Cioela Vista, also known as the Harper Ranch, which sat above Sunset west of Laurel Canyon. This photo was taken in 1906

The transcontinental railroads reached Los Angeles in the 1880s, transforming it seemingly overnight from a dusty, brawling pueblo at the end of the trail to a bustling, prosperous town on its way to being one of America’s great metropolises. Neighborhoods grew up around the old pueblo, including the town of Hollywood, about six miles west of Los Angeles. A vast interurban railroad was also constructed across the region, including westward lines to Hollywood and the beach town of Santa Monica.

At the intersection of Santa Monica and San Vicente Boulevards, railroad entrepreneur Moses Sherman built a train yard that served as the service stop for the trolleys and as his corporate headquarters. A small town grew up around the yards which came to be known as Sherman, now known as West Hollywood. Family farms dotted the rolling hills north of Sherman, where the principal crops were avocados, poinsettias and melons. Today, the Sunset Strip cuts through that former farmland.

Two of the farms were quite large — big enough to be called country estates. One of these was due north of Sherman and straddled the present-day site of the Sunset Plaza commercial district midway along the Strip between Hollywood and Beverly Hills. The estate was owned by Victor Ponet, an emigrant from Belgian who became a wealthy banker, real-estate investor and developer. In the 1920s, Ponet’s heirs, the Montgomery family, developed Sunset Plaza which they still own and operate today. The original Ponet mansion, which was demolished long ago, sat in the northeast corner of Sunset and Sunset Plaza Drive.

Another view of Vista Cieola, looking toward the east and Hollywood; top right: Los Angeles Mayor A.C. Harper; bottom right: Victor Ponet

The second estate occupied a tract north of Sunset Boulevard at Laurel Canyon Boulevard, about a mile east of the Ponet estate. Built in the late 19th century by Charles F. Harper, a Mississippian who moved to Los Angeles after the Civil War and made a fortune selling hardware, the family called the estate Cioela Vista but is generally remembered today as the Harper Ranch.

Charles Harper’s son, Arthur Cyprian Harper, who later inherited Cioela Vista, was elected mayor of Los Angeles in 1906. He was forced to resign in 1909, however, when he was threatened with a recall over corruption charges, including allegations he speculated on sugar and that he spent too much time in brothels.

4 Comments

  1. Julie S. Lantz

    August 3, 2014 at 2:39 am

    This is all so fascinating – I love it. If one lives in the area, a historical education is a must – it definitely teaches appreciation for what came before. Thank you.

    Julie

  2. Thomas Canterbury

    June 9, 2020 at 4:44 am

    20 years in the rare book stacks of H. E. H. and I still can’t get enough of this stuff!
    t.c.

  3. Gary Helsinger

    June 8, 2022 at 6:58 pm

    Amazing stuff! Are you sure that Ponet’s estate was demolished? I have seen photos from long before Sunset Plaza was built that show that exact mansion that is still above Sunset Plaza. Definitely the same building/property/landscape. If you want to email me I’ll send you the photo. Thanks for all of the great history you post!!

  4. I only recently learned that my great aunt, Mazy McGrath, married Joseph Hamilton Harper (son of Mayor Arthur Harper). She passed away and Joseph never remarried. Her name appears on the same gravestone as Arthur Harper. Would love to know if there are any descendants of the Harpers who might have any photos of that time that show my great aunt.

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