About

The opportunity exists to preserve one of the few ridgelines in the center of Hollywood, home to 14,000 residents between Griffith Park and the 101 Highway. A group of residents have forged a vision of a community orchard that would preserve the green-space and provide a catalyst for neighborhood unity through celebrations involving food and service.

Proposal for the Creation of Hollywoodland Orchard

Recently the current owners of the ridge lot expressed an interest in selling the property. They have given a window of time to allow local residents to organize and present a proposal and to make an offer for the land. If we fail, the owners will place the property on the open market and it will go to the highest bid for a development.

This community orchard would differ somewhat from the ‘community garden’ model in that the orchard concept has no individual plots maintained individually for growing food for personal consumption. Neighborhood stakeholders, the majority of them apartment dwellers, will collectively maintain the orchard and grow the trees. The community as a whole will then harvest the fruit and prepare and preserve the food together with a ‘mobile kitchen’.

We have the chance to secure the 32,000 square foot hill top parcel and place it into trust for the community as a perpetual-use orchard. The hill top agricultural activity in the center of our world-famous ‘Hollywood Sign’ destination will serve as a beacon for the pursuit of sustainability. The cultural history of Hollywood as a source of fruit production will be enhanced. Ultimately, the orchard will be a vigorous reminder that we can join together at the neighborhood level for teaching and sharing. Hollywood, as the symbolic center of the entertainment world, will also further its reputation as an enlightened place to call home.