Elmer Grey, a Pasadena architect, constructed the Beverly Hills Hotel's first main structure in the Mediterranean Revival style. Architect Paul Williams created the distinctive signpost as well as the expansion. The latter was done in the Spanish Colonial style. Paul Williams was an influential California architect who designed many buildings in Los Angeles. He also did work in Nevada and Arizona. His most famous project is probably the Beverly Hills Hotel, which he designed in 1937. The hotel was built by Elmer Grey for $1 million ($ million today) and it opened its doors in 1939. It was originally called the Hollywood Plaza Hotel because it had eighty rooms and was located at Highland Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. But when World War II began, the government wanted to use all the resources they could get their hands on so they ordered the hotel to shut down all of its activities including its restaurant and bar. After the war ended, the hotel restarted its operations but it wasn't the same as before; it only had forty-four rooms instead of eighty. In 1948, the hotel was sold to Alfred Taubman who renovated it and added more luxury items such as carpets, furniture, and decorations. He also changed the name from Hollywood Plaza to the Beverly Hills Hotel.