DIGS is the premiere luxury real estate lifestyle magazine serving the most affluent neighborhoods in the South Bay and Westside of Los Angeles, California.
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28 DIGS.NET | 12.9.2016 (clockwise from top left) A 1928 photo of the Card Room, showing the original marble fountain and painted murals; guests originally arrived via this driveway; a 1928 photo of the front entry of the house, featuring the grand stairs where the family's eldest daughter, Lucy, held her wedding; and a modern photo of the Card Room. A R C H I T E C T | D E S I G N | B U I L D Upon Ned's marriage to Lucy Smith, his oil baron father bestowed the couple with one of the more memorable—and profitable—wedding presents to come down the pike: a premium 12.58-acre parcel on a hilltop in Beverly Hills, the now christened Greystone Mansion & Gardens: The Doheny Estate. It was an ode to opulence that no one outside the realm of a Rockefeller could reasonably grasp in 1925 (its more than $3 million in estate construction costs the budget of an overlord at the time). On Greystone grounds were everything from tennis courts, kennels and a fire station to a swimming pool, pavilion, greenhouse and lake (to complement brooks, waterfalls and formal English gardens). Amid this extravagant setting, Ned and Lucy placed what in any parlance is a palace: an imposing Tudor Revival architected by Gordon B. Kaufmann and constructed of Indiana limestone and steel reinforced concrete, and crowned with a Welsh slate roof. Completed in 1928, the finished mansion was a vision of epic proportions—46,054 square feet, to be exact, with 55 livable rooms to house Ned, Lucy and their five children. This it did while displaying nearly every hallmark of what was the era's patchy approach to wealth distribution. Consider the porte-cochere; the soaring ceilings; the sweeping staircases; the checkered marble floors; the cavernous fireplaces; the mammoth windows; the rich, hand-carved oak; and the cathedral-sized murals. Along with these attributes also came the likes of a servant's wing, library, bowling alley and rooms dedicated to the recreations of the very rich: billiards, massage, porcelain collecting, gift-wrapping. The kitchen had a pantry with a wall safe to secure the family's gold and silver service sets, and for the children, there was a playhouse. The garage accommodated nine cars and was ahead of its time with a mechanical lift. The private telephone system, complete with two switchboards, also spoke to progress. Such excess put the Dohenys on par with the other American families whose wealth and one-name recognition preceded them. But if Greystone was staggering in its grandeur, its gray tone prophesized the somber events of 1929, the year of Ned's untimely death (the circumstances surrounding it a subject of debate to this day). His widow Lucy, however, recovered quite nicely. She went on to marry finance man Leigh Battson and they lived at Greystone until 1954. After selling the majority of the estate to the Paul Trousdale Company in 1955, the couple unloaded its remains to Henry Crown, who turned the site into a prolific film location. Purchased in 1965 by its current steward, the City of Beverly Hills, the Greystone of today is a historic landmark and dedicated public park. Ironically, all now enjoy this estate built for the privileged few.