Whitley Heights Historic District

Whitley Heights is a hillside residential neighborhood in Hollywood, laid out by developer H. J. Whitley, who filed the first tract maps in 1902 and 1903. It contains 163 single family houses and three small apartment buildings, most built between 1906 and 1929, with the main burst of building from 1918 to 1928. Deed restrictions required Italian or Spanish style architecture with plastered exteriors and limited houses to one story at street level, so every lot kept a view. Narrow curving streets, retaining walls, pedestrian stairways, decorative iron posts with chains, and row garages shaped the village-like plan. Utilities were placed underground early, and streets were paved in concrete by 1926. The area became known as home to many film and theatre figures. Freeway construction in 1948 and 1949 and other civic projects removed some homes, but the Mediterranean character and original planning remain largely intact. Twenty-five buildings do not contribute to the district.