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Home of the Week: A movie mogul palace in Beverly Hills

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Few of the swank palaces built by movie moguls during the Golden Age of Hollywood retain their original features like this Italian Mediterranean mansion in Beverly Hills. The stately 24-room home was commissioned in 1929 by Harry Cohn, the cantankerous founder and president of Columbia Pictures. Cohn sold the house in the 1940s to A-list Hollywood agent Johnny Hyde, whose marriage did not prove an impediment to entertaining Marilyn Monroe as an extended houseguest.

A quartet of sculpted lions bask on platforms above a double-arched gate at the front of the property. Past the semicircular driveway, a decorative wrought-iron gate leads to a deeply recessed entry.

Like a film that sucks you in from the first scene, the home’s entry was designed to command attention: The space rises 2 1/2 stories to an oval ceiling of frescoed plaster surrounding a center of stained glass. The floor features the home’s original Italian tile in intricate patterns of red, yellow, blue and green that mimic the color scheme above.

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A grand living room features inlaid oak floors, tomato-red walls and a fireplace with a delicately carved wooden mantle. The ceiling has exposed intersecting beams with carved plaster medallions affixed to the sky-blue spaces in between. A pair of arched glass doors open to a second living room or game room. Another door leads to a solarium with large floral-patterned tiles in bold hues of yellow, green and red. Arched windows look out onto gardens on two sides while an intricate arched stained-glass window takes up much of a third wall.

A narrow staircase off the solarium leads down to the basement and a speakeasy. With a small stage and a wooden bar covered by a fabric awning, it’s not hard to imagine the room as a popular hangout during Prohibition. The lore surrounding the house tells of a secret tunnel — now filled — that once led to a neighbor’s basement, said listing agent Loren Judd.

The kitchen is updated with some modern appliances but still has the original blue-and-white-tiled counters and walls, warming lights under the original cupboards, a 1940s-era Western Holly six-burner stove and oven and a 1940s Frigidaire icebox.

There are four bedroom suites upstairs, including a junior master suite with a recessed ceiling, decorative moldings and a small private balcony. The expansive master suite has a private office and rooftop terrace. A circular red divan sits in the middle of the octagonal master bathroom. The room features a gold-domed, frescoed ceiling and tiled walls of light pink and black.

Walking paths meander through tall trees, sculpted hedges, lawns, flower gardens and fountains in the park-like backyard. There are several patios and a long, rectangular reflecting pond as well as an outdoor swimming pool. A pool house with a pair of changing rooms is one of four additional structures built around the perimeter of the property. Another of the buildings has been converted into office space, and another is used as a gym. The property’s most modern structure — built in the last decade — is a home spa. The building houses an indoor current pool, spa tub, steam room, sauna and massage area.

To submit a candidate for Home of the Week, send high-resolution color photos on a CD, caption information, the name of the photographer and a description of the house to Lauren Beale, Business, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. Questions may be sent to homeoftheweek@latimes.com.

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