Greystone Mansion

SHOW houses are often more show than house -- a place to spot trends, get ideas and watch designers go wild. At the annual Beverly Hills Garden & Design Showcase opening Friday at the historic Greystone Mansion, visitors will see enough animal prints, arresting artworks and hand-painted wall treatments to make the 55-room, 1928 English Gothic estate feel absolutely contemporary.

CHANCES are you've seen the grand entry before. And the immense hallway. You've probably seen the kitchen, the dining room and a bedroom or two. Greystone Mansion, the house designed by Gordon Kaufman and completed in 1928 as a gift from oil tycoon Edward Doheny to his son, is a versatile estate that film crews descend upon often for its opulent beauty, acres of manicured grounds and Beverly Hills location.

Edward Laurence "Ned" Doheny Jr., 35-year-old heir to the family oil fortune, was shot through the head and killed at Greystone Mansion, his 55-room, Tudor-style home in Beverly Hills. His secretary, Hugh Plunkett, was found nearby, also dead of a bullet wound. After a brief investigation, authorities ruled that a deranged Plunkett had shot his employer and then turned the gun on himself, but to this day the sensational crime is a source of rumor and speculation.

Greystone Mansion: A Dec. 27 article in the Home section about the use of Greystone Mansion as a shooting location for "There Will Be Blood" said filmmakers chose the site based on scouting photos and prior knowledge that the basement contained a bowling alley. In fact, filmmakers visited the site, at which point they discovered the bowling alley.

Greystone Mansion: A Dec. 27 feature about the use of Greystone Mansion as a shooting location for "There Will Be Blood" said filmmakers chose the site based on scouting photos and prior knowledge that the basement contained a bowling alley. In reality, filmmakers visited the site, at which point they discovered the bowling alley.

Seventy-FIVE of us sit on the west side of the elegant, sun-dappled living room at Greystone, a 1928 mansion that's part of a Beverly Hills city park. A white-haired butler in black tie emerges from the hallway and begins intoning the sorrowful story of the famous family that once lived here.

Greystone Mansion, 905 Loma Vista Drive, Beverly Hills. This 55-room, 46,000-square-foot Tudor mansion was built in 1928 for Edward L. (Ned) Doheny, son of the first man to strike it rich in Los Angeles oil. The estate once occupied 415 acres. In 1965, Beverly Hills bought the mansion and 19 surrounding acres. The house is not open to the public, but the park affords spectacular views and visitors can stroll through three gardens.