Brentwood is known as one of the wealthiest areas in Los Angeles, its population of approximately 235,000 peppered over the years with wealthy professionals, political figures, and celebrities such as Harrison Ford, Steve McQueen, Cindy Crawford, Gwyneth Paltrow, Marilyn Monroe, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. .
An enchanted existence until …
Brentwood is bordered by the famous Mulholland Drive to the north, an area that consists primarily of luxurious single-family homes; Bel-Air to the east; Mandeville Canyon to the west; and Wilshire Boulevard to the south, where a combination of single-family homes and apartments predominates in the area south of Sunset Boulevard and primarily apartments fill the area south of San Vicente Boulevard.
Brentwood is also where OJ Simpson lived. Because of that, Brentwood received a lot of negative attention in 1994 when all eyes turned to coverage of the murder trials of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
The notorious police chase of OJ Simpson’s white Bronco ended at his Brentwood mansion. The plays played on the Brown Simpson and Goldman reunion concerned the Brentwood Mezzaluna restaurant (now closed) and the Brentwood home at 875 S. Bundy Drive.
A history of effort
Brentwood was once part of the Rancho San Vicente and Santa Monica land grant. In 1848, it was sold as parcels after Mexico’s defeat in the Mexican-American War.
The Brentwood area began in the late 1800s as part of the small Westgate community, and Los Angeles annexed Brentwood in 1916. Today, Westgate Avenue remains a reminder of this past. Many local streets are named after British regions such as Barrington, Bristol, and Gorham, but the neighborhood has no connection to Brentwood, England.
In 1961, a fire, fanned by the Santa Ana winds, spread to Brentwood. Although 484 homes, 22 percent of homes at the time, were destroyed, no one died. However, the fire burned 16,090 acres of land and caused approximately $ 30 million in damage.
Today’s safe and stable community
Brentwood is back and is now a safe and stable community, according to LA Life, where 10 public and private schools perform well above state goals, where crime is 44 percent lower than the Los Angeles County average, and where area luxury homes sell for about $ 550 per square foot (94 percent of Los Angeles homes are less expensive) and expensive condos cost about $ 460 per square foot (92 percent of condos are Los Angeles are less expensive).
Traditions
It is also a community of local traditions, such as the annual Maypole breeding on the Archer School for Girls’ lawn, decorating the beautiful coral trees of San Vicente Boulevard with holiday lights each year, and the occasional Memorial Day parade.
Where residents shop, dine and live
Brentwoodians buy their daily bread at the local Whole Foods or Bristol Farms, a store so luxurious it has its own wine manager and a beautiful flower department known to provide wedding flowers.
For dining out, residents can order at one of the restaurants at the quaint Brentwood Country Mart (where paparazzi camp out in search of celebrities), or they can have lunch at the restaurant at the Getty Center, where they can enjoy panoramic views and this Beautiful campus of the Getty Museum and other Getty Trust programs.
For relaxation, there is always golf at the beautiful Brentwood Country Club.
Then it’s home to one of the twentysomething enclaves within Brentwood that reads like an ode to the well-to-do, from Brentwood Country Estates and Mountaingate to Brentwood Hills and Brentwood Highlands.
