Custom Car, Motorcycle, Watercraft Appraisals in Westlake Village

If you are like us, you love your car. You have spent countless hours and dollars making it everything you have always dreamed of. We enjoy being around car lovers, and more importantly cars themselves.

Although car people love to spend time and money on their cars, they all too often forget to properly value their car for insurance purposes. Dollar after dollar goes in, but never gets properly documented so that if a catastrophic event strikes, the real cost of putting the car back together gets paid by the insurance company. As collector car owners ourselves, we understand the importance of our product first hand. Fill out the form on the right to get started on your on-sit

Auto Appraisal Network of Ventura  does appraisals for all different types of vehicles including custom/collector cars and trucks, motorcycles, late-model vehicles, boats, antique boats, RV’s, personal watercraft, semi-tractors and car hauler trailers. 

If you’re in the Westlake Village area and need an auto appraisal for insurance purposes, diminished value claims, pre purchase inspections, car collection appraisals, divorce settlements, estate planning, financing, bankruptcy or expert witness services, contact Auto Appraisal Network of Ventura.  

We are a locally owned and operated business and part of a nationwide network of certified auto appraisers.  We have many years of experience, so you can rest assured that an appraisal report from us is accurate and complete. Our full color reports are bound and delivered to you within days of completion and are accepted by all major insurance carriers, the legal system and financial institutions. 

We take pride in our work and are as passionate about cars as you are.  Protect your investment by having it appraised by Auto Appraisal Network of Ventura.

Serving Westlake Village

Facts about Westlake Village

Westlake Village is a planned community that straddles the Los Angeles and Ventura county line. The eastern portion is the incorporated city of Westlake Village, located on the western edge of Los Angeles County, California. The city, located in the region known as the Conejo Valley, encompasses half of the area surrounding Westlake Lake, and small neighborhoods primarily south of U.S. Route 101 and east of La Venta Drive. The population was estimated to be at 8,473 in 2014, up from 8,368 at the 2000 census. The headquarters of the Dole Food Company is also located in Westlake Village.

The original community was known simply as "Westlake". Roughly two-thirds of it was annexed by the city of Thousand Oaks in two portions, in 1968 and 1972. In 1981, the remaining third eventually incorporated as the City of Westlake Village.

History

About 3,000 years ago, Chumash Indians moved into the region and lived by hunting rabbits and other game, and gathering grains and acorns. On-going excavations, archaeological sites, and polychrome rock paintings in the area provide a glimpse into the social and economic complexity of the ancient Chumash world.

In January, 1770, the first Europeans came to the area. Captain Gaspar de Portolà's party of Spanish explorers and missionaries traveled through the area from west to east, camping one night near a Chumash village, believed to be the site of present-day Westlake Village. Father Juan Crespí, chaplain and diarist of the expedition, wrote: "We are on a plain of considerable extent and much beauty, forested on all parts by live oaks and oak trees, with much pasturage and water." Crespi named the place El triunfo del Dulcísimo Nombre de Jesús (in English: The Triumph of the Sweetest Name of Jesus) to a camping place by a creek – today's Triunfo Canyon Road begins between Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village (see Conejo Valley). Later Spanish travelers also used this route, making it part of El Camino Real (today's U.S. Route 101).

In 1795, the area became part of one of the first Spanish land grants, Rancho Simi, given to the Pico family. When Mexico won independence from Spain in 1821, Alta California became Mexican territory, and the Rancho Simi grant was confirmed in 1842.

At the time California was admitted to the union in 1850, most of the land that later became Ventura County was divided among only 19 families. The picturesque future Westlake Village site among rising knolls, arroyos, barrancas and ancient oaks was recognized as the central part of two Mexican land grants: Rancho El Conejo and Rancho Las Virgenes.

In 1881, the Russell brothers purchased a large portion of the land for cattle ranching. According to Patricia Allen, historian and family descendant, Andrew Russell beat the competition in buying the land by racing across 6,000 acres on a fifteen-minute trip in a buckboard and sealed the deal with a $20 gold piece. The price per acre was $2.50. The area continued to be known as the Russell Ranch although it was sold in 1925 to William Randolph Hearst and again in 1943 to Fred Albertson. The Russell family leased back part of the land to continue its successful cattle ranch operation while the Albertson Company used the vast area as a movie ranch. Many movies and television shows were filmed here, including Robin Hood, King Rat, Laredo, and various episodes of Tarzan, Buck Rogers, Gunsmoke and Bonanza. The 1940 film Danger Ahead was filmed on Westlake Boulevard.

In 1963, Daniel K. Ludwig's American-Hawaiian Steamship Company bought the 12,000 acre ranch for $32 million and, in partnership with Prudential Insurance Company, commissioned the preparation of a master plan by architectural and planning firm A. C. Martin and Associates. This new "city in the country" planned to have a firm economic base including commercial areas, residential neighborhoods, ample green space with the lake as a focal point. Prominent architects, engineers, and land planners participated in designing the new community, a prominent example of planned 1960's-style suburbanism.

The original tract was divided by the Los Angeles/Ventura county line. In 1968 and 1972, the Ventura County side, two portions of Westlake Village consisting of 8,544 acres, were annexed into the city of Thousand Oaks. In 1981, the Los Angeles County portion (3,456 acres or roughly 1/3) of the Westlake Village master community was incorporated as the City of Westlake Village. California state law prevents a city from existing in two separate counties, so the areas in Ventura County remained part of Thousand Oaks. To this day, many residents of the Ventura County portions of Westlake do not realize that they are actually within the city limits of Thousand Oaks.