In 1994, Jack Nicholson donated 60 acres that could have become four homes, preserving Los Angeles wildlife habitat

In 1994, Jack Nicholson made a quiet decision that helped keep a valuable piece of the Santa Monica Mountains from becoming another residential development. The actor donated 60 acres of undeveloped land in Coldwater Canyon to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, protecting a wooded ridgeline above Studio City for public conservation.

The land could have taken a very different path. A four-lot subdivision had already been approved for the property, meaning four homes could have eventually occupied the site. Instead, Nicholson’s donation helped preserve the acreage as open space and wildlife habitat.

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A rare piece of undeveloped land in Los Angeles

The 60-acre property was located in the hills above Studio City, with frontage along the north side of Mulholland Drive and the west side of Coldwater Canyon Boulevard.

At the time, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy described the property as an undeveloped ridgeline containing native oak woodland and habitat for deer. It was considered one of the larger remaining stretches of undeveloped land in that part of the Santa Monica Mountains.

Its location also made it particularly valuable for conservation. The acreage bordered other parcels that had already been acquired by the conservancy, allowing the land to become part of a larger protected landscape rather than remaining an isolated patch of wilderness.

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Four homes had already been approved

Perhaps the most striking part of the story was that residential development was already possible.

John A. Diaz, who was the conservancy’s land-acquisition chief at the time, said a four-lot subdivision had already been approved for the property.

Nicholson’s donation changed that future.

Instead of being divided into four residential lots, the 60 acres became available for public conservation. The decision helped prevent additional homes from occupying the ridgeline and preserved the natural landscape in an increasingly developed part of Los Angeles.

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Nicholson’s identity was initially kept private

The conservancy did not publicly name Nicholson when the donation was first announced.

Joseph T. Edmiston, the agency’s executive director, described the donor only as a “generous benefactor.” Nicholson’s business manager also declined to identify the person who had donated the land.

But people familiar with the transaction soon identified the actor.

Turnley Walker, chairman of the Longridge-Alomar Neighborhood Committee, said Nicholson was responsible for the donation. Another person familiar with the transaction independently gave the same account to the Los Angeles Times.

A later Times report published January 17, 1994, directly described the 60 acres as a Nicholson donation.

Part of a larger conservation effort

Nicholson’s gift came during a broader push to protect the Santa Monica Mountains from development.

The conservancy was acquiring properties that could help maintain a continuous stretch of wildlife habitat between Griffith Park and Topanga State Park. Other celebrity land donations during the period included contributions associated with Dick Clark, Warren Beatty and Barbra Streisand.

The strategy was straightforward but important: protecting individual parcels could help connect larger areas of natural habitat.

For wildlife, those connections matter. For Los Angeles residents, they also preserve pockets of undeveloped landscape that might otherwise disappear beneath homes and roads.

A legacy that remains

Today, Coldwater Canyon remains part of the region’s public open-space system. Current conservation records include properties known as Coldwater Canyon Open Space - Mulholland and Mulholland Coldwater.

Nicholson’s 1994 donation was therefore about more than 60 acres.

It meant a ridgeline with oak woodland and deer habitat would remain undeveloped at a time when four homes had already been approved. What might have become another residential pocket instead became part of a larger effort to keep the Santa Monica Mountains connected and wild.