Lake Sherwood is an unincorporated community in the Santa Monica Mountains, in Ventura County, California overlooking Lake Sherwood reservoir. It is a no body contact lake located south of the Conejo Valley and city of Thousand Oaks, and west of Westlake Village.
While homes have been around the lake since the reservoir was created, the community expanded with the construction of the Sherwood Country Club golf course surrounded by luxury homes.
The ZIP Code is 91361, and the community is inside area code 805. The population was 1,527 at the 2010 census. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Lake Sherwood as a census-designated place (CDP). The census definition of the area may not precisely correspond to local understanding of the area with the same name.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP covers an area of 3.3 square miles (8.6 km²), 3.1 square miles (8.1 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.5 km²) of it (5.65%) is water.
Physical Character
Lake Sherwood has approximately 660 residences and consists of a guard-gated golf-club community, 3 electronic-gated communities, and lake-view homes along Lake Sherwood Drive. The area is almost completely residential, most residents using neighboring Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, or Agoura Hills for commercial needs.
Demographics
The 2010 United States Census reported that Lake Sherwood had a population of 1,527. The population density was 459.5 people per square mile (177.4/km²). The racial makeup of Lake Sherwood was 1,368 (89.6%) White, 5 (0.3%) African American, 1 (0.1%) Native American, 101 (6.6%) Asian, 0 (0.0%) Pacific Islander, 9 (0.6%) from other races, and 43 (2.8%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 52 persons (3.4%).
The Census reported that all residents lived in single-family households. There were 558 households, out of which 194 (34.8%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 429 (76.9%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 25 (4.5%) had a female householder with no husband present, 18 (3.2%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 12 (2.2%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 4 (0.7%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 72 households (12.9%) were made up of individuals and 32 (5.7%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74. There were 472 families (84.6% of all households); the average family size was 2.96.
The population was spread out with 368 people (24.1%) under the age of 18, 92 people (6.0%) aged 18 to 24, 198 people (13.0%) aged 25 to 44, 623 people (40.8%) aged 45 to 64, and 246 people (16.1%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 49.0 years. For every 100 females there were 96.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.1 males.
There were 593 housing units at an average density of 178.4 per square mile (68.9/km²), of which 520 (93.2%) were owner-occupied, and 38 (6.8%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.4%; the rental vacancy rate was 7.3%. 1,418 people (92.9% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 109 people (7.1%) lived in rental housing units.
Education
The area is served by the Conejo Valley Unified School District. Students attend Westlake Elementary, Colina Middle School, and Westlake High School.
Notable residents
Among the notable residents are hockey great Wayne Gretzky, who lived in a Georgian-style estate designed by fellow Canadian, Richard Landry. Gretzky sold the estate to another sports-star, baseball's Lenny Dykstra and moved to a slightly less extravagant mansion in the community. Since then, Dykstra's financial and legal problems forced him to sell the estate to a private individual and move away from the community. Singer Paul Anka moved to Lake Sherwood in 2007 and owns multiple properties in the exclusive neighborhood. Tom Petty lived in a section of the community where homes flank the neighborhood's large private lake. Producer/Author/Journalist Larry Garrison resides with his wife. The tennis legend Pete Sampras and his wife, actress Bridgette Wilson, built a very large, modern, hilltop estate they have since moved from the house. Britney Spears moved to the community in 2011 and currently resides in a mansion overlooking the world-renowned golf course. Many other famous inhabitants own property in the community, however, they are only part-time residents and use their estates as a second home or as a retreat, such as Sylvester Stallone who owns a lakefront hideaway. Also, William Randolph Hearst, who was one of the first famous residents in the area and owned property around the lake, used his estate as a vacation getaway during the 1920s and 1930s.
Motion Picture location
Lake Sherwood has been frequently used as a filming location, and was just west of several major movie ranches.
Lake Sherwood was named from being the location for Sherwood Forest in the 1922 film, Robin Hood, starring Douglas Fairbanks. The 1938 film, The Adventures of Robin Hood, starring Errol Flynn, also had a major scene shot on location at "Sherwood Forest".
Hollywood motion pictures used Lake Sherwood as a location for many other films, as well. A mock cliff was constructed for several film serials, the lake was often used for motorboat chases and bordering forests were used for Tarzan and Jungle Jim films, and The Tiger Woman. A full scale Tibetan village was built for Lost Horizon and an Italian village for Blake Edwards' What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966).
More recently, the movie Bridesmaids (2011) was filmed in the community. The Sherwood Country Club was prominently featured in the pre-wedding scenes. The movie also filmed at homes in the community and used the serene neighborhood as a backdrop. Furthermore, many recent commercials and television broadcasts have been filmed in the community and the surrounding area.
Filmography
Films shot in Lake Sherwood include:
See also
- Sherwood Dam
- Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area