Tarzana

Tarzana grew out of the Tarzana Ranch, the estate Edgar Rice Burroughs bought in 1919 and subdivided in the 1920s. The name took hold when a post office opened in 1930. Most of the housing dates from the 1940s through the 1970s, with the hillside sections filled in later and many of the original houses rebuilt or heavily expanded since.

The neighborhood is split by Ventura Boulevard. North of it, the streets are flat and laid out in a grid, with the Los Angeles River and the 101 Freeway at the top edge. South of it, streets wind up canyons toward Mulholland Drive, and lot sizes and privacy increase with elevation.

The south-of-the-boulevard hills carry the highest prices: gated streets, view lots and rebuilt estates, several within guard-gated enclaves off Reseda Boulevard and along the ridges near Mulholland. Prices there are set lot by lot rather than by tract.

The flats north of Ventura Boulevard are mostly single-story ranch houses on 6,000 to 10,000 square foot lots, many with pools, and a growing share of them have been remodeled or replaced with new two-story construction. Condos and townhomes cluster along Ventura Boulevard and near the 101, and they are the usual entry point for first-time buyers here.

Los Angeles Unified School District serves the neighborhood, with elementary, middle and high schools inside Tarzana and in neighboring Encino and Woodland Hills. Attendance boundaries follow streets rather than the neighborhood line, so a specific address should always be checked against the current LAUSD school finder before an offer.

The 101 Freeway runs along the north edge with exits at Reseda Boulevard and Tampa Avenue, which puts downtown Los Angeles and the Westside within a normal Valley commute. Ventura Boulevard carries most local shopping and dining, and the hills give direct access to the trails of the Santa Monica Mountains, including the Caballero Canyon trailhead to Mulholland.