Hollywood Heights: A Neighborhood Guide to Living Between the Bowl and Franklin

Tucked between the Hollywood Bowl and Franklin Avenue, Hollywood Heights is the hillside neighborhood most people drive past on Highland without knowing it has a name. It became official in March 2023, when the Los Angeles City Council formally recognized it. I live in Hollywood Heights, and I sell here, so this guide is written from the stairways up.

For buyers, the appeal is simple: a walkable hillside village minutes from the center of Hollywood. Century-old architecture, canyon views and a concert venue next door, in a pocket small enough that homes rarely come to market.

Why Hollywood Heights performs in the market

Hollywood Heights has a fixed footprint. The Bowl, Highland, Franklin and Outpost Estates box it in, so new supply is close to zero and most homes trade only when a long-time owner decides to move. That scarcity, plus a location where you can walk down to Hollywood Boulevard and the Metro B Line at Hollywood/Highland, keeps demand steady across market cycles.

It also sits in a sweet spot for price. Much of the housing stock is period homes and smaller hillside houses, which makes Hollywood Heights one of the few ways into the Hollywood Hills with real character in the $1 million to $2 million range.

From Rancho La Brea to the Hollywood-Ocean View Tract

In the 19th century this hillside was part of the northern Rancho La Brea land grant. H.J. Whitley, the developer who later built neighboring Whitley Heights, began developing it as early as 1902 as part of his Hollywood-Ocean View Tract. The 1920s brought the winding streets, Mediterranean Revival houses and public stairways that define the neighborhood today.

The silent film industry arrived almost immediately, and the neighborhood has housed people from film and music ever since.

A village built for walking

The hills here were never designed for cars. Residents relied on stairways and walkways, and the neighborhood still has about a mile of public stairs and paths. The most famous solution is the High Tower, a five-story Bolognese-style tower built around 1920 that houses a private elevator for the homes above.

Kurt Cobain’s house above the High Tower

The most famous house on the stairway streets above the High Tower is 6881 Alta Loma Terrace, a 1921 Craftsman with Japanese influences reached by path rather than by road. Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love rented it in 1992 after leaving a Fairfax District apartment. Their daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, was born that summer while they lived there, and Cobain reportedly began work on Nirvana’s In Utero in the house before the family moved to Seattle.

The house has a longer Hollywood history too. Philip Ahn, one of Hollywood’s first Korean American stars and later Master Kan on Kung Fu, lived there in the 1950s, and Robert Altman’s The Long Goodbye (1973) reportedly filmed there. After years of decline, it sold in 2021 for $1.5 million to artist Arthur Jafa. The Los Angeles Conservancy nominated it as a Historic-Cultural Monument, but in April 2022 the city’s Cultural Heritage Commission unanimously declined. At the time the house was boarded up, and the owner said he planned to replace it with a new residence.

Landmarks on your block

• Samuel Freeman House: A 1920s Frank Lloyd Wright textile-block house on the National Register of Historic Places. Its residents over the years included figures from Richard Neutra to Martha Graham and Edward Weston.
• Yamashiro: A Japanese-inspired hilltop palace and restaurant, part of a National Register historic district.
• The Magic Castle: The private clubhouse of the Academy of Magical Arts, in a châteauesque mansion that is a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument.
• Highland-Camrose Bungalow Village: Craftsman bungalows listed on the National Register in 1989, now offices for organizations tied to the Hollywood Bowl.
• American Legion Post 43: An Egyptian Revival and Moroccan Art Deco landmark that now includes a theater.

Famous residents

Adriana Caselotti, the voice of Snow White, lived here for more than 40 years. Errol Flynn and Francis Ford Coppola lived at Villa Bonita. Bette Davis lived on Alta Loma Terrace, the same stairway street where Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love later rented their house. In the 1970s, the bungalows on Highland and Camrose housed musicians who shaped the California Sound, including Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt and J.D. Souther.

What the homes look like

Expect variety. Hollywood Heights has Spanish and Mediterranean Revival houses from the 1920s, Craftsman bungalows, Streamline Moderne buildings, mid-century hillside homes and newer Tuscan-style houses. The neighborhood association counts about 26 pre-1920 homes still used as residences.

Hillside living comes with homework. Before you buy, review parking and access (some homes sit on stairways rather than streets), retaining walls and drainage, permit history for additions, and fire-zone insurance costs. These are the details that separate a great hillside purchase from an expensive one.

Market behavior: what Hollywood Heights teaches buyers and sellers

For buyers: Inventory is thin, so the best homes often trade quickly or quietly. Get pre-approved, know your must-haves (parking, outdoor space, views), and work with an agent who watches the neighborhood daily, including off-market opportunities.

For sellers: Buyers here are paying for character and location. Price against true Hollywood Heights comparables rather than the wider 90068 ZIP code, and market the story of the house and the neighborhood, not just the square footage.

Nearby neighborhoods and homes

• Whitley Heights, H.J. Whitley’s Mediterranean village just across Highland
• 2001 Holly Hill Terrace, a 1924 villa once home to Jane Fonda and Roger Vadim
• The Storer House, Frank Lloyd Wright’s textile-block house above Hollywood Boulevard
• West Hollywood, the walkable city a few minutes west along Sunset and Santa Monica Boulevard
• Hollywood Hills Historic Homes: Complete Guide
• Buying a historic home in Los Angeles: what to check before you make an offer

Why Hollywood Heights still matters

• Fixed supply: A small, bounded neighborhood where homes rarely come to market.
• Walkability: Stairways to Franklin, Hollywood Boulevard and the Metro B Line.
• History on every street: National Register landmarks and century-old homes still lived in.
• Attainable character: One of the few Hollywood Hills neighborhoods with period homes in the $1 million to $2 million range.

I live in Hollywood Heights and know it street by street. If you are thinking about buying or selling here, contact me or book a free buyer strategy session.

All home images are artistic illustrations used for historical and educational commentary.