Holmby Hills, Los Angeles Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Holmby Hills
Neighborhood of Los Angeles
Holmby Hills Location in Western Los Angeles Show map of Western Los Angeles Holmby Hills Location in the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Country	United States
State	California
County	Los Angeles
City	Los Angeles
Elevation	147 m (482 ft)
Time zone	UTC-8 (PST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
Zip codes	90077
Area code(s)	310, 424

Holmby Hills is a fancy neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. It's on the western side of the city.

This area was built in the early 1900s by a company called Janss Investment Company. They also helped build other parts of Los Angeles, like Westwood, Los Angeles. Later, when Sunset Boulevard was made bigger, Holmby Hills was split into two parts: a northern and a southern section.

Geography
History
Community
Education
Notable people
Images for kids
See also

Geography

Holmby Hills is part of a famous area in Los Angeles called the "Platinum Triangle." This triangle also includes Bel Air and Beverly Hills.

Holmby Hills is next to Beverly Hills on the east. Wilshire Boulevard is to its south, and Westwood is to its west. To the north, you'll find Bel Air.

History

The land where Holmby Hills is today was once home to the Tongva-Gabrieliño people. They lived in this region for over 8,000 years.

The first European to own this land was a Spanish soldier named Maximo Alanis. He received a large piece of land called Rancho San Jose de Buenos Ayres in 1843. This land included what is now Holmby Hills, Bel Air, Westwood, and UCLA.

Later, in 1858, Maximo Alanis sold the land to Benjamin Davis Wilson. He was an early leader in Pasadena and even the second Mayor of Los Angeles. In 1884, Wilson sold a big part of the ranch to John W. Wolfskill.

The development of Holmby Hills really started when Arthur Letts, Sr. bought 400 acres of the Wolfskill ranch. He named the area "Holmby Hills" after his birthplace in England, a small village called Holdenby. Letts passed away in 1923, so his son-in-law, Harold Janss, continued the project.

The neighborhood was designed with very large lots, some up to 4 acres. The streets were given names from places in Great Britain, like Devon Avenue and Charing Cross Road. In the 1920s, special English-style streetlights were added. After the Wall Street Crash of 1929, many grand mansions were built here.

In 2012, some residents wanted Holmby Hills to join the city of Beverly Hills. They hoped this would help get their roads repaired faster. However, this idea was not approved by the Beverly Hills city council.

Holmby Hills is split by Sunset Boulevard. The northern part has its own group, the Holmby Hills Homeowners Association. The southern part shares a group with Westwood, called the Holmby Westwood Property Owners Association.

Community

Holmby Hills has two nice parks for everyone to enjoy: Holmby Park and De Neve Square Park. Holmby Park is a great place with two playgrounds. It also has a nine-hole putting green, which is like a small golf course, called the Armand Hammer Golf Course.

You can also find a classic lawn bowling area there, which is home to the Holmby Park Lawn Bowling Club. This club started way back in 1927. The park is right next to the Los Angeles Country Club.

The Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation is an art gallery located on North Carolwood Street. It shows off many amazing artworks. You can see pieces by famous artists from different styles, like impressionist and surrealist art.

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Public schools

Kids living in Holmby Hills go to public schools managed by the Los Angeles Unified School District. These schools include Warner Avenue Elementary School, Emerson Middle School, and University High School.

Colleges and universities

Holmby Hills is very close to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). This is a big university just a few blocks to the west.

Private schools

The only school actually inside Holmby Hills is the middle school part (grades 7–9) of the Harvard-Westlake School. This campus used to be the Westlake School for Girls. It moved to Holmby Hills in 1927. Harvard-Westlake was formed in 1989 when Westlake joined with the Harvard School for Boys.

Notable people

Many famous people have lived in Holmby Hills over the years. Here are a few:

Nicolas Berggruen bought a large home here in 2017.
Fanny Brice (1891–1951), a famous entertainer, lived in a house designed by John Elgin Woolf.
Humphrey Bogart (1899–1957) and his wife, Lauren Bacall (1924–2014), both well-known actors, lived in the neighborhood.
Walt Disney (1901–1966), the creator of Disneyland and many beloved characters, lived on North Carolwood Street.
Barbara Stanwyck (1907–1990) and Robert Taylor (1911–1969), both actors, also lived here.
Bugsy Siegel (1906–1947) built a house in Holmby Hills, which was later owned by Max Factor Sr., who founded the famous makeup company.
Jack Benny (1894–1974), a popular comedian, lived on Charing Cross Road.
Armand Hammer (1898–1990), a businessman, lived near Holmby Park.
Gary Cooper (1901–1961), a famous actor, lived in a house designed by A. Quincy Jones.
Lloyd Bridges (1913–1998) and his wife, Dorothy Bridges (1915–2009), raised their sons, actors Jeff Bridges and Beau Bridges, in this neighborhood.
Bing Crosby (1903–1977), a famous singer and actor, lived on South Mapleton Drive.
Alan Ladd (1913–1964), another actor, lived in a large house designed by Wallace Neff.
Sidney Sheldon (1917–2007), a well-known writer, lived in a house designed by Paul Williams.
Aaron Spelling (1923–2006), a famous TV producer, lived in a huge mansion called The Manor with his family, including his children Tori Spelling and Randy Spelling.
Jayne Mansfield (1933–1967), an actress, lived in a famous house called the Pink Palace.
Barbra Streisand, a singer and actress, lived on North Carolwood Drive.
Clark Gable (1901–1960) and Gregory Peck (1916–2003), both legendary actors, also lived on North Carolwood Drive.
Sean Combs (born 1969), a famous rapper and music producer, lives here.
Frank Sinatra (1915–1998), a legendary singer, lived on North Carolwood Drive in the 1940s.
Casey Kasem (1932–2014), a famous radio host, bought a home here for his wife in 1989.
In 2009, Michael Jackson (1958–2009), the "King of Pop," passed away in a rented mansion in Holmby Hills.
Donald Bren, a successful businessman, lives in Holmby Hills.
Kylie Jenner, a well-known TV personality and businesswoman, bought a mansion in Holmby Hills.