Beverly Hills Women's Club

The Beverly Hills Women's Club is an historic house and social club in Beverly Hills, California.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

Beverly Hills Women's Club
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	1700 Chevy Chase Dr., Beverly Hills, California
Coordinates	34°5′9″N 118°25′47″W
Area	less than one acre
Built	1925
Architect	Gable & Wyant
NRHP reference No.	06000914[1]
Added to NRHP	October 4, 2006

History

Beginnings

The club was founded in October 1916, and it served as a unit for the American Red Cross during the First World War.[8]

The clubhouse

In 1925, they raised US$4,000 at a horse show attended by the likes of Hobart Bosworth, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Stanley S. Anderson (owner of the Beverly Hills Hotel), Cecilia DeMille (daughter of Cecil B. DeMille), Charles E. Toberman, Silsby Spalding (Mayor of Beverly Hills), and Alphonzo Bell (developer of Bel Air, California).[8] Later that year, they used that money to move into the newly constructed clubhouse.[2][3] The clubhouse is a one-story, stucco-clad Spanish Colonial Revival with a tiled hip roof.[7][9] It features pilasters, scrolled brackets, an entablature topped by a pediment with a shield and urn motif surrounding the main door, and casement windows.[7] It was designed by the architectural team Gable & Wyant, who also designed Hangar One.[7][10]

The clubhouse has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Los Angeles County, California since October 4, 2006.

The social club

Early members, who rode horses to make their way to the club, included Mrs Burton E. Green and actress Norma Shearer.[2][3] Special guests included Amelia Earhart and Gloria Swanson.[2] It sponsored the Will Rogers Horse Show and exhibited art such as El Greco's Saint Francis of Assisi and, in 2007, Roland Muri.[2][11] In 1930, they created the Electric Fountain in Beverly Hills through efforts from Harold Lloyd's mother.[12]

In 1963, they published a cookbook, Beverly Hills Women's Club Cook Book: Fashions in Food.[13]

Recent guests include Stephen J. Cannell.[2] The current President is Jill Tavelman, ex-wife of singer Phil Collins and mother of actress Lily Collins.[14]

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
2. "Official website, History". Archived from the original on 2013-04-02. Retrieved 2013-04-12.
3. Caroline M. Roman, Beverly Hills Women's Club Holiday Tea with Tiffany & Co., The Huffington Post, January 05, 2011
4. USC Digital Library: Society -- Beverly Hills Women's Club, 1951
5. USC Digital Library: Beverly Hills Women's Club plans party, 1952
6. USC Digital Library: Beverly Hills Womens Club Bunny Brunch, 1960
7. Beverly Hills files
8. Marc Wanamaker, Early Beverly Hills, Arcadia Publishing, 2005, p. 73
9. S. F. Cook, Tina Skinner, Spanish Revival Architecture, Schiffer Publishing, 2005, p. 76
10. Pacific Coast Architectural Database
11. Swiss Review:The Magazine for the Swiss Abroad, 2006, p. 48
12. Jeff Dickey, Rough Guide to Los Angeles, Rough Guides, 2003, p. 115
13. Google Books
14. "Beverly Hills Women's Club Board". Archived from the original on 2009-08-07. Retrieved 2013-04-12.