"The long-awaited re-edition of the authoritative Los Angeles estates book featuring a meticulously researched and lavishly illustrated history of fifty magnificent homes in three of America's most prized residential districts: Beverly Hills, Bel-Air, and Holmby Hills. Lush color photographs as well as a trove of historical images take readers beyond the front gates for an exceptional view of the mansions, grounds, and gardens of these sumptuous estates and tell the history of Los Angeles's rise from rugged paddocks and farmland to famed metropolis. Each house is explored both for its historical and architectural importance, for here are the epitome of residences and gardens reflecting the famed Italianate and California Mediterranean styles by all the leading architects of Southern California, including Wallace Neff, James Dolena Gordon Kaufmann, Robert Farquhar, Roland Coate, and Paul Williams. These great estates were built for clients such as Gary Cooper, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and Bing Crosby, whose own stories reflect the intrigue and foible of Hollywood society." --Inside flap of book jacket