Bellehurst District (pending)

In 1923, the Walter H. Leimert Company began development of Bellehurst Highlands and
Hillslopes on land that was purchased from Captain Cameron Erskine Thom (16th Mayor of Los Angeles). Captain Thom’s land was former Spanish land-grant land purchased from the Verdugo family in the “Great Partition” of 1871. 

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Thom’s acreage was ideal for growing citrus and olive trees and, in the late 1800s and early
1900s, Bellehurst Ranch was one of the most prolific growers and shippers of citrus in the state. Thom called these orchards “Bellehurst Ranch” after his second wife, Belle, and Leimert retained the name Bellehurst when creating his subdivisions. Many of the original citrus and olive trees can still be found on properties in the area today.

Bellehurst is an established single-family neighborhood of Period Revival through California
Ranch architectural styles. It includes mature street trees and ornamental streetlight standards. The story of Bellehurst is similar to those of other areas that were subdivided and marketed by a single company, especially Rossmoyne and Royal Boulevard.
Spanish Colonial and English Tudor were popular Revival home design styles in the 1920s and 1930s and the two styles are dominant in the area. Good examples of Monterey, Mediterranean Revival, American Colonial Revival, Pueblo and French Inspired homes of the same era can be found as well. After World War II, Minimal Traditional, Ranch and Modern styles appeared in infill locations.