EXHIBIT 23.1
                        CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT AUDITORS
 
The Board of Directors
H. F. Ahmanson & Company:
   
We consent to incorporation by reference in the Form S-4 Registration
Statement (No. 333-21919) of H. F. Ahmanson & Company, of our report dated
January 15, 1997, except as to Note 18 of Notes to the Consolidated Financial
Statements, which is as of March 17, 1997, relating to the consolidated
statements of financial condition as of December 31, 1996 and December 31,
1995, and the related consolidated statements of operations, stockholders'
equity and cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended
December 31, 1996, which report appears in the December 31, 1996 report on
Form 10-K of H. F. Ahmanson & Company, and to the reference to our firm under
the heading "Experts" in the prospectus.     
   
Our report dated January 15, 1997, except as to Note 18 of Notes to the
Consolidated Financial Statements, which is as of March 17, 1997, contains an
explanatory paragraph that states that as discussed in Note 1 of the Notes to
the Consolidated Financial Statements, the Company changed its method of
accounting for goodwill in 1995.     
 
                                       KPMG Peat Marwick LLP
 
Los Angeles, California
   
May 12, 1997