On May 12, 1912, Margaret J. Anderson and her son, Stanley S. Anderson, opened The Beverly Hills Hotel. After unsuccessful attempts had been made to drill for oil, water was found. With that discovery, Burton Green formed the Rodeo Land and Water Company. He announced plans to build a city with large lots of curved, tree-lined streets. But Green needed a special attraction to set his city above all the other housing developments sprouting up around Southern California at the turn of the century.

A grand hotel was envisioned, and Green persuaded the Andersons of Hollywood Hotel fame to come and build their dream. Against all advice, they left their secure surroundings in Hollywood and came to the undeveloped area that was later to become the City of Beverly Hills, literally built around the new hotel.

In 1914, Beverly Hills had attracted enough residents to become incorporated as a city. Beverly Hills had started to become one of the world’s toniest neighborhoods in 1920 when Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks built their country home in the nearby hills. Many silver screen stars also built their homes there, transforming the bean fields surrounding The Beverly Hills Hotel into prime real estate.