It’s a thin strip of beach between the sea and some well-weathered mountains north of the western edge of LA (plus a few canyons heading inland). It used to be close enough to Los Angeles (which actually grew from the fairly far-inland downtown westward towards the beach) to be easily reachable while far enough away to be an escape from civic society, kind of the Hamptons of LA. Celebrities started settling there in the 1920s in unassuming getaway shacks where they could get fucked up and fuck each other in peace.

Since then it’s gotten downright absurd, if you’re not initiated I can go “guess how much this costs” and from even asking the question you know it’s a lot and guess high and I say “nope, more” and you guess higher and I say “nope, more” and you’re like “holy shit”. If you can afford it it’s got a nice small-town feel in a place where that’s worth something though.