This is one of the weirdest streets in Los Angeles – geographically speaking, anyway – as it consists of three parallel roadways separated by two medians. Given the priciness of this neighborhood, I will forever wonder why developers John A. Vaughan, Arthur H. Fleming, and Bel-Air founder Alphonzo Bell didn’t design D’Este Drive as one street with larger lots, or as two with a park in the middle: that center lane is totally pointless. D’Este Drive – later signage has it as “Deste Dr” – was born in 1924 on the Riviera subdivision, characterized by its Italianate street names. (Bell and his wife Minnewa were likely behind that, since they did the same thing in Bel-Air.) In this case, D’Este must allude to the famous Villa d’Este in Tivoli, outside of Rome; the Estes were a powerful Italian noble family.
Find it on the map:
