It happened late summer 1919. World War I was won by the Allies and Beverly Hills was a new concept in city planning….(LASN 11/85)

Editor’s note: This is not LASN’s first story on Raymond Page. He was the subject of an article in the November/December 1985 issue that chronicled (in part) his illustrious career spanning nearly 70 years. That first article on Mr. Page was written when the magazine’s circulation was approximately 2,000. With LASN’s subscribers now close to 20,000 strong, we decided Raymond Page deserved another look.

Raymond Page is an enviable man. Although many would be content simply to reach the venerable age of 94 as Page has done, the patriarch of Southern California landscape architecture has gone a step further by refusing to let that age slow him down.

Page has several other anecdotes about famous clients. He once received an urgent call from Pola Negri, a femme fatale of the’20s, who asked Page to do a complete re-landscaping of Charlie Chaplin’s estate while the two of them were on a trip together. “I asked her who would pay for the job,” says Page. “She said that she would, but out of courtesy, I called Mr. Chaplin to get permission to dig up his garden. He said, ‘Who’s paying for it?’ and I told him that it was a gift from Miss Negri. He laughed and told me to go ahead.”

Later, when Page drove to pick up his check, the sum of $3,000, Negri and Chaplin were in the middle of a terrible fight. The two finished their relationship that day, and Page was afraid that he’d never get to collect his fee. “Fortunately, the lady honored her commitment,” Page says.

For the record, Page holds the number two license in California. Number one had been presented to an associate of Page who was terminally ill at the time and who passed away shortly thereafter.

Page’s early political efforts to get the profession licensed led to a long relationship with local and state government officials, during which he continued his work for the advancement of the industry and completed several municipal and county projects. Today, however, Page feels that working with government has become too complicated and he is content to leave that work to younger counterparts. Working with local government, he says, is difficult because a person can’t foresee what the next government agency will do. The only constant, according to Page, is that a Landscape Architect can count on drawing and redrawing plans for the commissions and governing bodies that often change their minds at the drop of a hat. Page does continue to keep a watchful eye on legislative developments that may impact the industry, however, and feels that groups such as the CCLA must remain vigilant and protect the interests of landscape architects. “When I see bills introduced to the state legislature that are detrimental to the industry, it really gets to me,” says Page. “There should be people like the CCLA on the prowl constantly for harmful legislation. We spent a lot of effort getting licensure through the assembly.”

These days, Page is content to design and maintain private estates where he can get to know his clients and they can get to know him. Page says that he will continue to work as long as he can think, and the details of landscape architecture and maintenance keep his mind sharp. He still maintains an office on Canon Drive in Beverly Hills and is often seen at the local Bistro.

Page says the most important message he would like to impart to up-and-coming LAs is that they should take care not to overplant their sites. All too often, he says, an area is overplanted for the immediate effect, only to have plant materials removed or replaced as a result of the overplanting.

It stands to reason that when the man who designed Beverly Hills’ landscape architecture and who has practiced landscape arts for more than 60 years speaks, Landscape Architects should listen.

Page still maintains an office and drives his own car.