Alla nazimova garden of allah

In , silent movie star Alla Nazimova leased an estate called Hayvenhurst for $50, from real estate developer William H. Hay, located at Sunset Boulevard between Crescent Heights Boulevard and Hayvenhurst Drive. She bought it the 3 ½-acre property outright in for $65, at a time when she was earning $13, a week.

She renamed it the Garden of Alla, installed a pool shaped like the Black Sea on the grounds, and invited the Hollywood A-list to her pool parties.

After Nazimova lost her fortune in the mids, she converted the estate into a resort-type hotel, building 25 villas for rent around the main house.

The Garden of Allah Hotel opened in with a grand party that lasted almost 18 hours, attended by Marlene Dietrich, Francis X. Bushman, John Barrymore, boxer Jack Dempsey, Clara Bow, Gilbert Roland and Sam Goldwyn, among other celebrities.

George Oppenheimer, drama critic, screenwriter, and playwright, and a frequent guest at the Garden writing in American Heritage magazine o