Montecillo De Leo Politi

When I was a kid, my friends and I use to hike up to this otherwise closed section of the part to play in the baseball field and tennis courts. It is not accessible by car unless you are permitted to use the premises; but you can easily hike up there for a secluded picnic.
On this occasion, I came up to an event hosted by TopShop. The space is quite large and accommodates various tents/​booths for a large scale event.

It was closed today, which made me wonder what was going on, so I decided to make my way in despite the locked gate because I saw people inside. It appears as though the city is remodeling the entire thing. I hope they finish quickly, it looks like it was a nice, secluded spot.

I never knew this place existed till a friendly Griffith Park Ranger told us about it when we were looking for wedding venue.
This private, gated area in Elysian Park has its own private entrance (up the hill from the main road, extremely seclusive), its own private parking lot (for up to 100 cars), private restrooms, BBQ pits, tennis courts, volleyball courts, horse-​shoe game area, 21 picnic tables [each can seat up to 12 people easily], and officially allow 500 people per event (but they held events here for up 1,500 people here before).
Recently, they also allowed alcohol in the park for private event. However, they charge A LOT extra for the alcohol permit (cost more than the reservation fee) and required you to pay for an RMI security (to monitor your drunk guests), plus they required the alcohol be provided through their own approved alcohol caterer (which fortunately is at a reasonable price).
Facilities in Montecillo De Leo Politi (previously was called «The Old Lodge») is not open for public use; it’s only available for private, reserve events. To use this area, you need to make reservation with the Elysian Park’s administrative office.
The administrative office was a pain to work with as they are very incompetent (gave the wrong quote and invoice, then had to correct it multiple time, with last time being a few days prior to the event. ARGH) but luckily, the people in the Park Maintenance office (the people that are monitoring all events in Montecillo De Leo Politi) are friendlier and seem a bit more knowledgeable about the park and their jobs.
It can be a challenge to find this place since Montecillo De Leo Politi does not have an address that people can enter on GPS. See this map for the exact location of the venue:
For those looking for an outdoor venue for a private party or wedding that is beautiful, big enough to hold a big party, private enough that no random people will walk in, or just a venue that is simply a blank canvas for you to beautify, this place is perfect!
Of course, it’s extra nice that it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to rent Montecillo De Leo Politi (where as many similar venue we visited cost $ 8,000++).