Valley Area Offers Choice: Hillsides or the Flats : Sherman Oaks: Community provides vast variety of homes, fine restaurants and shopping malls.
When Kirk and Ellen Roderick were house hunting almost 10 years ago, a view, a pool and proximity to shops, family and friends topped their list of requirements. After looking all over the San Fernando Valley, they bought a house in the hills of Sherman Oaks.
The Rodericks were newlyweds at the time, so the quality of the local public school wasn’t a priority, but when it came time to send their eldest daughter, Sara, now 6 1/2, they found they had made a good choice.
“Roscomare is a very good school. They have a strong PTA,” said Ellen Roderick, who is the group’s treasurer. “It’s a smaller school and the teachers are good. They also have after-school activities and classes.”
Hillside homes are just one area of Sherman Oaks, a community of 80,000 located between Coldwater Canyon and the eastern boundary of Encino, north of Mulholland Drive and south of Burbank Boulevard.
Much of Sherman Oaks consists of tract homes built in the early 1950s. But over the years, owners have enlarged and customized their houses, giving them and the community a more individual look.
Before Sherman Oaks developed, the area consisted mainly of wheat fields. In 1909, the Los Angeles Suburban Homes Co. purchased 47,500 acres, the southern portion of the San Fernando Valley. Company director M. H. Sherman was instrumental in developing the area. He also purchased 1,000 acres and named his property after himself and the oak trees around him that he liked so much. In 1927, the entire community adopted the name.
Sherman Oaks is divided north and south by Ventura Boulevard, a heavily traveled street that features a mixture of restaurants and trendy as well as established shops, including the Sherman Oaks Galleria. There are several high-rise office buildings in Sherman Oaks clustered together at the western boundary.
Homes south of the boulevard are more costly than those to the north, partly because of the view homes located on the hillsides.
“You can buy a very small house south of Ventura Boulevard for $350,000. An average priced one of approximately 2,000 square feet, three-bedroom two-bath starts at $475,000,” said Margie Lipson of the B.B. White Properties in Encino and a 32-year resident of Sherman Oaks. “The higher priced homes south of the boulevard sell for around $2 million. But for that price you can get a half-acre, six-bedroom, five-bath, pool home with maybe even a tennis court.
“North of the boulevard, the lowest-priced house sold recently was a two-bedroom, one-bath home for $170,000. An average-sized home starts at $360,000,” she said.
The most expensive homes north of the boulevard are located in the Chandler and Weddington Estates. “Those homes sell for $900,000 and up,” Lipson said.
About 75% of the residential area consists of single-family dwellings; 5% of those homes are estates, and the remaining 25% are condos and apartments. The lowest priced condo, about 800 square feet in size, sold recently for $134,000. “You can purchase a two-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath, 1,600-square-foot condo for around $200,000,” Lipson said..
Roger and Andre Mayer recently purchased a condo in Sherman Oaks. The couple both work in the entertainment industry and when Andre Mayer started her job at Paramount Pictures in Hollywood as manager of licensing and merchandise, they looked for a convenient place to live.
“We wanted to make the commute as easy as possible. Sherman Oaks posed a real viable central location to where we both work,” said Roger Mayer, a writer for the Album Network in Burbank.
After looking at homes in their price range, they realized that they could only afford a small fixer-upper. “We then decided, let’s look at the option of owning a condo,” said Andre Mayer.
They bought a 2,300-square-foot, one-level condo near Sherman Oaks Park and Recreational Center.
“We like living in a one-level because we’ve always lived in an upstairs-downstairs apartment,” she said. “Our lives are so busy with work, we don’t have time for a yard, and we don’t have children. We also like all the wonderful restaurants on Ventura Boulevard and taking walks in our neighborhood.”
Living in a well-kept neighborhood was the main attraction for Linda and Alain Ouaknine when they purchased a half-acre lot on Chandler Boulevard, in an area commonly known as the Chandler Estates, three years ago.
At first, Linda Ouaknine felt nervous about the large investment, but she also felt confident about her husband’s judgment. “He’s a go-getter, and he had a vision into the future with that location,” she said. “When he saw estate homes being built there, he felt this was a good investment.”
The Chandler and Weddington Estates are located in an area that was formerly part of Van Nuys. Residents from those neighborhoods and others nearby, campaigned to change the name of a 45-block area from Van Nuys to Sherman Oaks, and in August, 1991, the name change occurred.
The Ouaknines are happy with the name change because they feel it can only increase the value of their property.
The couple, along with their teen-aged children, Candice and Jason, will soon move into their 10,000-square-foot home that includes a tennis court and pool. “It’s a beautiful neighborhood, especially with the tall pine trees that line the street,” she said.
Walnut and plum trees attracted Morrie and Ruth Henteleff almost 40 years ago when they bought in Sherman Oaks. They moved with three sons into one of the area’s first tract homes. “We moved here because we were close to schools, the park and shopping, even though there was nothing around,” Ruth Henteleff said.
Since then, there has been much development in the community, including Fashion Square Mall (built in 1962 and recently renovated), which is close to their home.
They still enjoy the area’s trees, even though over the years, many of them have been cut down to make room for more homes.
“There have been many changes since (we bought our home), and I think that’s affected the area. The influx of population has caused a lot of traffic problem on the (101 and 405) freeways,” said Morrie Henteleff, who’s now retired from his furniture fabric business.
Added his wife: “I think all the changes are for the better. He liked it when it was more countryfied. I like it more citified.”
Their street has improved over the years too. “There are three original owners, but mostly younger families with children are moving here. These families have been doing lots of renovation, adding on and landscaping, which keeps property values up,” Morrie Henteleff said.
When September Grimadi became pregnant with her first child, she and her husband, Bob, felt they needed more room in their 1,500-square-foot home.
The couple liked the area for its central location to downtown, the West Valley and Bob Grimadi’s advertising agency, which is in West Los Angeles. But, most of all, they liked living in the canyons and the view from their house that overlooks the San Fernando Valley and Santa Monica Mountains.
“I told Bob, we should sell the house and buy a new one around here. But we were told it was worth $315,000, and he thought we wouldn’t be able to afford the house we wanted.”
The couple then decided to remodel their home. Along with the many improvements made (such as remodeling a bedroom for their young daughter), the couple added a second level, which nearly doubled the size of the house.
The remodel is near completion and the Grimadis are happy with it. “We plan on living here forever and ever,” said September.
At a GlancePopulation
1991 estimate 65,787
1980-91 change +8%
Median age 40.3 years
Annual income
Per capita 30,525
Median household 45,722
Household distribution
Less than $15,000 13.4%
$15,000 - $30,000 19.9%
$30,000 - $50,000 21.8%
$50,000 - $100,000 28.5%
$100,000 + 16.4%
