Neighborhood Spotlight: San Marino's exclusivity was always the plan

"Huntington was a longtime resident of the area. He had purchased a 500-acre working ranch where he built a palatial home and gardens, thanks to the proceeds of his vast interurban rail network, which knitted together the cities of the Southland decades before the first miles of freeway were laid down."

"in 1913 the two would spearhead a campaign for cityhood to prevent their land holdings from falling under the jurisdiction of elected officials who did not share their extreme aversion to any type of land use aside from the building of luxury single-family homes. They were, in many respects, L.A.'s first NIMBYs."

"San Marino was formed to ... control the growth and activities of the city so that property values will be protected by stringent zoning regulations."

San Marino in the San Gabriel Valley represents a low-profile wealthy neighborhood comparable to Beverly Hills and Bel-Air. Railroad magnate Henry Huntington and lawyer George S. Patton founded the city in 1913 as a preemptive measure against annexation by neighboring communities. Huntington had built a palatial home and gardens on his 500-acre ranch using wealth from his interurban rail network. Patton, whose son became a World War II general, inherited the Lake Vineyard estate adjacent to Huntington's property. Together, they championed cityhood to maintain control over land use and prevent their holdings from falling under external jurisdiction. Their founding philosophy prioritized protecting property values through stringent zoning regulations that restricted development to luxury single-family homes, establishing them as early NIMBYs.

Read at Los Angeles Times