How LAX Killed A Los Angeles Enclave.
Surfridge and Palisades Del Rey – What Remains
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What was once an exclusive area of mansions overlooking the ocean just South of Playa del Rey. Now is only but blocked roads and street lights. As a haunting reminder of what the celebrity enclave it once was.
Beachfront properties custom-built for movie stars and the Hollywood elite, panoramic views from the sand dunes stretching as far as Malibu, developed as “an isolated playground for the wealthy”– Surfridge, California was once one of the most coveted neighborhoods in Los Angeles.
The Great Depression had initially stalled the project, but by the 1930s, the lots were snatched up by an expanding upper middle class and the Hollywood elite, including director Cecil B. Demille. It was comprised of over 800 homes, mansions and cottages alike, on 470 acres, and there was a small airfield nearby which opened in the late 20s where local residents could enjoy the occasional propellor plane air show.
By the early 1970s, all 800 homes had been ‘removed’ and that ‘little airfield’ was fast-becoming one of the busiest airports in the world– LAX.
The Los Angeles Motordrome was a circular 1-mile (1.6 km) wood board race track. It was located in Playa del Rey, California, and opened in 1910.
