Neighborhood Spotlight: Calabasas is a perk-filled haven that gives celebrities their space

"Calabasas, home to some of the biggest stars in sports, music, and reality TV, has come a long way from its humble beginnings as a dusty El Camino Real crossroads named after a spilled wagonload of ripe pumpkins. At the time that possibly apocryphal incident occurred in the 1800s, western San Fernando Valley was beyond the back of the beyond, completely given over to agriculture and ranching."

"Miguel Leonis, the pioneer and rogue who cheated his Native American wife's family out of their massive estate, the Rancho El Escorpion. Before his death revealed his perfidy, he found and restored an abandoned adobe on the Calabasas crossroads. From there, he directed his businesses, expanding his fiefdom through shrewd exploitation of the Homestead Act of 1862."

"The act rewarded squatters, which richly benefited men such as Leonis, who made sure he was always first to squat and deployed a band of armed men to protect his holdings. In fact, his power in the area was so absolute that Leonis was dubbed 'the King of Calabasas.'"

Calabasas originated as a remote agricultural and ranching area in the western San Fernando Valley during the 1800s, possibly named after a wagonload of spilled pumpkins. The region attracted Basque immigrants, including Miguel Leonis, a pioneer who exploited the Homestead Act of 1862 to accumulate vast holdings and became known as the King of Calabasas. Leonis used armed men to protect his property and expanded his influence through shrewd exploitation, though his death later revealed he had cheated his Native American wife's family out of their estate. The area experienced frequent violent confrontations over property rights during the pioneer era. Development as a residential area began in the 1920s as agriculture declined and the pioneer era ended.

Read at Los Angeles Times