Tarzana is a community that can proudly lay claim to being linked to a unique part of Hollywood movie history as well as being a highly desired community in the San Fernando Valley in which to purchase real estate.
The name Tarzana is that which Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author of the Tarzan series of books and movies, gave to the over 500 acres of land he purchased sometime between 1915 and 1917 from General Harrison Gray Otis. General Otis was the founder and publisher of the Los Angeles Times and had invested in the real estate development company that had acquired the land, which had been used in the 1800s for cattle farming and then cultivating wheat.
After Edgar Rice Burroughs purchased the real estate, he built a home on it located south of what is now Ventura Boulevard and named it the Tarzana Ranch after his famed character Tarzan. He subdivided much of the real estate and sold it off for the purpose of residential development. It wasn’t until the late 1920s that the residential real estate was named and the community of Tarzana was born.
Most of the real estate in Tarzana lies in the hills south of Ventura Boulevard; the remainder is north up until Victory Boulevard. Remnants of Burroughs’ Tarzana are found on the tract of approximately 300 homes on 1/2 acre lots known as Melody Acres, which is known for its semi-rural character and permitted keeping of farm animals such as horses, goats, donkeys and chickens. While still consisting primarily of modest-sized traditional ranch homes built in the 1940s and 1950s, some homes in Melody Acres have been replaced with “McMansions“.
You can see some relics of the historical Tarzan character at the Tarzana Post Office located at 5609 Yolanda Avenue.
Click here to be directed to the official Edgar Rice Burroughs website. ERBZine is the “Official Edgar Rice Burroughs Tribute and Weekly Webzine Site” and also contains a tribute to Burroughs’ grandson Danton Burroughs.
Click here to be directed to a compendium of some of the original Tarzan films starring Olympic swimming star Johnny Weissmuller.
* Note: none of the homes depicted in the slide of photos on this website are for sale; they are merely representative of homes that are located in Tarzana.
