Calabasas, CA

Calabasas sits at the western tip of the San Fernando Valley, where the 101 leaves Los Angeles and climbs into the oak-covered folds of the Santa Monica Mountains. Park Moderne, a late-1920s artists' colony with streets named for birds, hides behind the high school. Mulwood is a grid of one-story 1950s ranch houses under old oaks, and The Oaks sits behind a guard gate at the top of Parkway Calabasas. Out in West Calabasas, townhomes and apartments line Las Virgenes Road near the freeway. Most housing dates from the 1960s onward and came in planned tracts, many with homeowners associations and more than a few behind gates. Mediterranean and contemporary two-story homes on hillside lots are the common picture, with the older ranch pockets being the exception. Open space is everywhere you look. Las Virgenes Creek cuts across town with open space along its banks, the Anza Loop Trail circles the hills above Lost Hills Road, and Calabasas Bark Park doubles as a trailhead. Malibu Creek State Park is a short drive south, and Malibu Canyon Road reaches the beach in about twenty minutes. The Commons at Calabasas, an open-air center built to look like an Italian hill town, handles groceries at Ralphs and dinner at King's Fish House, known for its oyster bar and daily seafood menu. Sagebrush Cantina in Old Town has served Mexican food since 1974 and fills with motorcycles on weekends. Nearly everything runs by car, and the 101 backs up at peak hours at every interchange. The larger tradeoff is fire. In Calabasas the hills come right to the back fence, and that closeness is both the draw and the chore.