Page 165 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL SUMMER 2024 LIMA

The estate was sold in 1965 to the
City of Beverly Hills and is today leased
out as a popular filming location. You can
purchase tickets to view the inside of the
mansion on the first Saturday or Sunday
of each month, January-November. I
wasn’t there on such a day, so I just wan‐
dered the grounds of the 18-acre estate.
(greystonemansion.org)
Will Rogers State Historic Park was my
next adventure. Located in the Santa Mon‐
ica Mountains with views to the ocean, Will
Rogers’ 186-acre ranch was once part of
the vast Rancho Boca de Santa Monica, a
land grant from the Mexican government
in 1827 to Antonio Ignacio and Francisco
Javier Alvarado. In the early 20th century,
part of this acreage became owned by oil‐
man Alphonzo Bell, founder of Bel Air Es‐
tates. The rugged canyon terrain made
Rogers’ land almost untouched until 1922
when he bought it to become his ranch.
Will Rogers (1879-1935) was a cow‐
boy, humorist, Broadway and film star,
newspaper columnist, radio commentator
and humanitarian who was one of the most
beloved celebrities of the 1920s and ‘30s.
He and renowned pilot, Wiley Post, were
killed in a plane crash in Alaska in 1935,
burnishing his adventurous reputation and
sending a nation into mourning.
His widow, Betty, bequeathed the
entire ranch in 1944 to the State of Cali‐
fornia to be enjoyed as a public park. To‐
day docents lead tours inside the ranch
house that looks exactly as it did when
Will and his family lived there, complete
with stuffed calf given to Will so he would
rope it instead of his guests when they
came for dinner.

Virginia Robinson Gardens
looking out toward L.A.

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