SERENITY STARS IN POSH TOLUCA LAKE; COMMUNITY A QUIET OASIS AMID HUBBUB.

Byline: Melissa Schmitt Daily News Staff Writer

Just as Johnny Carson liked to joke about beautiful downtown Burbank, Bob Hope always joked that there really is a lake in Toluca Lake.

There's only one problem: Unless you own one of the million-dollar homes surrounding Toluca's 6-acre lake, you can't swim in it, you can't boat in it - you can't even see it.

As the community directory proudly states, the private lake spans the rolling green lawns of private residences. Their fees pay for the lake's upkeep. About one-third of the southeast shore forms the boundary of the exclusive Lakeside Golf Club.

You can see the lake from the second story of the Lakeside Golf Club's women's dining room. But no one gets to the second-story deck without an invitation.

And those are about as difficult to snag as a seat at the Oscars.

Candy Waldron, a real estate agent in Toluca's quaint business district, provided just such an invitation.

The lake is serene, located just beyond a fence from the club's large, brilliant blue swimming pool.

A variety of sweet little boat docks and a glorious $4 million mansion are visible from the deck.

Toluca Lake real estate isn't cheap. The median home value is just $1 above the half-million mark.

Although Toluca Lake is often referred to as the Beverly Hills of the San Fernando Valley, you have a better chance of finding a posh home under a million in Beverly Hills than you do in Toluca Lake, Waldron said.

Toluca is home to legendary comedian Hope, actor Denzel Washington and director Quentin Tarantino.

Former residents included W.C. Fields, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Gene Autry, William Holden, Dorothy Lamour, Doris Day, Red Foxx, Sandra Dee, Bobby Darin, John Ritter, Andy Griffith, Johnathan Winters, Goldie Hawn, Garry Marshall, James Garner, Andy Garcia and Ron Howard, according to the Toluca Lake Chamber of Commerce.

The first home built on the lake was constructed on Valley Spring Lane near the Lakeside Clubhouse 75 years ago and later became home to Amelia Earhart, according to the chamber's community directory.

Other home builders followed suit and, with the help of the golf club, eventually encircled the lake.

Eleanor Rodriguez, who has owned Toluca Lake's barbershop for 31 years, explained the neighborhood situation one Saturday morning while clipping a client's silver hair.

``It's kind of like a clique around here. We're very careful about who we let in.''

As Rodriguez's client, a stately older gentlemen named Mel, soaked his nails in silver tins filled with manicure solution, Rodriguez explained she spoke from experience.

When she opened up shop on Toluca's main street in 1967, she couldn't get any customers to come in for a cut. Rodriguez said they didn't trust her.

``I had to go to hospitals in my off hours to make enough money,'' she said.

But that protectiveness has paid off, according to Rodriguez. ``We have very little crime.''

On any given Friday or Saturday night, there isn't much noise in Toluca Lake except perhaps the comings and goings at the posh Chez Nous French restaurant on Riverside Drive or the sound of the carhop waitresses at Bob's Big Boy setting the trays in the car windows.

``Toluca Lake goes to bed early,'' Rodriguez said.

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Map, Box

PHOTO Eleanor Rodriguez gives Mason Moranville, 6, a trim at her Toluca Lake barbershop. She says, ``It's kind of like a clique around here.''

David R. Crane/Daily News

Map: Toluca Lake

Box: Community profile: Toluca Lake