7861 Oceanus Drive

1964 aerial of land north of Lauren Canyon which would soon become LA’s Mt. Oylmpus.

Developed in 1969, Mt. Olympus is located just north of Hollywood Blvd and east of Laurel Canyon Blvd. above Laurel Canyon. The theme of the community is modeled after the ancient Greeks and the mystique of the 12 gods of Olympus. The street names even reflect this with such names as Zeus, Venus and Apollo Drives.

7861 Oceanus has a large entry way, that opens into a classic 70’s step-down living room with fireplace. Sliding glass doors lead to a private outdoor space perfect for entertaining or enjoying time away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

There’s room to breathe here, with hardwood floors throughout the just under 3,000 sq. ft. of living space.

You can drive up the hill in five minutes to your very own world and leave billboards behind. 7861 Oceanus has a formal dining room, and a very generous kitchen with plenty of storage, counter space, and a breakfast area.

A large master bedroom has organized closet space and a duo sink master bathroom.

Two additional bedrooms share a bathroom–each with generous closet space and storage.

Upstairs a large den with a bar completes 7861 Oceanus’ super groovy pad status. Mt. Olympus feels above it all, but it’s within minutes of the Sunset Strip, Runyon Canyon, Ventura Blvd, Hollywood and Highland, and the city’s major freeways and studios.

What’s it mean to live in one of LA’s most exclusive neighborhoods? For up-and-coming actors, international jet-setters, and movie executives, Mt. Olympus tops the list of desirable places to live in LA. They all want views. They want to be detached from city living. And they all want to look down and see everything but not be in it.

Megan Ellison, producer of quality movies Foxcatcher, American Hustle, Her, and who, as daughter of Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, inherited ungodly sums, bought this home on nearby Electra Court in 2013, for $20 million-(and dropped an additional $10 million for the surrounding three acres of land). You may have seen this house featured in I Love You, Man, in which it played home to Lou Ferrigno.

By April 2015, Ellison picked up this newly renovated house next door for $5.25 million. The 0.62-acre property is directly adjacent to Ellison’s eight-plus-acre, multi-parcel estate and extends her ridgetopping compound.

Here’s another Mt. Olympus home. This one was featured in Hollywood Homicide, with Harrison Ford, (pictured), who played a police officer moonlighting as a real estate agent, and Josh Harnett.

Living in Mt. Olympus has its perks, not least of which may be a built-in God complex. Perhaps a little of that personal entitlement was demonstrated by none other than Beyoncé in her 2010 music video Why Don’t You Love Me, in a nod to 1950’s sex symbol, Betty Page. The video romp shows Bey teetering on high heels as a martini drinking, Grammy dusting homemaker, wiggling all over a house in Mt. Olympus.

The kind of neighbor any man would dream of except, it seems, for the actual resident across from where the filming took place. In a suit filed by the neighbor whose driveway was blocked, Philip Markowitz said he suffered “inconvenience, annoyance, ridicule, scorn, embarrassment, humiliation, and hurt feelings” the duration of the day-long shoot.

Perhaps his lawyer states the decorum of the lofty avenues best: “Houses in [Mt. Olympus] range in value, all in the millions of dollars. People in that community, including without limitation Mr. Markowitz, pay for and reasonably expect some level of peace and privacy in and around their homes.”

The $25,000 suit was subsequently dismissed in L.A. Superior Court – unsure though if Beyoncé offered a neighborly cup of sugar to help soothe hurt feelings.