Itinerary: 90210

Just imagine if that little development 10 miles from downtown Los Angeles had taken off in 1868, when developer Edward Preuss wanted to call it Santa Maria. Or worse, if it’d been named Denker Ranch or Hammel after later landowners Charles Denker and Henry Hammel. And what would Aaron Spelling have named his long-running TV show if the town had adopted the name given its 1880s train station? Morocco 90210.

Then, along came Burton Green, who tried to find oil in them thar hills about 1906, but hit gold with a real estate venture instead. And Green was from Beverly Farms, Mass. The rest is history.

Friday

The Virginia Robinson Gardens (1008 Elden Way, Beverly Hills. $8; $4 students/seniors/children. Tuesdays-Thursdays, 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.; Fridays, 10 a.m. [310] 276-5367) were for years L.A.’s “secret gardens.” Even now, it’s not easy to go see one of the oldest estates in Beverly Hills and its 6.2-acre gardens. Reservations are required--one or two weeks in advance, please--and the gardens are closed on weekends.

Still, getting a docent-led tour is worth the effort. Virginia and Harry Robinson bought the 15 acres from Burton Green in 1906, and Virginia’s father, Nathaniel Dryden--who also designed the home that became the Brand Library in Glendale--was the architect. Landscape architect Charles Gibbs Adams designed the gardens that align the Beaux Arts house, pavilion and pool. The yard contains the largest collection of king palms outside Australia, a rose garden and a four-terrace garden with waterfalls.

Saturday

Get to the corner of Rodeo Drive and Dayton Way before 10:30 a.m. so you can hop aboard the Art and Architecture Trolley Tour ($5; $1, ages 12 and younger. [310] 285-2438), which will roll you past museums, art galleries and city hall in about 90 minutes. Or, there’s the more abbreviated Sites and Scenes Trolley Tour (Tuesday-Saturday, hourly, noon to 5 p.m. through Labor Day. Same phone number.) that will swing you through the city’s famous restaurant and shopping districts.

Then, lunch at Nate ‘n’ Al’s (414 N. Beverly Drive. [310] 274-0101) for top-notch deli food: cheese blintzes, lox and bagels, latkes, dill pickles.

Sunday

Start your day with a little athletic activity: lawn bowling. Local enthusiasts play and offer free lessons at Roxbury Park (401 S. Roxbury Drive. Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Call [310] 276-1014 for more information.) There’s also a croquet green at the park.

Then head to the Beverly Hills Farmers’ Market (Sunday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., 200 block of North Canon Drive), which is chock-full of organic produce, and perhaps your best shot at star-spotting. Rodeo Drive is full of tourists, but this is the market for locals. Plus, they have entertainment from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Gather up a picnic and head to Greystone Mansion (905 Loma Vista Drive. [310] 550-4796), where the extensive grounds are open to the public from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The magnificent 55-room Tudor/Jacobian house is owned by the city of Beverly Hills. It’s not open to the public, but if there’s no filming going on, a peek in the windows is allowed.

The house, designed by architect Gordon Kaufmann, was built by oil magnate Edward Doheny for his son, Ned, in 1928 at a cost of $3.1 million. The estate, with stables, kennels, swimming pool, two tennis courts and English- and Italian-style gardens, required a household staff of 15 and a grounds crew of 20.

Ned Doheny had lived there less than a year when he and his secretary, Hugh Plunkett, were found shot dead in a first-floor guest room. The case has generally been ruled a murder-suicide, though it seems unclear which of the two men wielded the gun.