Beverly Hills began as a lima bean ranch owned by the Spanish and only became a city in 1914 because investors found water there, rather than the oil they were looking for. Celebrities flocked to the neighborhood throughout the century, and even now many of them can be found there. Money and power have flowed into Beverly Hills, and now it’s renowned as a high-class neighborhood.

Rodeo Drive is the centerpiece of the Beverly Hills atmosphere. Here you’ll see flashy, expensive cars zooming through traffic. If you’ve got the cash (or the credit line), you can mill about the exclusive, high-end boutiques for the latest designer trends. Around these boutiques, you’ll find the Golden Triangle, the business district surrounding Rodeo Drive. If you’re the kind of person who can afford the high-power sports cars zipping up the street, this is where you’ll want to find yourself working.

When you leave the bustle of Rodeo Drive behind, you’ll find a number of private, hidden hillside mansions throughout Beverly Hills. These are some of the finest residential properties in all of Los Angeles, and they’ve got the price tag to match. Away from these mansions, you’ll find sprawling suburbs, much like any other neighborhood in Los Angeles. The key difference is in the houses; they’re quite a bit bigger and more expensive. But if they fall within your price range, you’d be hard-pressed to find finer homes anywhere else in LA. Just make sure you’ve got the right real estate agent representing you; someone like Otis Jones. If you think Beverly Hills has the home for you, call him at 310-569-3838.