As I began working on my project in Los Angeles, I realized just how much work it would take to chronicle every single thing that I was trying to. To study the real estate alone of the city is not enough, for L.A. is not just one city. Before arriving, I had no idea just how spread out and divided this city was, and how widely distributed power within the city truly was. To go about this task would take much longer than the time allotted in this project. Therefore, in an effort to make my work more manageable I have decided to do a more local effort, studying the neighborhood that I resided in during my stay, which was off of Woodman Avenue by Highway 101.

The neighborhood that I stayed in was off of Woodman on a street called Valleyheart Drive.   Stylistically, the house appeared to be an L.A. take on the American Colonial Revival architectural style, with half brick/half white wood walls, symmetrical windows, and ivy on the walls. What made it seem more L.A. was the car port in front of the house, as well as spots of unsymmetrical aspects, such as the garage jutting out of the side and the fact that the house was a one-story. Although it was a smaller, one story home, any house that close to Ventura Blvd sells for around 1 million dollars, this particular one selling for 1.2 million. But in Los Angeles, you’re not paying for size, you are paying for location (location, location, location, as they say). With easy access to Studio City, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Laurel Canyon and downtown, this neighborhood has the location to bulk up the price of living.

Back when these suburbs were first built in the 50’s, they were largely white. as the white population began to leave the metro area due to fear of minorities and crime. This phenomenon, called ‘white flight’, occurred in almost every major U.S. city during this time frame. In the 1980’s, white flight occurred again in Los Angeles, and many moved even further north, into the Santa Clarita Valley (Valencia, Newhall, Stevenson Ranch). And even today, white flight has continued to push. With a large Filipino population moving to Valencia, many have resorted to moving as far north as Bakersfield and Lancaster (central California), which is known to be an extremely racially segregated area. However, in the past ten years the white population of Sherman Oaks has jumped nearly 10% in the past ten years (73.8-82% increase) due to the sharp rise of housing prices skyrocketed, as well as the recession happening in 2007. However, historically this area has been mostly white throughout history. As well as this, many in the area work or have worked in the entertainment industry.

For instance, in the house that I was staying in, there was quite a history of entertainment. It was first owned by the Porcaro family. Joe Porcaro was a jazz session musician, who worked on soundtracks for movies, such as Enter the Dragon (1973) and Kelly’s Heroes (1971), as well as with artists such as Pink Floyd, Gladys Knight, Frank Sinatra, The Monkees, and Madonna. His sons Steve, Mike, and the late Jeff Porcaro were also session musicians, but were more popularly known as the band Toto. In fact, the room that I stayed in was the drummer’s bedroom when he was a kid, and apparently, because the room is so far from the master bedroom, he would sneak out of his window at night and go to parties. The studio that they practiced in is still intact (a garage converted into a studio with a vocal booth and many instruments) and is still used for recording.

(the video above was filmed on a rooftop somewhere in downtown L.A………) :))))

The house is now owned by Olivier Ferrand, who I briefly discussed earlier. An immigrant from Switzerland, Olivier moved to L.A. to be a photographer, where he worked for modeling agencies, Penthouse, and shot for some larger concerts. He eventually became a recording engineer, working with artists such as Iggy Pop, Steve Jones (Sex Pistols), Keith Strickland (B-52’s), as well as many other artists. He was also an actor, featured in many films as an extra (most notably the 80’s sic-fi cult classic Xanadu (1980), where he met Olivia Newton John. Although he is retired, he still does recording sessions for various lesser known artists, such as Gary Allen, who had a session while I was staying there. I showed the class a video of his before I departed.

The house has had quite a rich history of Los Angeles entertainment. I found that staying here gave me a perspective that I most certainly wouldn’t have gotten if I had been in a more isolated living quarters, and really helped me begin to and further my engagement with the city.