Mandeville Canyon, Los Angeles, California
Encyclopedia
Mandeville Canyon is a small community in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles
. Its center is Mandeville Canyon Road, which begins at Sunset Boulevard
and extends north towards Mulholland Drive
, 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 5 miles (8 km). From start to finish, the road gains 1000 ft (304.8 m) in elevation.
. Shortly thereafter, a group of 60+ monks and soldiers led by Gaspar de Portolà
were dispatched to explore the Los Angeles area. In 1781 the city of Los Angeles was founded. King Charles III gave the city several thousand acres of his land. One of the King's soldiers, Francisco Xavier Sepulveda
, made a petition to the King for a grant through the Viceroy of Mexico City. Sepulveda was granted use of the land only; he could use it in the name of the King for as long as he and the King had the arrangement.
(the Ranch of Saint Vicente and Saint Monica). However, Sepulveda also petitioned the government of Mexico for confirmation to the title of his property. Consequently, Sepulveda and his family became the first known non-sovereign owners of the land and inhabited the property for another 33 years.
In 1872, the Sepulveda family decided to sell their property for $55,000 (less than $2.00/acre) in gold coin to Colonel Robert S. Baker
and his wife Arcadia Bandini de Stearns Baker
, who thought it would make an excellent sheep ranch. The Bakers owned the 30000 acres (121.4 km²) property for only two years and in 1874 sold a 3/4 interest in the land for $162,000 to silver miner Nevada
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.
In the early 1920s, the Los Angeles Athletic Club (L.A.A.C.) decided to build a country club community in the Brentwood area. Consequently, the Riviera Country Club 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 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 surrounds the Japanese house at 1900 Mandeville Canyon Road. The second pond is adjacent to the property at 1888 Mandeville.
.
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 still remember 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, ravaging particularly hard 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.
of the Douglas Aircraft Company
, Robert McClure
, owner of the Santa Monica Evening Outlook, composer Meredith Willson
, and actors Robert Taylor
, Eva Marie Saint
, Robert Mitchum
, Harry Morgan
, Esther Williams
, Dick Powell
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 Park or just down the canyon to the L.A.A.C.
operates the nearby West Los Angeles Community Police Station on Butler Drive near Santa Monica Boulevard and the San Diego (405) Freeway
. This Division also services the Pacific Palisades and Brentwood
neighborhoods of the City of Los Angeles
. 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.
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Its center is Mandeville Canyon Road, which begins at Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades...
and extends north towards Mulholland Drive
Mulholland Drive
Mulholland Drive is a street and road in the eastern Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. It is named after Los Angeles pioneer civil engineer William Mulholland...
, 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 5 miles (8 km). From start to finish, the road gains 1000 ft (304.8 m) in elevation.
History
Mandeville Canyon’s history begins with two indigenous peoples, the Chumash and the Gabrieleno-Tongva, who inhabited the Santa Monica Mountain area prior to the arrival of Spanish Conquistadors.Spanish era
In 1769 Spanish occupation of California began under King Charles IIICharles III of Spain
Charles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Princess Elisabeth Farnese...
. Shortly thereafter, a group of 60+ monks and soldiers led by Gaspar de Portolà
Gaspar de Portolà
Gaspar de Portolà i Rovira was a soldier, governor of Baja and Alta California , explorer and founder of San Diego and Monterey. He was born in Os de Balaguer, province of Lleida, in Catalonia, Spain, of Catalan nobility. Don Gaspar served as a soldier in the Spanish army in Italy and Portugal...
were dispatched to explore the Los Angeles area. In 1781 the city of Los Angeles was founded. King Charles III gave the city several thousand acres of his land. One of the King's soldiers, Francisco Xavier Sepulveda
Francisco Xavier Sepulveda
Francisco Xavier Sepúlveda was a Mexican colonial soldier and patriarch of the prominent Spanish Mexican Sepúlveda family in the early days of Las Californias and Alta California in present day Southern California, United States...
, made a petition to the King for a grant through the Viceroy of Mexico City. Sepulveda was granted use of the land only; he could use it in the name of the King for as long as he and the King had the arrangement.
Mexican era
California was ruled by Spain until 1822 when Mexico assumed jurisdiction. In 1839, Francisco Sepúlveda, fifth son of Francisco Xavier, was granted a substantial amount of property - 30000 acres (121.4 km²) of “mountains, mesa and shore land” by the Governor of the Californias, Juan Alvarado. The property was called the Rancho San Vicente y Santa MonicaRancho San Vicente y Santa Monica
Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica was a Mexican land grant in present day Los Angeles County, California given by governor Juan Alvarado in 1839 to Francisco Sepulveda soldier and citizen of Los Angeles...
(the Ranch of Saint Vicente and Saint Monica). However, Sepulveda also petitioned the government of Mexico for confirmation to the title of his property. Consequently, Sepulveda and his family became the first known non-sovereign owners of the land and inhabited the property for another 33 years.
American era
Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica included Mandeville Canyon and consisted of all the property above what is now Pico Boulevard out to the ocean, north to the Santa Monica Mountains towards what is now Encino, east along what is now Ventura Boulevard, and south down to Pico Boulevard.In 1872, the Sepulveda family decided to sell their property for $55,000 (less than $2.00/acre) in gold coin to Colonel Robert S. Baker
Robert Symington Baker
Colonel Robert Symington Baker was a businessman and landowner originally from Rhode Island. He came to California in 1849 and engaged in mining supplies business in San Francisco...
and his wife Arcadia Bandini de Stearns Baker
Arcadia Bandini de Stearns Baker
Arcadia Bandini de Stearns Baker was a wealthy Los Angeles landowner.-Early life in San Diego:Arcadia Bandini born 1825 in San Diego, California, the eldest of three daughters of Juan Bandini and Marie de los Dolores Estudio. Arcadia and her two sisters were considered the most beautiful women of...
, who thought it would make an excellent sheep ranch. The Bakers owned the 30000 acres (121.4 km²) property for only two years and in 1874 sold a 3/4 interest in the land for $162,000 to silver miner Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
John P. Jones
John P. Jones
John Percival Jones was an American politician who served for 30 years as a Republican United States Senator from Nevada. He made a fortune in silver mining and was a co-founder of the town of Santa Monica, California....
.
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 appraised the value of the 260 acres (1.1 km²) 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 and from 0.5 miles (804.7 m) north of Sunset to Mulholland Drive (5050 acres (20 km²)) not including lower Mandeville, the valuation was $253,000.In the early 1920s, the Los Angeles Athletic Club (L.A.A.C.) decided to build a country club community in the Brentwood area. Consequently, the Riviera Country Club 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 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 surrounds the Japanese house at 1900 Mandeville Canyon Road. The second pond is adjacent to the property at 1888 Mandeville.
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 3500 acres (14.2 km²) 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 WidmarkRichard Widmark
Richard Weedt Widmark was an American film, stage and television actor.He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, Kiss of Death...
.
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 still remember 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, ravaging particularly hard 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.
Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. was a United States aircraft industrialist and founder of the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1921 .-Early life:...
of the Douglas Aircraft Company
Douglas Aircraft Company
The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer, based in Long Beach, California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas...
, Robert McClure
Robert McClure
Sir Robert John Le Mesurier McClure was an Irish explorer of the Arctic.In 1854, he was the first to transit the Northwest Passage , as well as the first to circumnavigate the Americas.-Early life and career:He was born at Wexford, in Ireland, the posthumous son of one of Abercrombie's captains,...
, owner of the Santa Monica Evening Outlook, composer Meredith Willson
Meredith Willson
Robert Meredith Willson was an American composer, songwriter, conductor and playwright, best known for writing the book, music and lyrics for the hit Broadway musical The Music Man...
, and actors Robert Taylor
Robert Taylor (actor)
Robert Taylor was an American film and television actor.-Early life:Born Spangler Arlington Brugh in Filley, Nebraska, he was the son of Ruth Adaline and Spangler Andrew Brugh, who was a farmer turned doctor...
, Eva Marie Saint
Eva Marie Saint
Eva Marie Saint is an American actress who has starred in films, on Broadway, and on television in a career spanning seven decades. She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the drama film On the Waterfront , and later starred in the thriller film North by...
, Robert Mitchum
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer and is #23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time...
, Harry Morgan
Harry Morgan
Harry Morgan is an American actor. Morgan is well-known for his roles as Colonel Sherman T. Potter on M*A*S*H , Pete Porter on both Pete and Gladys and December Bride , Detective Bill Gannon on Dragnet , and Amos Coogan on Hec Ramsey...
, Esther Williams
Esther Williams
Esther Jane Williams is a retired American competitive swimmer and MGM movie star.Williams set multiple national and regional swimming records in her late teens as part of the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team...
, Dick Powell
Dick Powell
Richard Ewing "Dick" Powell was an American singer, actor, producer, director and studio boss.Despite the same last name he was not related to William Powell, Eleanor Powell or Jane Powell.-Biography:...
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 Park 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 Linkletter Schwartz 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 traffic on the canyon were considered and deemed too great.Police service
Los Angeles Police DepartmentLos Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
operates the nearby West Los Angeles Community Police Station on Butler Drive near Santa Monica Boulevard and the San Diego (405) Freeway
Interstate 405 (California)
Interstate 405 is a major north–south Interstate Highway in Southern California. It is a bypass of Interstate 5, running along the western areas of the Greater Los Angeles Area from Irvine in the south to near San Fernando in the north...
. This Division also services the Pacific Palisades and Brentwood
Brentwood, Los Angeles, California
Brentwood is a district in western Los Angeles, California, United States. The district is located at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains, bounded by the San Diego Freeway on the east, Wilshire Boulevard on the south, the Santa Monica city limits on the southwest, the border of Topanga State...
neighborhoods of the City of Los Angeles
Education
Residents are zoned to schools in the Los Angeles Unified School DistrictLos Angeles Unified School District
Los Angeles Unified School District is the largest public school system in California. It is the 2nd largest public school district in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population...
. 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
Palisades Charter High School
Palisades Charter High School is a secondary school in Los Angeles, California, United States. The public high school serves the neighborhoods of Pacific Palisades, Palisades Highlands, Kenter Canyon and portions of Brentwood...
. There is also a wide variety of private schools in the area.