The Palisades Riviera

California Riviera Homeowners Association

Estates and Homes in the Riviera and California Riviera Tracts

Basking on mesas above the famed Riviera Country Club is a neighborhood of homes with gracious lot sizes, setbacks, wide streets, underground utilities (for the most part), and a climate (and vibration) which has attracted the wealthy and famous for over 70 years.

In the 1920’s, members of the Los Angeles Athletic Club (LAAC) contacted Alphonso Bell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphonzo_Bell), the owner of approximately 22,000 acres in the area, and arranged the purchase of a 640-acre site consisting of 200 acres in Santa Monica Canyon, and another 440 acres on mesas surrounding the canyon.  A syndicate was formed, and it was agreed to subdivide and sell the mesa, and donate the canyon acreage plus ten acres on the mesa to the LAAC for a golf course and clubhouse.

Subdivided for sale in the 1920’s, its development was inextricably tied to that of the Riviera Country Club. What’s known today as "The Palisades Riviera" or "The Riviera" was developed in two phases, the Riviera and the California Riviera, by different developers, but who obviously shared a vision.

“The resulting Riviera tract was to be an exclusive community of gentlemen's estates -- a zone of gracious home life and refinement, insulated against the ugliness of the commercial world and drawing inspiration from the old world homes and estates of Europe."  Geoff Shackelford  The Riviera Country Club (A Definitive History).

Lovingly restored 1935 Italian Villa - Grand-scale 4-bedroom home with breathtaking entry foyer, wood-paneled den with secret bar, charming breakfast room, large formal dining room with signed mural (dated 1935). The home has ocean and canyon views, maids quarters, laundry, original deco tiles, and elegant wrought-iron work. Dramatically renovated and landscaped again, in 2005-2007.

Both the Riviera Tract (north of Sunset Blvd.) and the California Riviera (south of Sunset Blvd) lie approximately between San Remo/Monaco Drive(s) on the east, and Amalfi Drive on the west.  The entrance to the Riviera Country Club is on Capri Drive.

There are two different sets of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs) for these tracts. One distinguishing characteristic between the two tracts is that the Riviera Tract  has cobble-stone street gutters (northerly Riviera tract).   In a 1932 aerial photo included in local historian Randy Young's Street Names of Pacific Palisades, the Riviera tract could also be recognized by its distinctive rows of  lemon trees. The area encompassing both tracts is known today as the Palisades Riviera (map), or "the Riviera."

The minimum/standard lot width is 100 feet with setbacks of 30 feet or more, and side yard set backs of a minimum of 10 feet.

Desirability: Privacy, wide streets (with no sidewalks), generous set-backs, underground utilities (for the most part), ocean, canyon and mountain views, clean, cool off-shore breezes, security, proximity to shopping and schools.   A walk or bike ride through the clean, safe, beautifully landscaped streets can afford breath-taking ocean and mountain views.

Proximity to commercial districts, schools, hospitals:

About 8 Minutes to the charming village of Pacific Palisades, chic Montana Avenue in Santa Monica; About 12 minutes to Brentwood.

About 15 minutes to Santa Monica Hospital(s). Santa Monica -  UCLA and St. John’s Hospital

About 10 minutes to some of the most beautiful beaches in California.

About 20 minutes to UCLA.
During the afternoon hours between 3PM and 6PM you can double the travel time east to the 405.

STREET NAMES IN THE PALISADES RIVIERA

Alphonso Bell's fond memories of travels along the Mediterranean coast inspired the street names in the Palisades Riviera. According to Street Names of Pacific Palisades by local historian Randy Young, the following definitions and European destinations are attributed to the street names in the Palisades Riviera:

ALTA MURA - Alta 'High,' Muro 'Wall,' or possibly Alta Mira 'Lookout Point' (Spanish).
AMALFI - Town along the Mediterranean south of Naples. The name also refers to the dramatic strip of shoreline known as the Amalfi Coast. Amalfi is one of the most beautiful and popular resorts in Italy, situated on the rocky coast at the mouth of a deep gorge running into the Gulf of Salerno.
CAPRI - Picturesque island in the Gulf of Naples. The town of Capri and the Blue Grotto are favorites of tourists.
CASALE - Probably names for the ancient town of Casale Monferato, in the eastern Piedmont district, near Florence. From the 14th to 18th Century it was the residence of the Dukes of Monferato.
CORSICA - Large French island in the Mediterranean, famous as the birthplace of Napoleon.
D'ESTE - One of the oldest reigning houses of Italy. Tourists are familiar with the magnificent Villa d'Este and its famous water garden at Tivoli, built in the sixteenth century by Cardinal Ippolito of d'Este.
FERMO - An ancient town in central Italy, near the Adriatic coast, south of Ancona. Remains of cyclopean walls date back to the 1st century A.D.
LUCCA - A famous Italian walled city west of Florence-source of most of the pasta and olive oil imported into the United States.
MINORCA - Island in the Spanish Mediterranean, the Balearic Group. 'Menorca' is the Spanish spelling.
NAPOLI - Italian port city across the bay from Mount Vesuvius. The Anglicized version is 'Naples.'
PAVIA - A city on the banks of the Ticino River in northern Italy, near Milan - once an important Roman town.
RAVOLI - A town (correctly spelled 'Rivoli') in the Italian Piedmont, near Turin. Beyond Rivoli, the road winds up through the Alps and over the Montgenevre Pass into France.
RIVIERA - The Riviera is a narrow strip of land on the southern Mediterranean coast of France and Italy, specifically extending from Cannes in France to La Spezia in Italy.
ROMANY - A collective name for gypsies, also referring to their language.
SAN ONOFRE - 'St. Humphrey' (Spanish). Derived from a 4th century hermit, who lived as a hermit in the desert of Upper Egypt for seventy years. He became the patron saint of weavers, probably because, according to The Book of Saints, "he was dressed only in his own abundant hair and a loin-cloth of leaves." Nancy and Ronald Reagan lived on San Onofre Street for many years during his governorship and the early months of his presidency.
SAN REMO - 'St. Remis' (Spanish) or 'St. Remus' (Italian). A seaport and popular winter resort in northwestern Italy on the Italian "Riviera del Fiori."
SORRENTO - Celebrated in song and story, Sorrento is the best known of the resort towns along the Amalfi Drive, near Naples.
SPEZIA - The Italian seaport of La Spezia is on the fringe of the Italian Riviera and is the chief naval harbor for Italy.
SPOLETO - A quiet town in the Umbrian Hills, near Rome, famous for its medieval streets and buildings and for its summertime festival of the arts.
TOULON - Mediterranean city on the French Riviera-a major French seaport and naval station.
UMEO - Derivation obscure. Umea is a town in northwest Sweden near the Gulf of Bothnia.

Please visit: http://www.pacificpalisadeshistory.org/

Special acknowledgements and gratitude for a lifetime of research and collaboration on historical books about Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica Canyon, and Rustic Canyon go to local historians Betty Lou Young, Randy Young and Thomas R. Young.