In May 1924, Alla Nazimova was estranged from her longtime partner Charles Bryant, who had served as her business manager since 1912. With Charles out of the picture and her finances in freefall, Nazimova hired Jean Adams to manage her career and business affairs. Jean quickly became the great star’s friend and confidante, or so it seemed.
She was successful at securing endorsement deals – Nazimova posed for Lux Toilet Soap and Lucky Strike ads – and she brokered a film contract with Edwin Carewe for three projects. The salary was drastically less than she’d been paid by Metro, but considerably more than the pay from vaudeville.
Nazimova built a luxurious, two-story house at the south end of the estate that faced Hayvenhurst Drive. Adams then put the main house up for lease, securing two tenancies – first was United Artist chairman Joe Schenck and then British actress Beatrice Lillie.
In 1925, Jean came to Alla with a bold proposal. She offered convert the Garden of Alla into a hotel. Alla would lease the property for 99 years to a company Adams would set up. The company would Alla $14,500 annually (about $270,000 today) plus half the profits.
Jean’s plan called for building two dozen bungalows around the pool and a reconfiguring the main house. The cost: $1.5 million, or about $28 million today.
It was the only offer on the table. Nazimova, exhausted and suffering from a flu-like illness, accepted. Construction began on August 1, 1926, and took just four months.