Remembering Old Encino - Lil Bauer

How Encino has changed since WWII? Besides more houses, more traffic, more cultures, there’s a lot less wildlife. Long-time resident Lily Bauer (“Lil”) remembers seeing foxes and mountain lions in the hills behind Encino – and more coyotes. Back then many more stars lived here: Clark Gable on Tara Drive, Johnny Carson on Hayvenhurst Ave, Mickey Rooney on White Oak Ave, John Wayne on Louise… They are all gone now, like many of the great Encino oaks – Valley Oaks especially – felled by Oak Root Fungus, too much sprinkler water and nutrient-heavy gardens. The Live Oak on Louise that is Encino’s logo, went down in 1998. That’s it in the photo below.

Lil Bauer remembers other times when foreclosures and bankruptcies affected Encino – she bought her current house in 1968 during one of those bust cycles when more than 100 local houses were in foreclosure.

After the big earthquake of 1994, which closed Los Encinos State Historic Park, she helped pack the items in the adobe building for storage. It’s easy to forget that the buildings were only reopened in 2007. She continues to volunteer there on Wednesdays and at the monthly Living History days. The wildlife survives of course but there have been setbacks. A few months ago the hens, rooster and baby chicks, which were in a cage and cared for the groundsmen, were stolen. Maybe a local hated the rooster?

One big event she recalls was Stagecoach Day in October 2008. The coach with four black mules came down Ventura Blvd from Cahuenga and the first stop was Los Encinos, then on to Tarzana Cultural Center, then on to Calabasas. “What a sight to see – the coach on Ventura Blvd on the Sunday afternoon.”