The old Greystone Mansion has long been open for filming and for outdoor events (or special events hosted by owner Beverly Hills), but it's now throwing open its grand doors, at least to corporations looking to spend a lot of money on parties. The LA Business Journal reports that "The city recently signed an agreement giving three catering companies licenses to produce private and corporate parties inside the mansion. The three companies are SRC Event Group in Beverly Hills, Wolfgang Puck Catering in downtown Los Angeles and Jackson Catering in the Mid-City neighborhood of Los Angeles." Greystone was designed by Gordon Kaufmann and built in 1928 by oil baron Edward Doheny for his son Ned--Ned and his personal secretary Hugh Plunkett were both killed under somewhat mysterious circumstances in the house in 1929. Since then, it's hosted filming for The Big Sleep, The Social Network, and the incredible bowling alley scene at the end of There Will Be Blood (loosely based on the book Oil!, which is loosely based on the elder Doheny). SRC is taking advantage of the history: the company will host Dining With the Dohenys in which "actors, dressed in period attire, will play the part of the wealthy family, taking guests on a tour of the house. Each room will feature one course of a dinner."
SRC is also planning a "party concept" centered on a lamb dinner and hunting tales told in the Greystone hunting room, which "has gun racks and a window from which the Dohenys and their guests shot at deer that were released on the grounds and on Edward Doheny’s 429-acre estate next door" (!).
The city is hoping, of course, to bring in some cash via the events and "has invested million of dollars in plumbing, heating and air-conditioning upgrades as well as a new professional kitchen to prepare Greystone as an event venue." They'll get a rental fee of "several thousand dollars for each event" and a commission from the event companies starting in 2013. The mansion's largest space fits 70, but overall 300 can squeeze in for a cocktail affair.
· Beverly Hills Mansion Opens Doors to History [LABJ, sub. req.]
· On a Grisly Anniversary, Inside Beverly Hills' Greystone Mansion [Curbed LA]
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