How a Department Store Heiress Turned Her Historic Beverly Hills Estate Into a Must-see Public Garden and Home Tour

By Deborah Belgum The famed Robinson Department store may be long gone, but the family’s legacy lives on in a six-acre Beverly Hills estate in California that has been open to the public for 45 years. Known as the Virginia Robinson Gardens, the compound was built in 1911 by Harry and Virginia Robinson, who wed in 1903 and took a long honeymoon to Europe, India and Kashmir, where the newlyweds collected merchandise for the family department store and themselves. Returning to Los Angeles, California, they were driving one day to the new Los Angeles Country Club when they got lost and ended up on a barren hilltop. What they saw was a view of the Santa Monica Mountains on one side and, on the other side, the plains below that would become the incorporated city of Beverly Hills in 1914

The best California experiences, according to Californians

Virginia Robinson Gardens, Beverly Hills Los Angeles County The Robinson mansion went up in 1911 — among the first in Beverly Hills. (If you remember Robinsons department stores, then you know where the family fortune came from.) When Virginia Robinson died in 1977, she left the 6-acre property to Los Angeles County. Nancey Kredell of Seal Beach writes that the gardens “have great docents with loving stories to tell about Virginia. One side of the property has ferns and palms and is 15 degrees cooler than the west side.” It is open for docent-led tours ($15 for adults, $11 for seniors 62 and up).

J. W. Robinson Department Store Memories Facebook Group

For information, vintage photos, stories, and much more about the Robinsons and the family's department store, join the J.W. Robinson Department Store Memories Facebook group!

"Joseph Winchester Robinson opened The Boston Dry Goods Store in downtown Los Angeles in 1883. In 1891, the Boston Dry Goods Store was incorporated into the J. W. Robinson Company. J. W. Robinson was the first fine department store in Los Angeles, California.

The J. W. Robinson’s Department Store Memories Facebook group is dedicated to Robinson’s former customers, associates and any others who wish to share their positive memories of Robinson’s.

Our objective is … Read More

Us Weekly: Josh Dallas & Ginnifer Goodwin

HERE’S WHEN JOSH DALLAS SAYS HE FELL IN LOVE WITH GINNIFER GOODWIN

By Mariah Cooper, January 17, 2020

 

A real-life fairy tale! Josh Dallas remembers the moment he knew his wife, Ginnifer Goodwin, was The One — and it wasn’t long after they met on the set of Once Upon a Time. “I mean, after the read-through or the pilot. Yeah, it was pretty soon,” the 41-year-old actor exclusively told Us Weekly recently at the NBC Winter Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour.

Dallas added that working opposite Goodwin, 41, on Once Upon a Time helped their relationship to … Read More

Nicole Kidman Hosts Gold Meets Golden 7th Annual Event

Gold Meets Golden Globe winners Nicole Kidman Rami Malek celebrate Olympic Greg Louganis, Ian Thorpe and Paralympic athletes Dave Wagner.

Gold Meets Golden 7th Annual benefit for Angel City Sports hosted a special brunch at Virginia Robinson Gardens on Saturday, January 4th 2020. This star-studded celebrity event brought together some of the world’s greatest athletes to celebrate during Golden Globes. Presented by Coca-Cola, BMW Beverly Hills and FASHWIRE.

The lavish charity event presented Hollywood wishes for good luck to the athletes of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020. Gold Meets Golden benefited Angel City Sports, a Los Angeles organization … Read More

7th Annual Gold Meets Golden

COCA-COLA PRESENTS THE 7TH ANNUAL GOLD MEET’S GOLDEN, LA

 

Read the full article HERE.

EVENT HIGHLIGHTS:

Chris Evans keeping a low profile and enjoying Globe-nominated Cynthia Erivo (The Color Purple / Harriet) performance of John Lennon’s “Imagine” at the Gold Meets Golden event presented by Coca-Cola, Beverly Hills BMW and FASHWIRE. Australian And Olympic Gold Medalist Legend swimmer Ian Thorpe chatting with fellow Aussies Nicole Kidman about her home in Australia being threatened by the unprecedented fires, and Naomi Watts about the upcoming Olympics and hoping Australia can win a medal in Tokyo at the Gold Meets Golden event… Read More

“Gold Meets Golden” Welcomes in the New Decade

Hollywood has long been inspired by the sports industry and vice versa, but rarely do these two worlds have the chance to mix and mingle. On Saturday, January 4, 2020, Los Angeles will welcome some of the greatest athletes from across the world to celebrate during one of the year’s most Golden weekends, and as a landmark first event of the new decade. The seventh anniversary event will see Hollywood wish good luck to the athletes of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020, who will begin competing six months later. Gold Meets Golden benefits Angel City Sports, a Los … Read More

Variety: Golden Globes 2020

GOLDEN GLOBES PARTIES: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE

By Marc Malkin, December 30, 2019

 

 

Gold Meets Golden
Celebrating Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Summer Paralympic Games athletes and benefiting Angel City Sports, presented by the Coca-Cola Company, BMW Beverly Hills and FASHWIRE, with Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Lopez, Alex Rodriguez, Eddie Murphy, Beanie Feldstein, Matt Bomer, Chrissy Metz, Billy Porter, Cynthia Erivo, Idina Menzel, Greg Louganis, Nadia Comaneci and Kristi Yamaguchi.
Virginia Robinson Gardens and Estate
1008 Elden Way, Beverly Hills
11 a.m.-2 p.m.

 

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE… Read More

Magazine C: Zoe De Givenchy and Emilia Wickstead Host a Floral Affair in Beverly Hills

By Marie Look

November 25th, 2019

On Thursday, Nov. 21, Zoë de Givenchy, designer Emilia Wickstead and Matches Fashion buying director Natalie Kingham invited select guests, including Minnie Driver, Petra Flannery, Arianne Philips, Alexandra von Furstenberg, Tamara Mellon, Eric Buterbaugh and others, to the historic Virginia Robinson Gardens to celebrate the launch of Wickstead’s exclusive collection at the global luxury retailer, as well as de Givenchy’s tabletop capsule, both inspired by a safari aesthetic.

Read the full article here.… Read More

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