What Stars Know About Los Angeles That You Don’t

View Now | DJ Avicii Home, Hollywood Hills
Photo: McClean Design

Did you know that back in the late 1800’s Hollywood was a thriving agricultural community? Fast forward 200 some odd years and Los Angeles is now home to more than 16 million people. So is everyone a famous movie star and living the high life? No, only a select few get to reside in the cliff hugging mansions of the Hollywood Hills or the ocean front estates in Malibu.

So why are these the best places to live? Well, along with Calabasas, Bel Air and Beverly hills these neighborhoods have the most astounding properties defined by manicured lawns, tennis courts, helicopter pads and infinity pools.

And by the way, yes you read that right – 16 million people reside in LA! Compare that to the year 1900, when Hollywood barely had a population of 500.  And you can tell how the rich history of the area has definitely helped the rapid growth.

View Now | Matthew Perry House, Malibu, CA
Photo: Michael McNamara of Shooting LA

In this section, we at StarMap did some digging around to find the most astounding celebrity mega mansions. These are not your cookie cutter, suburban homes; the stars live in cliff hugging estates, ocean view villas and mountaintop complexes.

Homes that define the Hollywood culture of glamorous living.

 Visit: Homes of Athletes

And why shouldn’t they? This is a city of dreams and many of the people living here are famous and very successful.  Athletes, actors, filmmakers and business moguls all gravitate to these prominent zip codes. With 90210 being one of the most iconic and sought after places in the world. Like the famous Weezer song goes “Beverly Hills – That’s where I want to be!” The 90210 neighborhood is the most recognizable in the country. The area was made legendary by its relevance in media, TV and film.  Even Charlie Chaplin resided here in his estate just minutes away from the famous Chaplin movie studio.

 Visit: Homes of Actors

Beverly Hills you say? Everybody knows about this ritzy area! Well, you may know the name and how popular it is among the celebs, but how did this notoriety come about? What started it all?

View Now | 1920’s Beverly Hills, CA
Photo: City of Beverly Hills Archives

Back when the maximum speed in most cities was 10 MPH, Beverly Hills was just seeing its first house built. (1907) The area was new and had no draw, so the sales remained slow until 1919.  This is when Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford acquired land on Summit Drive and built the first mansion. It was finished by 1921 and nicknamed “Pickfair” by the press.  Since the new owners brought a sense of glamour and notoriety to the area, other celebrities were soon to follow in their footsteps. The city began to grow in popularity and more mansions were built by an influx of movie stars.

With the momentum of the area’s development, came the Beverly Hills Hotel. It was finished by 1912 and was used to attract potential investors.  The new hotel was big news and brought many visitors to the up and coming locale.  By 1914, so many of the visitors were inclined to purchase land that the subdivision of Beverly Hills had a high enough population to incorporate and become an independent city.

Within a decade, another famous property was erected in the now flourishing city of Beverly Hills. Besides being a lavish, 22-room home, the estate became legendary for it’s resident bunnies. By now you have probably already guessed it – it’s the Playboy Mansion! Yes indeed, this iconic property has been a part of Beverly Hills ever since its construction was finished in 1927.

 Visit: Homes of Entertainers

LA is a notorious for having well-known residents that define the word “lavish” when it comes to their lifestyles. Imagine perfectly cut grass everyday of the week, the cleanest streets you can think of and homes that can be considered modern art!

Although celebrities make money from their image and fame, most of them love their privacy. They often invest extra cash to make sure their homes are out of sight. And when you spend most of your day in the public eye, it is justifiable to have a top of the line security system with 30-foot hedges surrounding your house. Crazy fans just seem to be really good at jumping fences!

You may think Tom Cruise is not too worried about intruders with all his professional martial arts training, but he’s only 5’7”, so he is plenty concerned. The Mission Impossible star owns a home in Beverly Hills that is equipped with hidden cameras, dedicated guard shack and a 24/7 security team presence. The staff members of the estate have assigned work zones and are not allowed to move outside the zones. All precautions are necessary when you are worth a half a billion dollars. The tight security recently paid off, when an intoxicated neighbor who hopped the fence was taken down by a team of trained guards.

 Visit: Homes of Filmmakers

Besides these random intruders and crazy fans, paparazzi are known for swarming easily accessible parts of neighborhoods to get a good shot of someone famous in a private moment.

This is why celebrities find exclusive mansions that are tucked away in the remote areas like Calabasas and Malibu canyons. Homes with privacy come at a high price, but they also feature incredible 360-degree views that overlook the city and the ocean.

View Now | Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie Estate in South France

Mr and Mrs Smith, aka the Hollywood ‘It” couple – Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie spared no expenses to keep their Brady bunch family safe. With six kids to protect and their net worth approaching half a billion dollars, Brangelina upgraded their high tech security system to include motion triggered cameras, digital fingerprint identification to access certain parts of the home and highly-trained former Special Air Services officers to guard their home at all times.

Many of the stars do not want to be bothered, so don’t hold your breath for that celeb face to face. Besides high-end security, many of them take extreme measures to stay away from the public. Tom Cruise used a fake name for 5 years while building a $20 million hilltop estate in Hollywood which he ended up selling in 2015. Some of these Hollywood properties become a part of history because of their prominent owners.

 Visit: Homes of Business Moguls

The city is thriving with amazing homes so to make spotting the iconic properties easier, we at StarMap have come up with some recommendations.

Just enjoy the California sun and take a drive through the palm tree lined streets in the wealthiest neighborhoods of the country, where almost every residence can be the potential home of a movie star.

Take advantage of a random weekday to become an LA real estate connoisseur. The lifestyles of the rich and famous is worth a look!