Rustic Canyon, Los Angeles

The area is heavily wooded and lush with vegetation, including coast live oaks, California sycamores, various species of Eucalyptus, and many ornamental trees.

Due to its humid climate and the surrounding dense suburban development, the canyon is less threatened by wildfires than other communities within and adjacent to the Santa Monica Mountains.

The original inhabitants of the area were the indigenous Tongva people (after 1771 referred to by the Spanish missionaries as "Gabrieleño" because they were in the jurisdiction of Mission San Gabriel).

[3] Abbot Kinney, the developer known for founding the nearby community of Venice Beach to the south, established an experimental forestry station and planted eucalyptus trees in the lower canyon, which still remain.

The nearest commercial buildings are in lower Santa Monica Canyon at Pacific Coast Highway, and consist of several shops, bars, restaurants, and a gas station.

Residences designed by Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra, Craig Ellwood, Ray Kappe, Moore Ruble Yudell, Marmol Radziner and other prominent architects are located in the canyon.

During the 1980s Steve Tisch, a film producer and Loews Hotels heir, fought a five-year battle against local residents for expanding his large property to include a public city street, and eventually lost the case.

Beginning in 2001, a long-running and complicated legal battle in the canyon at Brooktree and Greentree Roads has questioned a 14 feet (4.3 m) setback encroachment by the owners, raised allegations of corruption within the city of Los Angeles' Building and Safety Department, and as of 2013 remained unresolved.

[10] In September 2007 a judge ruled that the new addition to the Beglari residence was 14 feet (4.3 m) over the setback requirement and closer to the Greentree Road than permitted by the Los Angeles Municipal Code's zoning law.