Mt. Olympus is a neighborhood in the

Hollywood Hills The Hollywood Hills is a residential neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. It borders Studio City, Universal City and Burbank on the north, Griffith Park on the north and east, Los Feliz on the southeast, Hollyw ...

area of the city of

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Considered a subdistrict of

Laurel Canyon Laurel Canyon is a mountainous neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills region of the Santa Monica Mountains, within the Hollywood Hills West district of Los Angeles, California. The main thoroughfare of Laurel Canyon Boulevard connects the neig ...

, the neighborhood is known for its upscale housing and wide streets. Mt. Olympus can be reached by taking Laurel Canyon Blvd. to Mt. Olympus Drive. Developed in the 1960s, around the same time as nearby

Trousdale Estates Trousdale Estates is a neighborhood of Beverly Hills, California, located in the foothills of the Santa Monica mountains. It was developed in the 1950s and 1960s and is named after Paul Trousdale, a real estate developer. , the average sale price ...

, the entrance gate has decorative "Greek columns", walls and fountains at some intersections with quasi-Greco architecture, streets (Apollo Drive, Achilles Drive, Electra Drive, Hercules Drive, Jupiter Drive, Oceanus Drive, Venus Drive, Vulcan Drive, and Zeus Drive) named for figures of Greco-Roman mythology, e.g.,

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's ''Iliad'', he was the son of the Nereids, Nereid Thetis and Peleus, ...

Electra Electra, also spelt Elektra (; ; ), is one of the most popular Greek mythology, mythological characters in tragedies.Evans (1970), p. 79 She is the main character in two Greek tragedies, ''Electra (Sophocles play), Electra'' by Sophocles and ''Ele ...

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

Oceanus In Greek mythology, Oceanus ( ; , also , , or ) was a Titans, Titan son of Uranus (mythology), Uranus and Gaia, the husband of his sister the Titan Tethys (mythology), Tethys, and the father of the River gods (Greek mythology), river gods ...

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

, Vulcan, and

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

. A 2013 edition of the ''

Rough Guide Rough Guides is a travel company that offers tailor-made trips planned and arranged by local travel experts based in destinations around the world. Originally established as a guidebook publisher in 1982, Rough Guides expanded into customized t ...

'' to Los Angeles described the development's design as an "exercise in 1970s vulgarity that is to

Neoclassical architecture Neoclassical architecture, sometimes referred to as Classical Revival architecture, is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy, France and Germany. It became one of t ...

what a

toga party A toga party is a Greco-Roman-themed costume party where attendees wear a garment inspired by ancient Roman clothing (normally made from a bed sheet) with sandals. The costumes, party games, and other entertainment often adhere to the Roman or Gre ...

is to ancient drama, with faux

palazzo A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

s, pseudo- Roman statuary, goofy marble urns, and snarling stone lions added pell-mell to charmless stucco boxes". One architectural history of California described it as "reminiscent of Las Vegas casinos," with slightly smaller lots and a tackier look compared to Trousdale. There are approximately three houses per acre in Mt. Olympus. The neighborhood is subject to periodic mudslides. The street trees are Japanese pines or Italian cypresses. The Mount Olympus neighborhood is bounded by

Laurel Canyon Boulevard Laurel Canyon Boulevard is a major street in the city of Los Angeles. It starts off at Polk Street in Sylmar in the northern San Fernando Valley near the junction of the San Diego ( Interstate 405) and the Golden State (I-5)) freeways. Laurel ...

and Nichols Canyon Road.

History

The name Mt. Olympus predates the housing development, as there is a reference to the Mt. Olympus "three miles west of

Cahuenga Pass The Cahuenga Pass (, ; Tongva: ''Kawé’nga''), also known by its Spanish name Paseo de Cahuenga, is a low mountain pass through the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains in the Hollywood Hills district of the City of Los Angeles, Califor ...

and at the head of Laurel Cañon" in 1888. An 1894 newspaper article

dateline A dateline is a brief piece of text included in news articles that describes where and when the story was written or filed, though the date is often omitted. In the case of articles reprinted from wire services, the distributing organization is ...

d "Little Mount Olympus, Los Angeles County" mentions establishing a

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a he ...

in Laurel Canyon in 1875. Mount Olympus neighborhood Los Angeles 2024 February 01

The land that became Mt. Olympus has been known as "goatland" before it was developed, meaning it was a steeply sloped area hosting mostly scrub and sage. The groundbreaking for Mt. Olympus took place in June 1963, followed by a cocktail reception at Grauman's Chinese. The developers were Russ Vincent and Al Hess, who simultaneously marketed tracts called Hollywood Oasis, Dor-Mar Estates, and Willow Hills North. Prior to his real estate career, Russ Vincent had been a Hollywood actor. Early reports had it that scraping flat building sites out of the hill would require moving 12 million cubic yards of earth.

In popular culture

The community was featured in the film ''

Hollywood Homicide ''Hollywood Homicide'' is a 2003 American buddy cop action comedy film starring Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett, with a supporting cast including Lena Olin, Bruce Greenwood, Isaiah Washington, Lolita Davidovich, Keith David, Gladys Kni ...

'' (2003).

References

External links

Insiders' Look At Mt. OlympusMt. Olympus Property Owners Association
{{coord, 34.111, -118.365, type:adm3rd_globe:earth_region:US-CA, display=title Hollywood Hills Neighborhoods in Los Angeles Populated places in the Santa Monica Mountains Populated places established in 1969

History

In popular culture

See also

References

External links