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Author Gross, Michael, 1952-

Title Unreal estate : money, ambition, and the lust for land in Los Angeles / Michael Gross.

Publication Info. New York : Broadway Books, [2011]
©2011

Copies

Location Call No. Status
 Plainville Public Library - Non Fiction  979.49 GRO    Check Shelf
Edition First edition.
Description 533 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Bibliography Includes bibliography and index.
Summary Michael Gross, chronicler of America's rich and powerful, goes west to uncover the very secret history of Los Angeles, specifically those wealthiest and most private of enclaves--Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Holmby Hills, and Beverly Park--through their most mind-boggling estates, and the fascinating, fabulous folks who created and populate them. Gross begins with the mob-driven history of the newest mega-mansion district in L.A., Beverly Park. Using the century-long evolution from adobe huts to $100 million mansions as the baseline of the story, he reveals how a few powerful and often ruthless oil and railroad magnates imposed their idyllic vision of the good life on the Los Angeles landscape to create the legendary communities known as the Platinum Triangle. But the stories of these homes are just a window onto the lives of their owners and occupants over the course of the twentieth century.--From publisher description.
Contents McMansions, 1911-2011 -- Ranchos, 1539-1906 -- Lots for sale, 1906-1932 -- Great estates, 1932-1959 -- White elephants, 1958-1979 -- Trophy houses, 1980--2011.
Subject Mansions -- California -- Los Angeles -- History.
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- History -- 20th century.
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Social life and customs -- 20th century.
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- History.
ISBN 9780767932653
076793265X
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