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28 DIGS.NET | 5.31.2019 M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 9 | I S S U E 2 0 6 722 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. 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MAY 31, 2019 DIGS.NET PRESENTED BY JOHN CORRALES AND LAUREN FORBES FORBES CORRALES COASTAL PROPERTIES - COMPASS FEATURE ON PAGE 78 INSIDE A VISION IN THE DESERT ODE TO THE ELEMENTS THE WILDLY IMAGINATIVE WA LK WON DER FU L STR EET PRESENTED BY JOHN CORRALES 310.346.3332 AND LAUREN FORBES 310.901.8512 COMPASS 12120TH.COM LIST PRICE $7,985,000 FEATURE ON PAGE 78 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 The Great Depression, which began in 1929, had an extremely debilitating effect on the original unincorporated Palos Verdes Project. Many lot owners defaulted on their property taxes, and the Palos Verdes Homeowners Association, which maintained the Project, was in deep financial straits. Notwithstanding that the public properties, including the beach and golf clubs, were devoted to public uses, the land was taxable as private property because it was owned by the Homes Assn. By 1938 the Homes Association owed the State of California $50,000 for taxes and feared that the State of California might sell these public properties at tax sale, and the community would lose its most valuable assets. An election was held in December, 1939, at which the voters decided to form the city of Palos Verdes Estates to have taxing authority and to solve the financial crisis. Immediately upon the organization of the City of Palos Verdes Estates in July, 1940, all of the park lands, the swimming club and the golf club were transferred to the City, and the back taxes were forgiven by the State. The Miraleste section of the Palos Verdes project remained unincorporated, but subject to the deed restrictions of the Palos Verdes Homeowners Association and the Palos Verdes Art Jury. The City of Rolling Hills Estates officially became Los Angeles County's 60th municipality on September 18, 1957. In that first year, the City's population totaled only 3,500. Annexation of new areas to the City was another ongoing concern during the City's early years. In 1958, areas were added to the eastern and western portions of the City. Later annexations from 1960-66 included numerous recently constructed housing developments. In 1982, the site of the former Palos Verdes Landfill was annexed to assure that City concerns regarding this closed facility would be recognized. The City of Rolling Hills was also incorporated in 1957. The Rolling Hills City Hall was constructed in 1967. Rolling Hills is a gated community designed to preserve the equestrian lifestyle. In 1969, the new County Master Plan for the remaining unincorporated area of the Peninsula provided for a population density far beyond what the local residents wanted. In response, a Peninsula-wide organization was formed that same year called Save Our Coastline (SOC). After several unsuccessful fights against the County's Master Plan for the Peninsula, it became evident that the only way to preserve the environment and to gain control over local zoning issues was through incorporation as the fourth city on the Peninsula. The election to incorporate Rancho Palos Verdes was finally held on August 28, 1973. An overwhelming majority of 5 to 1 voted in favor of incorporation. The first City Hall offices were located in the former SOC offices in the Golden Cove Center at the corner of Hawthorne Boulevard and Palos Verdes Drive West. One of the first actions taken by the new City Council was to declare a building moratorium and to begin work on preparing the City's General Plan. The City offices eventually moved to the former Nike missile base administrative offices just above their first offices. 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. FORMATION OF THE CITIES ON THE PALOS VERDES PENINSULA S O U T H B A Y History Tidbits 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

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