Isabel Goldsmith's Hillside retreat above Los Angeles

Daughter of British financier Sir James Goldsmith, granddaughter of the duchess of Durcal, granddaughter of the man known as the Bolivian Tin King—Isabel Goldsmith would seem to face more than the usual hurdles in establishing a name for herself.

But she has prevailed. In the 1980s she acquired some fifteen hundred acres along the Mexican riviera from her grandfather, Antenor Patiño. Patiño, who conceived the glossy Manzanillo resort Las Hadas, had earmarked the property for a golf course and miles of condominiums, but Goldsmith had other plans.

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