DIGS is the premiere luxury real estate lifestyle magazine serving the most affluent neighborhoods in the South Bay and Westside of Los Angeles, California.
Issue link: https://www.southbaydiggs.com/i/1512407
DECEMBER 1, 2023 | ISSUE 316 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 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. CREATIVE SERVICES & AD DESIGN/ORIGINAL ARTWORK PROVIDED EXCLUSIVELY BY SOUTH BAY 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 Digital Media Director Video Editor Senior Graphic Designer Contributing Writers Senior Staff Photographer Warren J. Dow William Bud Moore Kieron McKay Matt Polizzi Rufus Agbede Jenn Thornton Constance Dunn Karine Monié Abigail Stone Paul Jonason MEDITERRANEAN ON THE PENINSULA The grand details and lush surroundings of this graceful villa transport you to another time and place. Story on Page 50. PRESENTED BY LILY LIANG OF STRAND HILL | FORBES GLOBAL PROPERTIES COVER STORY WRITTEN BY CONSTANCE DUNN COVER PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF STRAND HILL | FORBES GLOBAL PROPERTIES DRE#: 01368971 Maureen Megowan 310.541.6416 mdmegowan@gmail.com MANHATTAN BEACH HISTORY S O U T H B A Y History Tidbits In its earliest days, Manhattan Beach was part of the original Spanish land grant for "Rancho Sausal Redondo" ("Ranch of the Round Clump of Willows") in 1822, a rancho with a land mass of nearly 25,000 acres which extended from the areas as far north of what is now Playa del Rey, as far east as Inglewood, and as far south as Hermosa Beach. At one time the area was called "Shore Acres" by George Peck, who owned a section of the north end of town. Manhattan Beach is built on sand. Planks were laid in the sand on Manhattan Avenue for vehicles and along the Strand and side streets for pedestrians. In the early days, old timers speak of walkways disappearing, small structures sliding and the sting of the sand. The dunes were a major problem. Some were 50 feet to 70 feet high. A story told by Marshall Kuhn, a local businessman, to a newspaper reporter some forty years ago says that in the late 1920s, developers from Hawaii made a deal with the Kuhn Brothers Construction Company to supply Waikiki Beach with Manhattan Beach sand. The sand was loaded onto the Santa Fe Railroad cars and transported to the harbor in San Pedro and then onto ships or barges. This continued for almost ten years. This story has never been able to be verified however by the local historical society. Developers were plentiful and several of the larger developers such as George Peck, who owned the northern section of the area including north of Rosecrans, John Merrill, who was laying out the southern section which was between First Street and Center Street and just west of the Santa Fe tracks to The Strand, and Frank Daugherty, who had 20 acres from Marine Avenue to 15th Street and east of Highland Avenue to the railroad tracks, agreed that only one name should be given to the area. George Peck was calling his area Shore Acres after a Santa Fe junction sign. John Merrill called his development Manhattan Beach. According to Frank Daugherty, a half dollar coin was flipped and "Manhattan Beach" won. It is believed that this occurred in 1902 because the Santa Fe Railroad stop was named Manhattan Beach beginning in late 1903. The first downtown building was built by Merrill around 1901, a small frame building later used for city offices. Most of the early buildings were beach cottages. Families would come from Pasadena and Los Angeles on the trolley or Santa Fe train and a real estate agent would greet them as they stepped off. Some liked what they saw and bought property. Manhattan Beach was promoted as a place to vacation, a summer resort. A few stayed year round but most stayed only for a weekend or a summer. It was hard to count the full time residents but by the time of incorporation on December 7, 1912 there were approximately 600 permanent residents. After World War II a large influx of people came as a result of the desirability of the area for year-round living. Servicemen visiting during the war returned to live here. The development of the defense industry brought many people to the South Bay to reside and work. Much of the land east of Sepulveda was developed to house the influx of people. 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. 18 DIGS.NET | 12.1.23