Melrose Village, it’s rock and roll, it’s vintage. Where you can be served filet mignon or ramen noodles. It has an urban edge from the street ware flavor, you will see many buildings ally tagged and clothing designers. It also chic chic high fashion with some of Los Angeles top interior designers calling Melrose Avenue home. It makes me think of Walt Whitman’s famous poem the Song of Myself:

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
I am large, I contain multitudes.

Melrose is a design-forward community in Beverly Center and Miracle Mile neighborhoods of Los Angeles. The small-scale retail on Melrose creates a village-like atmosphere. I like seeing the sky above the storefronts on a clear sunny day. Smaller stores lend themselves to an intimate shopping experience – think glass display cases only one or two other shoppers at a time.  Legendary Pinks hotdogs is a popular Los Angeles tourist attraction. Many great neighborhood restaurants and watering holes to choose from and a nice and quiet residential neighborhood to go with them.

What is the Melrose Village known for?

Fashion and Shopping – Melrose Village is a design-forward district that runs the whole gamut of style and fashion, from vintage clothing stores to high-end couture (Especially the ever so chic chic Melrose place). You may recognize some of your favorite LA designers have offices there- Kelly Werstler, Adam Hunter,  Alexander McQueen, Marc Jacobs, John Varvatos, Fred Segal, Bisazza.

Real Estate – Melrose Village has its own vibe but I think in recent years it has benefited from getting Beverly Hills Buyers, many residential homes are single-story and built between 1920 to 1940s. The zoning is 50% single-family homes and 50% apartments. The new construction is doubling the size of the homes, going from a 3 bedroom to a five-bedroom home- the more popular styles for the homes are modern, but Cape Cod and the Mediterranean are also built. There are some smaller homes on Waring, Clinton, and Willoughby on ½ and 1/3 lots. Those California bungalows sell around 1M. The Lot value is about 1.5M million at the time of writing. A remodeled house can sell between 2M-3M, and a new construction home from 4M to 5M.

Food – I’d say Melrose village is strongest on restaurants- they have some bars and great theater, but I’d say even more than clothes, restaurants are Melrose village’s biggest strength. There are staples like La Las bar and grill, Tatsu Ramen, Frankies on Melrose, Mozza, Anarkali, blue jam cafe, the village idiot.