Short answer: The Hollywood Riviera is the hillside neighborhood in South Torrance, zip 90505, that climbs from Torrance Beach and Riviera Village toward the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Developer Clifford Reid started it in the late 1920s, and its beach club opened in 1931. The lowest blocks near the Village sit inside Redondo Beach. Schools: Riviera Elementary 8/10, Calle Mayor Middle 10/10 and South High 10/10 on GreatSchools, October 29, 2026.
I went to Calle Mayor Middle School and South High, so I grew up on these streets and this sand. Today I live a few minutes away in Seaside, a separate South Torrance neighborhood, and my mother, Jenna Christensen of Compass, and I co-list homes in the Riviera. People mix the two neighborhoods up constantly. This post is about the Riviera only.
Where exactly is the Hollywood Riviera, and which city is it in?
Most of the Hollywood Riviera is in Torrance, on the slope between Pacific Coast Highway and the ocean, with Torrance addresses in the 90505 zip code. The hill rises toward the Palos Verdes Peninsula.
The lowest blocks, closest to Riviera Village, are inside the City of Redondo Beach. The first home Clifford Reid built in the development, at 124 Via Monte D'Oro in 1928, is a Redondo Beach address, as is 317 Camino de las Colinas from 1930 (Digs, February 2021).
Riviera Village itself, along Catalina Avenue where my office sits at 1901 S. Catalina Avenue, is in Redondo Beach. Check the city on the tax bill of any listing here, because schools, permits and city services follow that line.
Who built it, and why is a Torrance neighborhood called Hollywood?
Clifford Reid, an Oregon native, set out in the late 1920s to build a European-style community on the South Bay coast and to sell it to the film industry. According to the City of Torrance Community Services Department (October 2012), he finished the Hollywood Riviera Beach Club in 1931, just as the Depression took hold, and opened it to everyone who bought land in the development. It operated from 1931 to 1958.
The club is gone. Its site is now Miramar Park, a City of Torrance park at 201 Paseo de la Playa and Calle Miramar, opened as a park on January 11, 1984, with a historic site plaque added February 24, 1985 (City of Torrance, October 2012).
What do the homes look like?
Some of the original Spanish Revival houses from 1928 to the early 1930s still stand, including the two Reid homes above (Digs, February 2021). The rest of the hill filled in over the following decades, and what I walk through today is a mix: single-story homes on the flatter streets, two-story homes and newer rebuilds on the view streets, and a few lots where the original house has been started over.
Two things I tell every buyer here. The slope is the story: the same floor plan can have a flat backyard on one street and a view with a stairway on the next. And the age of the house matters more than its paint, because a 1930 house and a 2020 rebuild have different plumbing, foundations and inspection lists.
Which schools serve Hollywood Riviera addresses?
Torrance addresses in the Riviera run through Torrance Unified. Riviera Elementary, at 365 Paseo de Arena, Torrance 90505, carries an 8/10 on GreatSchools as of October 29, 2026, with 611 students in grades K to 5. Calle Mayor Middle is 10/10 and South High is 10/10 on the same date. Those ratings are built from state test data, and as a former teacher I treat them as a place to start, not a verdict.
Redondo Beach addresses in the lower Riviera run through Redondo Beach Unified instead, which asks families to type the address into its School Locator (rbusd.org, read October 2026). Confirm the assignment for the exact address, in writing, before you remove contingencies. Living near a campus is not the same as being assigned to it.
Torrance Beach, Miramar Park and the walk down to the Village
Torrance Beach sits at the bottom of the hill at 387 Paseo de la Playa. Los Angeles County runs the beach and lists restrooms, showers, volleyball courts, a parking lot and an accessible walkway, with the stretch known as RAT Beach included (LA County location directory, read October 2026). The City of Torrance describes its coastline as 1.5 miles of lifeguard-patrolled beach with public parking and a bathhouse (torranceca.gov, About Torrance, read October 2026).
Miramar Park, above the sand, has benches facing the water, a ramp down to the beach and a permit program for wedding ceremonies (City of Torrance, October 2012, and the city parks page, read October 2026). From there it is a walk down to Riviera Village for coffee, dinner or the ice cream stop my daughter Mia considers mandatory after a beach day.
What do homes in the Hollywood Riviera cost?
I am not going to print a neighborhood median in this post. When I checked Redfin's page for the Torrance Riviera area this week, the most recent figure it showed was from July 2025. The citywide Torrance median for September 2026 was $1,174,441, down 4.9% from a year earlier (Redfin), but a citywide number covers every kind of home in a city of 21 square miles.
What I can do is pull the last 90 days of CRMLS sales for the Riviera, split by Torrance and Redondo Beach addresses, and send them to you with my notes on condition and view.
Questions I get asked
Is the Hollywood Riviera in Torrance or Redondo Beach?
Both, and mostly Torrance. The hillside above Torrance Beach is in Torrance with 90505 addresses, and the lowest blocks near Riviera Village, including the first homes Clifford Reid built in 1928 and 1930, are in Redondo Beach. The city determines your school district, your building permits and your trash day, so I check the tax bill on every listing.
Is this the same neighborhood as Seaside?
No. Seaside is a separate South Torrance neighborhood, the one where I live and where my mother has lived for more than 30 years, with its own streets and its own neighborhood association. The Hollywood Riviera has its own history and its own hill. They are a few minutes apart by car and often confused in conversation.
Can you walk to the beach from a Riviera house?
From some streets, yes, and from others you will want the car for the trip back up. Paseo de la Playa runs along the bluff above the sand, and Miramar Park has a ramp down to the beach. The higher you go, the longer the climb home. Walk it from the front door at the time of day you would actually go.
If you want the last 90 days of Riviera sales or a tour of the streets I know from childhood, reach me at beckyhomes.com/contact.
Becky Davidson is a REALTOR® with Estate Properties in Riviera Village, Redondo Beach (DRE# 01894087). She has lived in the South Bay since 1993, taught elementary school before earning her license in 2011, and has sold 240+ homes and $205M+ across the South Bay and Los Angeles. She lives in Seaside with her husband and daughter and often co-lists homes with her mother, Jenna Christensen of Compass (DRE# 01341901). Call or text 310.920.9287.
