About Hollywood Hills
The Hollywood Hills
In 1923, the Hollywood Hills began as a real estate development known as “Hollywoodland.” By 1949, the last four letters of the sign, “land” were removed due to neglect, but its new name, Hollywood and its cultural influence continued to grow into a world-wide icon. The hillside community also continued to grow from its origins in Beachwood Canyon (Hollywoodland) east to Los Feliz and north to the San Fernando Valley, extending westward to West Hollywood. The Hollywood Hills forms the north barrier of the Los Angeles Basin.
Today, the Hollywood Hills is home to a rich variety of people that reflect their diversity in the style, size and history of their homes - from original hunting retreats to stunning luxury homes perched in the hillsides and nestled among a lush landscape above the city. While the median home value in Hollywood Hills is nearly $1.9 million there are numerous, more modest homes for half the price. In addition to the area’s natural beauty, residents enjoy privacy and breath-taking views.
The 2010 U.S. Census reported that 22,00 people live in the 7 square mile Hollywood Hills neighborhood and is one of the lowest population densities in Los Angeles. The median household income is $83,756.
Sitting on the south-facing slope of the Santa Monica Mountains the neighborhoods of the Hollywood Hills are roughly defined by several canyons that make up the southern face of the Santa Monica Mountains, above central Los Angeles. Living in the hills provides seclusion while near to all the benefits of a vast city below.
Hollywood Hills East
Beachwood Canyon
Located in the eastern side of the Hollywood Hills is the area formerly known as “Hollywoodland” from which the famed Hollywood sign bears this name.
Upper Beachwood Canyon is the original 1923 development of 26 elegant homes (many of which still exist). The views of downtown Los Angeles to the Catalina Islands have always been a major attraction.
Throughout the years, Beachwood has attracted many celebrities, including Humphrey Bogart, and Aldous Huxley. Kevin Bacon, Jack Black, Mila Kunis, and Moby. Lower Beachwood Canyon is lined with condominiums and apartment buildings. One of note, the Chateau Beachwood, is a landmark building built in 1937 by Warner Brothers Studios to house Hollywood starlets early in their careers, such as Greta Garbo and Norma Jean (Marilyn Monroe). Even Madonna once called it home. Local lore has it that mobster Bugsy Siegel opened a speakeasy on Durand Drive in 1938.
With its proximity to the movie industry, notable set designers built their own homes inspiring a neighborhood of unique “Storybook” style houses alongside the bungalows, cottages, and estates built in the nineteen twenties and thirties. Spanish as well as Mediterranean, English and French architecture were popular expressions of its architectural taste.
By the Beachwood Canyon gates is a small collection of shops, stores and businesses. Of note is the modest sized grocery store designed by mid-century architect, Richard Neutra. Residents can hike the hills, stop by the nearby cafes or rent horses at Sunset Ranch Hollywood Stables for a ride in nearby Griffith Park. Hikers can get a workout by climbing the Beachwood Stairs and Hollywoodland Stairs built in the 1920s by Italian stonemasons. Residents of the Beachwood Canyon can also enjoy hiking to Lake Hollywood. The canyons provide an un-hurried privacy that makes the neighborhood seem far from city life which is only a short drive to downtown Los Angeles.
Bronson Canyon
Just east of Beachwood, Canyon Drive is a less travelled entrance through the neighborhood of Bronson Canyon to Griffith Park. Much like its closest neighborhoods, Bronson Canyon has many fine examples of American Craftsman homes from the turn of the 20th Century along with Spanish, Mediterranean, English and French architecture.
In Griffith Park are Bronson Caves, once used in the 1920s as a quarry for road construction, and now occasionally used as a film location. It’s best known as the entrance to the Batcave in the 1960s Batman television series.
Franklin Village
At the base of Bronson and Beachwood Canyons is Franklin Village, a small enclave of restaurants and stores that attracts a reach beyond its immediate neighborhood. It’s hard to ignore the Scientology Celebrity Centre on Franklin Avenue that was originally the “Chateau Elysée”, a luxury hotel and apartment building. Fashioned after a 17th century French-Norman castle it was home to many actors of the 1930s and 40s, including Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable, Ginger Rogers, Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant. The Church of Scientology bought it in 1972 and is now a historical landmark.
Hollywood Dell
The Hollywood Dells’ neighborhood of about 1,000 homes was established in the early 1920s before Highway 101 was constructed and was originally part of Whitley Heights.
Voted one of “10 Best Neighborhoods You Have Never Heard of” by Los Angeles Magazine, the Hollywood Dells’ residents today are a mix of professionals, artists and families. Typical homes in the Hollywood Dell are single-family homes in the Spanish Colonial Revival Style architecture. To its north the Hollywood Reservoir (Lake Hollywood) no longer provides drinking water, but is still a popular spot for hiking, jogging, bird-watching, around its 3.mile perimeter with great views of the Hollywood sign.
Hollywood Hills West
Hollywood Heights
The Hollywood Heights neighborhood is a short drive from the energy and flow of Hollywood, bordered by the Hollywood Bowl to the north and the Outpost neighborhood to the west. Still, it remains a secluded retreat away from the chaos of city life. Full of historic homes and cultural landmarks, among them is Frank Lloyd Wright’s Samuel Freeman House and Rudolph Schindler’s (his former student) two Mid-Century apartment buildings. Rising above them is the High Tower, a five-story, over 100-foot high tower housing a private elevator. It was built circa 1920 in the style of a Bolognese campanile to provide access to a Streamline Moderne fourplex apartment building known as High Tower Court. You will also find one of the many “secret stairs” of Los Angeles – public stairways built in the 1920s and 30s to provide people quick access to-and-from the trolley lines.
Two venerable neighborhood institutions rise above Hollywood on the Hollywood Heights hillside. One, the Yamashiro restaurant, built in 1911 is a replica of a palace from the Yamashiro mountains of Japan and was originally designed to house a private Asian art collection. The other is the Magic Castle, a private clubhouse, performance venue with three different stages, and restaurant for the members and invited guests of the Academy of Magical Arts. Evening and weekend shows are performed by professional and amateur magicians from all over the world. The 1909 building was fashioned after a chateau with a unique feature: the lobby has no visible doors to the interior, requiring visitors to say a secret phrase to an owl sculpture to gain access to the club.
Whitley Heights
Whitley Heights is an historic residential enclave in the Hollywood Hills West area. Luxury homes, especially Mediterranean and Spanish Revivals help give the neighborhood its prestige and character. Many were built during the birth of the motion picture industry in the 1920s. Early residents included film moguls and A-list movie stars such as Charlie Chaplin, Bette Davis, Marlene Dietrich, Harold Lloyd and Carol Lombard. With the construction of the Hollywood Freeway through Whitley Heights, 49 houses, including those where actors Rudolph Valentino and Charlie Chaplin had lived, were destroyed. Fortunately, through preservation efforts the district was designated a national historic place, the first such in Hollywood and in 2004, the area was made into an Historic Preservation Overlay Zone (HPLOZ). Like Outpost Estates and Hollywood Heights, Whitley Heights residents are steps away from an evening of open-air entertainment at the Hollywood Bowl.
Outpost Estates
Developed in the 1920s by Charles E. Toberman to be “one of the most exclusive and beautiful residential parks in the world,” the Outpost Estates neighborhood was built to appeal to the emerging elite of Hollywood. Located directly east of Runyon Canyon Park, the land was acquired by General Harrison Grey Otis, owner of the Los Angeles Times, from Don Tomás after California’s secession to the United States. The name “Outpost” came from the clubhouse Otis built on the property.
As one of the original luxury neighborhoods in Los Angeles most of the original 450 houses have been preserved, and Lower Outpost looks much like it did in the 1920s.
Inspired by the sign to advertise the real estate development in nearby “Hollywoodland,” Toberman tried to outdo his real estate competitor with a 30 foot high, neon “Outpost” sign. Unlike the “Hollywoodland” sign, little is remembered of this twisted metal wreckage at the base of Outpost Drive.
Laurel Canyon
Just north of Sunset Blvd. and the clubs along “the Strip,” Laurel Canyon is best known as the center of the counterculture music scene of the 1960s and 1970s. Jim Morrison of the Doors and his girlfriend lived in a house off Laurel Canyon Blvd. on Love Street next door to the Canyon Store “… where the creatures meet.” The list of musicians who lived here is staggering from the Byrds, Carol King, Buffalo Springfield, John Mayall, The Eagles, Jackson Brown, Governor Jerry Brown & then girlfriend, Linda Ronstadt to Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork of the Monkees and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. Joni Mitchell was living in Laurel Canyon when she wrote Ladies of The Canyons, sharing her house with Graham Nash, inspiring his song Our House. Frank Zappa's notorious home during the sixties (formerly Tom Mix’s cabin) was located on the corner of Lookout Mountain Blvd. and Laurel Canyon Blvd. before it was destroyed by a fire in the 1980s.
At the turn of the twentieth century, trackless trollies carried visitors to vacation properties up Lookout Mountain. A somewhat quiet, isolated canyon life continued until the 1940s when it was connected with an over-mountain road (Laurel Canyon Blvd.) that now serves as one of the main arteries from the L.A. Basin to the San Fernando Valley.
At the birth of Hollywood, Laurel Canyon attracted many silent movie stars including the silver screen’s first cowboy, Tom Mix, “The It Girl,” Clara Bow, Richard Dix, Norman Kerry and Ramon Navarro. Swashbuckling Errol Flynn, Sr. lived in a mansion just north of the Houdini estate on Laurel Canyon Blvd. and across from the Mix cabin. Local lore insists that there was a secret tunnel between the two homes and while Houdini spent little time in Los Angeles, his widow lived for many years at the estate's guest house, using the mansion to lead seances with her dead husband. That tradition continues every Halloween to this day.
Another local legend surrounds the Lookout Mountain Air Force Station’s top-secret movie production studio on Wonderland Avenue. Built to produce military training films and Department of Defense documentaries including footage of the aboveground Nevada nuclear tests in the 1950s, rumors persist that there is a network of underground tunnels used to conceal the Army’s secret experiments on aliens. The unique property was bought in 2015 by actor Jared Leto reportedly for $5,000,000.
Given its rich and storied history, the homes in Laurel Canyon reflect a wide variety of residential styles from cabin retreats to modernist mansions among the English Cottage, Spanish, Mediterranean and Cape Code style homes. To accommodate the growing population, new materials and construction practices allowed developers to build on previously unbuildable lots, including homes with stilts anchored into steep hillsides. And scattered throughout the Hollywood Hills are a handful of “Case Study” houses commissioned in 1947 by the California architecture magazine, Arts and Architecture. Many of the young architects selected – among them Pierre Koenig and Craig Ellwood – created light-filled, open form construction built with inexpensive, mass manufactured materials such as concrete and plywood that took advantage of the abundant California sun.
On the eastern side of Laurel Canyon is Mount Olympus, a planned community in contrast to the folksy, organic evolution of Laurel Canyon. Mt. Olympus was developed in 1969, modeled after the ancient Greeks and their Olympic gods. Streets with names such as Zeus, Venus and Apollo Drives frame the hillside. And while the original architecture reflected a developer’s Hellenistic notion in creamy marbles, many homes have been torn down or re-imagined to take advantage of the breathtaking sweeping views of the city below. What Mount Olympus and Laurel Canyon do share are their fabulous location – a relatively short drive to West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, the San Fernando Valley and downtown Los Angeles.
Bird Streets
To the west of Laurel Canyon and perched above the Sunset Strip, are the prestigious Bird Streets, known for its ultra-luxury homes and spectacular, jetliner views. Its name is derived from quaintly named streets like Robin, Oriole and Nightingale, but its prestige comes from its spectacular location, amazing custom homes and the A-list celebrities residents – Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Jodie Foster and Keanu Reeves; musician Herbie Hancock. The Bird Streets have also acquired the status of being some of the most expensive real estate in Los Angeles. Developers are keenly aware of its prized location and breathtaking views as evidenced by the constant (some local residents say incessant) construction. Notoriously famous for the tangle of streets, George Harrison of the Beatles wrote while living there, “And my friends have lost their way,” in the song, Blue Jay Way from the house he rented of the same name. Just minutes away on the Sunset Strip are restaurants, shopping and entertainment spots.
Hollywood Hills Architectural Styles
Spanish Colonial Revival
Mediterranean
California Modern
Bungalow
Mid-Century Modern
Tudor Revival
French Normandy
Case Study Houses
Hollywood Hills Demographic Information
The 2010 U.S. Census reported that over 21,000 people live in the seven square mile Hollywood Hills neighborhood. With 3,000 people per square mile it’s one of the lowest population densities in Los Angeles.
The median age of Hollywood Hills residents was 37, which is somewhat older than the city as a whole. The percentages of residents aged 19 through 64 were among the county's highest. The ethnic make-up of the Hollywood Hills is predominately Non-Hispanic Whites at almost 75%. Latinos at nearly 10% were the second largest while Asians make up roughly 7%. African American made up 5% and the remaining other groups also at 5%. The household size was just under 2 people which was relatively low for Los Angeles. Over half of Hollywood Hills residents are renters while homeowners were the balance. The median household income is just over $83,000.
Hollywood Hills Schools
Among the many factors in considering where to live, the proximity to quality school is near the top. It’s not only important for parents of school aged children, but also for buyers or sellers given the impact a school’s reputation has on property values.
The school finder link provided is intended as a first step. Before purchasing or renting, parents of school aged children need to contact the district’s school for availability and registration requirements. When considering private schools, in addition to availability and registration requirements, commute times and transportation should also be considered.
The Los Angeles Unified School District Resident School Identifier: http://rsi.lausd.net/ResidentSchoolIdentifier/
Best Private schools
Things to Do In and Around Hollywood Hills
Los Angeles Zoo - a family-favorite for decades
Griffith Observatory – is a free-admission, iconic public attraction and offers public telescope viewings along with educational programs.
The Greek Theatre – is the iconic outdoor amphitheater providing a great music venue for internationally known acts.
Hollywood Bowl - an historic outdoor music amphitheater that brings in nationally recognized musicians and performers and is home to L.A. Philharmonic’s summer concerts
Golf – a driving range, two public 18-hole courses and one 9-hole course named after the US presidents.
Hiking and Biking– to the Hollywood Sign, observatory and through the canyons including the popular Runyon Canyon trail.
Open spaces – throughout the park for soccer and family picnics.
Los Angeles Equestrian Center – offers boarding with direct access to all of Griffith Park trails
Other Popular Hollywood Hills Attractions
Jerome C. Daniel Overlook – is a tour stop and often crowded with buses, but it’s one of the best panoramic views in Los Angeles on a bluff above the Hollywood Bowl.
Secret Steps - originally built as a direct route for hillside residents to get to and from public trolleys, and now a great place for stair climbing workouts. There is an app available of A Walking Guide to the Historical Stairs of Los Angeles.
Lake Hollywood Park - a great dog-friendly open space with green grass and picnic tables
Hollywood Reservoir – an almost hidden and less-trafficked trail (3.3 miles) around the reservoir for biking, hiking or walking.
Interested in learning more about the Hollywood Hills?
Get in touch with David Rosen to learn more about upcoming listings and local real estate trends.
