DIGS is the premiere luxury real estate lifestyle magazine serving the most affluent neighborhoods in the South Bay and Westside of Los Angeles, California.
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20 DIGS.NET | 3.10.23 MARCH 10, 2023 | ISSUE 297 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 Contact@WestsideDIGS.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 HOUSE OF VIEWS A peaceful corner-lot Strand home, crafted by an architect as her personal residence, features elegant oceanfront living amid commanding Pacific Ocean views. PRESENTED BY Lauren Forbes of Lauren Forbes Group COVER PHOTOGRAPHY BY Paul Jonason FEATURED ON PAGE 62 722 1st Street, Unit D, Hermosa Beach, California, 90254 Office: 310.373.0142 Westside 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. CREATIVE SERVICES & AD DESIGN/ORIGINAL ARTWORK PROVIDED EXCLUSIVELY BY WESTSIDE DIGS.. © 2023 Micro Market Media, LLC. All rights reserved. C O N N E C T W I T H U S Listen & subscribe on iTunes, digs.net or your favorite podcast provider. The Titans of Real Estate INFLUENCERS PODCAST .net Founder & CEO / Publisher President & COO Chief Growth Officer Digital Media Director Video Editor Graphic Design Senior Graphic Designer Contributing Writers Senior Staff Photographer Warren J. Dow William Bud Moore Kyle Coats Kieron McKay Matt Polizzi Jennifer Morgan Wise Rufus Agbede Jenn Thornton Constance Dunn Karine Monié Joclene Davey Abigail Stone Paul Jonason S O U T H B AY History Tidbits DRE#: 01368971 Maureen Megowan 310.541.6416 mdmegowan@gmail.com THE PALOS V ERDES PROJECT Early in 1913, George Bixby decided to sell approx. 16,000 acres of the Rancho de los Palos Verdes (retaining about 1,000 acres which later became Harbor City), which his father, Jotham Bixby, had acquired in1882 by a legal partition of the original land grant area of Rancho de los Palos Verdes. He sold the land to Walter Fundenburg, who agreed to pay $1.8 million. Unable to raise the necessary funds, he assigned the property to the real estate firm Schader and Adams. They too were unable to raise the necessary capital, and Bixby foreclosed on the mortgage. After much litigation, Bixby agreed to allow Schader and Adams 90 days to complete the purchase. Mr. Schader then left for New York to raise the money, with about 20 days left to raise the funds, and while there was able to get Mr. Frank A. Vanderlip, then President of the City National Bank of New York, interested in the property. Although Mr. Vanderlip had never seen the property, after only a 10 minute meeting with Mr. Schaeder, he was intrigued and recognized its potential for development. By November 1913, Mr. Vanderlip organized a consortium of New York investors and completed the purchase of the property. Historical accounts of the final purchase price range from $1.5 million, to just over $2 million. Initially, these investors intended to divide the land into large estates. The founding father of the Peninsula, Frank Vanderlip, was one of these investors. Vanderlip was a self- made man, an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under President McKinley, and president of the National City Bank of New York. From the beginning, Vanderlip had great plans for the development of the property. As early as 1914, Vanderlip hired architects, including the landscape architectural firm of Olmsted Brothers, to draw up a master plan for the development. Original plans included the construction of a magnificent golf club on the bluffs overlooking Portuguese Bend, to be known as "Los Palos Verdes Country Club". Vanderlip planned to develop the area above Point Vicente lighthouse as an Italian hillside village, to be occupied by craftsmen who would live, work, and sell their wares. Vanderlip writes glowingly in his biography about a visit in 1916 to the Palos Verdes Peninsula and the property he bought unseen three years earlier. He describes his vision for the development, likening the geographical location to Italy where he took vacations: "I found myself reminded vividly of the Sorrentine Peninsula and the Amalfi Drive: Yet the most exciting part of my vision was that this gorgeous scene was not a piece of Italy at all but was here in America, an unspoiled sheet of paper to be written on with loving care." The above is an excerpt from my book "Historic Tales of Palos Verdes and the South Bay". For more info go to www.southbayhistory.com Frank A. Vanderlip