Los Cerritos, Long Beach, California
| Los Cerritos, California | |
|---|---|
| Neighborhood of Long Beach | |
| Country |
 United States |
| State |
 California |
| County |
 Los Angeles |
| City |
 Long Beach |
Los Cerritos (sometimes called Los Cerritos/Virginia Country Club, or just Country Club) is an affluent neighborhood with approximately 700 homes and 2,000 residents located within the larger Bixby Knolls neighborhood of Long Beach, California. Established in 1906, the Los Cerritos neighborhood has long served the film industry of Los Angeles for its "All-American" atmosphere and historic, estate-sized homes. It was one of three finalists in the 2007 Neighborhood of the Year national competition.
History
On October 7, 1906, 330 acres (130 ha) surrounding Rancho Los Cerritos were designated as the Los Cerritos subdivision.[1] Once streets were cut out into the designed tract, the lots began to sell.
In 1920, Thomas Gilchrist, an Oklahoma oilman, purchased 10 acres (4.0 ha) along La Linda Drive[2] and subdivided them into a development called La Linda, Spanish for "the pretty." In 1929, 20th century architect Kirtland Cutter designed three award-winning homes in the Los Cerritos Neighborhood.[3]
Now one of Long Beach's oldest gated communities, the residential make-up of La Linda has changed. Many of the newer homes are larger.[4]
In 1985, a home on Country Club Drive[5] in the Los Cerritos neighborhood was used as the Bueller family home in the 1986 comedy film Ferris Bueller's Day Off[6][7] and subsequently used in the 2001 comedy film Not Another Teen Movie, the 2002 thriller film Red Dragon, and in a Cheerios commercial. In 1998, two homes on Cedar Avenue in the Los Cerritos neighborhood were used in the 1999 teen comedy film American Pie.[8][9][10] In August 2000, a home on Country Club Drive different than the 'Ferris Bueller home' was used as the fictional home for the teenager Donnie Darko in the 2001 drama/psychological thriller/science fiction film Donnie Darko.
In 2007, Los Cerritos Neighborhood was one of three finalists in Neighborhood USA's Neighborhood of the Year national competition in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.[11]
Gallery
North view of the Los Cerritos house used in the 2001 comedy film Not Another Teen Movie as a lookalike for Wyatt Donnelly's house in the 1985 teen film Weird Science; also used in the 2001 drama/psychological thriller/science fiction film Donnie Darko.
Northeast view of the Los Cerritos house used in the 1986 comedy film Ferris Bueller's Day Off as the Bueller family home. This Los Cerritos home also was used in the 2001 comedy film Not Another Teen Movie and the 2002 thriller film Red Dragon.
West view of the Los Cerritos house used in the 1999 teen comedy film American Pie. The house served as the Levenstein family home where the character Jim sets up the camera to peep on the beautiful foreign exchange student, Nadia. The house also is seen in American Pie 2.
Northwest view of the Los Cerritos house used in the 1999 teen comedy film American Pie. The house served as the family home of Alyson Hannigan's character Michelle Flaherty, a band geek and perky flute player known for starting sentences with "And this one time, at band camp, ..."
West view of the Los Cerritos house where the four character friends in the 2001 comedy film American Pie 2 worked to paint this house yellow while vacationing at a lake.
Northwest view of the Los Cerritos house used in the 2001 drama/psychological thriller/science fiction film Donnie Darko as the fictional family home for the teenager Donnie Darko. The house also appeared in an episode of the 2003-2005 American television fantasy/family drama Joan of Arcadia as part of a house party scene. It was also used as the backdrop for an advertising campaign for Honda's freshman economy car the Fit. The spots were featured in ebay.com
See also
- Daugherty Field
- Virginia Country Club
- Rancho Los Cerritos
References
- ↑ Then & Now, Los Cerritos Neighborhood Centennial October 7, 2006. Accessed March 16, 2008.
- ↑ La Linda Dr, Long Beach, CA
- ↑ Lachnit, Carroll. (May 2, 1999) Long Beach Press-Telegram Spotlighting Cutter's California Style Architecture. Section: Lifestyle; Page J3.
- ↑ Gonzaga, Samantha. (August 10, 2007) Long Beach Press-Telegram Are our houses getting too big? Section: News; page 4A.
- ↑ Country Club Dr, Long Beach
- ↑ Grobary, Tim. (November 27, 2001) Long Beach Press-Telegram What's up: A month to remember. Section: Local News. Page A1.
- ↑ Grobaty, Tim. (February 21, 2003) Long Beach Press-Telegram What's Up:Filmers stay for the Pie. Section: Locan news. Page A2.
- ↑ Grobaty, Tim. (March 6, 2001) Long Beach Press-Telegram What's Up: L.B. Gets a Big Slab of Pie. Section: Locan news, page A2.
- ↑ Grobaty, Tim. (March 8, 2004) Long Beach Press-Telegram What's Up: Is your pad a movie house? Section: News, page A2.
- ↑ Grobaty, Tim. (May 9, 2006) Long Beach Press-Telegram What's Hot! Showtime for your house? Section News, Page A2.
- ↑ City of Long Beach press release.
- Andriesse, (Summer 1987) "Los Cerritos: The Development of a Neighborhood," The Branded Word (newsletter of the Rancho Los Cerritos Historic Site).
- Knatz, Geraldine. (2004) History of the Los Cerritos neighborhood. (as noted in Preservation Honored.)
- Fugami, Caryn. (October 19, 2005) Long Beach Press-Telegram Morrison: Jewel of L.B. Section: News; page A12.