A great silent screen star, Alla Nazimova, was the original resident of the Garden of Allah. In 1917 she was offered a $13,000 a week contract–$3,000 more than Mary Pickford–with Metro studios (working with future MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer.) In 1918 she spent $65,000 on a California Spanish home on Sunset Boulevard (then still an unpaved dirt track), and proceeded to spend another $65,000 on remodeling and landscaping. She named it ‘The Garden of Alla’ and it became a popular gathering spot for the Hollywood intelligentsia who would flock there. However by the mid-1920s, Alla was in financial straits and agreed to allow her mansion to be developed into a hotel. The property–renamed The Garden of Allah Hotel & Villas–opened on January 9th, 1927. Although the hotel was an instant success, the plan bankrupted her entirely. She was forced to sell her share and ended up living in one of the villas that now filled what had been her own backyard.

For more information, see: About Alla Nazimova