Sometimes it seems like every hilltop development in Los Angeles put up a sign. This one is new to me. Whitley Heights was a residential subdivision developed by Hobart Whitley in the hills opposite the Hollywood Bowl in the early 1920s. Its relative inaccessibility became a draw for privacy-hungry stars like Dietrich, Swanson, and Valentino, who helped turn Whitley Heights into the Beverly Hills of L.A. before there was a Beverly Hills. I don’t have a date on this photo, but the area looks very well developed, so I’m guessing circa 1930s but of course I’m open to being corrected.
I guess people didn’t have many maps back in the days, so they used hill top signs like that one to locate where they are going, not sure, but makes a little scene.
Ah! Good point, Chris. I hadn’t thought of that.
Sense not scene
Can you imagine if developers tried that today? Environmental impact reports, neighbors up-in-arms, etc. One of my favorites was for the Castellammare subdivision in Pacific Palisades. So atmospheric & all that vacant land!
https://hdl.huntington.org/digital/collection/p15150coll2/id/4161
Collis Huntington, reportedly, owned the Pallisades and was going to retire there. Unfortunately for him, life ended a bit early in 1900.
Interesting info, first ever heard of this. Conflicting knowledge from what I’ve read. My understanding was Frederick & May Rindge (from 1883 on) owned apx. 17,000 acres from north of Santa Monica all the way to Malibu.
Thinking further, you might be right – Recall Huntington’s Southern Pacific Railroad “Long Wharf” in Santa Monica Bay. Entirely possible Huntington, via the railroad, bought the land now know as Pacific Palisades (& probably a lot more).
FYI Looked up Collis & he was was born in 1821, so was 79 or 80 years old at his death. Or 25 years before the development of the area.
Isn’t Whitley Heights where the “bird” streets are? A lot of local decorators have homes there. Very desirable area still.
The “bird” streets are above the “Sunset Strip” in West Hollywood. As referenced, Whitley Heights was an extremely desirable development when new. The Hollywood freeway cutting right through killed its appeal from the late ’50s on. Slowly returning to fashionable, but no where near the bird streets level of media perceived desirability.
I used to live at the big apt building at Whitley and Franklin. I used to walk as far as I could into the Heights before the gated community part started. It was great then, I can’t even imagine what it would have been like then. It looked Mediterranean-ish, like Spain and Southern France.
Mr Whitley’s inspiration was seeing hillside towns along the Mediterranean, so no wonder that’s how it struck you!
Wow, that guy really had a vision