Uncertain Harvest : A Plan to Merge County-Owned Gardens Raises Concerns for Supporters of the Robinson Estate in Beverly Hills

Supporters of the Virginia Robinson Gardens are mobilizing to defend their green little corner of Beverly Hills against a proposal to merge it with the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History.

The Robinson Gardens are already a county-owned facility, part of the Department of Arboreta and Botanic Gardens.

But the Board of Supervisors will be considering a plan in the next few months that would dissolve that department and bring the Robinson Gardens under the wing of the museum, along with the South Coast Botanic Gardens in Palos Verdes, the State and County Arboretum in Arcadia and Descanso Gardens in La Canada Flintridge.

The result, according to a proposal from the Natural History Museum Foundation Board of Trustees, would be “one of the nation’s major botanical gardens, providing not only the basis for scientific research but enhancing its financial picture.”

But friends of the Robinson Gardens, who raise about $100,000 a year to restore and maintain the house and grounds of one of the grande dames of Beverly Hills, say they are doing quite well on their own.

The gardens also benefit from a $1-million endowment set up by Virginia Robinson, which generates another $100,000 or so a year.

“We are afraid that if we are part of this larger situation, the people who help us with donations will withdraw their support. We’re not sure what the repercussions will be,” said Elizabeth Sides, president of the Virginia Robinson Gardens Foundation.

She has organized a letter-writing and petition campaign, and appointed James P. Birdwell Jr., a member of her board, to argue its case before the county’s Economy and Efficiency Commission, which is due to issue a recommendation to the supervisors by the end of July.

“Our feeling is that the gardens will get lost in the process,” said Birdwell. “The feeling is that, if you put them together, you’re creating a conglomerate that’s going to be heavy in bureaucracy, and it’s going to be difficult to attract a top-flight administrator for the gardens.”

Francis Ching, longtime director of the department, announced his retirement April 1, saying at the time that he was encouraged to leave because of his opposition to the reorganization plans.

So far, fans of the Robinson Gardens have won the support of Supervisor Ed Edelman, who helped open the facility to the public after Virginia Robinson, a member of the family that founded Robinson’s department stores, left it to the county on her death in 1977.

“While I certainly favor looking at ways to save money, I’m also concerned about the quality of service that is there after you consolidate,” Edelman said. “I don’t think the quality of service would be as good, nor would the support groups be as active.

“A lot of people are volunteering time and contributing money,” he said. “They do that because they feel the garden is No. 1. At the museum, they may not feel the same way.”

Mary Ann Dunn, a museum spokesman, said there is nothing to fear, however.

“If it is determined that a merger would be in the best interest, not only of the institutions involved, but also of the public, then what we would do is provide the best possible stewardship for those entities,” she said.

She cited the example of the William S. Hart Park and Museum in Newhall, which came under the control of the county museum two years ago but whose supporters continue to back it on their own.

Cynthia Neal-Harris, president of the Friends of the Hart Park and Museum, said that restoration has proceeded more quickly and that attendance has tripled at the home of the silent-movie cowboy star since the county took over. Hart died in 1957.

“We raise our funds the ways we always did, or better. They don’t tell us what to do with our money,” she said.

“Overall we’re very pleased, but what works for us may not work for them,” Neal-Harris said of the supporters of the Beverly Hills estate.

One of the least-known delights of Southern California, the Robinson Gardens are tucked away at the end of Elden Way, a cul-de-sac overlooking the Beverly Hills Hotel.

They occupy 6.2 acres of hillside that was once grazing land for cattle and fields of beans and corn.

But during her 66 years in residence there, Virginia Robinson and her husband, Harry, oversaw the transformation of the barren hillside into a fantasy of palm-shaded fern groves, emerald lawns and carefully tended flower beds. Harry Robinson died in 1932.

The couple were childless. Upon Virginia Robinson’s death just weeks short of her 100th birthday in 1977, the property was left to Los Angeles County, which opened it to the public in 1982.

Visits are strictly limited, however, because of concerns of neighbors on the quiet street. No more than 24 visitors are allowed a day, with entrance by reservation only.

Tours are held at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. from Tuesday through Friday. Admission is $3.50. The number to call for reservations is (213) 276-5367.