Mandeville Canyon is a small, affluent community in the
Brentwood neighborhood of
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
. Its center is Mandeville Canyon Road, which begins at
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in ...
and extends north towards
Mulholland Drive
Mulholland Drive is a street and road in the eastern Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. It is named after pioneering Los Angeles civil engineer William Mulholland. The western rural portion in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties is nam ...
, though it stops short of Mulholland and there is no automotive route between the two. Mandeville Canyon Road is said to be the longest paved, dead end road in Los Angeles, at over . From start to finish, the road gains in elevation.
![Mandeville Cyn](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Mandeville_Cyn._Rd._looking_North_from_Westridge_Rd..jpg)
History
American era
Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica included all the property above what is now
Pico Boulevard
Pico may refer to:
Places The Moon
* Mons Pico, a lunar mountain in the northern part of the Mare Imbrium basin
Portugal
* Pico, a civil parish in the municipality of Vila Verde
* Pico da Pedra, a civil parish in the municipality of Ribeir ...
out to the ocean, north to the
Santa Monica Mountains
The Santa Monica Mountains is a coastal mountain range in Southern California, next to the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Transverse Ranges. Because of its proximity to densely populated regions, it is one of the most visited natural areas in ...
towards what is now
Encino, east along what is now
Ventura Boulevard
Ventura Boulevard is one of the primary east–west thoroughfares in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. Ventura Boulevard is one of the oldest routes in the San Fernando Valley as it was originally a part o ...
, and south down to Pico Boulevard. Mandeville Canyon lies on the south slope of the Santa Monicas.
In 1872, the Sepúlveda family decided to sell their property for $55,000 in gold coin to Colonel
Robert S. Baker and his wife
Arcadia Bandini de Stearns Baker
Arcadia Bandini de Stearns Baker (1827–1912) was a wealthy Californio landowner and socialite of Los Angeles. She played an important role in the elite society of Los Angeles and, later, Santa Monica. She was married to two wealthy Anglo-Ameri ...
, who thought it would make an excellent sheep ranch. The Bakers sold a 3/4 interest in the land in 1874 for $162,000 to silver miner
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...
Senator John P. Jones.
Mandeville Canyon at that time was known as Casa Viejo Cañon. An 1881 map using this name shows the Casa Viejo Creek running down the middle of the canyon. Records show that the creek carried water year-round, fed by springs in the upper canyon. The name Mandeville Canyon first appeared on a map in the early 1900s as “Mandiville Canon.” The origin of the name is unknown.
In 1904, Baker and Jones formed the Santa Monica Land & Water Company and later sold it to Robert C. Gillis. At the time, Mandeville Canyon’s lush oaks and sycamores and spring-fed creek were reported to be virtually untouched. In 1917, Gillis formed a subsidiary company, the Santa Monica Mountain Park Company, to handle the development of the mountain portion of the land.
1920s
In 1920, the American Appraisal Company valued the in lower Mandeville (from Mandeville Lane to Chalon Road) at $65,000. From
Sullivan Canyon (the Canyon immediately west of Mandeville Canyon ) to the
San Diego Freeway The San Diego Freeway is one of the named principal Southern California freeways. It consists of the following two segments:
* Interstate 5, from California State Route 94 in San Diego to Interstate 405 (El Toro Y) in Irvine
* Interstate 405, in ...
and from north of
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in ...
to
Mulholland Drive
Mulholland Drive is a street and road in the eastern Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. It is named after pioneering Los Angeles civil engineer William Mulholland. The western rural portion in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties is nam ...
() not including lower Mandeville, the valuation was $253,000.
In the early 1920s, the
Los Angeles Athletic Club
Los Angeles Athletic Club (LAAC) is a privately owned Sports club, athletic club and social club in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, California, United States. Established in 1880, the club is today best known for its John R. Wooden Award pr ...
(L.A.A.C.) decided to build a country club community in the
Brentwood area. Consequently, the
Riviera Country Club
The Riviera Country Club is a private club with a championship golf course and tennis courts in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of the Westside of Los Angeles, California.
The Riviera was designed by golf course architects George C. Thomas Jr ...
was born, as were some of the homes surrounding the golf course. The L.A.A.C. also built three championship polo fields on the site of what is now Paul Revere. Jr. High School. In the ensuing decades, the Beverly Hills Polo Club, a project of oil magnate
Russell E. Havenstrite, gathered crowds for matches every Sunday during polo season at the L.A.A.C. fields. Polo players such as
C.D. LeBlanc and thoroughbred breeders, including
Elizabeth Whitney of Kentucky, bought property in Mandeville and Sullivan Canyon and built houses and stables for their ponies.
In 1926, the Santa Monica Mountain Park Company sold the block closest to Sunset on Mandeville to the L.A.A.C as an extension of its Riviera property and sold most of Lower Mandeville, from Mandeville Lane to Chalon Road, to Garden Foundation, Inc. To encourage sales of the newly subdivided land, Garden Foundation designed and built an elaborate botanical garden with plantings from all over the world, many of which are still in evidence. On the slopes surrounding this garden, they hoped to develop and sell homes. Movie stars dedicated many of the special plantings with commemorative plaques (some of which are still in existence). Two ponds were also built, one of which surrounded the Japanese house at 1900 Mandeville Canyon Road. The second pond was adjacent to the property at 1888 Mandeville Canyon Road.
1930s
Development of the botanical garden slowed down during the Great Depression, and, by 1935, all building ceased. Bondholders of Garden Foundation, who held the original pre-depression mortgage of $4,000,000 for the entire in Mandeville Canyon, restructured as the Garden Land Company and became the new stockholders. The canyon floor was subsequently subdivided as far as Chalon Road and the first homes were started. Headquarters and sales offices for the Botanic Garden Park was located at 1727 Mandeville Canyon Road. This address later became the home and gardens of the well-known actor
Richard Widmark
Richard Weedt Widmark (December 26, 1914March 24, 2008) was an American film, stage, and television actor and producer.
He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, ''Kiss of Death'' (1947) ...
.
During the first half of the 1900s, Mandeville Canyon had a reputation as beautiful riding and hiking country, with its spreading oaks, majestic sycamores and new botanic gardens. Many long time Brentwood residents remembered riding horses into the canyons and mountains, often camping overnight near Mulholland Drive, during those years. Also, it was very close to more regimented riding facilities at the L.A.A.C. This reputation was further solidified during the 1932 Olympics as several equestrian events were held in the Canyon, as well as at the L.A.A.C polo fields.
In 1938 a major flood hit the Mandeville Canyon area, particularly ravaging the lower Mandeville area. The damage was so extensive that the Garden Land Company remained inactive for the next sixteen years. However, beginning in the early 1940s, centered mostly around horses, Mandeville Canyon started to become a canyon neighborhood with rustic homes for the well-to-do, including at various times the families of
Donald Wills Douglas, Sr.
Donald Wills Douglas Sr. (April 6, 1892 – February 1, 1981) was an American aircraft industrialist and engineer.
An aviation pioneer, he designed and built the Douglas Cloudster. Though it failed in its intended purpose—being the first to ...
of the
Douglas Aircraft Company, Robert McClure (founder of the ''Santa Monica Evening Outlook'' newspaper), composer
Meredith Willson
Robert Reiniger Meredith Willson (May 18, 1902 – June 15, 1984) was an American flutist, composer, conductor, musical arranger, bandleader, playwright, and writer. He is perhaps best known for writing the book, music, and lyrics for the 19 ...
, and actors
Robert Taylor,
Eva Marie Saint
Eva Marie Saint (born July 4, 1924) is an American actress of film, theatre and television. In a career spanning over 70 years, she has won an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award, alongside nominations for a Golden Globe Award and two Brit ...
,
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He rose to prominence with an Academy Award nomination for the Best Supporting Actor for ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (1945), followed by his starring in ...
,
Harry Morgan
Harry Morgan (born Harry Bratsberg; April 10, 1915 – December 7, 2011) was an American actor and director whose television and film career spanned six decades. Morgan's major roles included Pete Porter in both ''December Bride'' (1954–1959 ...
(Morgan's son Charley states that family moved to Mandeville in 1954 and has remained there to present date),
Esther Williams,
Dick Powell,
Don DeFore
Donald John DeFore (August 25, 1913 – December 22, 1993) was an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the sitcom ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'' from 1952 to 1957 and the sitcom ''Hazel'' from 1961 to 1965, the former of w ...
and others. Polo players such as Jack Martin Smith and other neighbors would exercise their horses, riding daily across the canyons to play polo at
Will Rogers State Historic Park
Will Rogers State Historic Park is the former estate of American humorist Will Rogers. It lies in the Santa Monica Mountains in Los Angeles, in the Pacific Palisades area.
Geography
In what is now the Los Angeles neighborhood of Pacific Palisade ...
or just down the canyon to the L.A.A.C.
1950s
In 1954 Garden Land resumed development and began building homes again. The first large tract included approximately 300 homes built in 1957-1958 in upper Mandeville. At the end of the '50s came other developments known as Westridge and Westridge Terrace on the bulldozed western slopes and hill crests of the canyon.
1960s
In 1963 Garden Land relinquished its holdings to Link Builders, Inc. and Seacrest Co. The late 60s brought Swartz-Linkletter developing several hundred more properties in the upper canyon, still single-family dwellings but on smaller filled lots. A plan to develop 3,400 more properties in areas stretching up to Mulholland Drive stopped when the cost of utilities and increased traffic in the canyon were considered and deemed too great.
Emergency services
Police service
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...
operates the nearby West Los Angeles Community Police Station on Butler Drive near
Santa Monica Boulevard
Santa Monica Boulevard is a major west–east thoroughfare in Los Angeles County. It runs from Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica near the Pacific Ocean to Sunset Boulevard at Sunset Junction in Los Angeles. It passes through Beverly Hills and West Ho ...
and the
San Diego (405) Freeway. This Division also services the
Pacific Palisades and
Brentwood neighborhoods of the City of Los Angeles
Education
Residents are zoned to schools in the
Los Angeles Unified School District. For public elementary school most children attend Kenter Canyon Elementary School. For middle school there is Paul Revere, located at the bottom of Mandeville Canyon. For high school there is
Palisades High School. There is also a wide variety of private schools in the area.
References
External links
(Lower) Mandeville Canyon AssociationUpper Mandeville Canyon Association
{{coord, 34, 3, 47, N, 118, 29, 47, W, type:landmark, display=title
Neighborhoods in Los Angeles
Brentwood, Los Angeles
Populated places in the Santa Monica Mountains
Westside (Los Angeles County)