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December 15, 2019

Amazing Pics Show Interior Views of Marion Davies' 100-Room Beach House in Santa Monica, circa 1920s

American actress Marion Davies appeared in several Broadway musicals and one film, Runaway Romany (1917) and then became the mistress of newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst. He then took over management of her career.

Hearst financed Davies' pictures and promoted her heavily through his newspapers and Hearst Newsreels. He founded Cosmopolitan Pictures to produce her films. Hearst preferred to see her in historical dramas, but her real talent was in comedy.

Today Davies is remembered mainly as Hearst's mistress until his death, and as the hostess of many lavish events for the Hollywood elite. In particular, her name is linked with the 1924 scandal aboard Hearst's yacht when one of his guests, film producer Thomas Ince, died.

These amazing pics were taken by photographer William Grimes that show portraits of interior views of Marion Davies' 100-room beach house in Santa Monica, built for her by William Randolph Hearst around 1920.








9 comments:

  1. 8 pics of a 100 room mansion?

    Sort of throws the 100 pics of 8 drunk partiers in the other gallery into perspective, don't you think?

    In all seriousness, this site does to get some sort of standards before everyone leaves.

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  2. Great pics as always, thanks
    R

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  3. No complaints here! Love your site as always and the always updating content. Thanks!

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  4. How many times had I been by it and had no idea it was built by Hearst for Davies. Makes sense if you've ever visited Hearst Castle...Randolph did everything over the top for her.

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  5. Interesting the formal dining room had multiple tables. Jackie Kennedy brought that idea to the White House.

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  6. For those of you who don't know, some of the panelling out of that house was from a 16th century English house in Surry, bought by Hearst and imported, and after the demise of this house, it was taken to San Diego and installed in a house in Point Loma, and subsequently has been the interior of the Red Fox Steak House on El Cajon Blvd., part of the Lafayette Hotel. There are plans to shut the Red Fox and move it, but they haven't come to fruition, so there is still a chance for anyone interested to see the panelling should you wish to. It's very good, the main feature being a bas-relief carving over the fireplace which depicts Susanna and the Elders.

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  7. In which room , the painting by Chardin of Marie Antoinette was hanging ?

    ReplyDelete




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