What we’re looking at here is the stretch of empty land destined to be the future site of the Beverly Hills Hotel. This photo was taken in 1900 before there even was a development known as “Beverly Hills,” which didn’t come into being until around 1905. The Beverly Hills Hotel opened in 1912, so this photo gives us a good idea of how the hotel was first conceived as a rural getaway resort. Much of what we can see here are fields of lima beans.