Historic Homes In The Hollywood Hills
Architecture, history, and the real stories behind Los Angeles hillside homes.
Local context for buyers and sellers across Hollywood Hills, Los Feliz, Beachwood Canyon, Laughlin Park, Outpost Estates, and Beverly Hills.
The Hollywood Hills and nearby neighborhoods hold some of the most architecturally important homes in the world. This site goes deep on the houses, the architects, and the people who lived there.
Iconic Homes
From the Chemosphere and Stahl House to Moorcrest, Castillo del Lago, and the Ennis House, each feature is a full narrative on why the home matters.
Deep Research
Architecture, cultural context, film history, ownership changes, and what was happening in Los Angeles when each home was built and lived in.
Real Estate Lens
Written from the perspective of someone who actually lives in the hills and is building a real estate practice focused on these neighborhoods.
Hollywood Hills Historic Homes: Complete Guide
The core index for the site. A single place to explore landmark homes in the Hollywood Hills, Los Feliz, Beachwood Canyon, Laughlin Park, Outpost Estates, and Beverly Hills, with links to full deep dive articles.
- Chemosphere
- Stahl House
- Ennis House
- Lovell Health House
- Moorcrest
- Castillo del Lago
- Greystone Mansion
Explore the homes
New deep dives into landmark homes as they are published. For the full index, use the complete guide above.
Greystone Mansion: Power, Tragedy, and a Beverly Hills Legacy
Greystone Mansion is a 1928 Tudor Revival estate built for the Doheny family, one of Los Angeles’ early oil dynasties. With its limestone facade, grand staircases, tragic family history, and sprawling terraced gardens, it stands as one of the most important and cinematic historic homes in Beverly Hills.
The Ennis House: A Landmark Los Feliz Estate Above Hollywood
The Ennis House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1924, is the pinnacle of his textile-block experiments. Perched above Los Feliz with sweeping city views, the house blends Mayan Revival geometry, cast concrete blocks, and cinematic presence, making it one of Wright’s most iconic and influential Los Angeles works.
The Cedars: Hollywood’s Gothic Mansion Above Los Feliz
The Cedars, designed for filmmaker Maurice Tourneur in 1923, is a Mediterranean Revival landmark overlooking Los Feliz. Its grand terraces, sweeping arches, and Hollywood lineage have made it a magnet for actors, musicians, and legends for over a century, capturing the spirit of early cinematic Los Angeles.
The DeMille Estate: Hollywood History That Still Shapes Today’s Luxury Market
The DeMille Estate in Laughlin Park, built in 1914 for filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille, is one of the earliest Hollywood power homes. With its Italianate architecture, sweeping gardens, and rich film history, the estate reflects the birth of Hollywood itself and the rise of Los Angeles as a cultural capital.
The Sowden House: When Architecture Becomes a Real Estate Category
The Sowden House in Los Feliz, designed by Lloyd Wright in 1926, is one of Los Angeles’s most striking examples of Mayan Revival architecture. Its geometric concrete blocks, dramatic courtyard, and long cultural shadow have made it a landmark of Hollywood mystique, architectural experimentation, and enduring speculation.
Castillo del Lago: When Story, Scale, and Setting Drive Value
Castillo del Lago is one of the most recognizable homes in the Hollywood Hills, a 1926 Spanish-Moorish landmark built for oil heiress Aline Barnsdall’s circle and later transformed into a bold, colorful showpiece by Madonna in the 1990s. With its tower, terraces, and dramatic hillside presence, the house reflects a century of Hollywood glamour, reinvention,…