For-Sale Sign, Hollywood Style

Tourists could soon be snapping luxury homes when they photograph the iconic Hollywood sign towering over the City of Angels, the Los Angeles Times reports, after investors put Cahuenga Peak, the land around the landmark, on the market for $22 million. “Everybody thought the city already owned it,” one councilman said after LA couldn't meet the asking price on the famous ridge.

Chicago-based Fox River Financial Resources bought the peak from Howard Hughes’ estate for $1.67 million in 2002, and city appraisers currently value it at $6 million. The company says protests will eventually die down because the homes won’t obstruct the sign, but one councilman disagreed. “That mountain should not be cluttered,” he said. “It’s good for the psyche of Los Angeles.” (More Hollywood stories.)