In less than a decade, the Strand--a sliver of land two blocks wide and 10 blocks long wedged between the Venice Peninsula and Marina del Rey--has quietly been transformed from an ugly, scarred and pitted oil field into an architecturally eclectic mix of multilevel, million-dollar single-family homes.

"The area looks like a movie set," said Santa Monica architect Marshall Lewis, who has designed five houses on the Silver Strand.

Indeed, the combination of big houses of many styles crammed together on small lots gives the area a slightly unreal, movie-backdrop appearance. The impression is enhanced by the serene Ballona Lagoon--home to a surprising variety of shore birds--which many of the homes face.

Homes in the interior of the Strand are separated by landscaped malls. One of the remaining footbridges built by Abbot Kinney, the father of Venice, crosses the lagoon to connect the Strand with the Venice Peninsula and beach.

Despite the traffic and noise of adjacent Marina del Rey's restaurants and crowded apartment complexes, the area remains a hideaway. Most days on the Strand are free of either vehicular or pedestrian traffic.

It is that insulation, with proximity to urban Los Angeles, that has made the area attractive to working professionals.

Randy Epstein, a Strand homeowner and a broker with Darrell Lee & Associates in Marina del Rey, said the Strand could become even more desirable than Malibu for working professionals because it offers a waterfront location and is closer to downtown Los Angeles, to freeways and to Los Angeles International Airport.

"This is the last area other than Malibu in which you can have a large single-family home and still walk to the beach," he said. "Yet it's closer to everything."

The demand for housing has led to skyrocketing prices for land and homes.