VIRGINIA ROBINSON GARDEN: Southern California History Preserved in Beverly Hills

Virginia Robinson Garden, Beverly Hills, CA

Only recently did I learn of the Virginia RobinsonGarden, a horticultural and architectural treasure tucked into a residential neighborhood in Beverly Hills. Built in 1911by Virginia  Robinson and her husband Harry Robinson, of the Robinson Department Store empire, it is now open to the public and a fascinating window onto Southern California's past.

View of the Robinson house from the pool.

Virginia Robinson, known as the first lady of Beverly Hills, entertained royalty and movie stars at her elegant estate. She was also a renowned philanthropist. She died in 1977, just a few weeks short of her 100^th birthday, outliving her husband by forty-five years. Before her death, she had bequeathed the estate to the County of Los Angeles, wanting to preserve her gracious home and all the history it contained, and to maintain and preserve the vast gardens around it for the enjoyment of future visitors. (The estate is now on the National Register of Historic Places.)

Portraits of Harry and Virginia Robinson in the foyer of the pool house.

On a sunny Saturday morning in early March, after driving through the gate and up a long, narrow, winding road--seemingly designed for a Model T--to a small parking area next to the pool, I joined a group of ten other visitors for a tour by Kathleen, our enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide. (You can’t visit without signing up for a tour. Tours are conducted by members of the Friends of Virginia Robinson Garden, a support group that raises money to maintain the estate.)

Photos of the Boston Drygoods Store and early days at the Robinson estate on display in the foyer of the pool house.

When I first moved to Los Angeles, I shopped at Robinson’s Department Store on Wilshire Boulevard. I had no idea of its history or that Virginia Robinson still lived in Beverly Hills. The first store, known as the Boston Drygoods Store, was founded in 1883 in downtown Los Angeles  by Joseph Winchester Robinson and then passed on to his son Henry Winchester Robinson, Virginia Robinson’s husband. In 1993, Robinson’s merged with another department store and became Robinson’s-May. In 2006, that entity became part of the Macy department store business.

View of the pool house from the veranda of the main house.

Our tour began at the pool house with its overlook of the pool and of the main house at the bottom of the large lawn.Our guide began by reviewing the family history and beginning of the estate.

Booties.

After taking a peek at the main room of the pool house, which was used as guest quarters when the Robinsons lived at the estate, we proceeded to the main house, where we put booties over our shoes to protect the rugs and floors inside the house. (Photos are not permitted inside the house.)

Painting in the pool house depicting what the Robinson estate looked like when the house was first built and the gardens had not yet been developed.

We learned that Virginia and Harry traveled extensively, purchasing valuable rugs, furniture and art objects for their home They also collected plants from around the world and began to turn their hillside property into a series of interconnected gardens featuring these plants.

View from the house verandah. The skyline of Beverly Hills and Century City can be seen in the distance.

Succulent garden.

From the house we took a circular route around the property to view the various garden plantings, ranging from California natives, to succulents, to citrus and fruit trees, roses, palms, a kitchen garden growing leeks and artichokes, and more. Next to the kitchen garden chickens clucked an enclosure built originally to house pet monkeys.

 Tucked among the plants are fountains and statuary collected on the Robinson's world tours.

Australian King Palm forest.

Shade loving plants on the forest floor.

The steep east facing hill has been planted with palms and shade-loving plants.

View of house from the tennis court. The original tennis court was at the bottom of the property.

For more about the Virginia Robinson Garden and for information about making reservations to visit the garden, go to the garden website.

Citrus trees along the path and flame tree--the first in Los Angeles.