Tujunga, Los Angeles, CA

Tujunga started in 1907 as Little Landers, a utopian farm colony at the northern edge of what is now Los Angeles, and its stone community hall from 1913 still stands on Commerce Avenue as Bolton Hall Museum. Early settlers used boulders from the washes for walls, porches and chimneys, and those rustic houses mix with stucco ranches on the same streets. Lots tend to be larger and less uniform than in the Valley, and some upper streets are steep and narrow. Mountains frame daily life. Mount Lukens, the tallest summit anywhere inside Los Angeles city limits, rises behind the neighborhood, and trails and fire roads run through Haines Canyon and along the Big Tujunga Wash. Foothill Boulevard carries most of the eating and shopping. Commerce Avenue is the old town block, where Olde Towne's Comfort & Joy Cafe does breakfast and lunch near the museum. Hrazdan Market And Restaurant and Ararat Bakery reflect the Armenian food along Foothill, and Villa Restauranti serves Armenian kebab plates. Errands are simple, with Vons and Albertsons on Foothill Boulevard and hardware at the Do It Center. The 210 is a few minutes south, and most trips are by car. The foothill setting brings real wildfire risk, and canyon streets require brush clearance every year. Summers are hot and winter nights get cold. From the upper streets of Tujunga, Mount Lukens and its antenna towers fill the view to the north, and the Haines Canyon fire road heads up toward them.