Virginia Robinson Gardens

The Virginia Robinson Gardens are the period landscape, historic mansion, and botanical gardens located at the Virginia Robinson Estate (6-acre (0.024 km²)) in Beverly Hills, California, United States.[2]

Virginia Robinson Estate
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Virginia Robinson residence and entry garden.
Location	1008 Elden Way, Beverly Hills, California
Coordinates	34°5′11″N 118°25′0″W
Area	6.2 acres (2.5 ha)
Built	1911
Architect	Nathaniel Dryden
Architectural style	Beaux Arts,[1] Renaissance Revival
NRHP reference No.	78000679[1]
Added to NRHP	November 15, 1978

History

The Virginia Robinson Gardens is the earliest estate in Beverly Hills, California. It was the private residence of Virginia Dryden Robinson (1877–1977) and Harry Winchester Robinson (1878–1932), heir to J. W. Robinson's Dept. Store.[3]

The main house was designed in 1911 by architect Nathaniel Dryden (1849–1924), who was Virginia's father, in a Beaux Arts style.[4][5] The residence is furnished with antiques and artifacts collected from around the world.

The Renaissance Revival pool pavilion was built in 1924 and is modeled after the Villa Pisani in the Tuscan region of Italy. Decorative panels of sgraffito ornamentation adorn the Roman arches at the entry to the pavilion's solarium. The pavilion overlooks a long pool with mosaic tile wainscoting.

Gardens

The Virginia Robinson Gardens range in style and plant type from Italian Renaissance Mediterranean to Tropical Oceanea. The estate has five distinctive gardens:

• The Italian Renaissance Terrace Garden, with views of mature specimen trees and the Citrus Terraces. Planted under large magnolia trees are a variety of camellias, gardenias, and azaleas.
• The Formal Mall Garden, with perennial flower borders and rare specimen cycad 'palms'.
• The Rose Garden, with heirloom roses.
• The Kitchen Garden or Potager, with vegetables and an herb garden.
• The Tropical Palm Garden, including a grove of king palms (Archontophoenix cunninghamiana), reportedly the largest in the continental United States. The tropical area also contains gingers, bananas, and plumerias.

Access

The Robinson Gardens are managed by the County of Los Angeles and open to the public for docent tours by advanced reservation only.[6] The Friends of Virginia Robinson Gardens support this landmark. It was listed in 1978 on the National Register of Historic Places.[1] It is also a state listed California Point of Historical Interest, and on the City of Beverly Hills Local Register of Historic Properties.[7][8]

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Los Angeles County, California
• List of botanical gardens in the United States

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
2. parks.lacounty-Robinson
3. FindAGrave: Harry Winchester Robinson
4. Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Dryden, Nathaniel
5. Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Robinson, Harry Winchester, and Virginia Dryden, House, Beverly Hills, CA
6. FVRG.org-tour
7. Beverly Hills Courier; "Six Beverly Hills Properties Named Local Historic Landmarks"; Jan. 30, 2013 . accessed 2.9.2013
8. Supervisor Yaroslavsky blog: "Beverly Hills cultivates some history." February 2013. accessed 2.9.2013

External links

• Virginia Robinson Gardens – County of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation
• Friends of Virginia Robinson Gardens – tours + information