Isadorus Omar Colodny (1883-1977) and Lippe Lafayette Colodny (1883-1963) – they went by “I.” and “L.L.” – were twin brothers from Burlington, VT who subdivided George Lewis‘s property in 1924 as “Independence Acres”, a colony of chicken ranches that later became Agoura Hills. (Poultry was big business here in the 1920s: see Runnymede Street.) I. Colodny had come to Sawtelle in 1920 to direct vocational training for disabled veterans. He was previously a professor of English at the University of Arizona, where he was fired in 1916 by Rufus B. von KleinSmid; Colodny alleged that it was because he and his first wife Pauline had spoken out against segregation in Tucson. Angelenos know von KleinSmid (1875-1964) as the late USC president whose legacy is tarnished by his support for eugenics, so Colodny may have been right. At any rate, his brother L.L., also an educator, came to L.A. in 1922 and the twins joined forces in real estate. I. ultimately went back to teaching English, this time at L.A. City College.
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