Castles and Lizards - Hollywood Hills Storybook Homes

Castles and Lizards - Hollywood Hills Storybook Homes

Beachwood Canyon is the cultural artery of the Hollywood Hills and sits below the Hollywood sign, formerly known as  Hollywoodland. The canyon and the streets that connect to it were developed at the same time as the Hollywood studios and were home to many legendary stars. This close tie helps explain the unusual and playful style of many of the homes dating back to the founding of  Hollywoodland which was one of the earliest planned community developments.

 From Spanish castles to gnome cottages to ivy-clad Tudor lodges, the story book style of the canyon is undeniable. Using granite from the Union Rock Quarry in Bronson Canyon builders were able to create the original walls and stairs that lead off from Beachwood Canyon into hills above to Mulholland Dr. The same quarry was also the source for hearths, chimneys and steps and decorative balustrades. More recently the quarry cave was used to shoot the Batcave in the Hollywood Batman TV show.

In 1923 masons used granite from the Bronson canyon to construct several stairs for resident hikers.

In the Wolf’s Lair below, L.Milton Wolf, an art director and one of the Hollywoodland developers used his creative talents to build a fairy tale Norman castle. The exterior walls and cobbled entry show how useful the local granite quarry granite was to these pioneer developers.

Castillo del Lago, home to Bugsy Siegel and more recently Madonna is a Mediterranean mansion designed by John DeLario in 1926 with a panoramic view stretching from the ocean to downtown LA.

The home below needs no name given it’s unique entry way and that the Hollywood legends Clark Gable and Carole Lombard  made it their home..

Notice the granite on the front wall.

More recently  Beachwood Canyon residents Martin and Anne Pierce have added their own playful designs to their 1924 home with lizard design entry door handles.

Hollywood - Citrus in the Hills

2023 and 2024 have been remarkable years for the tree life and the innate beauty of the Hollywood Hills. Tourists on sightseeing buses arrive daily in Hollywood looking for a chance photo opportunity of a celebrity or at least a selfie against the backdrop of the Hollywood sign.  What they are missing are the far more abundant opportunities to collect the lemons, oranges and grapefruits currently abundant and often stacked in piles on lawns with signs shouting “free”. Historians have documented how Los Angeles was once full of citrus groves and while most have given way to development many still thrive in Hollywood.

Meyer Lemons Ready to Pick

The El Niño  rains from last year have fueled these  local citrus trees and have  also quenched the dry hills turning them into a Hawaiian paradise.

The clarity of the air makes vistas brighter and horizons seem further. From Mulholland Dr you can see the cargo vessels on the Pacific ocean off the shores of Malibu. The freshness of the air and the expanded views are not romantic illusions  but are  grounded in the scientific  process of coagulation which describes the coming together of particles that are suspended in rain and pulled down to the soil, leaving a clean lens to view the scenery.

Unsuspecting Magnolia unaware of it’s lethal neighbor

The local Hollywood trees are also the beneficiaries of El Niño with their magnificent leaves and stunning though sometimes sinister flowers. I spied this interesting couple outside a neighbor’s home where the toxic Brugmansia shares the soil with a benign saucer magnolia tree. The Brugmansia tree, commonly and perversely named Angel Trumpet is toxic and indeed potentially lethal from its flowers to its roots.

Less lethal and thankfully more prolific are the  Cotulla lineariloba flowers which translated mean big yellow moon which seems odd given the small ½” diameter flower head.

The vitality of the plants around me has obviously brought out my playful streak as captured in the native daisies shown here.