You Know You’re from Holmby Hills If … !

Michael Jackson was renting this home between Sunset Blvd and Monovale Drive from Ed Hardy's CEO at the time he died

Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion rests on the edge of LACC just below Sunset Blvd.

Ronald Reagan had more than one home in Los Angeles but this was where he (on Beverly Glen below Sunset) lived with Nancy Reagan for years before he was President

The clubhouse of the Los Angeles Country Club on Wilshire Blvd

Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! The extraordinary home under construction across from Harvard Westlake

The Weisman Museum off Sunset Boulevard

Former home of Walt Disney on Carolwood

Bugsy Siegel's old house on Delfern Drive

Statues of 10000 Sunset (first home heading West into Holmby Hills on Sunset)

Back entrance of Harvard-Weslake aka once known as the Senior Gardens when Westlake was an all-girls school

Pictured above is Colleen & Brad Bell's house where Obama held his Foo Fighter concert, Walt Disney's old home on Carolwood, and Fleur des Lys, where Giselle Bundchen held an Oscar party last week. Also in Big Holmby: Harvard-Westlake's lower school, the Weisman Museum, and Bryan Lourd's house.

Pictured above is The Old Spelling Mansion, Hugh Hefner's mansion and extra house, and the agreed-upon best country club in Los Angeles: LACC. Also in Little Holmby: Ronald Reagan's old house, and Armand Hammer Park.

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Holmby Hills is that little patch of green loveliness that you drive through between Westwood and Beverly Hills.  A quiet, but established neighborhood, you will find it nestled between Sunset & Wilshire Boulevards and curving around the Los Angeles Country Club.  Despite of, or perhaps, because of, its discretion, “Holmby,” as the locals call it, provides a safe haven for several notable properties, including a hidden museum,  the home where Obama held his Foo Fighter fundraiser last year, Harvard-Westlake’s lower school campus, the legendary Fleur des Lys where Gisele Bündchen just threw an Oscar party last week, and of course … most famous of all: Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansion.

Interesting, notable and hilarious residents (past & present) include: Frank Sinatra, Jamie & Frank McCourt, Michael Jackson, Hugh Hefner, Brian Wilson (Beach Boys), Ronald & Nancy Reagan, Armie Hammer, Marilyn Monroe, Aaron & Candy Spelling, Jayne Mansfield, Bugsy Siegel, Humphrey Bogart, Sonny and Cher, Gregory Peck, Monique Lhuillier, the CEO of Ed Hardy, Paramount’s Brad Grey, and more …  

Only in LA, right?

Probably so … Which means it’s a topic for The Daily Truffle. We consulted with the ever-extensive Truffle Hunter Network to comb through for our Holmby Hills natives and asked them what made growing up in the chic, pricey enclave of L.A. so memorable … And here’s what we got:

You Know You’re From Holmby Hills If . . .

1. Your shortcut to avoid traffic is past the Playboy Mansion and Jayne Mansfield’s Pink Palace.
2. Every time you pass 10000 Sunset Blvd, you still look to see if the owner has installed another life size statue.
3. You went to the Playboy Mansion for Easter.
4. You can’t believe that Westwood Blvd. is now recognized on Google Maps as “Tehrangeles,” clearly an unfortunate bi-product of “The Shahs of Sunset.”
5. You love when Jaclyn Smith throws parties because of how pretty her house looks.
6. You felt fully invested in the construction timeline for the Spelling Estate.
7. You get offended by people who think there is no nature in LA, since you saw deer every morning on the way to school.
8. You pass Brian Wilson on morning runs at Armand Hammer Park . . . and, inevitably, a Beach Boys song gets stuck in your head.
9. You remember the days when Diddy Riese had no line.
10. You know the Fowlers and make fun of the grandsons for being Trojans.
11. You remember when they filmed “License to Drive” on Loring because you had a crush on Corey Haim at the time.
12. You believe that Stan’s donuts are the best donuts in LA.
13. You vehemently argue that the famous “Dead Man’s Curve” is on Sunset near Bel-Air, and not on Sunset in Hollywood or Sunset in Pacific Palisades . . . and you are right.
14. Even as a kid you knew that the bar was the place to be at Hotel Bel-Air.
15. Your family signed a petition to have Hugh Hefner’s party guests arrive via bus.
16. You know what “Talk to the Rock” means. [Talk to the Rock is how you get into the Pboy Mansion The main entrance gate speaker is disguised as a big rock in the landscape.]
17. The opening and closing of Euro Chow marked the rise and fall of your culinary endeavors in Westwood.
18. You still love hearing the church bells from the old church on Le Conte.
19. Lloyd Bridges was just a quirky, old neighbor until “Hot Shots” came out.
20. You’re no longer wondering when the hotel-sized house across from Westlake will be done.
21. Roller-skating in the neighborhood was an extreme sport due to the sidewalks’ desperate need of repair. Thx LA County.
22. You’ve been to Armie Hammer’s home (or you may know it as Armand Hammer’s house) for candy on Halloween.
23. Your costumed-Granny hands out treats to the Beckhams on Halloween.
24. You’ve trick-or-treated at the UCLA sorority houses and thought it was the coolest thing ever. Towards the end of high school, you crashed the frat parties.
25. You had your first ___________ (kiss, drunk night, joint, fill in the blank) at Little Holmby Park, which was later renamed Armand Hammer Park after his death.
26. Hooking up in the Playboy Mansion might be easy, but the sound of the squawking peacocks ruined your game next door. (Some call this the peacockblock).
27. You went to elementary or high school with no less than two dozen kids in your neighborhood, half of which lived a block from your house.
28. You wish the W was still the Westwood Marquis.
29. You or someone you know is an avid lawn bowler at Armand Hammer Park.
30. Movie Premieres at the Fox always got in the way of your “quick” errands.
31. You are still annoyed that there is a stop sign at the southeast corner of Armand Hammer Park and Comstock.
32. When meeting new people, you said were “from Westwood.”
33. You literally hung out at Johnny Rockets in Westwood and used the pay phone outside to call peeps who paged you.
34. Your pre-license go-to social activity was hanging out at Century City and you got picked up in front of Dive.
35. You always looked forward to election night because of the neighborhood In-N-Out truck.
36. You cheered when In-N-Out came to Westwood because it felt like a revolution.
37. You felt sad every time you saw the scene outside Michael Jackson’s house when he passed away.

This list was written by Kristen Hunt-Greco with contributions from other Truffle Hunters. Kristen is Director of Business Affairs at Universal Music Publishing Group and an LA native (a graduate of Marlborough School in Hancock Park).