Original planner returns to Hidden Hills after 50 years away

Archie Hanson Although many longtime homeowners and early city planners remember the San Fernando and Conejo valleys when there was little more than range cattle and family ranches, few can say they plotted a community homeby-home and street-by-street.

Archie Hanson, 82, says he remembers designing the roads of Hidden Hills with an engineer and a team of mules. The mules slowly pulled a mowing machine through fields of grain.

"We attempted to follow the natural contours of the land whenever possible," Hanson said. "Rather than subdividing the land into square lots and building the roads in a simple grid fashion, we created the home sites first. Each lot was planned to maximize views, privacy and comfort for the homeowner. Then we built the roads. Unfortunately, most developments today have it the other way around."

In 1948, when Hanson was 22, he and his father, A.E. Hanson Sr., purchased 1,000 acres of rangeland nestled between West Hills and Calabasas. It was the first of many residential developments he would design.

Hanson served as the grand marshal of the Hidden Hills Fiesta Parade last month. The parade celebrated the city's 47th anniversary.

He hadn't been back to the area in nearly 50 years.

"It was like going to sleep like Rip Van Winkle and then waking up to something completely different," Hanson said. "There was no getting used to a little bit of growth here and a little bit more growth here. I think it was more dramatic to me than it would be to anyone else given my past history in the area. It was completely different, and I think it was just great.

"There wasn't one familiar face, incidentally, but it was such fun for me to go back there. I'm absolutely thrilled to see what's happened with Hidden Hills."

Although he lives in Colorado now, Hanson once had a famous Calabasas address—the Leonis Adobe. Hanson's father bought it around 1950.

"It was abused and sort of ramshackly," Hanson said. "When I first saw the building with (my dad), it was a derelict. My mother thought she may have to live in that thing and was very unexcited by the prospect. She said, 'Do you want this place?' and I said, 'Yeah.' It was great."

Hanson bought it from his father for about $40,000.

"We had a lot of fun putting it back together," he said. "It was an overgrown mess. But it actually became a very sophisticated place."

Hanson and his first wife lived in the adobe for about five years until their brood grew to four children. The two-bedroom home wasn't big enough, and Hanson said he didn't want to alter the historical house for his own needs.

The adobe was the first site designated as a historic-cultural monument by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Board in 1962.

Hanson has created a number of California developments, including Leisure Hills in Ojai, Rancho Robles in Paso Robles and Hidden Valley Ranch in Templeton. His latest project is the 1,200-acre Indian Camp Ranch in Cortez, Colo.

Hanson and his wife of 42 years, Mary, together raised seven children from their previous marriages. Although they love their new home, Hanson said Hidden Hills is special to him and the residents have "an identity all their own."

"You've got to plan a community for the people who will live there," Hanson said. "Create a beautiful environment for them that will protect and respect all that Mother Nature has provided, and people will be happy living there for a long, long time. In the end, it's the people that create a lasting community."