Beverly Hills, New South Wales
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Beverly Hills (Australia), is a suburb of southwestern Sydney, Australia, located about 15 kilometres from the Central Business District. It is often referred to colloquially as "Bevo" by its residents. When first settled in the late 19th Century it was known as Dumbleton, but this was generally disliked by residents who lobbied to supplant it with the more glamorous current alternative to coincide with the arrival of the East Hills suburban railway line and concurrent real estate developments of the 1930s and 40s.
Much of present day Beverly Hills consists of freestanding red brick and tile bungalows built in the years immediately after World War 2. Many of these feature late Art Deco design elements.
The area has all the features typical of Australian metropolitan localities: restaurants, retail shops, a pub (the Beverly Hills Hotel), cinemas, several schools, parks, and health facilities. Notable amongst the public buildings and amenities are Beverly Hills Girls High School and Regina Coeli Roman Catholic parish church and primary school.
The latter is Australia's only Catholic war memorial church. It was built in the early 1960s to commemorate the Australian-US alliance during World War 2. The flags of both nations are permanently hung either side of the main altar, and a special Mass attended by US service personnel and diplomatic representatives is conducted there annually in commemmoration of the Battle of the Coral Sea. Regina Coeli is sited prominently on the highest point in Beverly Hills, and is a landmark visible for many kilometres in all directions.
Beverly Hills is bounded by Kingsgrove, New South Wales to the east, Peakhurst, New South Wales to the south, Narwee, New South Wales (with which it shares the 2209 post code) to the West and Roselands, New South Wales to the north.
The main road running through Beverly Hills and connecting it to Roselands and Hurstville is King Georges Road. The road has palm trees running through its median strip as a nod to its Californian namesake.