Sherman Oaks sits in the south east corner of the San Fernando Valley, where the 101 and the 405 cross, and Ventura Boulevard runs the full width of it as the main spine. That one boulevard splits the area into two different places. South of it the ground climbs into the Santa Monica Mountains, and streets such as Valley Vista Boulevard, Longridge Avenue, and Woodcliff Road wind up toward Mulholland Drive, with houses on sloped lots, several levels, and a lot of glass facing the canyon. North of it the Valley floor is flat and gridded, running through Moorpark Street, Riverside Drive, Magnolia Boulevard, and Burbank Boulevard, with single story homes on square lots and a dense band of apartments and condos along Kester Avenue, Hazeltine Avenue, Van Nuys Boulevard, and Woodman Avenue.
The area was laid out in the 1920s and filled in properly after the war, so most of the older housing stock here dates from the 1940s through the 1960s. That shows up in the work: original tile and grout in the bathrooms, small hardworking kitchens, window and closet tracks that hold grit, and appliances that have seen decades. At the same time plenty of those homes have been remodeled or replaced outright, and the boulevard itself carries newer condo buildings, offices, and storefronts. We are based just west in Reseda, so getting to either half of Sherman Oaks is a short local drive rather than a trip across town, and we plan each visit around the actual property instead of a fixed block of hours.
Signed, the Honest Maids crew.



