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Revision as of 18:10, 15 January 2009
Max Whittier | |
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Born | |
Died | 1928 |
Occupation | Business |
Max Whittier (died in 1928) was an American real estate developer and a pioneer in the early California petroleum industry.
Biography
Max Whittier (nee Mericos Whittier), the son of a potato farmer, came to California from Maine in the early 1900s. While searching for water he discovered a series of oil strikes, which led to the formation of the Whittier Oil Company, which in 1979 was sold to Shell Oil. He owned a major portion of an unsuccessful oil property that he and his partners in 1907 turned into a very successful real estate development, the Rodeo Land & Water Company. The real estate development became the city of Beverly Hills.
The Whittier Mansion
The Whittier Mansion, on a 3.6-acre (15,000 m2) plot on Sunset Boulevard, gained notoriety after it's purchase in 1978 by Saudi Sheik Mohammed al Fassi, who boldly redecorated the Spanish-style mansion, painting the property’s classical statues, visible from the street, in flesh tones – genitalia and all. The garish painted statues turned the mansion into a tourist attraction until it was heavily damaged in a 1980 fire and torn down five years later.