A History of Beauty, Intrigue, and Murder at the Greystone Mansion
People who visit LA often want to know where the best places of city are. For some, they wish to find a place to mellow out and relax. For others, they actively want to know all of our town’s dirty little secrets–and seek to discover our city’s macabre history of mystery, crime, and deadly moments of violence.
Greystone Mansion has it all in one place:
Located off Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills, there sits a tiny 46,000 square foot mansion perched on 16 acres of land, with only 55 rooms. The land was first owned by the oil magnet Edward L. Doheny, who then gave it to his son, Edward "Ned" Doheny, Jr. as a wedding gift.
It was the most expensive house in Beverly Hills in its day, costing over $3,000,000 to build. The day I was there, I was unable to tour the inside because of a previously booked event– but if you want to see a few pictures of the Greystone Mansion’s interior, Curbed LA has some pictures they took awhile back: On a Grisly Day, Inside Beverly Hills’ Greystone Mansion.
As you walk around the grounds of the Mansion, it’s easy to become encapsulated into part of its grandeur.
But if these walls could talk, they would also tell you the facts and truth about the murder-suicide that took place there:
Four months after Ned Doheny and his family moved in, on February 16, 1929–two men, Ned and Hugh Plunket, and Ned’s secretary, were found shot dead inside the Mansion. The “official” story is that Hugh, distraught by a mental breakdown, murdered Ned and then turned the gun on himself. However, several stories, each with a new set of questions, have emerged over the years.
What is the truth to these unanswered questions:
- Why was Ned Doheny not buried in the family’s Catholic plot (which may indicate that he was the one who committed suicide)?
- Or is it possible that Ned and Hugh were more than good friends? Maybe Lucy, Ned’s wife, committed the crime in a fit of jealousy?
- Was there a delay in calling the police, so the bodies could fit the story?
- Was there an effort made to make Plunkett look crazy, to make the murder-suicide story more believable?
- Why was the case closed in less than 36 hours?
If you’d like to do a little bit of reading, the detective in charge of the case, Leslie T. White, wrote a 1936 book entitled, Me, Detective, which talks about his experiences with the Doheny murders. A small excerpt can be found on criticism & scholarship.
Travelin’ Local is not the first to report that LA is full of murder, dreadfulness, revenge, in addition to its multitude of beauty and spender. So for us, we’re committed to writing about, and covering all of the positive aspects and sides of our great and diverse city. After all, isn’t there enough bad news published in one day to last a lifetime?
For more Travelin’ Local’s pictures of Greystone Mansion, the gardens, and surrounding grounds, I’ve included the following slideshow:
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or bringing Travelin’ Local home with you via the RSS feed.
Hello Lisa,
Thanks for this really interesting post. At Fox rent A Car Blog we are always looking for the inside scoop to share with travelers. We like to give travel advice about diverse locations and we try to give insights on off the beaten path sights to help travelers make their journey a bit out of the ordinary and more interesting. Thanks again for your post!
Maria´s last blog ..Events and Festivals in Los Angeles
[Reply]
For many years the Summer Solstice Festival was here…..a lovely site, but they grew out of it. Enjoyed my time here.
[Reply]