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Silver Lake is a trendy LA community comprised of approximately 9400 homes stretching over seven hills close to downtown Los Angeles. The topography of the area allows many of these homes to have city, reservoir, and mountain views. Before the turn of the century, the area was originally called "Ivanhoe" after the famous Scottish novel by Sir Walter Scott. Many of the streets in Silver Lake have Scottish names, or names that are related to characters from the novel, such as, Herkimer, Rowena, Kenilworth, Ben Lomond, and St. George. The district gets its modern name from the Silver Lake Reservoir, named after Herman Silver, a member of Los Angeles' first Board of Water commissioners. The Department of Water and Power established these reservoirs in the early 1900s as part of the city-wide system of water storage and delivery. This large open reservoir and its smaller neighbor, the Ivanhoe reservoir, remain the focal points of the area along side Sunset Boulevard with its many shops and restaurants.
During the 1920's and 30's developers were encouraged to build by the city and were attracted by the hills and reservoir views. The most well-known developer was the silent film star Antonio Moreno. He modeled his development, the Moreno Highlands, after Mediterranean villages he visited while on his honeymoon. His landmark home, the Canfield-Moreno Estate, set the architectural theme for many of the homes on the west side of the reservoir. Here you will find many wonderful early 1920's Spanish and Traditional homes. The area also has a long and rich history as the location of architecturally significant homes by famous Modernist architects including Richard Neutra, Rudolph Schindler, and John Lautner, as well as recent architectural properties. There are more architecturally significant homes per square mile in Silver Lake than in other area of Los Angeles. During the 1930s, Walt Disney built his first large studio in Silver Lake/ Los Feliz area at the corner of Griffith Park and Hyperion. The area was home to many early film studios as well as numerous filmmakers, actors, and directors.
Silver Lake stretches from Hyperion to Glendale or Benton (or Alessandro) on its east west border and from the Hollywood Freeway to Riverside Drive on its northern border. Many families with school children want to live in the area of Silver Lake which is in the Ivanhoe Elementary School District, one of the few highly rated elementary schools in the Los Angeles area. At the Southern edge of the Silver Lake reservoir where Silver Lake boulevard and West Silver Lake Drive merge, lies a recreational center, playground, and a popular dog park. Although there have been several newly built or refurbished townhouse or condo project in recent years, the area has many more homes then condos or townhouses. The area has many active community groups including the Silver Lake Neighborhood Association, The Silver Lake Chamber of Commerce, the Community to Save Silver Lake Reservoirs. For the last several decades there has been a master plan in existence to oversee the Silver Lake Reservoir and Ivanhoe Reservoir. This plan with community input has resulted in the recent creation of walking paths and landscaping around the reservoirs. This area is popular with joggers, cyclists and walkers.