Beverly Hills : Greystone Mansion Plan

An accounting firm recommended that Beverly Hills convert the city-owned Greystone Mansion into a small executive conference center, with part of the building also available for special events such as weddings and receptions.

With yearly revenues estimated at $3.8 million and a net income of about $1.14 million, the city could easily finance the estimated $13-million renovation that would be required, Mayor Alan L. Alexander said.

Greystone is located next to the Trousdale Estates area in the northeast portion of the city, where objections from neighbors have helped torpedo earlier proposals to put the building to use.

The study by the Pannell Kerr Forster firm suggested that parking reservations be required of visitors to the renovated Greystone, with parking lots and shuttle buses made available elsewhere in the city on busy days.

Greystone, completed in 1928 at a cost of just over $3 million, was built as the home of Edward Laurence (Ned) Doheny, son of the first man to strike it rich in Los Angeles oil.

But it became the scene of tragedy in 1929, when young Doheny and High Plunkett, his secretary, were killed there.

The city bought the mansion for $1.1 million in 1965, renting it to the American Film Institute until 1982.