Malibou Lake

Here's my layout I did using my 'slightly improved' photos from Friday's excursion to the beautiful Malibou Lake.

(Click on the photo for a closer view)

I'll tell you a little about how this all came to be. The other night, my daughter Annie asked me if I'd drive her to a friend's home, in Agoura Hills, not far from our home. No problem. (Annie doesn't drive yet, much to all of our chagrin... hopefully soon!) What I thought would be a 15 minute drive, turned out to be 30 minutes, because she doesn't live in the part of Agoura I imagined, she lives up in Kanan Canyon, near Paramount Movie Ranch. I go to Paramount Ranch every year for the Topanga Banjo & Fiddle Contest, so it's a very familiar place for me. But the GPS told us to keep driving. It was getting dusky as we were driving, and so I couldn't quite make out all of the details of the wonderland we entered. Going across a fairytale bridge, covered with twinkly lights, we came upon a beautiful lake, surrounded by cottages, parkland, and beautiful trees. It was like we entered another world! The road wound around the lake. and then we crossed another bridge, and up a winding mountain road to our destination. After dropping Annie off, it was too dark for photos, so I thought I'd plan a return trip.

It didn't take long, the very next day (Friday) I took Mom on a little excursion, and we drove back up. Between Thursday night and Friday morning, I did a little internet search, and discovered that Malibou Lake was not MALIBU Lake, but spelled differently. Back in the late 'twenties, the lake was formed by damming two mountain creeks, and the two developers sold 'lakefront' property which they promised would soon be the idyllic scene of boating and fishing. But alas, the manmade lake remained dry for enough time that the new landowners were getting pretty upset. A spring rainstorm filled the lake, and it's been pretty much paradise ever since.  Malibou Lake has been the scene of many many movies- both silent and talkies, including Frankenstein, The Bad Seed, Gone With the Wind, MASH, and The Ring. Today, the lake is surrounded by beautiful homes and cottages, some dating back to the early years of the development.

A scene from Frankenstein, shot at Malibou Lake

When Mom and I returned on Friday, the weather was lovely, if a little hazy, and we both were impressed to see what a beautiful place it really is. The biggest problem, is that the area is all privately owned, and there were enough No Trespassing signs, that it made me a little nervous to take the kinds of photos I wanted. So I had to content myself with taking pictures from the side of the road, and on the bridges, I was unable to walk to the lake side to take closeups.