The House of THE SPIRITS

It's been an oasis for movie stars, power brokers, and politicos. Now philanthropist and investor Nicolas Berggruen is reviving a Beverly Hills estate for what may be its most storied act yet.

- CARI BEAUCHAMP

Beverly Hills is used to seeing its history destroyed. Over the years residents of Southern California's best-known zip code have become inured to witnessing elegant estates demolished, often to be replaced with boxy megamansions. This appeared to be a one-way trend until several recent buyers of homes built in the 1920s reversed course, showing that it is possible for wealth and taste to work together.

This change in direction is best exemplified by the meticulously planned renovation of the home known as the Beverly Estate (designed by Gordon B. Kaufman) by the financier and philanthropist Nicolas Berggruen. After having his eyes on the historic residence for some time, Berggruen purchased it in 2021 with that very commitment in mind. "I had first seen the house years ago," he says, "and when I heard it was available, I wanted to celebrate it and bring it back to life? He was charmed by its design, its pedigree, the people who had lived there, and those who had visited. "It's a unique property," he says now, "so dramatic and theatrical, and also so elegant?"

That elegance has always been the point. The estate was built because Milton Getz, a co-founder of Union Bank, bought eight acres behind the Beverly Hills Hotel in 1924 and hired Kaufmanone of the premier residential architects in Southern California when the film business there was first booming-to design a 20-room home that included a two-story library for the rare books Getz's wife Estelle collected.