At first glance, this 1978 aerial postcard of Canoga Lakes looks less like a condominium complex than a small resort hidden inside Canoga Park. Dark ribbons of water curl between low-rise buildings, two bright-blue swimming pools punctuate the landscape, and winding paths disappear beneath a canopy that was only beginning to grow.
The postcard was not simply a souvenir. Its reverse identifies JPS Realty at 22330 Sherman Way and advertises the firm's handling of sales at the “Canoga Lakes” condominiums. It was produced by Kolor View Press and carries a 1978 copyright, placing it just after the community's completion in 1977.
A landscaped retreat on Shoup Avenue
Canoga Lakes occupies the southeast side of Sherman Way and Shoup Avenue, with its principal address at 7050 Shoup Avenue. The two-story development contains 293 condominium units. Its defining feature is the landscape: interconnected lakes and streams, mature trees, footpaths, bridges, pools, and recreation areas create a secluded environment despite the busy streets and shopping centers nearby.
Carlson Circle and a proposed Red Car extension
The property's setting preserves a link to early Canoga Park. Carlson Circle, the curved street beside the development, recalls Hugo Carlson, a Swedish immigrant and Owensmouth pioneer who settled in the area in 1912. Carlson operated a 55-acre farm that grew beans and tomatoes, participated in the local chamber of commerce, and supported flood-control work in the growing West Valley.
A December 1935 report in the Van Nuys News and Valley Green Sheet offers a contemporary trace of that civic work. The San Fernando Valley branch of the Los Angeles County Farm Bureau named Carlson to its agricultural-education committee and made him chairman of its flood-control committee.
Carlson Circle is also a remnant of an earlier transportation idea. Before the Valley settled into its familiar street grid, Sherman Way curved south along the quarter-circle and joined Shoup Avenue. Around 1910, planners considered using that alignment as part of a westward extension of the Pacific Electric's Owensmouth line toward what is now Valley Circle. Tracks were never laid around the circle, but the curved roadway survived.
An aerial photograph dated November 22, 1944, shows the district while orchards and cultivated fields still surrounded Carlson Circle. The annotated view locates Carlson's ranch on the future Canoga Lakes site, south of Sherman Way and east of Shoup Avenue, with Canoga Park High School visible farther east.
By March 1, 1971, subdivisions and commercial development had replaced most of the surrounding agricultural landscape, yet the future Canoga Lakes parcel remained largely open. Construction later transformed Carlson's former farm into a late-1970s residential landscape while retaining the old circle's unusual curve.
A present-day Bing Maps aerial makes the postcard especially interesting. Carlson Circle, the tennis courts, the perimeter buildings, and the development's relationship to Sherman Way and Shoup Avenue are all easy to identify. The basic plan remains recognizable, but the young landscaping of 1978 has grown into a dense urban forest. From above, much of the architecture—and even portions of the lakes—now disappear beneath the trees, the long-term result of the development's original emphasis on water and greenery.
Recognition from Los Angeles Beautiful
That emphasis did not go unnoticed. In October 1986, the Los Angeles Times listed Canoga Lakes among the winners of the annual Los Angeles Beautiful Business and Industry Awards. The newspaper credited the Canoga Lakes Homeowners Association as owner, Emil Benes Associates as architect, Landscapes, Inc. as landscape architect, and Presley of Southern California as general contractor. Valley Landscape Maintenance and Robert Inman were also identified for landscape work and grounds maintenance.
The award clipping gives the postcard more context. What appears from the air to be an unusually green housing development was recognized within a decade of construction as a notable piece of commercial and residential landscaping. Nearly half a century later, the mature canopy visible in the current view shows how fully that plan took hold.
Canoga Lakes on Google Street View
Explore Canoga Lakes from 7163 Carlson Circle at street level. The embedded panorama opens in Google Street View, where you can rotate the view and follow the roadway around the property.
If the panorama does not load in your browser or email reader, open 7163 Carlson Circle directly in Google Street View.
The postcard as a sales tool
The reverse completes the story. Instead of a scenic caption, it carries a direct real-estate pitch promising current market information and “the finest service and the best price.” The postcard was mailed at bulk rate, suggesting that the dramatic aerial photograph doubled as advertising—an ideal way to show prospective buyers the scale of the lakes, paths, landscaping, pools, and tennis courts in a single view.
For more views from the neighborhood, visit the Canoga Park Postcards gallery. You can also browse the complete San Fernando Valley Postcards collection.
Sources and further reading: the reverse of the 1978 postcard; the Van Nuys News and Valley Green Sheet, December 26, 1935; historical aerials dated November 22, 1944, and March 1, 1971; the Los Angeles Times, “L. A. Beautiful Bestows Annual Business Awards,” October 19, 1986; historical background on Carlson Circle and the proposed Pacific Electric extension compiled by the Militant Angeleno; and current aerial imagery from Bing Maps.
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