Estates in the Palisades: Yesterday and Today

By MICHAEL EDLEN | Special to the Palisadian-Post

In 2001 Randy and Betty Lou Young published “Pacific Palisades—Where The Mountains Meet The Sea.” Much of the historic information here is based on that book.

By definition, an “estate” is “mostly used to mean a massive and fabulous house on a big piece of land.” The concept began in countries that were developed centuries before the United States had even begun.

In Southern California, the largest equivalent “estate” originated with Spanish land grants in the late 18th century, including such properties as the Rancho Boca de Santa Monica, which was approximately 6,600 acres between what is now Topanga Canyon and just past Santa Monica Canyon, and all along the foothills above what is now Pacific Palisades.

During the period of 1890-1946, these huge ranchos gradually became subdivided and underwent several periods of substantial growth of housing, leaving very few true estate-type properties by the 1950s.

In fact, only three percent of the Palisades properties are over one acre today, and most of those are either up or down sloping land. Seventy-five percent of Palisadian lots are under one-third of an acre—approximately 15,000 square feet.

The Palisades had approximately 100 homes in 1925, increasing to 300 by 1930, and then experienced a significant growth of new housing after World War II until the 1970s.

Many of the original, larger estate-type properties still remain, although often with less land around the home than was originally owned. A few are still intact with large grounds, such as the Will Rogers Park area. Will Rogers bought the land from a developer in the mid-1920s and added 60 acres in upper Rustic Canyon in 1934. The Getty Villa, originally known as Parker Ranch, has also remained intact.

A lavish estate was created on eight acres of land with the highest elevation of ocean views along 600 feet of what was then named Beverly Boulevard—today Sunset Boulevard—where the west end of Marquez now terminates.

The owner was a wealthy art collector named Adolph Bernheimer. He created the Japanese gardens showcase in 1926, which flourished as a tourist attraction into the 1940s. Between 1944-48, the property suffered a series of landslides, exacerbated by the state having widened the coastal highway below it.

Today, only bits of walls, hedges, shrubs and some surviving trees remain.

In the Bel-Air Bay tract, only one large-scale home was completed before the Depression struck. It stood as the only large house on the hill for many years after 1930 and has been owned by several wealthy and well-known people. The property includes an indoor swimming pool.

Between 1926-28, the Castellammare development was planned with Italian Renaissance-style homes. The first to be built was the Villa Leon, a “castle by the sea.”

This impressive landmark stands out today: Many people often mistake it for the Getty Villa, which is tucked away nearby.

The family lived there until 1935 and later sold it in 1952 when the estate was settled.  During those years, it lost much of the land, due to erosion and slippage down to the highway.

The exclusive sections of the Palisades attracted wealthy people even during the Depression era. One notable estate from that period was the McCormick estate in the Huntington Palisades. It included 13 acres of land, combining 14 separate lots at the time.

It overlooked the Pacific Ocean and Potrero Canyon at the section where Alma Real curves into Corona del Mar, and was said to be the highest price paid for one residential lot in the country at $365,000 in 1928.

The property was owned by a member of the family that also owned International Harvester Company. According to records, the completed “summer home” complex included 100 rooms in six or seven buildings and was maintained by a 30-member staff. Even though it had suffered from landslides by 1932, some of the main structures survived and were gradually sold off as a few separate properties.

Another notable estate developed in the 1930s was built by Anatol Josepho, who fled Russia during the Revolution and became wealthy through inventing and then selling a coin-operated instant photo portrait booth company. He discovered an 85-acre parcel in upper Rustic Canyon and built his own road into the site from what is now the end of Casale at the top of The Riviera. His family and the Rogers family became close friends, along with Leo Carrillo, whose ranch home was in Santa Monica Canyon.

In 1933, a large and secluded site next to the Josepho’s property was bought for the purpose of laying the groundwork for a Nazi stronghold in an isolated spot. The owners apparently spent $4 million in developing much of the site for a large home and other buildings that were never built. It was known as the Murphy Ranch.

The Josephos sold their ranch in 1946. Two years later it became part of an artists’ colony, which opened in 1950 on the 140-acre property created by acquisition of Murphy Ranch. The colony was funded by Huntington Hartford, Jr., and he engaged Frank Lloyd Wright as the architect to design the property layout.

By 1965, the Huntington Hartford Foundation could no longer support the property and it was sold to a developer for his personal family use. A few years later, he sold off part of it, and eventually, the Los Angeles City Department of Parks and Recreation owned the property. By the 1970s the property was neglected, the tenants were evicted and in 1979-80, fire and floods destroyed most of the structures.

Other notable estates of the 1940s included the well-known Villa Aurora, which was home for Lion and Marta Feuchtwanger in the 1940s and ’50s. The home they selected was built by one of the original developers of the Miramar Estates. Today, Paseo Miramar is still the main road into the area, and only nine large homes were built in the Miramar Estates before 1940.

In the 1930s, George Barrett parceled together 110 acres north of Sunset in Las Pulgas Canyon, which is now mostly homes along Bienveneda and Akron. He established an avocado tree grove, modern stables and sweeping expanses of lawns.

Perhaps the best-known remaining estate in the Palisades today is the site of the J. Paul Getty Villa Museum. It had been the 17-acre remaining piece of land that Mascual Marquez saved for his own family use over the years, as his vast ranch was sold off piece by piece.

It was finally sold to the Parker family, which developed the canyon and grounds with a beautiful home, theater, gardens, etc.

In 1947, J. Paul Getty purchased it for $250,000 and it became known as the Getty Ranch.  Getty assembled a small zoo there, expanded the buildings and he said he planned to return after he moved to Europe in 1951. However, he apparently only spent a few nights in the place.

Before his passing in 1976, Getty had collected many art objects beginning in the 1930s, and in 1953, he established the museum in five rooms of the house. The present museum opened in 1974 on 55 acres, and cost about $16 million, while the main building and 10 acres of grounds were used for staff purposes.

Besides the remaining parts or whole estates as mentioned above, there are several more modern estates created by either combining parcels or building grand homes on relatively large lots. Some examples include Via Florence, a private street containing several sites originally intended for separate homes that were never able to be built. Now a large home with guesthouse and studio is set on expansive grounds.

Others are the beautiful, large home at the corner of Toyopa and Corona Del Mar, a well-known producer’s compound on north Amalfi, a famous actor’s magnificent architectural view home at the top of the Riviera, a new estate-size view home also at the top of the Riviera, a large and gated property at the very top of the hill above the Riviera and other new homes on mostly about one-half acre sites.

Many others could be included, depending on one’s definition of what an “estate” consists of in the Palisades. It is likely that over the years to come, many other fairly large lots will become sites of expansive homes, to the extent that changing ordinances may
allow.

Michael Edlen of Coldwell Banker has been a resident of the Palisades for 40 years, a leading Realtor for 30 years, and has been active in many local community organizations and programs.