Crestwood Hills, Los Angeles

About

Crestwood Hills is a neighborhood within Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, located on the ridges to the north and east of Kenter Canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains. It is best known for its mid-century modern architecture, and contains several homes designated as architectural landmarks by the State of California. The homes were designed by A. Quincy Jones, and are featured in numerous magazines, articles, and books about mid-century modern housing. The community includes a park, pre-school, and homeowners' association.

Crestwood Hills began as a utopian experiment in the late 1940s by a few intellectuals, and eventually turned into a cooperative association that included 400 members. The project was initially called the Mutual Housing Tract, before changing to Crestwood Hills. It was intended as a multi-ethnic project, but pressure on the landowner from existing Brentwood residents—this was still the era of racially restrictive covenants (primarily against African-Americans; the development itself was nearly all White) and religiously restrictive covenants (primarily against Catholics; the development itself was nearly one-half Jewish)—eventually led to some members of the founding group being dropped as a condition of finalizing the sale.