The Pacific Palisades proper was founded in 1922 by Methodist reverend Charles H. Scott, who established a religious community there. Nearby, beloved comedian and environmentalist Will Rogers ranch encompassed 359 acres in the Santa Monica Mountains, in what is now Will Rogers State Historic Park. The park was severely damaged in the fire, and Rogers iconic ranch house was destroyed, leaving preservationists to wonder whats next.A commercial building in Pacific Palisades was destroyed in LA's most destructive fire.Photo: Getty ImagesHow do you tell his story without the place in which he was so firmly rooted? Its a huge, huge loss, Fine says.During the 1930s, the Palisades was also a haven for intellectual refugees from Europe, including novelist Thomas Mann (whose famous home was saved), Austrian writer Vicki Baum, and the authors Marta and Lion Feuchtwanger whose home Villa Aurora became a salon and is now a center for artists.In the postwar era, the Pacific Palisades became the perfect bucolic testing ground for Case Study architects like Rodney Walker, Richard Neutra, and Charles Eames. Cliff May, who is known as the Father of the California Ranch House, also worked frequently in the area.As the community grew, it became known as the perfect place to raise children, an upscale Mayberry filled with natural wonders and a feeling of safety.Ive never experienced the kind of cohesive community feel that you got in the Palisades, says native Bruce Wallin, a journalist whose home was destroyed in the fire. You could walk to the schools, to the park, to the village, to the ice cream store, to everything, the movie theater back then. There were kids everywhere. Youd walk out your door and youd find someone to play with.An aerial view of the bucolic setting that made up the Pacific Palisades before the devastating fires this month.Photo: Getty Images/Stella Levi