Rich men playing fields

Prince Alfonso zu Hohenlohe Marbella

Marbella years until 1940 was merely a village of 900 inhabitants on the Spanish coast. That all changed when, according to legend, a German prince charcoal Rolls-Royce broke down there. Prince Alfonso zu Hohenlohe fell in love with the place and decided to stay.

Born in one of the oldest noble families of Europe (he was a cousin of the king of Spain), Hohenlohe was a successful businessman and well known playboy, who speaksfive languages and skilled in sports like tennis and rally. After his stop in Marbella fatal, decided in 1947 to a large private house building - the Finca Santa Margarita, with traditional whitewashed walls, red tile roofs, patios and terraces, charming and beautiful gardens with fountains, thousands of trees and meadows well cared for. There has hosted a steady stream of visitors with fascinating names like Bismarck, Metternich and Thyssen, many of whomeventually bought adjacent land to build their homes.

But Hohenlohe had even grander plans. In 1954 he sold his house (with his friends the Rothschilds) and the use of other parts of the assets for a lifetime to build the famous Marbella Club, which soon became synonymous century Europe elite "middle jet" set . (In fact Hohenlohe was often credited with having invented the jet set.) Regular guests were the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, the Formula 1 racing driver James Hunt,photographer Patrick Litchfield, actors Sean Connery and Sophia Loren and many others.

Soon the ancient village was a true international resort with Hohenlohe still a driving force. As co-head of operations on the Costa del Sol Promoters', he has been lobbying for the improvement of roads, airports and water supply in the region. He continued to run the Marbella Club and possibly a different format, not far away in the hills near Ronda, where he planted grapes and Bordeauxproprietary award-winning wines under the "Principe Alfonso" label.

By the end of 1970, however, had become disillusioned with the passage Hohenlohe Marbella to mass tourism and so he sold the club to a consortium of Arab businessmen. Yet he was still proud of his success and in 2003, just days before his death, he accepted a medal for achievements in the field of tourism of the Spanish Government.

One of Hohenlohe was famous lines: "I lived in castles, Venetian palaces andWorld's best hotels. I saw the sun rise on the beaches of five continents and I looked into the eyes of the most beautiful women in the universe. "

The last group included Princess Ira von Fürstenberg, a Fiat heiress whom he married when she was 15 years, actresses Ava Gardner and Kim Novak, with whom he has problems, and actress Jackie Lane, who married in 1970. But his greatest love was probably Marbella.

Bel Air and Alphonzo Bell Sr.

Los Angelenosdescribe the three districts of Beverly Hills, Holmby Hills and Bel Air as the "golden triangle". Beverly Hills began as a dry oil and the Amalgamated Oil Company, Holmby Hills was founded by wealthy merchant Arthur Letts Sr. and Bel Air, on the west side of town, was the result of Alphonzo E. Bell Sr

Bell was born in 1875 in a family business, his father did Bell Ranch Station, now the city of Bell, in Santa Fe Springs, while his uncle, EdHollenbeck, founder of the First National Bank and a driving force behind the creation of the first public transportation system in Los Angeles. Alphonzo first found fame as a champion tennis player, winning bronze and silver medals at the Summer Olympics 1904, then a successful gentleman farmer in Santa Fe Springs has become.

But his life changed radically in the early 1920s after oil was discovered on his land. The result could have bought a ranch of 4,500 acres around Los Angeles,Danzinger Estate, complete with a Spanish-style villa. Inspired by the view from this house, he realized that he would use the land for a beautiful, high-level community building. And the idea of Bel Air was born.

Engineer Wilkie Woodward planned housing and roads, while the landscape Aurele Vermeulen has coordinated the planting. Bel Air officially opened on more than 600 acres in October 1922 and was a success from the start, thanks to the growth of Hollywood. Big Irongates marked the entrance of the new community and the uniformed guards checked visitors, a novelty at that time. Bell built a sales and development center in Stone Canyon and worked in an office today is a big suite at the Hotel Bel Air. He also built the elegant Bel Air Beach Club in Santa Monica and Bel Air Country Club in 1924. Bel Air Country buyers were required to have a minimum of $ 20,000 to spend on housing, and most of the early inhabitants built in Spanish-Mediterraneanstyle. Today the community ranges from classical architecture to California mid-century modern and contemporary art. The area has become one of the most exclusive Los Angeles, with distinguished guests including the late U.S. president Ronald Reagan.

Belgravia and Richard Grosvenor

The British Grosvenor family, currently led by the sixth Duke of Westminster, the Middle Ages. But it takes its first title by Richard Grosvenor - a graduate of Oxford and a member of the European Parliamentfrom Cheshire, who was knighted in 1617 and made a baron in 1621 - and his immense fortune to Sir Thomas Grosvenor, 3rd Baronet - who in 1677 married Mary Davies, heiress of 300 acres of land on the outskirts of London. As the city grew, the country quickly became the prime real estate, the basis for greater prosperity and more titles. Today, 500 streets, squares and buildings bear the names of titles, people and places connected with the family and the Grosvenor Group has billions of poundsthe value of assets under management.

The first area of Grosvenor, developed in the age 17 and 18, Mayfair. But for now, Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster, became head of the family was largely complete work. So he turned to another area, he owned. "Laguna del Thames' a swamp in rural south-west of Buckingham Palace known as the" five fields "and

In 1826 a special act of parliament was passed, which authorizes the discharge Lord Grosvenorsite. He commissioned the architect Thomas Cubitt, who later would be responsible for the east front of Buckingham Palace, the structure of the new district of Belgravia. Cubitt was chosen for the quality of his work - unlike other manufacturers, at the time, which uses subcontractors, has its own large staff - and the classic white stucco houses around Eaton Square, Belgrave Square, are built still coveted.

Grosvenor himself to live in Mayfair, in the OldGrosvenor House, Upper Grosvenor Street, overlooking Hyde Park, which was later demolished in 1927. But there is no doubt that the construction of Belgravia was his legacy.

Monaco and Aristotle Onassis

Monaco is a constitutional monarchy ruled by the Grimaldi family - originally from Genoa in Italy - since 1297, when François Grimaldi, disguised as Monaco and was seized. By the mid-nineteenth century, the 495-acre micro-states had become a popularresort with a casino, but after the Second World War, was in a crisis. The upper classes who had visited the clubs and beaches for the war emigrated or lost their money. The resort has a 'Belle Epoque buildings began to crumble. The pool had no water and it was said that the revenue of the casino as soon as the electricity bill for the chandeliers covered. Of course there are still people who live there, including old European aristocracy andinternational entrepreneurs benefit from duty-free regime, but was far from his heydey. The situation changed when "Ari" Onassis arrived in the early 1950s.

Born in 1906, a poor member of the Greek minority in Izmir, Turkey, Onassis and her family fled to Greece during the Turkish war. He emigrated to Argentina in 16 years where he laid the foundation for his fortune by selling turkish tobacco and invest the proceeds in a series of old oil tankersoon implement ally related materiel overseas. After the war, Onassis began construction of the first super tankers and was soon nicknamed the "king of tankers." His fortune grew to a then almost unimaginable amount of $ 1 billion.

In 1954 he moved to Monaco for tax advantages and fell in love with him despite his post-war malaise. In fact, he saw an investment opportunity and has acquired a stake of 52 per cent of the Société des Bains de Mer, which owns much of the Principality of Monaco, includingHotel de Paris, Hotel Hermitage, casino, opera house, restaurants, bars and country, for the incredibly paltry sum of $ 1.5 million. He then put more money into renovation and restoration of buildings and encouraged the construction of apartment buildings that now dominate the landscape. Monaco fortunes began to turn and, in the wake of the fairytale wedding of Prince Rainier to Grace Kelly, has been a hot spot for the rich and internationalfamous.

Usually Onassis lived and held court at the Hôtel de Paris and also stayed at the legendary Chateau de la Croë, now owned by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, the Cap d'Antibes. But his real home was the Christina, a sleek, 325ft, gleaming white yacht named after his daughter.
Ranieri Onassis and later broke down quite dramatically, at odds over their visions for the future of Monaco and to engage in a fierce legal battle that eventually Ranieriwon. Consequently, the Onassis estate in Monaco is now only a distant memory. But his influence was unmistakable.

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