Beverly Hills is a city in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together entirely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles. The area's "Platinum Triangle" of wealthy neighborhoods is formed by Beverly Hills and the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Bel-Air and Holmby Hills. The population was 34,980 as of the 2006 census.

Beverly Hills is bordered on the north by Bel-Air and the Santa Monica Mountains, on the east by West Hollywood, the Carthay neighborhood of Los Angeles, and the Fairfax District of Los Angeles, and on the south by the Beverlywood.

Beverly Hills contains some of the largest homes in Los Angeles County and the nation. These homes range from the extravagant and luxurious in size, to the more elegant and modern homes, and then to the many small duplex rental units and detached homes with less than 3,000 sq ft (280 sq meters). The city's average household income is just over $87,000.

In 2007, Coldwell Banker lists Beverly Hills as the most expensive housing market (second year in a row) in the United States, with a median home price of over $2.2 million.

18th Century

Gaspar de Portolà's land expedition arrived in the area on August 3, 1769. The group consisted of Portolà (the first governor of the province of California), some Franciscan priests and a cavalcade of leather-jacket soldiers and horses. On September 27, 1821, New Spain became Mexico and the province of California quietly changed flags.

That same decade, retired Spanish soldier Vicente Ferrer Valdez and his wife, Maria Rita Villa de Valdez, settled on the Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas. Rita did not care for the name, however, and chose to call it San Antonio. The Valdez adobe home was built near what is the present day intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Alpine Drive. Valdez died in 1828, leaving Rita and eleven children.

19th century

California was ceded by Mexico to the United States in 1848 with the Treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo. It was admitted as a U.S. state on September 9, 1850.

In 1852 Maria Rita Valdez De Villa asked to purchase a league of land for $4,000. She called the land Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas. It was later purchased by Major Henry Hancock (of Hancock Park fame), a New Hampshire attorney. He had come to the state during the 1849 gold rush. He used the land as a farm until 1868 when Dr. Edward Preusss, a native of Louisville, Kentucky, bought the land.

A brief oil boom raised interest in the area in 1865 when the Pioneer Oil Company bought the rights to drill wells.Fact: date=May 2008

20th century

In September 1911, work began on the Beverly Hills Hotel. The Los Angeles Times would call it a "monster hostelry" since it cost $300,000. At the time, lots were selling for around $2,000 each.