After Hours

L.A.'S LATE-NIGHT PARTY SCENE RAISES THE BAR

It's a balmy L.A. night and most people are mourning the two A.M. last call, but there's a set of locals who haven't begun to slow down. They're ready for more, and there they go ... headed north toward the Hollywood Hills. House parties have come a long way since the days of Kid'N Play, and now the fabulously wealthy are designing their own rooms, and even entire compounds, outfitted mainly for the purpose of after-hours debauchery. Take, for instance, real-estate mogul Jeff Greene. His second home—way up there off Sunset Boulevard, once owned by W. C. Fields—is a 12,000square-foot party wonderland.

In the event that you or your heels are too high for stairs, Greene's elevator will drop you off at his third-floor karaoke stage and discotheque (complete with stocked bar and screening room), the fourthfloor Moroccan "love den" (don't ask), or the bubbling, steaming Jacuzzi, which overlooks L.A.'s twinkling light grid.

Farther down the hill is director Brett Ratner's Beverly Hills home, with its authentic antique disco—built by Grease producer Allan Carr in the 70s—decked out with the original gold-lame-and-red-leather banquettes, Egyptian murals, wall-to-wall mirrors, and a gargantuan, glittering disco ball. Ratner's state-of-the-art sound system cranks out Michael Jackson, 50 Cent, and Justin Timberlake like you've never heard, while his guests rage until dawn, lost in the music and pulsing colored lights. Invitations to party at homes-gone-club are the hottest tickets in town, and you're bound to bump into everyone—from Benicio and Leo to Heath Ledger and Mark McGrath; to rock 'n' roll offspring Sean Lennon, Kimberly Stewart, Nicole Richie, and Ethan Browne; to the jetsetting twentysomethings of New York's old-money families, like Samantha Phipps, Nicholas Loeb, and Casey Johnson; to L.A.'s top club and bar promoters; to the Hilton sisters. If in L.A. it's who you know, then befriending one of the premier afterhours hosts—who shell out anywhere from $1,500 to $5,000 per evening for top-shelf liquor, security, music, and parking valets—is the way to go. On a Saturday in late July, Nick Haque, owner of the West Hollywood restaurant Koi, was hosting one of his infamous late-night gatherings high above the gates of Mt. Olympus Drive. At four A.M. the bartenders were still pouring, the DJ. was still spinning, and security guards were still turning people away. One can only believe that by dawn Haque was ready for bed. He didn't have far to go. As the saying goes, there's no place like home.

LAUREN TABACH-BANK

PUNCH HUTTON