Holmby Hills, Los Angeles

Holmby Hills, Bel Air, and Beverly Hills form the "Platinum Triangle" of Los Angeles. It is bordered by the city of Beverly Hills on the east, Wilshire Boulevard on the south, Westwood on the west, and Bel Air on the north. In an effort to decrease traffic in the neighborhood, speed bumps have been installed on several key streets. ==History==

in Holmby Hills The first European on the land that present-day Holmby Hills, Bel Air, Westwood, and UCLA now occupy was the Spanish soldier Maximo Alanis, who was the grantee of the Rancho San Jose de Buenos Ayres from a Mexican land grant issued by Alta California Governor Manuel Micheltorena in 1843. In 1859, he sold it to Benjamin Davis Wilson, of early Pasadena development, the second Mayor of Los Angeles, and namesake for Mount Wilson in the San Gabriel Mountains. In 1884, Wilson sold Rancho San Jose de Buenos Ayres, at 2,000 acres (8 km2), to the nephew of leading pioneer William Wolfskill, businessman John W. Wolfskill, son of Mathus (Mathius) Wolfskill, William's younger brother. He paid $10 an acre and built a ranch house, near the present-day Mormon Los Angeles Temple. The development of Holmby Hills began when Arthur Letts Sr., purchased of the original Wolfskill ranch at $100 an acre. He called the development "Holmby Hills," which was loosely derived from the name of his birthplace, a small hamlet in England called Holdenby, and it was also the name of his estate in Hollywood. According to the Holmby Hills Homeowners Association website: "In the 1920s, Sunset Boulevard was a two-lane country road, known as Beverly Boulevard. It was renamed when it was opened through to the Pacific Ocean. When Sunset Boulevard was expanded into a four-lane thoroughfare, Holmby Hills was, for all practical purposes, split into north and south sections." ==Community==

The neighborhood is home to two parks: Holmby Park and De Neve Square Park. It is located next to the Los Angeles Country Club. ==Education==

Primary and secondary schools Public schools Residents are zoned to the following Los Angeles Unified School District schools: Warner Avenue Elementary School, Emerson Middle School, and University High School. Colleges and universities Holmby Hills is several blocks east of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Private schools The only school located within Holmby Hills is the Middle School (grades 7–9) component of the independent Harvard-Westlake School. The campus was originally occupied by Westlake School for Girls, which moved from its original site near downtown L.A. to the Holmby Hills campus in 1927. Harvard-Westlake was created in 1989 when Westlake merged with the Harvard School for Boys. ==Notable people==

• Nicolas Berggruen purchased a 20,000 square-foot home in 2017 • The son of Arthur Letts (1862–1923) lived in a mansion designed by architect Arthur Rolland Kelly located at 10236 Charing Cross Road. The residence became known as the Playboy Mansion when Hugh Hefner purchased it. Richard and Lauren King later purchased it for $15 million, and they set out to renovate it. • Walt Disney (1901–1966) lived on North Carolwood Street. In 2001, his house was demolished because of the presence of asbestos and replaced by The Carolwood Estate, owned by investor Gabriel Brener. The Carolwood Estate has eight bedrooms, seventeen bathrooms, a wine cellar, a custom movie room, three bars, a library, a gym, two safe rooms, a pool with a pool house, a tennis court, and a putting green. However, Max Factor Sr., founder of Max Factor, did. Later, producer Bud Yorkin and his wife Cynthia Sikes lived in the same house, but they sold it in 2010. • Jack Benny (1894–1974) and his wife Mary Livingstone (1905–1983) lived at 10231 Charing Cross Road. It was then sold to two businessmen consecutively and listed again in 2011. It was later owned by David Bohnett, co-founder of GeoCities, who listed it in 2010. • Bing Crosby (1903–1977) lived at 594 South Mapleton Drive. • Jean Harlow (1911–1937) lived at 1535 Club View Drive. • Sidney Sheldon (1917–2007) lived in a house designed by architect Paul Williams in Holmby Hills. It is now the private residence of Max Azria (born 1949). It was sold to Petra Ecclestone for $85 million in 2011. • Claudette Colbert (1935–1963) 615 North Faring Road. • Barbra Streisand lived on North Carolwood Drive, as did Clark Gable (1901–1960), and Gregory Peck (1916–2003). His house was later owned by Brad Grey, CEO of Paramount Pictures, who demolished it in August 2012 to sell it as an empty lot for a new construction. In 2013, he listed it for $43 million. The house, designed by architect Richard Landry, belonged to Hubert Guez, CEO of the clothing line Ed Hardy and his wife Roxane. • Jon Feltheimer lived in a 6,400-square-foot, five-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bathroom house built in 1927 in Holmby Hills from 2009 to 2011. • Neil Diamond lived at 161 South Mapleton Drive. • Jeremy Renner and Kristoffer Winters purchased an art deco-style mansion called The Reserve in Holmby Hills for US$7 million in 2010 and renovated it with the help of architect Phillip Vertoch. They then sold it for US$24 million in 2013. • Eva Gabor, actress and socialite lived at 100 Delfern Drive from 1974 to 1995. ==See also==