West Hollywood’s rock-star pedigree, boutique shopping, progressive attitude and non-stop nightlife will make it an exclusive and exciting place to live.  People worldwide know about the Sunset Strip.  It is a medium-sized city with 35,883 people and seven constituent neighborhoods. West Hollywood home prices are not only among the most expensive in California, but West Hollywood real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.

West Hollywood is well known for its authentically gay-friendly atmosphere as more than 40% of its population identifies as LGBT and is one of the most racially diverse cities not only nationwide, but in the world. It is truly a thriving metropolis.

West Hollywood is revered for its architecture reflecting the 1920’s when West Hollywood was the center of luxurious apartment living for Hollywood stars, writers and socialites. Preserving West Hollywood’s architectural heritage is integral to the growth of West Hollywood. Designated historic properties embody great significance of the cultural and social fabric of the City. Through historic preservation, the city isable to tell stories of times that preceded Cityhood and of people, events, and ideas that embrace the vibrancy of this young city which only incorporated itself back in 1984.

The area now known as West Hollywood was initially populated by the Tongva Tribe of Native Americans known for their tradition of ritual dance and their seafaring canoes, which they waterproofed with pitch from the La Brea tar pits. The area was claimed by Spanish explorers in the late 18th century, governed by the monastic order established at the Mission de San Gabriel, and was later incorporated into Alta California, a territory of New Spain. The land was then granted to rancheros Antonio Jose Rocha and Nemisio Dominguez, who called it Rancho La Brea, in 1826. When Alta California was annexed by the United States after the Mexican American War, Rocha was permitted to retain his land grant under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, but the legal expenses of defending his claim bankrupted the Rancho and it passed into the hands of his lawyer Henry Hancock.

In 1886, a real estate developer and entrepreneur named Moses Hazeltine Sherman bought a portion of Rancho La Brea from Hancock in order to construct segments of two electric railways, the Pacific and the West Hollywood lines, which connected Los Angeles to the small, beachfront town of Santa Monica. At the intersection of the two railways, he established the headquarters of his Los Angeles Pacific Railway Co., the railway’s power generators and a small residential area for railway workers—a settlement he named “Sherman.” As the town of Sherman grew, it began to integrate with the nearby cities of Fairfax, Melrose, Hollywood and Los Angeles, raising the possibility of annexation. Although Fairfax, Melrose and Hollywood all voted to become part of the City of Los Angeles, West Hollywood (fearing higher property taxes) resisted attempts at annexation, developing its own municipal services and remaining under the jurisdiction of Los Angeles County.

With the emergence of the motion picture industry in the early 20th century, the town of Sherman became an attractive residential area for film stars working in nearby Hollywood, and soon the movie business entered the city itself. After founding the United Artists production company, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks established the Pickford-Fairbanks Studios near Santa Monica Boulevard, which still exists today as The Lot. In 1925, the inhabitants of Sherman voted to change the name to West Hollywood in order to emphasize its relationship to its glamorous neighbor. However, the West Hollywood still technically remained not a city but an unincorporated region of Los Angeles County.

History abstract above is courtesy of the Official Guide to West Hollywood.

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