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.

Read More Here!

3 Responses

  1. Gary Smith
    | Reply

    One of the things that I wish to do in the future is to visit the Robinson Gardens. I very much enjoy the newsletters that I receive from you. I wonder if it would be possible to show pictures of the inside of the pool house? I’ve also wondered what the views from the edge of the estate look like over Los Angeles. Thank you

  2. Donna J Miller
    | Reply

    Will you be offering inside tours of the Mansion soon?

    • Friends of Robinson Gardens
      | Reply

      Hi Donna – the current docent tours do include some indoor spaces.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *