Old Hollywood mansions were monuments to ego, ambition, and that quintessential L.A. need to outshine your neighbors — literally. These estates, draped across Beverly Hills and beyond, are where the stars escaped their spotlights only to bask in another kind of glow: chandeliers dripping from frescoed ceilings, infinity pools reflecting meticulously landscaped gardens, and ballrooms built for the kind of parties that defined an era. Take Pickfair, once the stomping grounds of Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, or Hearst Castle, where Charlie Chaplin might’ve stumbled upon a Romanesque statue on his way to a midnight swim. These homes were as over-the-top as the personalities that inhabited them — each more like a film set than a place to hang your hat. They were social hubs where movie deals were made over cocktails, relationships bloomed (and often combusted), and Hollywood royalty crafted their image both on and off-screen. In a town obsessed with reinvention, these homes are the last relics of a glittering era — timeless monuments to the American dream on steroids.