Chevy Chase, a canyon of sycamores and oaks sheltered in the San Rafael Hills of Southern California, was once home to an Indian village, then mined for gold and silver in the 1800’s, and by early 1900 had become the private game preserve for the Doheny family, early oil barons dramatized in the Hollywood film, “There Will be Blood”. By 1913, a pristine clearing in the heart of the valley was a fa
vored picnic destination for locals. Roads, subdivision, and a grand plan for bucolic development arrived in 1925. The picnic clearing was to become a golf course with unique upscale storybook homes loosely nestled among the surrounding trees, valley, and bridle trails. That first year the development was promoted under the name “Fairyland.”
Yet from the very beginning, the future of Fairyland was threatened by competing visions of development that saw little value in open spaces, trees, and graceful homes. And it was that threat that gave rise to the Chevy Chase Estates Association. Over the years the CCEA has successfully stopped the kind of development that would have seen parts of the valley converted into garbage dump or land fill, would have paved over the golf course to make way for a high-density, low income housing project, and routed the 2 freeway down through the center of the valley. The Chevy Chase Estates Association doesn’t hector homeowners over what color they paint their houses, what plants they plant, or what flags they fly; it’s not that kind of association. Its mission has always been to simply protect and preserve the Chevy Chase Canyon as a serene and beautiful place to call home.
