Encino (Spanish for "evergreen" or "holm oak") is a district in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles. Specifically, it is located in the central portion of the southern San Fernando Valley. It derives its name from the Rancho Los Encinos (Ranch of the Evergreens), a parcel of land given to three Mission Indians by the Spanish government following its abandonment of the California missions in the early 1800s. Rancho Encino was established in 1845.
Encino was also the site of RKO Studios "Encino Ranch" and the site of such iconic movies as It's a Wonderful Life and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Encino is bordered by Tarzana on the west, the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area on the north, Sherman Oaks on the east, and the Encino Reservoir of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power on the south. The district's boundaries are roughly Mulholland Drive on the south, Lindley Avenue on the west, Victory Boulevard on the north, and the San Diego Freeway on the east. Major thoroughfares include Ventura, Magnolia, and Burbank Boulevards, as well as White Oak Avenue, Balboa Boulevard, Haskell Avenue, and Hayvenhurst Avenue.
The Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area is a large area in Encino with multiple golf courses, tennis courts, soccer fields, baseball diamonds, bike paths and a lake bordered by about 2,000 Pink Cloud Cherry Trees that blossom in the Spring.
About The Valley
The San Fernando Valley has no American counterpart. Encircled by five ranges of mountains and hills, the basin could hold all of San Francisco, Boston and Washington, D.C. combined. The population of 1.7 million is more people than live in a dozen states.
The Valley has a story all its own that dates back two centuries. Vaqueros, outlaws and battling armies are part of the lore, as are Lucy and Desi, Gable and Lombard and Marilyn Monroe. It's the birthplace of Valley Girls, the subtext for Chinatown and Boogie Nights, the home turf of Disney, ABC, Universal & Warner Bros. The Valley today is the multi-cultural melting pot for Los Angeles?and growing all the time.
