Chester Place was one of the first gated communities

Gated community

In its modern form, a gated 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. Gated communities usually consist of small residential...

 in Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

. It was notable for its close proximity to the University of Southern California

University of Southern California

The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...

, as well as prestigious residents such as Edward L. Doheny

Edward L. Doheny

Edward Laurence Doheny was an American oil tycoon, who in 1892, along with business partner Charles A. Canfield, drilled the first successful oil well in the Los Angeles City Oil Field, setting off the petroleum boom in Southern California.At first he was an unsuccessful prospector in the state of...

. The community later became a satellite campus of Mount St. Mary's College

Mount St. Mary's College

Mount St. Mary's College is a private, independent, Catholic liberal arts college, primarily for women, in Los Angeles, California. The college was founded in 1925 by the Sisters of St...

 in 1962 after the land was left as a gift from Estelle Doheny.

Early Development

The foundation for the creation of Chester Place started with a Los Angeles land survey conducted in 1853 by New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

 lawyer Henry Hancock

Henry Hancock

Henry Hancock was a Harvard trained lawyer and a land surveyor working in California in the 1850s. He was the owner of Rancho La Brea, which included the La Brea Tar Pits.-Early life:...

. Hancock surveyed the lots near present day Downtown Los Angeles

Downtown Los Angeles

Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, United States, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area...

 based on the dirt road boulevards that ran east to west across the city. Between each of these boulevards land was separated into large 35 acres (141,640.1 m²) lots to be sold. In 1855 Hancock eventually bought one of the best lots, which was to later become Chester Place.

Hancock sold this lot that would become Chester place on July 26, 1867 to a group of buyers, one of whom was the New England sea captain Nathan Vail, who purchased 17 acres (68,796.6 m²) right north of Adams Boulevard. Around this same time, the city brought irrigation canals to the area. This irrigation canal, or a zanja as the Mexican settlers called it, increased the land value of the area, which was directly related to the availability of water. South of Adams and Chester Place a new Agricultural park was also growing, which became known for horse racing, gambling, and entertainment. With a new streetcar line extended from historic Downtown in 1874 along Washington and Figueroa, this meant that the Agricultural Park area had easy transportation to the hub of the city. Agricultural Park would later be renamed Exposition Park

Exposition Park

Exposition Park is the name of more than one place:*Exposition Park - a neighborhood in south Dallas, Texas*Exposition Park - A former baseball park in Kansas City...

 when it was incorporated into city limits and was the site of the 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympics.

Nathan Vail had become involved in a number of real estate speculations during the early 1880s, and eventually sold his personal lot north of Adams to Arizona Federal Judge Charles Silent

Charles Silent

Charles Silent was a German-born American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Arizona Territorial Supreme Court. After leaving the bench he entered private practice and became one of Los Angeles' leading attorneys...

. In 1899 Silent moved his family to Vail's old home north of Adams, and extended a private street south to 23rd Street, and subdivided the land into 23 lots on either side of the road. This subdivision represents the official founding of Chester Place, which could be seen behind the massive stone and steel gates that Vail had built to surround his home. Vail established the subdivision on January 21, 1899 and named the street after his son Chester, who graduated from Stanford University

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

 in 1907. The property was originally called Los Pimentos named after the pepper tree

Pepper tree

Pepper tree may refer to:* Trees in the Schinus genus*Macropiper excelsum, Kawakawa a small tree endemic to New Zealand*Two species of the Pseudowintera genus, also known by the Māori name of Horopito...

s that lined the driveway.

The Doheny Years

Chester Place quickly became one of the most desirable residential neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Wealthy socialite Mrs. S.E. Posey purchased the first lot in Chester Place and hired some of the best architects of the day to erect an opulent twenty-two-room mansion. With this move the neighborhood soon began to fill with the rich and influential citizens of Los Angeles, and then on October 24, 1901 Edward and Estelle Doheny purchased number 8 Chester Place for $120,000 cash.

The Dohenys immediately began renovations on their new home, soon making it one of the most extravagant homes in the city. The house encompassed 24000 square feet (2,229.7 m²) and was constantly worked on for the 58 years the family lived there. Almost immediately after moving in, Estelle was left on her own as Edward Doheny was in Mexico for much of the time working on developing his oil holdings in Mexico. Edward in turn left the renovations up to her which included hiring of staff, construction workers, and day-to-day maintenance. Edward relayed instructions via telegram about what he wanted done with the home. At the finish of the first stage of remodeling in 1902, it was featured in House Beautiful, which caused a great number of tourists and visitors to show up on the lawn and even knock on the door requesting photographs. This lack of privacy prompted Edward to quietly buy up the remaining thirteen lots at Chester Place to ensure their privacy. Much of the renovations at Chester Place were important to Doheny since the home represented his financial wealth and stability, and as his increasingly unsure investments in Mexico were not yielding returns, it was important for investors that he keep up appearances at home.

Edward Doheny, Jr., commonly known as "Ned," was raised and married at Chester Place. In 1928, he moved to Greystone Mansion

Greystone Mansion

Greystone Mansion, also known as the Doheny Mansion, is a Tudor-style mansion on a landscaped estate with distinctive formal English gardens, located in Beverly Hills, California, United States. The architect Gordon Kaufmann designed the residence and ancillary structures, with construction...

 in Beverly Hills

Beverly Hills, California

Beverly Hills is an affluent city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 34,109 at the 2010 census, up from 33,784 as of the 2000 census, it is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together...

. Edward, Sr., died in 1935 at the age of 79. Estelle continued to live at Chester Place, although they also constructed a ranch style home at Ferndale Ranch near Santa Paula, California

Santa Paula, California

Santa Paula is a city within Ventura County, California, United States. The population was 29,321 at the 2010 census, up from 28,598 at the 2000 census...

.

Present day

The Chester Place of today retains much of the charm of the old neighborhood with many of the mansions still intact. The neighborhood now is part of Mount St. Mary's college satellite campus. The school was first given rights to operate out of number 2 Chester Place in 1957. Estelle died in 1958 and left Chester Place to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, which transferred the land to Mount St. Mary's College, which officially opened their second campus in 1962. The administration and teaching at the campus takes place in many of the historic mansions, although a new library has been added to the campus. Estelle also left the easternmost portion of Chester place bordering Figueroa Street to St. Vincent's school.