City

Brentwood

Brentwood
Photo by Airam Dato-on on Pexels
Brentwood
Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Pexels
Brentwood
Photo by Rüveyda on Pexels
Brentwood
Photo by Cristhian David Duarte on Pexels
Brentwood
Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Pexels
Brentwood
Photo by Daria Agafonova on Pexels

San Vicente Boulevard gives Brentwood away before you've parked the car. The wide median runs for blocks under a canopy of coral trees — their trunks thick and salt-bleached, their branches reaching across both lanes — and the whole street moves at a pace that feels deliberately unhurried. This is the Westside at its most residential: wide lots, mature trees, ranch houses behind hedges, and the Getty Center sitting high on a ridge above it all like a civic monument that actually earned its place.

Brentwood occupies a strip of the Santa Monica Mountains' southern foothills between the 405 and the ocean air that drifts in from Santa Monica. It is quieter than its neighbors and more self-contained, built around a country mart rather than a strip mall, with the kind of streets where people actually walk.

💛 What travellers fall for

Regulars tend to anchor their mornings at the Brentwood Country Mart — coffee, a bench in the courtyard, the wooden barn buildings doing their usual low-key thing. From there, the coral tree median on San Vicente makes a good long walk before the heat sets in. Save Mandeville Canyon for late afternoon, when the light comes in sideways.

Good to know
A car is effectively required. From Santa Monica it's ten minutes; from Hollywood, closer to thirty depending on the 405. Spring (mid-March through June) and early autumn (mid-September through October) offer the most comfortable temperatures for walking the neighborhood. July heat peaks around 88°F.

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The story

How Brentwood came to be

Brentwood's origins are bound up with the Pacific Branch of the National Home for Disabled Soldiers and Sailors, a 600-acre facility established in the 1880s. A small community grew up outside its west gate and took the name Westgate. The area was annexed by the City of Los Angeles on June 14, 1916, and over the following decades the district reorganized itself around Brentwood Park, developed in 1906, whose wide streets and planted trees set the template for the neighborhood's character.

The Brentwood Country Mart opened in November 1948, designed by Rowland Crawford with a cluster of wooden barn-like buildings around an open courtyard — conceived as a Westside answer to the Farmer's Market at Third and Fairfax. The coral trees along San Vicente replaced a Pacific Electric trolley track and have since been designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, a quiet reminder that the neighborhood's most defining feature was once infrastructure.

People & landmarks

Who and what shaped it

People who shaped it

Frank Lloyd Wright
Designed the George Sturges House (1939), a Usonian-style residence designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 1993.
James Stewart
Married model Gloria Hatrick McLean at Brentwood Presbyterian Church in 1949.
Herbert and Iona Hyman
Founded The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in 1963; opened the first store location in Brentwood in 1968.

Landmark buildings

The Getty Center
110-acre Richard Meier–designed campus that cost $1.3 billion and opened to the public in 1997.
Brentwood Country Mart
Opened November 1948, designed by Rowland Crawford as a Westside version of the Farmer's Market; wooden barn-like buildings around a courtyard.
George Sturges House
Frank Lloyd Wright–designed residence completed in 1939, exemplifying his Usonian style; designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 1993.
San Vicente Boulevard
Tree-lined street with wide median of large coral trees (designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument) replacing a former Pacific Electric trolley track.
St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church
Spanish Colonial Revival structure designed by Ross Montgomery in the 1940s.
Barrington Court
Spanish Colonial Revival building designed by Gordon Kaufmann in the 1920s; now houses the Brentwood Art Center.
Watch

See Brentwood in motion

Practical

Plan your visit

On the map

When to go

Summers run hot and dry, with July highs averaging around 88°F — mornings are the time to be outside. Winters are short and mild with occasional rain, January being both the coolest and wettest month, though temperatures rarely drop below freezing.

Right now

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22°C
Clear
Sat
30°
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Sun
29°
19°
Mon
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26°
21°
Tue
27°
20°
Weather data: Open-Meteo
Reviews via Google

What travellers say about Brentwood

4.2 172 Google reviews

My 97 year old mother is a patient there. It's a small Rehabilitation and health center. It is very clean with all the necessary equipment and physical therapists to restore health for patients with all abilities. All of the staff we have met, have been very caring, kind and patient. From the cleaning crew who are cleaning and mopping endlessly to the Nurses, their assistants, physical therapists and business staff. if all the facilities we checked in the area, this one seems to have the best staff to patient ratio, which translates to quicker service and above average recovery and discharge. It maybe small with mostly shared rooms with just a few private rooms, but it is very homey and comfortable. The other reason we chose this facility over the other more modern ones,was because the staff themselves seemed happier and we encountered more smiles, which has contributed to happier patients. It is located in a residential neighborhood so the visitor parking is limited and only street parking is available at certain times and on certain days. There is a pleasant outdoor courtyard where patients can sit with their loved ones and visitors for as long as they like. The food although health conscious and nutritious and made according to patient's diet restrictions, can be much better, but most patients we met, either order food for delivery from the many available eateries around, or their families and visitors bring food. All in all we are happy we chose this facility over others. Mostly covered by Medicare or Private insurance, however there is an out of pocket surcharge for a Private room when available.

Kourosh Kermanian 2 months ago · via Google

Caring CNAs. Fatima is excellent. Brenda performed a difficult procedure with ease. Farnoush Head of PT is accommodating to patients needs. Lovely courtyard for patients and families to sit out in. I would name them all. But I do not know everyone’s names. Mitch, Head of Nursing. Carla Medicine distributor. Jerry, OT. Connor PT. Lovely. Ian PT. Luna a CNA, v young but gentle and everyone speaks English which is key to explain what’s happening to patients who are non Spanish speaking.

Alexa Jago a month ago · via Google

This is by far the best rehab we’ve been to. My husband has cancer and sadly, we’ve been to quite a few. The staff is upbeat and pleasant while still taking his condition seriously. It’s the first one I’ve had zero concerns about his care and attention to his needs when I’m not here. The food is by far the best we’ve had anywhere. They allow outside food but the need hasn’t been there. It’s clean and well maintained. The therapy and attitude of the therapists has been stellar! I highly recommend.

Marla Pfetzing 4 months ago · via Google

Very impressed with Brentwood Care Center. I've seen a lot of nursing care facilities and this one is the only one that attends to each patient with great care, great therapy and good food (I didn't eat any but he ate all of every meal and liked it). They make sure everyone is out of bed and clean every day. They clearly have a much better staff/patient ratio than any other care center I have seen!

Nancy Witherell 2 months ago · via Google

All I have to say is not but great things about Brentwood Healthcare. It was my first time having my mom at a home health Nursing Facility and this is the only place where they care and look after your loved one. The nurses were very sweet, attentive, take their job serious. I felt as if it was their own loved one. The PT was top notch my mom was already standing up after almost not getting up in 3 months at the hospital. Everyone from admissions, case management, PT, OT, CNA, medicine nurses, nurses supervisors. I would recommend anyone who has a loved one needing a care Nursing Facility to Brentwood Healthcare. Oh, most importantly this Facility was always spotless. Thank you Marsha, Tara, Tamara, Jessica, Leslie, Victoria, Ian, Lupe, Ashley and all thr staff! Oh her roommate Irma was the sweetest! Thank you Brentwood Healthcare.

Liseth Lopez 5 months ago · via Google

Background & history adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA) · specs from Wikidata (CC0) · weather from Open-Meteo · map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · photos from Wikimedia Commons / Unsplash with per-image credit. No third-party reviews or social posts reproduced.

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