Hot times in the old town
White-collar businesses, residential subdivisions and retail have their place in modern-day Woodland Hills. But the community has an old-fashioned romance with open space born of the days when dairy farms and horse ranches dotted the landscape.
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Early days
Woodland Hills was a tougher sell than some other land developments in the West San Fernando Valley in the 1920s. The hilly ranchland was arid and remote.
The Pacific Electric Red Car line ran only as far as the community of Owensmouth (now known as Canoga Park), a few miles to the north.
To compensate, land speculator Victor Girard advertised 6,000 lots on about 2,800 acres 22 miles west of downtown Los Angeles as weekend retreat properties: “Closer to Santa Monica, Ocean Park and Venice than any San Fernando town.”
Actually the nearest beaches were more than 10 miles away via Topanga Canyon Boulevard, a treacherously narrow, steep and winding road.
To further the bucolic theme, Girard’s Boulevard Properties planted more than 120 pepper, pine and sycamore trees along Victory Boulevard and Canoga Avenue and built riding stables and a country club with golf course. In an effort to enhance the value of their holdings, in 1924 the associates fought for the development of bordering Mulholland Highway, the 25-mile scenic route carved through the Santa Monica Mountains from Hollywood to what is now Calabasas.
But the location, coupled with suspicions of dirty dealing by the former rug salesman, soured many potential buyers. During the Depression, Girard quietly vanished, leaving investors with heavy liens to pay.
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Drawing card
Today, good schools and a wide variety of home styles appeal to young families.
Homes in the hills south of Ventura Boulevard have mountain and city views. Mature trees abound.
The former ranch of movie mogul Jack Warner is now Warner Center, a business park with corporate tenants including 21st Century, Blue Cross and HealthNet insurance companies and defense contractor Northrup Grumman Corp. A shopping mall is anchored by Macy’s and studded with such high-end specialty stores as Restoration Hardware, Coach and Williams-Sonoma.
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Insider’s view
Ten-year resident Jerry Humes lives in the Vista del Oro area of Woodland Hills, south of Ventura Boulevard between Serrania and Winnetka avenues. With no sidewalks and plenty of citrus trees on large lots, the neighborhood has a rural feeling.
Humes likes the peace and quiet of his home, set on 49,000 square feet. “It’s like living on an island,” he said.
The community rallied with neighbors and environmentalists to preserve that tranquillity and successfully fought the Ahmanson Ranch development on its western flank. The 2,983-acre savanna was dedicated as a public park in April.
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Bad news
It’s hot. Girard advertised his subdivision as “tempered by ocean breezes summer and winter,” but in fact Woodland Hills is usually the Valley’s hot pocket in the summer. “It’s five to 10 degrees hotter than anywhere else in the Valley,” Humes said. The record of 116 degrees for the Woodland Hills was set in the summer of 1985.
Some hillside residents complain about narrow streets and restricted parking.
Then there’s the commuter traffic. Two main arteries cross the community, the congested Ventura Freeway, and Topanga Canyon Boulevard (California 27) to Pacific Coast Highway. Subway and Metrolink stations are several miles away. Some relief may be coming in 2005 with the completion of the express busway along Victory Boulevard.
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Stock report
There are about 17,000 single-family homes in the community. Prices are more reasonable than elsewhere along the south side of the Valley, according to real estate broker Jason Katzman of Paramount Rodeo Realty.
“You still get one of the best values compared to Studio City, Sherman Oaks or Agoura Hills,” he said.
As of early July, 230 houses were on the market, ranging from $469,000 for a two-bedroom, one-bath, 1,100-square-foot older home on a 6,750-square-foot lot south of Ventura Boulevard (the site of the original Girard tract) to slightly less than $4 million for a five-bedroom, six-bath, 11,000-square-foot home on more than an acre.
Condos started at $229,950 for one bedroom and one bath in 599 square feet to $599,950 for a three-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath unit of 2,166 square feet.
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Report card
Six elementary schools serve the community with Academic Performance Index scores ranging from 776 to 923, on a scale of 1,000.
Hale and Parkman middle schools scored 745 and 665, respectively. Taft High scored 672, and El Camino Real, the six-time state and three-time national Academic Decathlon winner, scored 748.
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Historical values
Single-family detached resales:
Year...Median Price
1990...$340,000
1995...$225,000
2000...$340,000
2002...$415,000
2004*...$613,500
*Year to date
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Sources: DataQuick Information Systems; api.cde.ca.gov; “Los Angeles A to Z” by Leonard Pitt and Dale Pitt; “The San Fernando Valley, America’s Suburb” by Kevin Roderick; ecr.lausd.k12.ca.us; Claritas; Los Angeles Times archives; “The San Fernando Valley Past and Present,” by Lawrence C. Jorgensen.
