tour to peep the homes of 30+ celebrities!

You’d be making a big mistake, big mistake, huge! – if you didn’t hop on one of our movie star homes tours or Los Angeles bike tours and pedal past dozens of famous Beverly Hills movie locations! You’ll see the famous Beverly Wilshire Hotel, aka the “Pretty Woman Hotel,” where Julia Roberts lit up the screen in the 1990 classic “Pretty Woman.”

Another one of our favorite Beverly Hills filming locations at Bikes and Hikes LA is the iconic Greystone Mansion, the backdrop to many a wealthy protagonist (or villain!) in an incredible number of films, television shows, and commercials. Located in the heart of Beverly Hills, the __ square feet ___ cost mansion has been featured in 72 films, (including “The Social Network,” “Batman and Robin,” “Richie Rich,” “There Will Be Blood,” and more!) 50 television shows (“Gilmore Girls,” “The Young and the Restless,” “Entourage,” etc.,) and countless commercials and music videos! Our LA in a Day and Beverly Hills Bike Tours feature an exclusive walking tour of the grounds of Greystone Mansion – you may not want to leave!

Weezer’s 2005 hit “Beverly Hills” would have a slightly different ring to it, were the city to go with one of its original contenders for a name: Morocco! Beverly Hills was nearly named Morocco, when purchased by developer Burton Green in 1900. Green purchased the area for the Amalgamated Oil Company in 1900, and planned to drill for oil in the area. However, the expedition was unsuccessful, and the company was reorganized to become the Rodeo Land and Water Company. Green and his wife then renamed the area to “Beverly Hills,” inspired by the similar rolling hills in Beverly Farms, Massachusetts. Get the ultimate West Coast workout when you book any of our Beverly Hills bike tours – pro-tip: you’ll really feel those aforementioned hills, so upgrade your ride to our elite e-bike tours, and ride like a celeb.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you were hoping to swing by Bijan to pick up a thing or two on your LA Staycation, looks like it may be tough to do unless you’re a former US President or royalty. Bijan, located on Rodeo Drive, boasts the title of “The Most Expensive Store in the World,” and is impossible to visit without an appointment. The Bijan space is owned by LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy) for the staggering price of $19, 405 per square foot. For the past 40 years, clients such as Arnold Schwarzzenegger, Barack Obama, and Prince Charles have enjoyed the bespoke suits and accessories available at Bijan. Founded in 1976 by Iranian designer Bijan Pakzad, the store is famous for its limited quantities of premium (and we mean very limited- often times, only one or two iterations of an item exist,) bespoke mens fashion, and collaborations with luxury car designers, such as Bugatti and Rolls Royce. Even if you’re not able to snag a coveted appointment slot at the famous Rodeo Drive shop, you won’t need to look hard to sneak a peek – the store is known for its iconic, vine covered yellow facade, with a matching bright yellow Bugatti parked out front. For another sweet set of wheels, cruise past the famous automobile on one of our premium e-bike tours of Beverly Hills.

Before the sleek streets of Beverly Hills were filled with Chanel, Bulgari, and Bugattis, they were originally full of…beans. The most famous zipcode in the United States of America used to be the home of one of the largest lima bean fields in the entire state of California. Hollywood is all about reinventing yourself, and Beverly Hills is no exception. If they can have such a legendary glow-up, so can we. These days, you’ll find celebrities, starlets, tourists, and explorers like yourself perusing the swanky shops of Rodeo Drive- and if you see any of our LA bike tours pedaling by, wave hello- and book one of your own!

We look forward to spotting you with the paparazzi the next time you head for the hills! (Beverly Hills, that is.) Book any of our Beverly Hills tours, or other outdoor LA tours and travel like an A-lister. Given the state of the world in 2020, there has literally never been a better time to design an LA Staycation and adventure in your own back yard. The safest way to see LA this fall is to take an outdoor LA tour with Bikes and Hikes LA. We are open 7 days a week, and are currently offering an incredible opportunity for you and your family to make your tour private. Treat yourself to a VIP Bike Tour of Beverly Hills, a Beverly Hills Walking Tour, or our private, full city Los Angeles Bike Tour to experience the best of Los Angeles, up close and personal. While you plan your vacation in the coming months, check out our top recommendations for the best places to explore LA this fall. While you’re at it, check out our insider Hollywood secrets blog, so that you’re already a pro upon arrival. Welcome to LA.

All of our daily tours of Los Angeles and Beverly Hills may be made private, and we offer all of our outdoor tours of LA 365 days per year! Read about how we’re keeping you safe in the COVID-19 pandemic, and check out our updated safety policies here. To book YOUR perfect tour of Beverly Hills, call Bikes and Hikes LA today, and help us help you design the LA Staycation of your dreams.

-Written by: Elizabeth Conway

Sources courtesy of:

Zillow

World Population Review

Fortune Builders

Love Beverly Hills

Greystone Mansion

BeverlyHills.Org

Huffington Post

In 1852, Maria Rita survived a siege and shoot-out with Native Americans who attacked her rancho. This may have influenced her to sell her land two years later to Henry Hancock and Benjamin Wilson. Unfortunately for the new owners, the waters dried up a few years later, followed by a long drought that left their livestock to die. Hancock and Wilson are remembered today for the upscale Hancock Park neighborhood and local geographic landmark Mount Wilson. By 1868, the land was owned by Edward Preuss who sought to establish a community for immigrant German farmers to be called Santa Maria. In the meantime, he turned the ranch into lima bean fields, selling his crop to cover taxes. Santa Maria was never to be after yet another drought thwarted Preuss' dream.

Early in the 1880s, Henry Hammel and Charles Denker acquired the land with the intention of creating Morocco, a subdivision with a North African theme. The U.S. economic collapse of 1888 put a quick end to that scheme. In 1900, the fortunes of the former rancho began to improve. A group of oil-speculating investors, led by Burton E. Green, bought the bean field on behalf of the Amalgamated Oil Company. Green drilled a series of wells that failed to strike oil; however, they did strike a lot of water -- enough to support a town. In 1906, Green and his partners reorganized as the Rodeo Land and Water Company. Inspired by Beverly Farms, Massachusetts, Green and his wife renamed the bean field Beverly Hills.

In 1907, landscape architect Wilbur D. Cook was hired to design a street plan for Beverly Hills. Cook laid out curving streets with larger lots on the north side, smaller lots on the south side, and a triangular commercial district between them. All the streets were tree-lined and land was set aside for public parks, four elementary schools, and a high school. The vision was to make the area affordable to a range of incomes, as long as the buyers weren’t Black or Jewish. These shameful restrictive covenants would eventually fall in the 1940s thanks to a lawsuit brought by Hattie McDaniel, Ethel Waters, and other notable African-Americans.

The first house was completed in 1907, but sales were slow. In 1912, to bolster the interest of potential buyers, Green completed construction of the Beverly Hills Hotel on the site where the waters once gathered. The luxurious establishment served not only travelers but the locals as a de facto city hall, community center, movie theatre, and religious worship venue. Sitting in what was then the middle of nowhere, the hotel was reached by the specially-constructed Dinky Railroad, a wondrous attraction in itself.

By 1914, the local population was large enough to support the incorporation of Beverly Hills as a city, but real growth didn’t take off until the era’s most glamorous Hollywood couple, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, bought a lot on Summit Drive and dubbed their home Pickfair. Following their fashionable lead was a host of film industry stars, directors, and producers who began the celebrity mystique that remains a constant of Beverly Hills to this day.

What also brought fame to the young city was the addition in 1919 of the Los Angeles Speedway, the site of auto races second in importance only to Indy. The course, covering most of the southwest quadrant of the city, barely made it through half of the Roaring Twenties. Among the notable structures built on land formerly traversed by race cars was the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in 1928. The same year, Edward L. Doheny completed Greystone, a 55-room mansion and estate, a wedding gift for his son, which is now owned by the City and operated as a museum, park, and event venue.

With growth came the return of a problem that haunted the 19th-century rancho, a potential shortage of water. In 1923, an effort to secure a steady water supply through annexation by the City of Los Angeles was defeated by the voters thanks to opposition led by Mary Pickford, who feared the loss of local identity.  Celebrities continued to be important to civic life, most notably the nationally-cherished humorist and honorary mayor of Beverly Hills, Will Rogers. In his memory, the park across Sunset Boulevard from the Beverly Hills Hotel was renamed after his death.

The 1930s brought construction of the main post office and the magnificent Beverly Hills City Hall designed by architect William Gage in the Spanish Renaissance style. The old Santa Monica Park was expanded from three blocks to the entire length of the north side of Santa Monica Boulevard from Wilshire Boulevard to North Doheny Drive and renamed Beverly Gardens Park. The elegant Electric Fountain, featuring a central pillar atop which is posed a kneeling Tongva native amidst the spray of the “gathering waters,” was installed at the northeast corner of Wilshire and Santa Monica Boulevards. The jets of water effuse a multi-colored glow at night thanks to a programmed lighting system.

In the late 1940s, as the nation entered the post-World War II recovery, the City began to develop rapidly.  With Rodeo Drive as its focus, the commercial district came to be called the Golden Triangle as an ever-increasing number of internationally-renowned retailers opened there. By the 1960s, the City’s reputation as a haven for the famous and center of grand homes, luxury shopping, and fine dining spread worldwide through films and TV shows shot or set there. The City also grew physically with the annexation of a large tract of land in the hills above the east side of town, the area known as Trousdale Estates, originally part of the Greystone estate.

Facing stiff competition for shoppers from new nearby shopping malls, Beverly Hills moved to shore up its status as the region’s premier shopping area. In 1989, Two Rodeo and its pedestrian path, Via Rodeo, opened, quickly becoming not only a shopping and tourist magnet but a popular photo and film backdrop. By the 1990s, the demand for services and the need for seismic retrofitting moved the city to restore and strengthen City Hall and build an expanded Civic Center with a modernized main fire station and library and an entirely new police headquarters.

In 1996, the Paley Center for Media opened its West Coast location, a significant new building by architect Richard Meier at the southwest corner of North Beverly Drive and South Santa Monica Boulevard. In addition, the shopping blocks of North Rodeo Drive were enhanced with new landscaped medians and sidewalks, as well as improved street lighting. Similar sidewalk and lighting enhancements were made to the shopping streets of North Beverly Drive and North Cañon Drive.