The highly-discrete Riviera home of German Nobel Prize-winning author Thomas Mann was close to demolition in November 2016 when Angela Merkel’s government purchased it for $13.25 million. There are plans to turn the 1941 house at 1550 San Remo Dr. into a writers retreat.
When silent movie star and humorist Will Rogers, also known as “Oklahoma’s Favorite Son,” needed to escape from his Hollywood buddies in the 1920s, he moved west and built the 31-room mansion on 187 acres that remains one of the most beloved state parks.
The Getty Villa’s Ranch House was originally part of a 19th century Spanish land grant known as “Perfecto Marquez” and then, after the 1920s, the Parker Ranch. The refurbished ranch house was the original Getty family art gallery until the Villa at 17985 Pacific Coast Highway opened in 1976.
When Los Angeles Athletics Club pioneer Frank Garbutt stood on a mesa overlooking Santa Monica Canyon, according to writer Geoff Shackelford, he declared: “This is it!” Five years later he opened one of the most famous golf courses in the world: The Riviera Country Club.
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