Los Cerritos (sometimes called Los Cerritos/Virginia Country Club) is a neighborhood with approximately 700 homes and 2,000 residents located within the

Bixby Knolls Bixby Knolls is a neighborhood in Long Beach, California, named after the Bixby family. Location Bixby Knolls is an area of Long Beach adjoining North Long Beach to the north, California Heights on the southeast, Wrigley on the southwest. It ...

neighborhood of

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

. Established in 1906, the Los Cerritos neighborhood has been used by the

film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, post ...

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

with its historic, estate-sized homes. It was one of three finalists in the 2007 Neighborhood of the Year national competition.

History

On October 7, 1906, surrounding

Rancho Los Cerritos :''This article refers to the land grant. For the Rancho Los Cerritos adobe, see Los Cerritos Ranch House'' Rancho Los Cerritos was a 1834 land grant in present-day southern Los Angeles County and Orange County, California The grant was the res ...

were designated as the Los Cerritos subdivision. Once streets were cut out into the designed tract, the lots began to sell. In 1920, Thomas Gilchrist, an

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

oilman, purchased along La Linda Drive and subdivided them into a development called La Linda,

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

for "the pretty." In 1929, 20th century

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Kirtland Cutter Kirtland Kelsey Cutter (August 20, 1860 – September 26, 1939) was a 20th-century architect in the Pacific Northwest and California. He was born in East Rockport, Ohio, the great-grandson of Jared Potter Kirtland. He studied painting and ill ...

designed three award-winning homes in the Los Cerritos Neighborhood. Until 1961, the neighborhood was served by the

Pacific Electric The Pacific Electric Railway Company, nicknamed the Red Cars, was a privately owned mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses and was the largest electric railway system ...

Long Beach Line The Long Beach Line was a major interurban railway operated by the Pacific Electric Railway between Los Angeles and Long Beach, California via Florence, Watts, and Compton. Service began in 1902 and lasted until 1961, the last line of the syste ...

. Now one of Long Beach's oldest

gated communities A gated community (or walled community) is a form of residential community or housing estate containing strictly controlled entrances for pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles, and often characterized by a closed perimeter of walls and fences. ...

, the residential make-up of La Linda has changed. Many of the newer homes are larger. In 2007, Los Cerritos Neighborhood was one of three finalists in Neighborhood USA's Neighborhood of the Year national competition in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...

Architecture

Movies and television

In 1985, a home on Country Club Drive in the Los Cerritos neighborhood was used as the Bueller family home in the

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

Ferris Bueller's Day Off ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' is a 1986 American teen comedy film written, co-produced, and directed by John Hughes and co-produced by Tom Jacobson. The film stars Matthew Broderick, Mia Sara, and Alan Ruck with supporting roles by Jennifer Grey ...

'' and subsequently used in the

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

Not Another Teen Movie ''Not Another Teen Movie'' is a 2001 American teen parody film directed by Joel Gallen and written by Mike Bender, Adam Jay Epstein, Andrew Jacobson, Phil Beauman, and Buddy Johnson. It features an ensemble cast including Chyler Leigh, Chris E ...

'', the

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

thriller film '' Red Dragon,'' and in a

Cheerios Cheerios is a brand of cereal manufactured by General Mills in the United States, consisting of pulverized oats in the shape of a solid torus. In some countries, including the United Kingdom, Cheerios is marketed by Cereal Partners under the ...

commercial. In 1998, two homes on Cedar Avenue in the Los Cerritos neighborhood were used in the

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

teen comedy A teen situation comedy, or teen sitcom, is a subgenre of comedic television program targeted towards young people. In general, these type of programs focus primarily on characters between 11 and 19 years of age and routinely feature characters inv ...

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

'' American Pie''. In August 2000, another home on Country Club Drive was used as the fictional home for the teenager

Donnie Darko ''Donnie Darko'' is a 2001 American science fiction psychological thriller film written and directed by Richard Kelly and produced by Flower Films. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Mary McDonnell, Katha ...

in the

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting. In terms of context and co ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

.''

Gallery

File:Historic American Buildings Survey, Photographed by Daniel Cathcart - March 8th, 1934. VIEW FROM THE NORTHEAST - Casa de los Cerritos, 4600 American Avenue, Long Beach, Los HABS CAL,19-LONGBN,1-6.tif,

Los Cerritos Ranch House Los Cerritos Ranch House, also known as Rancho Los Cerritos or Casa de los Cerritos, in Long Beach, California, was "the largest and most impressive adobe residence erected in southern California during the Mexican period". Los Cerritos means "t ...

after restoration. Photo by Daniel Cathcart, March 8, 1934. File:Weird Science house north view.JPG, The Leonie Pray House, built for Signal Hill oilman William E. "Billy" Babb in 1927;

Tudor Revival architecture Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...

by Clarence Aldrich. It appears in ''

'', '' Weird Science'', and ''

.'' File:Ferris Bueller house northeast view.JPG, Northeast view of the Los Cerritos house used in the 1986

'' as the Bueller family home. It also appears in ''

'' and '' Red Dragon''. File:American Pie house west view.JPG, Appears in '' American Pie'' and ''

American Pie 2 ''American Pie 2'' is a 2001 American sex comedy film directed by James B. Rogers and written by Adam Herz and David H. Steinberg from a story by Herz. A sequel to the 1999 comedy film '' American Pie'', it is the second film in the ''American ...

'' File:Michelle house American Pie northwest view.JPG, Appears in '' American Pie'' File:American Pie 2 painters house west view.JPG, Appears in ''

'' File:Donnie Darko house northwest view.JPG, House by architect Hugh Gibbs, with addition by

Edward Killingsworth Edward Killingsworth FAIA (1917–2004) was an American architect. He is best known as a participant in Arts & Architecture's Case Study program in the mid-1950s. He designed and built Case Study House #25, "The Frank House," in Naples, Californ ...

. It appears in the film ''

'', an episode of the drama ''

Joan of Arcadia ''Joan of Arcadia'' is an American fantasy family drama television series telling the story of teenager Joan Girardi (Amber Tamblyn), who sees and speaks with God and performs tasks she is given. The series originally aired on Fridays on CBS for ...

'', and in an advertising campaign for the Honda Fit. File:Jennie A. Reeve House.jpg, Jennie A. Reeve House,

Greene and Greene Greene and Greene was an architectural firm established by brothers Charles Sumner Greene (1868–1957) and Henry Mather Greene (January 23, 1870 – October 2, 1954), influential early 20th Century American architects. Active primarily in Cali ...

American Craftsman American Craftsman is an American domestic architectural style, inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, which included interior design, landscape design, applied arts, and decorative arts, beginning in the last years of the 19th century. Its ...

Notes

References

* Andriesse, (Summer 1987) "Los Cerritos: The Development of a Neighborhood," The Branded Word (newsletter of the Rancho Los Cerritos Historic Site). * Knatz, Geraldine. (2004) History of the Los Cerritos neighborhood. (as noted in
Preservation Honored.
') * Fugami, Caryn. (October 19, 2005)

Long Beach Press-Telegram The ''Press-Telegram'' is a paid daily newspaper published in Long Beach, California. Coverage area for the ''Press-Telegram'' includes Long Beach, Lakewood, Signal Hill, Artesia, Bellflower, Cerritos, Compton, Downey, Hawaiian Gardens, Lynw ...

Morrison: Jewel of L.B.
' Section: News; page A12.

External links

Los Cerritos Neighborhood homes used in noted films.
{{coord, 33.8307, -118.1967, type:adm3rd_globe:earth_region:US-CA, display=title Houses in Long Beach, California Neighborhoods in Long Beach, California Populated places established in 1906 Tourist attractions in Long Beach, California Kirtland Cutter buildings Gated communities in California 1906 establishments in California