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Community Corner

Hot Streets of Eagle Rock: Part I

Life beyond Hill Drive—is your street one of the up-and-comers?

“Nothing is better than Hill Drive,” realtor Tracy King, a longtime Eagle Rock resident, says without hesitation when asked which street in the neighborhood she considers to be the most charming.

“It’s a meandering street, tree-lined and gracious,” says King, who is the founder of the facebook page 365 Things to Do In and Around Eagle Rock.

“Everybody likes to walk along the street and look at the character homes. It feels safe, elegant and comfortable. People feel connected to a more gracious time.” 

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And yet, King readily concedes, there are many other streets around town that have their own charms. Anyone who wants to buy into Eagle Rock—there hasn’t been a better time to do so in about a decade—should definitely take a look at them. And prepare for some pleasant surprises, as the photos atop should testify.

Here are King’s picks for hot streets in the ER:

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1)  Shearin Avenue: “This is one of everybody’s favorite streets,” says King, referring to a particular stretch of the street north of Colorado Boulevard, as opposed to the relatively less tree-lined and infinitely less cheerful southward segment. “It has those huge old camphor trees that spread an arbor across the road. It’s always cool in the summer and lined with lovely old Craftsman homes. The street is wide, which gives you a view and makes people feel like they have a lot more space to live in.”

Look for: A range of houses, from 2 bedroom/1 bath to 5 bedroom/3baths, built from the 1910s to the 1960s.

Added bonus: Far less traffic than Hill Drive.

 

2) Escarpa Drive: “On the north end of , this is one of the most unique streets in town. It’s U-shaped, so you start at one end [from Campus Drive] and come up on the other [back on Campus Drive]. Parts of it feel like a country road. It’s very eclectic, ranging from 1920s adobe pueblo-style to big old Tudors and large mid-century hillside homes.”

Look for: Mostly mid-century hillside homes, with many larger homes from 1,500 square feet to 3,000 square feet.

Added bonus: Most of the houses have great views.

 

3)  La Roda Avenue: “Most of these north-south streets in Eagle Rock are lined with big beautiful trees. La Roada has some great character homes, like Craftsman and Spanish-style houses.”

Look for: Craftsman homes that range in size from 1,200 square to 3,000 square feet.

Added bonus: Less traffic than Hill Drive. This street is parallel to Shearin Avenue and north of Colorado Boulevard.

 

4)  Silverwood Drive: “It’s only a block long and goes out to the southernmost tip of Eagle Rock and hangs over Highland Park. Most of the houses were built in the 1950s but there are some new construction homes, too. There are about 16 houses on the lane and almost every one of them has an amazing view of Highland Park, downtown or the L.A. basin.” [Editor’s Note: Some homes, such as the one pictured to your right, have magnificient views of the San Gabriel Mountains.]

Look for: Mid-century houses, 1,200 square feet to 3,000 square feet in size.

Added bonus: Unlike Hill Drive, Silverwood Drive is far away from the freeway and relatively quiet. [Editor’s Note: Don’t bother Mapquesting this street—unless you want to go on a wild goose chase on the wrong end of town, such as the Eagle Rock Plaza end. Instead, go south on Townsend, just past Yosemite Drive, and hang the first left and then the first right up a fairly steep hill.]

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