One of the silent screen's most charming and beloved stars was the great Antonio Moreno. Born in Madrid in either 1886 or '87, he befriended in his early teens two tourists, Benjamin Curtis and Enrique de Cruzat Zanetti, who were making the 'Grand Tour ' together. The men took a liking to Antonio, and with his mother's blessing, took him on the rest of their journey and back to America. Once in America, the handsome and charming young man lost no time in finding more patrons. One Charlotte Morgan, a lonely Civil War widow, paid for his tuition at the Williston Seminary in Northhampton, Massachusetts. With his stunning good looks and enthusiasm, he eventually made his way to Hollywood while in his mid-twenties. He appeared in about 50 films over the course of his career. He was often cast as a hero and romantic lead. He played opposite Norma and Constance Talmadge, Lilliian Gish, Mary Pickford, Greta Garbo, Pola Negri, Clara Bow and Gloria Swanson amongst others. In 1923, he married socialite Daisy Canfield Danziger, and together they built one of the most fabulous homes in Southern California, the Canfield-Moreno Estate located at 1923 Micheltorena Street in Silver Lake. Daisy died in 1933, the victim of a tragic car accident. His career continued into the 1950's. He became a very wealthy man and convinced many of his friends to invest in the Silver Lake Hills. The area that he pioneered bears his name, the Moreno Highlands.

In 1998, the Estate was purchased by Dana Hollister, a philanthropist and civic patron. The Estate, renamed The Paramour , is the site of many civic and cultural events in keeping with the tradition established by the Moreno family. Of massive proportions, the Estate is perched atop the hill with 360 degrees of views in a forest of evergreen trees. The Spanish-Mediterranean villa boasts eight bedrooms and eight bathrooms, 15,388 square feet of living space on a lot of over 169,000 square feet. Due to its significance and size, we will devote several photographs to this magnificent property.

Robert D. Farquhar was one of the preeminent architects working in California in the 1920s. Among the many other noteworthy projects he designed are included the Beverly Hills High School (1928), the California Club on Flower Street in downtown Los Angeles, the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library at UCLA and residences for Harvey Mudd and Richard Rogers in Beverly Hills. The archives of his architectural studies and drawings are maintained at the UCLA Department of Special Collections

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