Westdale, Los Angeles

Westdale is a neighborhood in the Westside region of Los Angeles, California. It is represented by and has representatives on the Mar Vista Community Council.

Geography

Westdale is roughly bounded on the north by Gateway Boulevard, on the south by Palms Boulevard, on the east by Sawtelle Boulevard and the west by Bundy Drive.[1]

History

Originally known as Steven's Ranch, with citrus orchards and bean fields, Westdale was developed in 1947 by real estate developer Paul Trousdale (1915-1990). He hired architect Allen Siple (1900-1973) to design the homes. He worked with Siple on two other new neighborhoods he developed, the earlier 1940s Tahquitz River Estates in Palm Springs, and the later 1950s Trousdale Estates in Beverly Hills.[2]

Trousdale built 450 single-story tract homes in the original development.[3][4][5][1] Early residents were soldiers back from the Second World War using the GI Bill, who moved to Southern California after serving in the Pacific Theater.[3][4] Over time, two additional tracts were added to Westdale.[3]

Present day

There are now 900 homes in Westdale.[3] Most were built in the 1940s, and many gardens have old citrus trees dating back to the original orchard.[3] The architecture styles include Ranch-style, American Colonial Revival, Monterey Colonial Revival, and Regency Revival.[3]

The Westdale Homeowners' Association publishes a quarterly newsletter, The Westdale Villager.[3][6]

References
  1. Molly Selvin, Facades May Change but Sense of Place Remains the Same, The Los Angeles Times, October 11, 1997
  2. Alan Hess, Forgotten modern: California houses 1940-1970', Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith, 2007, pp. 262-264
  3. Philipp Gollner, Tiny Community of Westdale Marks 40 Years as Oasis of Small-Town Life, The Los Angeles Times, November 22, 1987
  4. Helene Lesel, Small-town living on the Westside, The Los Angeles Times, September 26, 2004
  5. Philipp Gollner, Birthday for Community of Westdale : Oasis of Small-Town Life Celebrates 40 Years, The Los Angeles Times, November 26, 1987
  6. Jennifer W. Linden, Houses Change but Neighbors Don't : Westdale: Remodeling and renovation is widespread in this community that has 3,500 homeowners and 500 are original owners., The Los Angeles Times, June 17, 1990

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