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                                                                    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 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 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.


                         
/s/ KPMG PEAT MARWICK LLP

   
Los Angeles, California
January 12, 1998