SOUTH BAY DIGS | Digital Edition Online

28 DIGS.NET | 5.3.2019 M AY 3 , 2 0 1 9 | I S S U E 2 0 4 722 1st Street, Unit D, Hermosa Beach, California, 90254 Office: 310.373.0142 South Bay Digs Magazine is published every other Friday by m3 Media, LLC. Reproduction in any form or by any means is strictly prohibited without the prior written consent from m3 Media LLC. The Publisher and advertisers are not responsible or liable for misinformation, misprints, or typographical errors. All advertised properties are subject to prior sale or withdrawal without notice. Real estate advertised in this publication is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act. M3 Media will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis. Any and all submissions to this publication become the property of m3 Media, LLC and may be used in any media. CO N N E C T W I T H U S .net TO OUR READERS South Bay DIGS welcomes your feedback and encourages reader response to our editorial features. Please send your letters to the Publisher at 722 1st Street, Unit D, Hermosa Beach, California, 90254 or via email to WDOW@southbaydigs.com. Please include your name and contact information. Letters may be published and we reserve the right to edit. ADVERTISING For inquiries, please contact Publisher Warren Dow at 310.373.0142. EDITORIAL For editorial inquiries, please email Editorial@SouthBayDIGS.com on the cover FIND YOUR PLACE. MAY 3, 2019 DIGS.NET PRESENTED BY TERRANEA REAL ESTATE FEATURE ON PAGE 81 INSIDE BOLD & BESPOKE URBAN OASIS Southern CONTEMPORARY RANCH An exclusive Terranea Villa offers turnkey relaxation DR E A MI NG California PRESENTED BY TERRANEA REAL ESTATE 310.265.2888 TERRANEAREALESTATE.COM LIST PRICE $1,745,000 FEATURE ON PAGE 81 CREATIVE SERVICES & AD DESIGN/ORIGINAL ARTWORK PROVIDED EXCLUSIVELY BY SOUTH BAY DIGS. © 2019 m3 Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Publisher Associate Publisher Editorial Director Director of Operations Marketing Director Digital Media Director Senior Graphic Designer Graphic Designer Contributing Writers Senior Staff Photographer Warren J. Dow Carol Skeldon Amy Adams Lauren Potter Kyle Coats Kieron McKay Ryan Lyse Jim Alba Wendy Bowman Jenn Thornton Constance Dunn Karine Monié Joclene Davey Abigail Stone Paul Jonason Flotsam Castle One of the most unusual homes ever constructed in the beach communities of the South Bay was a home constructed entirely of driftwood by a local "hermit" on the beach at the southern end of Torrance Beach. The home was constructed by Louis C. Dart during the period from 1919 to 1925 and was known as both the "Flotsam Castle" as well as the "Hermit's Castle". Louis was an attorney by training who practiced in western Nebraska. After having lost his voice by too many years of "lawyering" and having suffered from kidney disease and other intestinal ailments, like many others at the time, moved to Southern California in September 1919 to try and regain his health. After working at several jobs at local ranchos, he went to the shoreline just south of the area known as Clifton-by-the-sea in Redondo Beach below the area later developed as Hollywood Riviera. There he found an old tent, and exhausted and deathly ill, stayed to die. Soon after, an old Mexican woman told him that the waters of the fresh water spring at the base of the cliff bluffs had healing powers. For a month, he lived only on the spring water. He then found some wild tomatoes at the top of the bluffs and lived for quite a while only on a broth of tomatoes and snails. Over that time, he miraculously regained his health and began to build his castle from driftwood and other materials he found on the beach. The port of Redondo was very active transporting materials, some of which found their way overboard drifting to shore. Louis stated that he only spent 20 cents on nails for an emergency and that all of the other materials were delivered to him by "Neptune's White Horses". On Thanksgiving in 1920, a 45 foot yacht named "Genevieve" moored just offshore, and winds that night broke her moorings and dashed the yacht on the rocks on the beach. The owners of the yacht paid Louis $5 to watch over the yacht overnight and then offered numerous items to him for helping them salvage the remains of the yacht. Many of these items found their way into the castle including an old galley stove whose remains slowly washed up on the shore over a two year period. Louis expanded the castle over the next several years finally reaching 4 stories in height. An old sign hung over the entrance reading "This building cost but little money but much work without which life affords no satisfying kick". Another sign read "My family-outside its appetite- is not so very big-Just a brindle Thomas cat and a black-nosed guinea pig". Over the years, the castle became popular with visitors and Louis raised money by selling soft drinks (cooled by a cooler fed by the spring), cigarettes, candy, and even started to bake and sell thousands of pies. Several other drift-wood homes were also built south of Louis' castle during the 1920's. After abandoning the castle sometime after 1925 and moving to Riverside, the developers of the Hollywood Riviera project burned the house down in May 1930. The above is an excerpt from my book "Historic Tales from Palos Verdes and the South Bay". For more info go to www.southbayhistory.com Flotsam Castle 1924 S O U T H B A Y History Tidbits mdmegowan@gmail.com Maureen Megowan 310.541.6416 Portuguese Bend, in Rancho Palos Verdes, was named for Portuguese whalers who used the cove for a rendezvous and a whaling station. Portuguese Bend was also a smuggler's hideaway. From 1945 to 1956, until a major land slide occurred in the area ,the Livingston Quarry operated, mining such minerals as barite, quartz, dolomite, gypsum, as well as basalt that was mined for use as a railroad bed material. This area is part of the Forrestal Preserve area, which was purchased as a nature preserve in 1996. In 1956 a 260 acre landslide started. The land slide was triggered by roadwork by L.A. County road crews who were constructing an extension of Crenshaw Blvd. from Crest Road, through Portuguese Bend, to Palos Verdes Drive South. Approx. 235,000 tons of dirt which had been excavated for the road had been relocated to the top of an ancient, but previously dormant land slide. In August, 1956, the landslide broke a water line, and significant land movement began. A number of homes began to slide and some of the roads had to be re-routed. Some residents gave up and saw their homes go into the ocean; others left the area. Approx. 100 homes were destroyed, and more than 50 damaged, and the Portuguese Bend club house, restaurant, and pool were destroyed. The land in this area has moved more than 400 feet seaward, and continues to creep towards the ocean to this day, requiring constant repair and maintenance of Palos Verdes Drive . A building moratorium still exists in the landslide area. Several homes continue to be occupied in the land slide area, with the homeowners constantly leveling their home due to land movement by the use of hydraulic jacks. On October 1, 2008, the State Appeals Court reversed a lower court decision known as the "Monks" case and decided that the Land Slide building moratorium ordinance of the City of Rancho Palos Verdes for the Portuguese Bend area constituted an unconstitutional "taking" of property, and that the City should issue building permits to the 17 property owner in the law suit wishing to build homes in the area. "A permanent ban on home construction cannot be based merely on a fear of personal injury or significant property damage," the jurist concluded, and ordered the case remanded for further proceedings to determine an appropriate remedy. On October 8th, 2008, the City Council decided to appeal this decision to the State Supreme Court. On December 17th, 2008, the California State Supreme Court denied the City's appeal allowing the 17 property owners the right to build on their property. The City is currently evaluating whether to extend this right to other property owners in what is referred to as Zone 2 of the landslide area. The above is an excerpt from my book "Historic Tales of Palos Verdes and the South Bay". For more info see http://www.southbayhistory.com. PORTUGUESE BEND LANDSLIDE S O U T H B A Y History Tidbits

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