By Beverly Mann

Beverly Hills' claim to fame is much more than glitz and glamour, rolling out the red carpet, and emphasis on youth and beauty. Its real stardom emerges from a rich and colorful history.

Once a 4,500-acre oasis in a semi-arid basin of greater Los Angeles, the city was coined the "gathering of waters" by Native Americans and "El Rodeo de las Aguas" by the forthcoming Spanish settlers. Founded on Jan. 28, 1914, Beverly Hills now celebrates its 100th anniversary, tracing miles of fertile farmlands of lima beans through the 1800s to the attention of oil speculators in the early 1900s who discovered a wealth of water instead of oil. One such oil magnate, Burton E. Green, inspired by Beverly Farms in Massachusetts, named this scenic hillside Beverly Hills.

The city didn't develop its luxurious legend until the creation of the Beverly Hills Hotel (aka the Pink Palace) on May 12, 1912. According to Robbie Anderson, commissioner for the city parks and recreation department and great-grandson of Margaret Anderson, founder and owner of the Beverly Hills Hotel, "My family's hotel put Beverly Hills on the map."

The establishment's 208 rooms and 23 bungalows, with its fragrant tropical gardens, palm-tree-lined poolside, ocean breeze and a spectacular mountain-range backdrop, became a place of peace and refuge for the rich and famous. Marilyn Monroe spent several months at a time in the more private bungalows, while Elizabeth Taylor honeymooned with six of her eight husbands here.

"The hotel was a self-contained city with 25 gated Kentucky horses, playing privileges at the exclusive Los Angeles Country Club, a dairy farm and poultry farm, a movie theater and where the first church service in Beverly Hills was held," Anderson said.

The hotel and Beverly Hills have survived three wars and the Great Depression. Surprisingly, a lot of businesses and monuments were built around this time — the Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Hotel in 1928, City Hall in 1932 and the historic post office in 1933.

The advent of Henry Huntington's 1,100 miles of trolley track running through Beverly Hills, with a special stop at the Beverly Hills Hotel, made it even more convenient to travel to the hotel and to the area. When actors Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford built the Pickfair Estate on Summit Drive, a wave of film stars, directors and producers followed. Beverly Hills has experienced a startling population increase from 674 in 1920 to around 35,000 residents today.

For history buffs, Robbie Anderson's new book, "The Beverly Hills Hotel, the First 100 Years," has just been published by Rizzoli.

As the city celebrates its centennial birthday, five of Beverly Hills' most elegant hotels are partaking in "Suite 100." Guests can choose a decade in which to luxuriate as each of these hotels transforms a suite into a timeless environment and lavish lifestyle within the last 100 years. The Beverly Hills Hotel, the Beverly Hilton, L'Ermitage Beverly Hills, Montage Beverly Hills and the Peninsula Beverly Hills are all part of the program geared to capturing a specific moment in time: from '40s film noir and star-studded '50s to the rebellious and free-spirited yet sophisticated '60s, the '70s flavored by the pop-art culture, and the elegance of the '90s laden with remembrances of the Oscar and Golden Globe awards.

The Beverly Hilton features a special room designed around the stylish, sophisticated '60s that is reminiscent of the elegance of Audrey Hepburn with bold colors and a melange of antiques and modern flair by designer David Hicks, while the Beverly Hills Hotel provides "the Norma Jean Experience" replete with Monroe memorabilia and guest gifts of Chanel No. 5. The hotel's poolside and Cabana Cafe have recently been upgraded.

Beverly Hills has blossomed into an arts mecca, while still preserving its historic hotels and architecture. The new Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts attached to the Italianate Beverly Hills post office is now a grand theater complex with a 500-seat state-of-art theater and a 150-seat studio featuring performances of dance, opera, music and theater for youth around the world. It is an architectural marvel of blending the old with the new. And soon there will be a performing arts school for aspiring actors, musicians, dancers and technicians, from preschool to high school age.

For arts aficionados, gallery-hopping and viewing some of the 60 outdoor, contemporary sculptures is yet another way to appreciate the artistic wealth of Beverly Hills. It's a good idea to park at 450 N. Crescent Drive and start a walking tour of the special Arts of Palm sculptures dedicated to the centennial celebration.

A visit would not be complete without experiencing Greystone Mansion, the former Doheny Estate built in 1928 and touted as the largest home in Beverly Hills. This was the location for the filming of "Spiderman," "The Dark Knight," "Ghostbusters" and "Air Force One," to name a few. Both the mansion and the landscaped gardens are open to the public for organized small-group tours.

WHEN YOU GO

For further information, contact the Beverly Hills Conference and Visitors Bureau: www.lovebeverlyhills.com.

Greystone Mansion has been touted as the largest home in Beverly Hills, California. Photo courtesy of the City of Beverly Hills.

"Reckon" by Brad Howe graces the lawn of City Hall in Beverly Hills, California. Photo courtesy of Beverly Mann.

Beverly Mann is a freelance travel writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.