Tarzana is the birthplace of Tarzan – Lord of the Apes. Celebrated American novelist Edgar Rice Burroughs created the world-famous jungle hero right here on his own spacious Tarzana Ranch, in the San Fernando Valley where he spent most of his life riding, writing, and living life to the fullest. The author would have seen and recognized the modest 1940s Spanish-style home located just a few blocks west of his own large, hilltop hacienda.

The house was built in 1940 by Diana Delugge for Diana and Rudy’s Garden Statuary business. It now serves as the offices for the Tarzana Community & Cultural Center, and also a small museum that highlights the early history of Tarzana and Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose world famous character gave Tarzana its name. It also has meeting rooms for local community organizations and educational programs.

From the early ’50s through the next four decades, this property on the corner became Diane and Rudy’s Garden Statuary, a rustic, wooded outlet well known to Valley residents. In the early ’90s, it was sold to a commercial developer who, in turn, sold it a few years later to a major storage company.

For a time, it seemed as if one more commercial venture was to occupy this special piece of land. Helen Itria Norman, then president of the Tarzana Property Owners Association, had a “wild daydream” to build a community and cultural center where the property could be used as “a community meeting place where people can come together to discuss their respective needs, and find solutions.” Initially, her dream seemed unlikely to become a reality, but in 2000, local resident Helen Baker donated $1,000,000 to start a foundation to raise the money to purchase the property. While Ms. Baker fought to get support for the project, other corporations including Sav-On and Jiffy Lube expressed interest in acquiring the property for commercial purposes. Had any of them succeeded, it would have undoubtedly led to the removal of the mature trees, wisteria vines and gurgling fountains that Helen was so drawn to, that became the basis of the lovely garden we enjoy here today.